The Sun.
London, England, 1866-12-06 00:00:00

Railway and Other Companies.

TEWKESBURY AND MALVERN.
An extraordinary general meeting of this com-
pany was appointed to be held yesterday, at the
Westminster Palace Hotel, Victoria-street, to con-
sider the expediency of confirming an agreement to
lease or hand over the undertaking to the Midland
Railway Company, and to apply to Parliament for
power to carry the same into effect ; but, in come-
quence of the non-attendance of a sufficient number
of shareholders to constitute a quorum, no busi-
ness on that account could be transacted.
A meeting of debenture holders and Lloyd's bond-
holders of the .company was then held ; Mr. Becston
in the chair. He said the business of the company
was managed by a joint Board, consisting of three
Midland directors and four of the directors of the
Tewkesbury and Malvern Company. The line was
in the hands of the Midland Company, and worked
by them, but the receipts had been very small in-
deed. The result of the wot king was most unsatis-
factory, and, therefore, an effort was obliged to
be made to see what could be done for the
debenture and bondholders. A long negotiation
held with the. Board of the Midland Company,
through Mr. Leeman, as the representative of the
debenture holders, had been ably carried on,
and a certain arrangement had been so far
concluded. Mr. Leeman undertook the negotiations
with the Midland Company on the part of a large
number of debenture-holders, and, as a certain re-
sult had been arrived at, he thought the best thing
they could do would be to agree together as to the
division among them of the rental agreed upon. He
begged of them to avoid litigation by all means, for
if they went into Chancery the probability was they
would get nothing at all.
_ _ _

Mr. LEEMAN, explained that he had been
induced to undertake the negotiations on the part of
certain debenture-holders purely out of friendship,
they being resident in York. The debentures were
held by clergymen, widows, retired professional
men, and others. He found that the original Act
was passed in 1860, by which the company was
authorised to raise £145,000, and in 1862 another
Act was obtained authorising the company to raise
an additional sum of £120,000, making the share
capital £265,000. Shares were issued representing
£231,610. There were debentures issued to the
amount of £BB,OOO, bearing interest at 5 per cent.
per annum, and during the construction of the line
£107,000 in Lloyd's bonds were issued to raise
money for completing the line. By a clause in
the company's Act, an agreement entered into
between the promoters and the Midland Company,
before the Act was obtained, was confirmed for
working the line when constructed. The terms
were that the Midland Company were to work the
traffic, provide the rolling stock, and hand over
half the gross receipts • to the Tewkesbury 'Com-
pany. In May, 1864, the line was opened for traffic,
and up to that date the debenture holders were paid
interest at 5 per cent. per annum. Up to Decem-
ber, 1864, some interest was paid on Lloyd's bonds;
from that time there had been nothing paid either to
debenture holders or bondholders. The result of the
working showed that up to Sept. 30 last, two years
and four months, the receipts for passengers amounted
to £7,229 ; for parcels, horses, and mails to £249 ;
coal to £l9 ; goods to £743 ; minerals to £l3l
—making .a
total of £8,371; deducting half
for working expenses left the net sum of
£4,185 as the result of two years and four
months' working, being less than £2,000 a
year. Against this there were' claims for use
of the station at Malvern. The length of the line
was only 12 miles, and that was not a great length
to develope. The interest on the debentures was
£4,400 a year, and on Lloyd's bonds, at 5 per cent.,
£5,350, making together a claim for interest of
£9,750. On going over the line he found that the
goods traffic had not been developed, and that
claims existed for land which had never been paid
for. The Midland Company complained that the
line had been handed over to them in an incom-
plete state, and that as there were no goods
stations and sidings provided by the company,
they could not carry a goods traffic over the line.
The consequence was a great loss to the Malvern
Company. From bis twenty years' experience of
working railways, and being deputy-chairman of
a line of 1,200 miles in length, he was enabled to
point out to the Midland Company the difference
that would result if the line were in their own hands,
and they were to develope the traffic in a proper
manner. The negotiation at length resulted in an
offer from the Midland Company to take the line
into their own hands, paying for it a net sum of
£7,500 a year, provided the Malvern Company
would pay for the land and other matters. This
would, of course, fall short of the interest at 5 per
cent. on the debentures and Lloyd's bonds, leaving
nothing whatever for the original shareholders. His
proposition was that the debenture-holders who had
paid 20s. in the pound for their bonds, and who had
a prior claim, should agree to take 4 per cent. per
annum,and the holders of Lloyd's bonds which were
issued at a discount should agree to take 2 per cent.
They would have to raise money to pay for the land
and to complete the works specified by the Midland
Company, and the surplus revenue should then be
dividel equally between the debenture-holders and
the Lloyd's bondholders. He strongly recommended
them to agree to the proposition of the Midland
Company. _ _

A very long discussion ensued, some of the Lloyd's
bondholders stating that they had paid 90 to 94 for
their bonds, demanding 3 per cent., instead of 2 per
cent., while some of the debenture-holders con-
tended that they should have the full 5 per cent.,
instead of 4 per cent. It wasstated that the Midland
held 80,000 of the company's shares, and Overend,
Gurney, and Co., £46,000 of the shares, but it,wa,s
thought not worth the liquidator's while to waste
money in opposing the arrangement before Parlia-
ment, and it was also thought the Midland would
offer no opposition.

Resolutions were unanimously passed to the effect
that the meeting 'approved the proposal to lease the
line at a rent of £7,500 a year, and requested the
directors to proceed with the bill in Parliament ;
that, after providing for certain expenses, pay-
ments to landowners, and other creditors, the settle-
ment be on the basis of 4 per per cent. to the de-
benture holders, and 2 per cent. to the Lloyd's
bondholders, dividing the surplus equally between
them ; and that the best thanks of the meeting be
given to Mr. Leeman for his valuable services,
trusting that he would have the kindness to send
the resolutions to the debenture and bondholders,
requesting them to express their assent or dissent to
the resolutions, and the proceedings concluded with
a vote of thanks to the chairman.