The Sun.
London, England, 1866-08-27 00:00:00

-- _
Railway and other Companies.

GREAT NORTHERN.
The half-yearly general meeting of this company
was held on Saturday at the King's-cross Station ;
Colonel Packe, M.P., in the chair.
Mr. OAKLEY, the secretary, having read the
notice convening the meeting, an abstract of which
has appeared in The Sun, was taken as read.
The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the
report, said it had hitherto been his good fortune in
presiding at their meetings to congratulate the pro-
prietors on the dividends they were to re.ceive. H
was
e
regretted to say on the present occasion he
compelled to recommend a decrease m the dividend
at the rate of a half per cent. per annum fort he past
half-year, as compared with the same half of 1865.
They had earned £50,000 more than in the corre-
sponding period, but it had cost them £47,000 to
earn it. The capital account had been increased
during the half-year by the sum of £766,700, but
about £131,000 of it was due to the incorporation
of the West Yorkshire Railway with their own ;
they had got that line for the capital which was in-
vested in it. There had been a large expenditure
on the works they were now carrying on for the de-
velopment and accommodation of the traffic, also
for the purchase of land, the West Cheshire, Liver-
pool Extension, and other joint lines, of £335,478.
On the rolling stock for carrying on the traffic
they had expended £156,719. The increased re-
ceipts from traffic had not been confined to any
particular branch, but had been derived from
nearly all sources of revenue. There had been an
increase of £23,000 in passengers, mails, and so
forth, and of £35,000 from merchandise. There had
been a slight falling off in mineral traffic, not from
any deficiency in the tonnage, but in the rates they
had charged, owing to the fact that they had carried
more from coal-fields that were nearer than from
the more distant fields of Yorkshire and Durham.
There had been an increase in the expenditure of
£3,456 in relaying the line, partly from an addi-
tional length relaid and in having laid down steel
rails in stations and on some of the steep inclines.
In Mr. Sturrock's locomotive department there had
been a considerable increase of expenditure. The
trains had run 290,000 miles more than for the cor-
responding half of last half year ; they repaired 25
boilers as against 15 boilers last year, and many of
the engines had got so much below " par" from
111,rd work that it was necessary to increase the
number and extent of the repairs. The work had
been done, and the charge had been heavy. In the
coke and coal consumed there had been an advance
in price to the extent of £2,000 ; there had also
been a heavy increase in the cost of labour. Pro-
bably the proprietors were not aware that nearly
9,000 hands were employed in the undertaking, and
the increased amount they had been obliged to pay
during the half-year on the item of labour was not
less than £13,000. They could not foresee this
additional charge at the beginning of the half-year,
but the demands upon them were of that nature
that they were bound to comply with them. The
item for compensation was also heavy, amounting
to £12,058. The amount paid to passengers was
£2,250. The claims upon the company for damage,
loss of goods, and parcels, some of which ought never
to have been brought against them, and although
they did all they could to prevent those charges
and to sift them, had amounted to more than
£5,000. There was also that unfortunate accident
in the Welwyn tunnel, where, owing to the negli-
gence or mistake, of the signalman at the mouth
of the tunnel, a collision took place, and serious
damage was caused by the conflagration which en-
sued. They did all in their power to avoid acci-
dents, as it was their duty to do, but certainly
£12,000 in the half-year was a frightful amount,
and they hoped it would be much less in future.
There had been an increase of £4,818 in the item of
rates and taxes. A large portion of this increase
had arisen from the cattle disease, which had spread
over the country through which their lines passed.
The cattle-rate had amounted to £1,200. In addi-
to the cattle-rate they had been compelled to expend
£BOl more, in compliance with the Orders in Coun-
cil, in painting and whitewashing the cattle pens and
trucks. He trusted that those items would not ap-
pear again in their accounts. The cost of fooder for
horses amounted to £2,800 more than for the corre-
sponding half-year, and it was those items that had
made up the £47,000 increase in the expenditure.
Then with regard to another matter they took pos-
session of the West Riding line on the ist February
last, by which the traffic between London and Leeds
had been accelerated by about 20 minutes in time,
to the satisfaction of gentlemen in the West Riding
district, and he trusted it would prove aremunerative
investment. Their position with respect to the Roy-
ston and Ilitchin line, which had reverted to them on
the Ist April last, was not quite so agreeable, because
the Great Eastern had not yet doubled the piece of line
and covered the station to give that accommodation at
Cambridge they were bound to provide for the Great
Northern by Act of Parliament. At present the state
of things at Cambridge was most unsatisfactory.
There w as no shelter for passengers, and the trains had
to come as they best could, when those of the Great
Eastern were out of the way. They had already fre-
quently pressed this matter on the Great Eastern, and
would continue to do so until the accommodation they
were bound to provide had been afforded them. lle
then referred to the bills that had been promoted by the
company in the last Session, and which had received
the Royal assent—the Great Northern (Additional
Powers) Bill, to authorise the company to acquire
land and to construct sidings and works to facilitate
the working of the goods and passenger trains at
the London stations, and at various stations on the
line ; the West Riding and Grimsby Transfer Bill;
the Cheshire Lines Bills ; the Bradford, Eccleshill,
and Idle Bill ; the Edgware and Highgate Bill, for
a line between Finchley and Barnet was passed,
and as the whole undertaking of the Edgware and
Highgate Company had been acquired by the Great
Northern Company, the line now sanctioned be-
tween Finchley and Barnet would be constructed by
the Great Northern Company. Arrangements had
also been made with the Midland and
c
roami
wp aa ny y
bteot
weeavoidn
the construction of a projected
Saxby and Bourn adversely to the interests of this
Company ;
but in lieu thereof the two companies
had agreed to lease jointly the two short eabe-
tween King's Lynn and Bourn. Running Powers
had also been obtained over a short line to be con-
structed by other parties, from Wood-green, on the
main line, to the Alexandra Park ; and an agree-
ment had likewise been made to work a line, when
constructed, between Louth and Lincoln. The
Great Northern, acting in concert with the North
Eastern Company, had obtained the insertion of
clauses in the Bill for amalgamating the Scottish
North-Eastern and the Caledonian Railways, which
was passed by both Houses of Parliament. He
trusted that those clauses for facilitating traffic

with Scotland over the East Coast line would be
found to work satisfactorily. They had had a great
struggle and incurred heavy expenses in Parliament
to get the various powers, and he had no doubt they
would be beneficial to the company. He was ready
to answer any question they might think requisite
to put to him, and concluded by moving the recep-
tion and adoption of the report.
Colonel DUNCOMBE, deputy-chairman, seconded
the motion.
Mr. HuGuEs said he objected to the policy of ex-
tensions acted upon by the directors, and attributed
circumstances
that policy to the mstances that, with one or
two exceptions, theethedirectorsprox were a self-elected
body. So long
as
system existed this
;
state of things would continue it was no use what
any one said at those meetings, he was sure to be
overwhelmed by a host of proxies. He was ()lad
that the subject of proxies had attracted the atten-
tionb of Parliament, and he hoped something would
be done. He had protested two years since against
the loan of £300,000 to the London, Chatham,
andc
Dover Railway Company, the interest upon which
he understood had not been paid for three-quarters
of a year by that pompauy. His protest on that
occasion was not regarded, and the money was lent
accordingly. They were now going to ask to spend
another £1,000,000, and no doubt the proxies would
carry it.
The CHAIRMAN in reply to a question, stated that
the new preference shares would be issued pro rata
to the holders of both ordinary and preference
stocks.
Mr. V. KNIGHT thought the shareholders acted

more like a number of boobies than sensible men
in allowing the directors to go on making those con-
stant additions to the capital account. With a view
to prevent accidents he had suggested on a former
occasion that the directors should visit the line and
stations more frequently ; but when he mentioned
this matter to their highly-respected chairman, Mr.
Denison, he would not admit of any such service
being placed on directors.

Mr. R. WOODS believed that the directors were
in every respect as honest as the shareholders, and
thought that both should do their duty to them-
selves and the company. lie believed the chairman
might have safely taken a much more hopeful view
of the prosperity of the company than he had,
as the company had not suffered so much in divi-
dend as other companies. _ _ _

Mr. NiouoLL s said the shareholders should
strenuously oppose continual expenditure on capital
account. He wished to know whether the chair-
man and other directors had given their full sanc-
tion to the further additional expenditure of
£1,075,000, or whether any of the directors were
opposed to it. He believed some of those proposed
lines would never pay working expenses. He thought
too in the face of the rapid progress of the Midland
extension line into London, and their grand metro-
politan station, which would abstract a large por-
tion of the traffic from the Great Northern, it would
not be right to lay out so large a sum as £400,000
for the improvement of their London and other sta-
tions. He thought they should follow the example
of the Great Eastern Board and go next session to
Parliament for powers to abandon some of the un-
profitable branches and extensions. (Laughter.)
Mr. V. KNIGHT thought the directors had done
many worse things than lending the £300,000 to the
Chatham Company, even if they did not get the in-
terest regularly paid. The Great Northern had
power to develope their coal traffic and run over the
Chatham lines to Victoria station and the Crystal
Palace. . _

The CHAIRMAN, in reply to observations, said
there was scarcely one of their extensions which the
company had not been driven to make, with the ex-
ception of those to Manchester and Liverpool. The
Great Northern had at one etxremity of its line a
population of 3,000, and at the other 1,500,090,
each yielding an enormous traffic. He might tell
them at the present moment they were getting one-
third of the goods traffic between Liverpool and
London, and at Manchester they divided with the
London and North-Western, but carried more
than their proportion. He was at a loss to see
where the increased dividend could come from if it
were not for these important extensions of the
line. It was not the wish of the directors to add to
the extent of the undertaking, because it would add
considerably to their trouble and anxiety. As to the
observations by Mr. Hughes about the directors be-
ing self-elected, he, for one, certainly did not owe
his appointment to any of the shareholders, for he
was one of the original promoters of the line, and
was nominated as director in the Act of Parliament.
The shareholders had the power at any of the Feb-
ruary meetings of electing or rejecting the gentle-

men recommended by the directors. The railway
traversed very extensive districts of the country ; it

was desirable, as far as :possible, to have gentlemen
in the direction connected with every one of these
districts, and it was a task of no small difficulty for
the directors to find gentlemen of commercial influ-
ence to act upon the direction. As to the London,
Chatham, and Dover, the Great Northern ran traffic
over that line, and they deducted out of the tolls for
so doing the money due for the interest on the loan
of £300,000. The receiver had been ordered by the
Court of Chancery to pay the amount as a rent-
charge upon the line, and there was no doubt as to
the ultimate payment of the interest. Since the com-
pletion of the through communication by the Me-
tropilitan the Great Northern had sent over the
Chatham and Dover line 62,900 tons of coal,
although there were at present no coal drops pro-
vided. In respect to the £400,000 to be raised un-
der the Company's (Additional Powers) Act, it was
required for various works on the line necessary for
enabling them to carry on the traffic. All that was
required of the Great Eastern at Cambridge was to
double the line for about three miles and lay out
about £3,000 or £4,000 to accommodate the Great
Northern traffic there. As to closing the capital

account, he could not hold out any prospect of that,

When proprietors complained of increase of capital,
they should also remember that they enjoyed, also,
a large increase of revenue. At present there was
£1,000,000 locked up because the works were not
completed, but which should become productive
when the necessary works were completed. _His
firm opinion was that the dividend would recover
itself, and keep up to its former rate. His

great object was to see the line maintain a 7
per cent. dividend, and if be succeeded in that he
thought no one present would have cause to com-
plain. (Hear.)

The report was then adopted ; the dividends for
the half-year on the 14 preference stocks of the com-
pany were declared, and also at the rate of 5 per
cent. per annum on the original undivided stock of
the company ; at 3 per cent. for the half-year on
the B stock, and of 2 per cent. for the half-year on
the A stock ; being the balance after payment of
£3 per cent. to B stock.

The meeting wes then made special, and after
sonic discussion and the rejection of an amendment
by Mr. Hughes, it was agreed to authorise the di-
rectors to create and issue, under the powers and
for the purposes of ten acts of Parliament,
£1,075,000 permanent 5 per cent. preference stock,
the dividend to be payable half-yearly. Any defi-
ciency in the first half to be made up in the second
half-year ; but no deficiency in any year would be
made good out of the profits of any subsequent
year. The stock was to be paid up by five instal-
ments, the last being the 31st of Alarch, 1868.
The proceedings then terminated.