The Sun.
London, England, 1866-07-27 00:00:00

GREAT EASTERN.

A special general meeting of the East Anglian
shareholders in this company was held yesterday at
the London Tavern ; Mr. C. H. Turner in the chair.
Mr. J. B. Owen, the secretary, having read the
notice convening the meeting,
The CHAIRMAN said the meeting had been con-
vened in compliance with the Great Eastern Amal-
gamation Act, 1862, for the election of a director
to represent the East Anglian shareholders at the
board of the Great Eastern Company, in the room
of Mr. W. H. Shaw, who had resigned; for the
purpose of accepting the office of law clerk to the
Great Eastern Company. The only candidate to
fill the vacancy was Mr. Makins, jun., and he there-
fore moved that Mr. Makins be elected to fill the
vacancy caused by the retirement of Mr. Shaw.
Mr. CHADWICK seconded the motion.
Mr. C. WHETHA3f said that sufficient notice had
not been given to the shareholders to consider the
matter. He objected to the election of a profes-
sional gentleman to fill the vacancy, as the proprie-
tors most particularly wanted a mercantile man to
represent their interests at the Great Eastern board.

A PROPRIETOR suggested that the East Anglian
shareholders should have copies of the Great Eastern
directors' report sent to them every half-year in future.
The CHAIRMAN said he was desirous that all the
shareholders in the company should have the fullest
information, and a copy of the report would be sent
to the East Anglian shareholders in future. He
stated that the Great Eastern board had nothing
whatever to do with the present election or the
proxies that had been sent in respect of it.
Some discussion then ensued, in the course of
which the motion was put to a show of hands, when
there appeared three in favour of and six against
the election of Mr. Makins.
A poll was then demanded.
Mr. MAKINs, jun., in reference to the observations
of Mr. liThethani, stated that ever since he had left

the University he had been engaged in commercial
pursuits, an d had been a long time connected with
railways. He had no doubt that, if elected, he
should be able to promote the interests of the East
Anglian proprietors at the Great Eastern board.
(Hear.)

While the poll was being taken a vote of thanks
was passed to Mr. Shaw for his valuable services
when a director of the company in promoting the
interests of the East Anglian proprietors.
The poll resulted in a majority of 290 proprietors
in person, and by proxy representing £362,716 East
Anglian stock in favour of the election of Mr.

Makins, who was accordingly declared duly elected

GRAND TRUNK OF CANADA.
The traffic receipts on this company's lines for the
week ending the 7th inst. amounted for local pas-
sengers to £7,836, for foreign passengers to £2,800,
for emigrants to £719, for mails, &c., to £1,007,
for local freight and live stock to £11,062, and for
foreign freight and live stock to £l,7Bo—total,
£25,204, against £23,589 for the corresponding
week last year, showing an increase of £1,615.

NATIONAL DISCOUNT (LIMITED).
A general meeting of this company was held on
Wednesday at the London Tavern, Mr. F. W.
Russell, M.P., in the chair.
The report stated that the paid-up capital now
amounted to £649,470, and the reserve fund to
£349,470. The gross profits for the half-year
amounted to £133,888, which added to the balance
of £4,050 brought from December last gave a total
of £137,938. After deducting all charges and re-
serving £57,737 for rebate of interest on bills not
matured, and £2,500 against doubtful debts, there
remained an available balance of £66,931, which
enabled the directors to recommend the payment of
a dividend at the rate of 20 per cent. per annum free
of income tax, both upon the old and new capital,
and to carry forward £3,633 to the next account.
The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the
report, alluded to the peculiar difficulties of the half-

year, which would be long remembered in the history
of the country—a monetary crisis of unusual seve-
rity, far beyond anything they ever before experi-
enced, a European war, and a change in the Admi-
nistration of the country. They had never experi-
enced such a severe trial before. lie believed that
it was mainly owing to the prudence with which their
affairs had been conducted by Mr. Webber, their
general maAnlatgheoru,ghthtahteythheayd ssteotodasi
aside
etheir lpa resent
position. no
ft
position.
£2,500 for doubtful debts, he believed that every
one of them would be paid in full. There was a
class of bills taken in the ordinary course of busi-
ness to which he ought to allude namely, the ac-
ceptances of great companies standing at the time in
high repute, which bills were accepted by one com-
pany and endorsed by another. To meet those bills
they were not required to set aside anything, because
they considered it unnecessary, as they had every
reason to suppose that the whole would be paid in
full with interest. (Hear.) He would much rather
they had not entered into some ofthoseit
vastlran sactions, as their present experience showed
in-
expedient to do so, but as he believed theyt a would
a
sustain no loss it was experiencepurchasedcheap
rate. lie believed they were conducting their affairs
with that steadiness and prudence which would guard
them against any serious misfortune. Their progress
had been considerable. The number of new accounts
opened in the half-year ending December last was
692, and for the half-year ending 30th June, 941,
making together in that time 1,633 new accounts,
the large proportion being deposit accounts.
Mr. CHAYTOR, deputy-chairman, seconded the
motion for the adoption of the report.
Mr. BASS, M.P., congratulated the directors, the
manager, and the proprietors on the very satisfactory
state of their affairs. He was glad to find that the
board had resolved even with more strictness than
ever to carry on the business of the company strictly
as a commercial discount company. (Hear.) The
Times had told them that a discount business ought
to be one of the safest in the world, and their expe-
rience of the last half-year went far to confirm that .

IMPORTANT DEPUTATION TO THE PRESIDENT
OF THE POOR-LAW BOARD.
A deputation from the Association for the Im-
provement of London Workhouse Infirmaries yes-
terday waited upon Mr. Gathorne Hardy, the Pre-
sident of the Poor-law Board, for the purpose of
renewing the representations made on a former oc-
casion to Mr. Villiers, as to the necessity for a
broad measure of reform in the treatment of the
sick poor in metropolitan workhouses, and to urge
upon him the adoption of the general scheme recom-
mended by the association, and then propounded on
their behalf by the Earl of Carnarvon, of which Mr.
Villiers expressed a general approval. The depu-
tation was introduced by Earl Grosvenor, M.P., and
amongst those present were the Earl of Shaftes-
bury, Lord C. Hamilton, M.P., Lord E. Cavendish,
M.P., Mr. I. Goldsmid, M.P., Mr. T. Hankey, M.P.,
Mr. C. Bruce, M.P., Mr. H. D. Seymour, M.P.,
Mr. H. E. Surtees, M.P., Mr. A. S. Finlay, M.P.,
the Hon. D. FDrtescue, M.P., Mr. D. Bromley,
M.P., Major Walker, M.P., Major O'Reilly, M.P.,
Mr. J. A. Smith, M.P., Col. B. Knox, M.P., Gen.
Ashburnham, Hon. A. Kinnaird, M.P., Mr. D.
Acland, M.P., Hon. P. Wyndham, M.P., Mr. C.
Schreiber, M.P., Mr. R. Eykyn, M.P., Mr. Faw-
cett, M.P., Mr. G. Duff, M.P., Col. Biddulph, M.P.,
the Earl of Dalkeith, M.P., Mr. F. J. Powell, M.P.,
Rev. Dr. Mortimer, Dr. Acland, Dr. Anstie, Mr.
Parkinson, Rev. W. Denton, Rev. F. D. Maurice,
and a large number of clergymen and gentlemen.
Earl GROSVENOR, in introducing the deputation,
apologised for the absence of Lord Carnarvon, whose
place he had been requested to take on this occasion.
He said that a deputation from the Association for
the Improvement of the Condition of Workhouses
waited on Mr. Villiers in April last, when Lord Car-
narvon laid before him the resolution which had been
agreed to at a meeting held on March 3d at Willis's
Rooms. In reply Mr. Villiers expressed his warm
obligation to the association for the trouble it had
taken with regard to the preliminary investigation
into the subject, and bore testimony to the manner
in which the association had enlisted the support of
the public. He (Mr. Villiers) was also prepared to
admit " that the present management of the sick in
the metropolitan workhouse infirmaries was highly
unsatisfactory, that the buildings were inadequate
and unhealthy, the medical attendance insufficient,
the nursing merely nominal, and the general system
of administration radicallydefective." He also stated
that he would direct an inquiry by Mr. Farnall; that
inquiry bad now been made, and he thought that
the statements made by that gentleman had elicited
the horror of the public at the state of the infirma-
ries, and had borne out the statement made by the
committee of this association. It was unnecessary that
he (Earl Grosvenor) should take up more of his(Mr. G.
Hardy's) time, but he would allow him to impress on
him that the deputation of the association, backed up
by the public opinion of the country, hoped the Presi-
dent of the Poor-law Board would defer the ques-
tion for a time, and not make any attempt at patch-
work at present, but consider it with a view to legis-
lation. (Hear.) He wished to take this opportu-
nity of asking what was to be done in such a case
as that of Bethnal-green, where on the previous
day 17 cholera patients were taken in. The noble
earl concluded by observing, seeing that Mr. Hardy
had been in office so short a time, he could not be
expected to state how he proposed to deal with the
whole of this question ; but he invited the Presi-
dent of the Poor-law Board to apply his strong
will, his great energies, and his known ability to
this all-important subject. (Hear.)
Mr. ERNEST HART said it so happened that they
were somewhat at a disadvantage, owing to the
absence from town at this time of several gentlemen
who desired to have taken part in this deputation ;
it therefore fell to his lot to make some statements
which would have been more ably made by others.
Since the deputation to Mr. Villiers the official re-
port had been published, and it was a great satisfac-
tion to the association to find that the report fully
confirmed the representations they had made. Mr.
Farnall, in his report, had described such a scheme
as the association proposed as the only feasible one.
Dr. Smith, in his report, did not discuss that scheme,
but he put before the board the alternative mea-
sures necessary to remedy the existing evils. He
proposed that a large number of the workhouses
should be entirely rebuilt, and that nearly all of the
remaining ones should be most extensively altered.
It was simply impossible to carry out Dr. Smith's
alternative, for there was not the room or the local
funds to do so. They had at present 6,000 sick
poor who might fairly rank as hospital cases, for
whom there was now no accommodation ; and
the cheapest and the best plan would be to
bulld, on convenient sites near London, establish-
pegecniaerllaynyco.nstructed for the purpose, and
establish-
ments especially constructed for the purpose, and
Which Would be managed on the principles applied to
hospitals
gested this plan shoAnother
dr eoapstoend why they saungy-
attem patlreedardeycoonvsetrr_uteatxioed,
nwaouudldtbbee oppressive
rt
ios dis-
tricts
where the greatest sickness prevailed would be the
greatest sufferers. It was a hopeful circumstance
that they found a noble lord like Earl Grosvenor
and others who were owners of large properties at
the West-end supporting this association which
sought to establish a general rate for sick establish-
ments. Mr. Hart then read a letter from the Arch-
bishop of York, warmly approving the objects of the
association, and proceeded to state that Dr. Smith,
in his report, stated that if the guardians visited the
houses and made a thorough inspection twice a week
it would do something to remedy the existing evils.
But he (Mr. Hart) knew that that inspection would
od cacou
sp y five w
o uvled
have hours,
to a nadt t tehnedn t thhee
wcommitteee
toi fn
ggsu, a
so
o-
that these gentlemen would have to give up three
days a week, so that they would have 39 establish-