The Sun.
London, England, 1859-02-09 00:00:00

GRAND TRUNK OF CANADA.

The London directors of this company, on pro-
posing an increase of £1,111,500 in the capital of the
company by the issue of preferential bonds, state
that during the last year considerable progress had
been made in the works required to give an unin-
terrupted intercourse by the Grand Trunk system,
from Quebec and Portland., and through the whole
of Canada, to the Western States of America.
The branch between St. Mary's and London,
Canada West, a distance of 22 miles, was opened
for traffic in September last, and the receipts already
obtained upon it gave promise that from and after
the coming Spring it would show results as satis-
factory as the other portions of the railway west of
Toronto. The extension to Sarnia, and the line at
the opposite side of the lake from Port Huron to
Detroit, it was believed would be ready for traffic
in September next. There would then only remain
the Victoria-bridge to complete the Grand Trunk
system. Mr. A. M. Ross, in his report dated the
6th of December last, sets forth the extraordinary
energy
splayed by Messrs. Peto, Brassey, and
Betts •
In expediting the work, and to which the
directors have
that report, the same to add that, since the date of
t vigour is continued in the
erection uebes, and such other portions of
of the
ing reason, as stbateNro:eeded with in winter, git
the works as can
t, provided no unforeseel. Mr. Ross, to hope that,
ae
ocrturaaltnys
mofaymuhceheffcoecntseed-
quence arise, the p
—say, on the Bth or 9th of No:tenaber next." The
0 structure to the Ist
expenditure certified on thisp
mastottrailebeen made
()River de
Reteeir
Ad at
I inst. had been £1,115,693.
in the works- between St. Thomas
Loup, so as to enable this section
Notwithstanding
might (espe-
the time required under the company's
of 1856 and 1857. the l cts
continued `crisis in Canada and those States inontt;
West from which the Grand Trunk
cially when the Victoria-bridge is completed) rea-
sonably look for a large portion of its traffic, the
receipts of the railway had only during 1858
exhibited a reduction of 6.10 per cent. as com_
pared with those of the year 1857, while other
railways on the American continent, and espe-
cially those which might be more or less
compared to the Grand Trunk, had shown de-
pressions of from 25 to 50 per cent.. The mer-
chandise conveyed during the past year amounted
to 490,427 tons, being in excess of the goods carried
in 1857 43,896 tons. The passenger traffic, on the
other hand, exhibited a diminution equal to 20 per
cent. on the number of passengers and 141 per
cent. on the receipts, a result which was due to the
stagnation subsequent to the crisis and the com-
ploactealdtr ia_d e was a .
com-
parative absence of emigrants. The traffic during
1858, arising as it had done, almost entirely from
fully equal to the proportion antici-
pated the original estimate as likely to accrue

from that source. The late general manager of the
company, Mr. Shanley, had stated that the Grand
Trunk Railway had now passed its worst days, and
that improvement in receipts might henceforward
be counted upon with certainty. The return of
receipts and expenditure on revenue account for
October, 1858, being the last return received in
London, exhibited for the month a net revenue of
£14,968. This return showed that the reduction
of working expenses promised in the report of Mr.
Blackwell was in course of realisation. Mr. Black-
well, in the report referred to, showed that to
complete the works in progress of construction it
would be necessary to obtain additional capital to
the extent of about a million sterling.
The amount of capital proposed to be created at
the special meeting in Canada was £1,111,500. This,
with the two millions of preference capital created
in 1856, was equal to the amount of the deben-
tures issued to the company by the Province of
Canada, or £3,111,500. This amount originally
formed the first charge on the undertaking, but the
Government and Legislature of Canada had sanc-
tioned the postponement of the payment by the
company of any interest upon the £3,111,500 until
a dividend at the rate of 6 per cent. per annum be
paid upon all the consolidated stock of the com-
pany. By the creation, therefore, and issue of
additional preferential capital to the extent of
£1,111,500, which it was supposed should rank
next in priority after the two millions above re-
ferred to, the position of the ordinary debentures of
the company would not be in any respect affected
or altered from that which those securities occupied
at the time of their original issue, when the interest
on the provincial debentures formed the first charge
on the revenues of the company. It was intended
that those debentures should be second perfere nee
debentures bearing interest at the rate of 6 per
cent. per annum.

GLOCESTER AND DEAN FOREST.
The half-yearly meeting of this company was
held at Glocester on Saturday—Mr. S. Baker in the
chair. From the report it appeared that the income
of the company for the half-year ending December
31, 1858, had been augmented by the receipt of
£lB7 from the Hereford, Ross, and Glocester Rail-
way Company, which enabled the directors to
recommend a small increase in the rate of dividend
as compared with the previous half-year. After
payment of the current expenses an available
amount remained of £6,447, which admitted of a
dividend of 12s. 6d. per share, leaving a balance of
£97 for the next half-year. A resolution declaring
a dividend at that rate was agreed to, and the
meeting separated.