The Sun.
London, England, 1866-04-18 00:00:00

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

GRAND TRUNK OF CANADA.
The report of the directors states that the gross
receipts of the united system of the Grand Trunk,
Champlain and Buffalo, and Lake Huron, in the
six months ended Dec. 31 last, were £714,780, the
ordinary working expenses being £395,674, or 55.35

per cent. ; there remained £319,106. From this was
deducted £89,689, being the whole expenditure in-
curred in the half year for renewals of the railway
and works, and £52,945 to extinguish the whole

amount left at the debit of the renewal suspense

account, leaving £176,472, minus the nominal

amount of postal and military service revenue—viz.,
£15,363, but plus the balance of £BO remaining
over from the preceding half year, leaving £161,189,
which was disposed of as follows :—£58,848 for
discount on American currency, £2,287 interest on
lands, £4,424 interest on mortgage to Bank of Up-
per Canada, £14,688 interest on loans, Island Pond
Debentures, exchange, &c., £2,312 instalment on
Portland sinking fund, £32,786 rent of Atlantic
and St. Lawrence, £11,250 rent of Detroit line,
£10,274 Montreal and Champlain, £16,864 Buffalo
and Lake Huron, and £7,494 equipment Bond in-
terest, making together £161,226 less £37 over-
charged on second preference interest, £161,189.
The certificates for the interest due for the past year
on the preference bonds and stocks would be issued
on the 15th May next. With the exception of the
bankers' balances in Canada, covered by securities,
the undertaking was on the 31st Dec. last free from
liability or debit to suspense account, while the net
revenue alone had now paid for the whole ordinary
and extraordinary renewals un lertaken since 1861
inclusive, amounting in total to £526,865. Were it
not for the extraordinary charge against revenue for
renewals,exceeding the estimate of past years by over
£lOO,OOO, and the loss on American currency of
£59,000, a sum of say £160,000 would have
been available for division on the prefe-
rence bonds and stocks sufficient to pay the
full half-year's interest on the first, second,
and third preferences, and 11 per cent. on the
fourth preference stock. It must, however, be ex-
pected that the cost of renewals would be consider-
able for some time to come. The steady decline in
the premium of gold in the United States (now 25
per cent.) gave teason to hope that the late serious
deductions from earnings for loss on the exchange
of American currency would before long cease ; as
from the Ist of January last the board proposed that
the net earnings be regularly remitted and be divided
fur interest and dividend in accordance with the re-
spective priorities of the bonds and stocks of the
company. The increase of the gross receipts of the
half year as compared with the corresponding half
of 1864 had been £86,565, or at the rate of 14 per
_ _ _

cent. The average receipt per passenger carried had
been 7s. 10d. against ss. Bd., and the average receipt
per ton of freight had been 15s. sd. as against
15s. 9d. in the corresponding half-year. The in-
crease of the ordinary working expenses had been
£19,402, or at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum, as
against the above increase of 14 per cent. in receipts.
In consequence of the exceptional charges against
the half-year, amounting in the aggregate to
£142,634, the deductions from gross revenue work
out to a total debit of 75.31 per cent., but excluding
such charges the ordinary working expenses were
55.35 per cent. as against 59.90 per cent. in the
corresponding half of last year. In addition to large
indirect taxation, in the United States the direct
payments made in the half-year had been £6,481 on
the Portland section, £2,651 on the Detroit section,
making together £9,132. The whole of the accounts
between the Grand Trunk Company and the Govern-
ment of Canada had been adjusted. The amount due
from the Grand Trunk Company to the postal and
military bondholders had been settled. The gross
receipts per mile of railway in the past half-year
ending the 31st of December as compared with the
corresponding half of 1862, showed an increase
of 28.76 per cent. on the whole length of line, 1,377
miles, against 1,090 miles in 1862 ; 40.58 per cent.
on the Atlantic line, 139.12 per cent. on the Detroit
line, and 33.94 per cent. on the Grand Trunk line
proper. The financial arrangements made during
the half-year cleared off loans and other debts to
the amount of £352,951. It was a matter of regret
that the Reciprocity Treaty affecting trade and
navigation between the British North American
Provinces and the United States was allowed to ex-
pire on the 17th of March last. It might be that
the great question of the early confederation of the
vast territories belonging to the British Crown on
the North American Continent would be forced by
the action of the United States to an immediate
issue ; and the construction of the Intercolonial
Railway, extending the Grand Trunk system
through the New Brunswick coalfields to Halifax,
the finest port upon the Atlantic, be rendered in-
evitable. The company's executive in Canada
stated that the credit of the company had been
thoroughly re-established, and its accounts were
paid with punctuality. The capital account showed
a total expenditure of £17,021,362.

BItECON, MERTHYR, AND NEWPORT.
The Newport section of this railway was opened
for traffic on Monday, and in a short time the line
is to be opened throughout from Newport to
Merthyr and Brecon, completing the communica-
tion between the Brecon and Merthyr district and
the railways branching off to Shrewsbury, Crewe,
Liverpool, and Manchester. The line was con-
structed by Mr. Savin.