The Sun.
London, England, 1859-08-13 00:00:00

THE ETV RUSSIAN LOAN.

(Mem the Times City Article.)
The particulars have been published of the new
Russiau Loan. It is to consist of £12,000,000 3
per cent. stock, to be put forth at 6S, with dividend •
from the Ist of May last.' A deposit of 3 per cent.
is to accompany the applications, and the remaining
payments will be 12 per cent; on the 30th August,
13 per cent. on the 24th September, 14 per cent. Ist
November, 13 per cent. 10th December, and 13 per
cent. 25th January. Under these circumstances
the real cost to subscribers will be about NA-. Three
per cent. intsrest is to be allowed for prepayment of
instalments, and for all sums after the first 15 per
cent. bonds will,be immediately issued, if desired.
The dividends are to be paid in London, on the Ist
November and the Ist May, by Messrs. ThompSon,
Boyar, and Co., and applications for the loan are to
be addressed, not later than the 20th inst., to that
firm, or to Messrs. i\llullens, Marshall, and Daniell,
or Messrs. Joshua Hutchinson and Son.

(Fro.pz the Daily News City Article.)

The conditions of the Russian Three per Cent.
Loan of £12,000,000 accord exactly with those
given in the Daily News of the Bth inst., save as
, regards the exception then made, concerning the
dates for payment of the instalments. The price
fixed is 68 per cent., but as the final instalment
does not fall due until the 25th January next,
whilst a whole half-year's dividend will be receiv-
able on the Ist November, the price to the subscriber
is reduced to about 664 per cent., independent of
the allowance of 3 per cent. discount on payments
in advance. A Russian Three per Cent. Stock at
6671 is undoubtedly cheap, in relation to the French
or English Three per Cents., especially considering
the advantage presented through the operation of
the large and constantly accumulating sinking fund
of 11 per cent, per annum. As this 1 per cent. is
calculated upon the nominal amount of the loan, it
follows that a sum of £lBO,OOO will be invested an-
nually. With the Four-and-a-Half per Cent. Rus-
sian stock, now at par, the operation of the sinking
fund acts as a check, whereas with the New Three per
Cent. stock it will act as a strong stimulus to the
price. The preliminary deposit is fixed at 3 per
cent., and the total deposit, due the 30th inst., at
15 per cent. The circumstance that bonds will be
given for every payment after the first will facili-
tate the transfer of the loan into strong hands. The
payments are spread over a total period of five
months, but it is impossible to say what portion of
the £8,000,000 forming the cash proceeds of. the
loan will be drawn from England, since all previous
Russian loans have been largely absorbed on the
Continent, where a score of subscription lists are
now lacing organised for the present one. From
St. Petersburg, Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfort, Am-
sterdam, and Paris numerous applications are ex-
pected. The list will be kept open until Saturday
the 20th, in order to allow time to the foreign sub-
scribers. The loan is announced through Messrs.
Thomson, Bonar, and Co., of London and St. Peters-
burg—one of the oldest mercantile firms in Europe.
The manifestations repeatedly given by the present
Government of Russia of its desire .for peace and
commercial progress will go far to promote the suc-
cess of the pending negotiation.

TIIIS DAYS MARKETS.
COVENT-GARDEN.

The supply of most kinds of vegetables is seasonably
good, but of fruit very moderate. A fair busines has been
done in most kinds of produce, as follows:

FRUIT,

s. d. s. d.
Pine apples, peril) 4 0 to 6 01
Colonial do., each 1 0 to 3 e)1
kirapes, per 1b.... 2 0 to 3 0
Foreign do . 0 0 to 0 0
Melons, each .... 1 0 to 3 0
Peaches,-per doz.. 2 0 to 15 0
Nectarines, per dz 2 0 to 15 0
Apples, per hf. sv. 1 6 to 3 6
Pears, per d 0..... 1 6 to 3 0
Oranges, per 100.. 6 0 to 10 0
Lemons, per 100.. 4 0 to 8 0
Apiicots. per doz 2 0 to 3 6

s. d. s. d.
Cherries, per lb 0 9to 2 6
Filberts, per lb 0 9to 1 0
Cobnuts, per lb 0 oto 0 0
Almonds, per bus 0 oto 0 0
Walnuts, per 100 0 10 to 1 3
Figs, rer doz 2 oto 4 6
Strawberries p ptl 0 oto 0 0
Gooseberries hisv 4 oto 5 0
Currants, per do. 4 6to 5 6
Plums, per do.
Greengages, pr do. 6 oto 7 0
Raspberries, prptlo Bto 0 9

VEGETABLES.
Greens, dz bunch 1 oto 1 6 , Shallots, per lb .. 0 6to 0 8
Cabbages, pr. doz 0 10 to 1 6 Horseradish, pbn 1 oto 2 0'
Savoy do., pr do. 0 oto 0 0 Parsley, per ditto 0 2to 0 4
Cauliflowers, pdz 1 oto 3 0 I Celery, per ditto 0 oto 0 0
Brocoli, per bh 0 Bto 1 0 Beet, per doz. .. 1 6to 2 0
Old potatoes,p ton to 0 Parsnips, per do. 0 oto 0 0
New ditto, per tog 80 0 tol2o 0 Small salad, p. pn, 0 o:to 0 0
Peas, per i sieve 1 6to 2 0 Mushrooms,p pun 0 9to 1 3
Turnips, dz bunch 2 6to 3 61 Artichokes, pr dz 2 oto 3 0
Carrots, pr do 4 6to 5 6 ' Cabbage lett,score 0 Bto 10 0
Cucumbers 2 oto 6 0 Endive, per score 0 oto 0 0
Garlic, per lb
Sorrel, per sieve 0 oto 0 0 TomatoeS, pr doz 3 oto 5 0
Spinach,hr-sv 0 oto 0 0 Walnuts, per 100 0 oto 0 0
Brus. sprouts, h.s 0 oto 0 0 Chillies, per ditto 0 oto 0 0
Old onions, dz bun 0 oto 0 0 Capsicums, per do 0 oto 0 0
New do., doz bun 1 :i to 1 9 Rhubarb, per bun 0 oto 0 0
French beans, h.s. 2 oto 2 61Asparagus, pr do. 0 oto 0 0
•
Leeks, per bunch 0 2to 0 3 Seakale, perpun. 0 0 to 0 0

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

LONDON AND NORTH-WESTERN.

The directors of the London and North-Western
Railway Company, at the half-yearly meeting of
proprietors to be held on the 19th inst., will recom-
mend a dividend at the rate of 41 per cent. per an-
num for the half-year ending the 30th of June last,
carrying forward a balance of £9,236.
The directors of this company have just issued
their report and statement of accounts. The report
states that the receipts include those of the Chester
and Holyhead Railway and steamvessels for the
half-year and corresponding period of 1858. The
receipts from passengers, parcels, mails, &c.,
mounted to £812,758 for the past half-year against
£758,383 in the corresponding period of 1858,
allowing an increase of £54,375, and the receipts
from merchandise, &c., amounted to £850,529
against £756,606, showing an increase of £93,923,
making the total receipts for the past half-year
£1,663,287 against £1,514,989 for the correspond-
ing half of 1858, showing an increase of £148,298.
The working expenses were £731,808 against
£688,834, showing an increase of £42,974, leaving
the net increase £105,324. The report goes on to
state that the increase of £148,298 in the receipts
arises mainly from additional traffic in passengers
and goods, and is attributable in a limited degree
only to the cessation of competition at reduced
rates ; in fact, the partial restoration of. fares
hitherto has been to a great degree neutralised by
the frequent running of excursion trains, and the
existence of special contracts for goods at low rates
which have not only very seriously interfered with
the proceeds of the ordinary traffic between the
more important points, but have also added mate-
rially to the cost of working. During the past six
months, as compared with the corresponding period
of 1858, the increase has been—Number of passen-
gers carried, 449,348 ; weight of goods, 265,4 p
tons; weight of minerals, 178,207 tons; mileage' of
passenger trains, 144,570 miles ; mileage of
goods trains, 259,300 miles. Throughout the en-
tire system (including the stations on the Chester
and Holyhead Line) the local traffic has shown a
steady and satisfactory increase of receipt both
in the passenger and merchandise branches.
The widening of the railway from Willesden to
Bletchley has been completed, and the additional
line was opened throughout for the use of the
goods and mineral trains on the Ist of July. The
result of the several applications to Parliament
affecting their interests made by this company and
others has been,on the whole, satisfactory, although
the rejection by the House of Lords of the bill for
authorizing arrangements between the London and
North-Western, the Great Northern, and the Man-
chester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Companies, and
which had been approved by the committee of the
House of Commons, is much to be regretted, as it
will interpose delay and difficulty in giving to the
proprietors of the several companies and to the pub-
lic the advantages and the accommodation which
the agreement, fully carried out, would afford. A
renewed application will be made to Parliament,
and in the meantime effect will be given to the
agreement as far as practicable. Acts have been
passed, for authorizing the construction of a rail-
way between Garston and Edge-hill, near Liver-
pool; for authorizing the partition of the London-
Station, Manchester ; for authorizing working
arrangements between the London and North-
Western and North Staffordshire Railway Com-
panies ; for authorizing arrangements between the
Birkenhead, Lancashire, and Cheshire Junction,
the London and North-Western, and Great Wes-
tern Companies jointly; and for the construction
by the London and North-Western Company of a
short line from the Aston station on the Grand
Junction, near Birmingham, to Sutton Coldfield.
The projected lines between Dewsbury, Ossett, and
Wakefield, and Batley and Adwalton, have not
been sanctioned ; but the committee on the bill for
the amalgamation of the Lancashire and Yorkshire
and East Lancashire Companies have granted
access over the lines of those companies to Bury,
Halifax, Bradford, Wakefield, and Normanton,
with the needful station accommodation at those
places, the principal objects for which those bills
were promoted have been attained without entail-
ing upon this company the contemplated and other-
wise necessary expenditure of capital. In the same
act access over their line from Ardwick to Stock-
port and Macclesfield has been granted to the
Lancashire and Yorkshire Company on the same
terms and conditions.
After alluding to the proposed arrangement be-
tween the Birkenhead Company and the London
and North-Western and Great Western Company,
for a transfer to the two latter companies of the
Birkenhead undertaking, the report states that the
Government having expressed a desire to have the
communication between England and Ireland acce-
lerated as far as practicable, and having passed a bill
authorising the use of locomotives on the piers and
on the railways crossing the streets of Holyhead,
the directors have intimated their readiness to make

the necessary arrangements, so that a considerable

improvement will probably be at once effected.
0 The directors request a vote of the proprietors for
£63,097 for additional sidings and station accom-
modation.
The net proceeds for the half-year amounted to
£497,226, to which was added £23,196 from the
preceding account, making a disposable balance of
£520,422. The dividend recommended at the rate
of 41 per cent. per annum would absorb £511,186,
and leavo £9,236. At the corresponding period of
1858 the disposable balance was £450,704, includ-
ing £43,347, brought from the preceding account.
The dividend then declared was at the rate of 31
per cent. per annum, and'absorbed £444,778, leav-
ing a balance of £5,925 for the next account.

GREAT WESTERN.

Yesterday at 1 o'clock the half-yearly general
meeting of the proprietors of this company was held
at the Paddington Station for general purposes of
business and for the purpose of submitting for the
consideration and approval of the shareholders an
agreement proposed to be entered into by the Bir-
kenhead Railway Company for the transfer of the
Birkenhead Railway to the London and North-
Western and Great Western Railway Companies
jointly. There was a large attendance of proprie-
tors. The Earl of Shelburne, chairman of the com-
pany, presiding.
The report stated that, from the gradual revival
of trade, an increase of £50,999 had taken place in
the past half-year in the receipts on the Great
Western lines, and £20,082 on the Shrewsbury
lines, making a total of £71,081. The report goes
on to state,—" Notwithstanding such increased re-
ceipts, the general working expenses, with one ex-
ception, have diminished. The maintenance of way
and works is substantially the only item for which
any greater charge has arisen, and this is attribut-
able partly to the reconstruction of timber struc-
tures, adverted to in last report of the directors. It
must be added that several new lines of railway,
opened in 1857 and 1858, have since become a charge
on the revenue for maintenance ; and that a new
system of removing and reinstating two or three
miles of continuous lengths of permanent way, has
been resorted to as a method of insuring a m ore
permanent improvement of the line, but which has
been attended with additional cost. It will be seen
by the accounts that £l,OOO has been set aside from
revenue under the head of Reserve for Fire Insu-
rance premiums.' The directors think it judicious
to provide a fund to meet losses, which the company,
as self-insurers in many instances, might otherwise
have to defray out of the current revenue, whenever
they occur. They therefore recommend £2,500 to
be debited in each year, until a sum of £20,000
shall become available to meet any loss from fire,
-which reserve fund should be treated in like man-
ner with the Accident Fund, already accumulated
to, that prescribed amount. An additional charge
of £5OO has been appropriated to meet any bad or
doubtful debts, and both sums are comprised within
the working expenses of the last half-year. The
auditors have personally superintended the taking
of stock of all stores belonging to the company at
Swindon, datother •
an every station where stores
are kept for general use. They have reported to
,the board their entire satisfaction with the result of
that investigation which has verified the actual pos-
session of the stores represented by the accounts to
be in stock on 30th June last. The disposable bal-
ance, aft,v providing for all interest on loans and
fixed rent', as well as preference dividends pay-
able by the .company, amounts to £96,256 ; from
which the directors recommend a dividend to be
declared at the Yate of, 2 per
cent. por annum
on the consolidated stock and Windsor shares, pay-
able to the proprietor,. in the usual way on and
after the Ist September,
,leaving
car-
.ried over to the current half-year.
13 iBtB3 to be
will be seen
,637 have
.that out of £77,000 due for liabilities, "6,3 r..
bt en paid, while, on the other hand, £2lhave
be, In received in part of the value of surplus land,
&c.,. expected tb realise in the aggregate LI02,006:
The Brentford Railway and Docs were opened for
certa in descriptions of traffic on the 18th of July ;
but, i nasmuch as some portion of the work remains
to be "ompleted by that company, the conditions of
the pe, -manent lease, with respect to the quantity
of good's to be sent there do not yet come
.intoope-
ration. The act of Parliament ratifying the agree-
ment w ith the Brentford Dock Company has
received the Royal assent. It is with peculiar
satisfactit ni your directors- mention the friendly
co-oper,atio n and mutual support given during the
present cess ion by the London and North-Western
and Grea ffestern Companies to two bills, pos-
sessing a lot nmon interest for their respective pro-
prietors. ._Th e prolongation of the West London
Railway fro tri Kensington to join with the South-
Western an. i Crystal Palace Railways, on the ,
south of the ames, intended to be connected with a

the Victoria Railway Station in Westminster, ap- 1
peared to be so important for the acquisition of
additional traffic for both systems, as to lead to an
arrangement for obtaining Parliamentary sanction
to that undertaking, to which the South-Western
and Brighton Campanies were also parties."
The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the
report, said it was a subject of no little gratifica-
tion to him to be able, on the first occasion on
which he had the honour of meeting the proprietors
as chairman, to address them on a state of things
which, as shown in that document, presented not
a few favourable features. There had been a con-
siderable increase in the traffic receipts of the
line, and that increase had been obtained with-
out a corresponding increase in the working ex-
penses—proving that the directors had neither
been neglectful in developing the large re-
sources of the company on the one hand,
nor, on the other, in the practical observance
of those principles of economy on which they un-
dertook to administer its affairs. His gratification,
however, was not wholly unmixed ; for there was
undoubtedly a very large increase in the expendi-
ture for Ihe maintenance of way and works,
though with respect to a portion of that increase,
they might look forward to its disappearance‘after
the lapse of a certain number of years, because,
being attributable to the substitution of stone for
timber in viaducts and other works, it would cease
altogether after the line had been put in a per-
fectly satisfactory state. Even after deducting the
items for the maintenance of way which had refe-
rence to the viaducts, a very large and unpleasant
increase undoubtedly remained. That was owing
chiefly to the adoption of the new system of remov-
ing and reinstating continuous lengths of the line,
instead of what might be termed patching it. The
great increase in that respect came upon him and
his brother directors with much surprise, but it was
impossible for them to have been aware of it before
the accounts were made up. He hoped, however, in
future a reduction might be made under that head
without impairing the efficiency of the line, and
with that view the board. would give its best atten-
tion to the subject in all its details. Since the last
general meeting the Brentford Railway and Docks
had been opened, and the board saw no reason to
change the opinion they had_ previously formed of
the merits of that scheme. It had, however, been
opened for so short a time that it would be prema-
ture to appeal to retrospective results. But several
contracts had been made for carrying coal over that
line and through the dock, and the directors were
sanguine as. to future profits. With respect to the
Abingdon line, the directors had in the first instance
undertaken to workit at cost price, but finding they
could work it at 60 per cent. working expenses they
had made an arrangement with that company satis-
factory to both parties, and which would place the
town of Abingdon in direct communication with
the Great Western system. He had to express the
gratification which he and his brother directors felt
not only with reference to the support given to
two bills, possessing a common interest for their

respective -proprieto-rs, but also as a general prin-
ciple the London and North-Western and Great
Western Companies were now working together in
perfect amity, which he could not doubt would
tend to the advantage of both. (Hear.) One of those

two bills related to the Birkenheacf Railway, re-
specting which this meeting would afterwards be
made special to consider an agreement for the future
working and management of that line. The other
was the prolongation, by a deviation at Wormwood
Scrubs, of the West London Railway from Ken-
sington, to join with the South-Western and Crystal
Palace Railways on the south of the Thames, and
eventually be connected with the Victoria Railway
station, by which an admirable access to Westmin-
ster traffic would be given to both the London and
North-Western and the Great Western systems. It
was needless to dwell on the value of that access,
provided it could be had on reasonable terms. The
companies concerned, instead of endeavouring at
the outset to convince each other that the great
object in view was the benefit of itself, had
been able in a short time and in an amicable
spirit to agree upon a plan uniting them
all with the West London extension scheme. With
reference to the Metropolitan Railway, he was able
to state that the most valuable support had been
given to that project by the corporation of London,
and with that assistance and under the auspices of
its present management, it was likely to be carried
out in an efficient and speedy manner. He hoped
it would not only be remunerative as a railway
scheme, but also the means of conferring great bene-
.

fits on the public at large, and especially on the
working classes. (Hear, hear.) A paragraph in
the report of rather a peculiar nature related to the
. _

church and schools at Swindon. " The time•(said
the report) has at length arrived when the funds
for the support of the church and schools erected at
Swindon by the voluntary subscription of proprie-
tors and other friends to those.institutions, have be-
come nearly exhausted, and some provision ought
to be made for the future." That was a question

fentirely for the proprietors themselves to' decide,
and no proposal would emanate from the board in
reference to it. If he offered an opinion on
the subject it would be as an individual. The
church and schools at Swindon were founded in
1844 and '45, and had since been supported out of
the money at that time subscribed. The institution
had since continued to flourish and had been a great
benefit to the place, and therefore to this company,
who had so large an establishment there. Looking
at it as a question of policy, he thought it would
he impolitic to allow the church and schools to fall
into decay, which they must do if not supported
from some quarter or another. After adverting to
the lossthe directors had sustained since the Febru-
ary meeting, in the deaths of their colleagues, Mr.
R. C. Brown, of Cirencester; Mr. Thos. J. Badger,
of Shrewsbury ; and, more recently, of Mr. R. W.
Clive, M.P. ; and to the retirement of Mr. Atkin-
son from the office of auditor, the duties of which
he had discharged to the complete satisfaction of
the board, the chairman concluded by moving the
adoption of the report.
A PROPRIETOR congratulated the directors on
having at last, after spending, he might say,
thousands on thousands of pounds in squabbling ,
and fighting, come to be on terms of amity
with the London and North-Western Company ;
and he trusted the result would be smsibly felt in
an increase of dividends. He added it was re-
ported that the Great Western Hotel was paying a
very high percentage; and, inasmuch as this com-
pany was extremely useful to the company who
managed the hotel in providing it with visitors, he
thought it only fair that they should demand a
liberal rent. He asked what the cost of the hotel
had been, and the rent that was paid for it.
Mr. SAUNDERS said the cost was about £50,000,
and the rent about £3,500.
Mr. GILES, of ristol, said " Happy the country
whose annals aredull" was a proverb ; and he con-
gratulated the meeting on the report for the last
half-year. From 1846 to 1858 their annual re-
ceipts had increased from £1,000,000 to £1,600,000,
but in the meantime, their dividend had fallen from

£8 to 255., and in the last year, although their re-
ceipts had not increased in a greater ratio than
during the last six years, the dividend had risen
from nil to £2 per cent. (Hear, hear.) He com-
plained that the company had been involved in
extensive schemes and guarantees which had
sapped, and mined the dividends, and he trusted
that for the future they would see no more of
those sappers and miners. (A laugh.) He also
complained that there was a deficiency of accom-
modation on the line for third-class passengers,
who were the mainstay of railroads, and that the
convenience provided for second-class passengers
was not what it ought to be. He desired to know
what were the services performed by Mr. Brunel as
consulting engineer of the company. He also
pointed attention to the circumstance of Mr. Gooch,
the head of the locomotive department, having been
for some years the chairman of the Rhuabon Coal
Company, besides being consulting engineer to other
companies, and being concerned in other patent
rights, all of which necessarily encroached on the
time he was expected to devote to the interests of
the company. He held that it was desirable to have
the undivided rather than the eccentric attention of
a man of great ability such as Mr. Gooch.
Mr. SAUNDERS, in reply to a proprietor, said
from the first he had held that the arrangement re-
specting the Brentford Railway and Docks was a
desirable one, and had never denied that it would
redound to the advantage of this company. (Hear.)
Maim. COURT pointed the attention of the meet-
ing to the debenture statement in the report of the
several amounts of loans and rates of interest, form-
ing an aggregate total of £10,274,078 odd. The
accountant of the company could, he had no doubt,
state that the total amount of interest chargeable
upon all loans was £215,768 9s. 3d. But, as corn•
pared with that sum, the meeting would observe
that 4,. the entry of charge against revenue was
per
anotherce
—24,301 15s. Bd., making an excess of X 11,533 6s.
5d., or more than an equivalent to an addition of I-
nt.to
mattertl olifaalfc-coyeuanrtlydividend)
toT here
wasto
.which he would callattention.chargeable capital
In the account for
the half-year just
liabilities for Ji .I.ended the balance of estimated
£75,151 13s. pii,itictathien vas represented to be
submitted that the true
amount was P3.2,54,5'we
the capital account ough.t4tdo.b He
contended that
of items, and concluded by moving as
of a number
amend-
ment that a committee be appointiengtoas an'
capital and revenue accounts embed_
ode.xamine the
di in the half-
year's statement before the meeting.
Mr. COTTLE, in seconding the amendment, u b
mitted that the time had arrived when the proprie-
torss- should understand the true position of the
company—(hear, hear)—and that until the capital
account was closed they would never know the ex-

tent of their liabilities. (Hear, Bear.) He was
not a large proprietor, but he knew the grievous
loss which had been entailed on his family, several
of whom were of the weaker sex, by the diminu-
tion of the dividends, and he was afraid there were
but too many instances of that kind.
Mr. EDWARDS said the motion for the appoint-
ment of a committee was tantamount to a vote of
censure on the auditors of the company, imply; ig,
in fact, that they were incompetent to the discharge
of their duties. The capital account had been di-
nishing, instead of augmenting, during the last
half-year ; the affairs of the company were progress-
ing satisfactorily; and he thought such a commit-
tee was totally uncalled for.
Mr. E. HARPER, an auditor, explained that
£5,081, part of the £11,533 odd mentioned by
Major Court, had become chargeable in the past
half-year, in excess of the ordinary interest which
would have been charged against the half-year, in
consequence of some bonds having been paid off, on
which interest had been paid up to the time of their
having been discharged. He also explained how
by the treatment of another sum of £6,800 in the
accounts, which Major Court had not taken into
account, the discrepancy of £11,500 odd, of which
the major complained, was reconciled.
Mr. SAUNDERS, in further explanation, said in
1849 a committee of consultation required from the
directors a statement of the amount which then be-
came payable in respect of the company's liabilities.
An account was thereupon stated of the whole
amount the company would have to pay on the one
side and that which they would have to receive on
the other, and a balance was struck. In 1850, with
the full assent of the committee of consultation,
£350,000 was stated as the balance which the com-
pany would have to pay, and which would be
paid gradually. Every half-year subsequently the
amount paid and received had been shown. The
company had paid a total sum of £315,000 ; but
they had received £41,362. Practically speak-
ing, when they declared on the face of their accounts
the balance of their liabilities to be £350,000, they
showed also they had paid £315,000. They had
paid £315,000 on account of £350,000, and they
had shown in the accounts that they had received
£41,362. He pledged himself that there had been
110_" cooking" of the accounts.

Major COURT protested against the accuracy of
Mr. Saunders's figures, and was about to state his
reasons, when being reminded that he had already
spoken, he resumed his seat, remarking that the
statement he had'made was founded on infallible
truth.

A PROPRIETOR suggested that the dividend should
be paid without any deduction in respect to income
tax, which might be paid out of the balance in hand.
On a show of hands, Major Court's amendment
was lost, and the motion for the adoption of the
report carried,-with few dissentients.
The CHAIRMAN said, in answer to Mr. Giles, the
question of an increase of third-class accommodation
should be considered by the board. That of the
second-class carriage accommodation had been con-
sidered by them already, and orders had been given
to increase it. With respect to the question ofgua-
rantees, he did not consider a line such as the
Abingdon came within that category. It was a
question of a working arrangement which was re-
munerative to the Great Western Company. The
Birkenhead line again was a case of positive trans-
fer, and must be considered on its own merits.

With respect to Mr. Brunel, at the time he became

consulting 'engineer to the company there were
questions pending affecting it, involving vast sums
'of money, and his services had been extremely valu-
able. These services had occupied so much of Mr.
Brunel's time that if he had had to make out a bill

for his trouble and loss of time it must have amounted
to much more than the salary he received. He also
gave evidence before railway committees, for which
the company would otherwise have had to remu-
nerate him. As to Mr. Gooch, no doubt he was
connected with 'the Rhuabon Coal Company, and
other `enterprises. That gentleman intimated on
a former occasion that if there was the least idea
on the part of the directors that his services to
the company would be interfered 'with by his
connection with other subjects he was perfectly
ready to resign his situation. The matter was well
considered by the board, who were then, as now, of
opinion that if Mr. Gooch were to resign the com-
pany would be the first to suffer, for they would
lose a valuable servant whom they would find great
difficulty in replacing.
A proprietor asked what Mr. Gooch's salary was.
The CHAIRMAN replied £1,500.
Mr. SAUNDERS, in reply to Mr. Nicholson, said,
touchinc, the Metropolitan Railway, he had within
the last few hours seen a very influential gentleman
connected with the city, who had taken a very
active part in the project, and who had assured
him that by the middle of September the arrange
meats would be complete for carrying it out.
Mr. NORRIS, M.P., said, with the view of dissi-
pating any doubt as to the bona fides orthe Metro-
politan Company, they had obtained an act of Par-

liament extending their power, and had nearly, if
not entirely, completed their subscription list, to
which the corporation of London had engaged to
contribute £200,000. (Hear, hear.)
On the motion of the CHAIRMAN, it was resolved
that a dividend at the rate of £2 per cent. for the
half-year ended on the 30th of June be paid on and
after the Ist of September next on the consolidated
and ordinary stock of the company and on the
Windsor shares.

It was also resolved, on the motion of the CHAIR-
MAN, that a sum be set apart annually, until the
aggregate amount reached £20,000, to be applicable
to all losses by fire.

On a vote Of thanks being proposed by the CHAIR-
MAN to the auditors, one of whom, Mr. Atkinson, at
the solicitation of gentlemen in the meeting, agreed
to forego an intention he had previously intimated
of resioming, and to continue to act for anotheryear.
Mr. H. TAYLOR said he considered the ceremony
of auditing the accounts a piece of humbug. (A
laugh, and some disapprobation.) The auditors
came at stated times, walked about the room, had
their lunch, and then they went away. (A laugh,
and renewed disapprobation.)
Mr. SAUNDERS, in reply to this charge, bore his
testimony to the stringency, efficiency, and extreme
impartiality of the audit.
Some further discussion took place on the subject,
but it had little public interest ; and eventually the
motion was carried almost unanimously.
Mr. NICHOLSON proposed an addition of £5O
a-year to the salary of each of the auditors.
Mr. ATKINSON, the principal auditor, expressed
his thanks; but said he did not wish an increase of
salary, and would not accept it. (Cheers.) He had
consented to act, he said, because a considerable part
of his property had been embarked in the under•
taking since its commencement. He had retained
that property in the hope of better times ; they
ought to have better times ; and if the capital ac-
count was kept down they would have in three years
a dividend of from £3 to £4 per cent. (Hear.)
A discussion ensued on a motion of Mr. NORRIS
M.P., to set apart £3OO a-year for the support of
the charch and schools at Swindon, where about
1,000 persons in the employment of the company
live, and where some 700 children are receiving
education in the schools ; but it ultimately fell
to the ground, the chairman engaging, however, on
a suggestion by Mr. Saintsbury, to consider, with
the rest of the directors, how the necessary funds
might be raised by voluntary contributions on the
part of the shareholders. _

The meeting was then made special for the pur-
pose of considering and sanctioning an agreement
for the transfer of the Birkenhead Railway Com-
pany to the Great Western and the London and
North-Western Companies.
The CHAIRMAN said the meeting could have little
doubt as to the policy of the proposed transfer.
The Birkenhead lines formed, in fact, already a
portion practically of the Great Western system,
for without them the Great Western could not
have access to one of its great natural outlets to
the sea. If this agreement were not carried out
this company would still be deprived of that out-
let, and ba liable to a diVersion of its traffic and
various other inconveniences.

From the summary of the proposed agree-
, ment between the Birkenhead and the Londcn
and North-Western and Great Western Com-
panies, it appears that the undertaking of the for-
mer is to be transferred to the two latter com-
panies, as from the Ist of January, 1860, for which
they are jointly to assume theliabilities, amounting
to £512,000, and to pay dividends half-yearly, on
a capital not exceeding £2,000,000, at the rate of
2,1 per cent. for the years 1860 and 1861, at the
rate of 3 per cent. per annum for the four follow-
ing years, and in 1866 and thereafter at the rate of
4 per cent. per annum. There are also contingent
advantages dependent on the increase of traffic.
After some discussion as to the advantages of the
measure, and the facilities it would afford to the
Great Western traffic, not only to Birkenhead, but
to Manchester, a formal resolution authorising the
directors to carry the agreement into effect was
unanimously adopted.
The proceedings concluded with a vote of thanks
to the chairman.