The Sun.
London, England, 1859-08-20 00:00:00

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

LONDON AND NORTH-WESTERN.
The half-yearly meeting of this company was
held yesterday, at the Euston Station, for the trans-
action of general business. The chair was taken
by the Marquis of Chandos.
The SECRETARY having read the advertisement
convening the meeting, the report, given in this
journal a few days since, was taken as read.
The CHAIRMAN then said—l presume the pro-
prietors, following the course usually, adopted,
since the report has been circulated with the ac-
counts, will take the report as read. I have, then,
very few words to offer before submitting it for
your adoption. The proprietors will perceive,
from the statement in the report, that the increase
in the receipts is attributable in a great degree to
additional traffic, and still at the low rates, and not,
as I certainly expected last Christmas would have
have been the case, from, to a great extent, an
alteration of the rates 'which had been disturbed by
the competition; and that is explained by the cir-
cumstance that during the competition many special
bargains and other arrangements had been made
by other companies, which prevented the small rise
in the rates, which it had been agreed on all hands
was a proper rise to be made, taking effect until
those special bargains had dropped. The result
has been that for a large portion of the last half-
year we have still been carrying on the traffic to a
very considerable amount at the reduced rates
which were forced upon us during the competition.
Taking an instance, I may mention a very large
amount of traffic between London and Manchester
where the rates agreed on by all parties was 385.,
but where, until the latter portion of last year,
we were unable to obtain more than 30s.
And with regard to passenger traffic also, to a con-
siderable extent, the same remark applies. The low
rates at Manchester induced, as a consequence, the
reduction of the rate to many of the towns in the
neighbourhood, and the large number of excursion
trains run to those places have had the effect of
preventing the traffic being carried on at the full
rates which it was intended to charge, and whioh
I am glad to be able to say will be adopted within
a short period—rates which will conduce to the
interests of the proprietors, and which the public
can afford to pay, and will, I think, be glad to pay
for good service. You will see from the report that
the measures presented to Parliament for authoris-
ing arrangements between the Great Northern Rail-
way Company, the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lin-
colnshire Company, and this company, after having
been approved by the House of Commons, and the
principles of those arrangements held not objection-
able by the committee of the House of Lords, were
still rejected by that house. The result of that
rejection will be to prevent the completion of the
arrangements between the respective companies,
until further powers shall be obtained from Parlia-
ment; but, as we have stated in the report, and as
I am glad to be able to repeat, the Great Northern,
and the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire
Companies and ourselves are in perfect accord with
regard to the mode in which, pending further ap-
plications to Parlianent, the traffic of the lines shall
be conducted and the business of the companies
carried on. Ido not know that there is anything
in the accounts to which it is necessary I should
call your attention now, before the proprietors
have had an opportunity of putting those questions
which I have no doubt they will put en any points
which may require explanation. Therefore, merely '
calling attention to the fact that this is the first
meeting of this company which has been held with-
out the presence of one of the earliest promoters of
railways, Mr. Henry Booth, and asking you to join
the directors in an expression of their appreciation
of the services he has rendered to the interests of
the railway world at large, but particularly to the
interests of this company, I will move the formal
adoption of the report. (Cheers.)
Mr. PUNCHER, M.P., thought their miserable
dividend was attributable not to excursion trains or
bad management, but to thriftiness. He believed,
however, that though the directors were careful,
those employed by them were not so, for he knew
an instance where £20,000 was expended without
any cause whatever. Their stations were kept in
a very expensive manner, and too much money was
spent in pulling down and building up without any
cause whatever. They were losing XI,OOO a week
between London and Rugby in consequence of the
carelessness of their officers and servants. He in-
tended to move that a committee of seven, three to
be a quorum, be appointed to examine the accounts
of the company, and to compare them with the
printed accounts circulated among the proprietors,