The Sun.
London, England, 1857-08-10 00:00:00

THE CRYSTAL PALACE.

The Crystal Palace shares with railways and with
other glories and delicice of England the inconve-
nience of not answering as a speculation. A Com-
mittee of Shareholders has just sat upon the affairs
of the Company, and issued its report. The public
will inspect with some curiosity the outgoings and
incomings of its favourite, and will be ready with
its condolence at the balance being so much on the
wrong side. It will cause a little surprise to hear
that the gardens of the Palace at present employ
146 gardeners. The committee not unreasonably
thinks this rather too large a staff, and considers
that a less number, with more supervision, will do
as well. But it is not so much the expenses of the
general management, which are not considered ex-
cessive, as those of the " frequent novelties and
varied attractions," which incur censure. These
latter, it appears have been great failures. The
Handel Festival does not come into this report—
why we do not know. But the otheri" attractions"
have been all but universally losses. The "Peace
Festival" cost the Company 1,9081. and onlybrought
in 6281., making a loss of 1,2801. to the Company.
The Poultry Show cost 939/., the single article of
coops being 1961., and only just cleared its ex-
penses. The Flower shows were a better specula-
tion, bringing iu a balance of 4821. But
now comes the formidable head of "Opera Con-
certs," under which the commmittee considers
the Company a loser of 5,0001. It seems that for
12 Opera Concerts the agreement gave Mr. GYE
10,0381., which sum various other items swelled
to 11,461/. Then the Committee complains
generally of the carelessness of the Directors in
the contracts made, " which have been onesided
" and much against the interests of the Company."
The Company e. g. has lost 2001.-6 d. per dozen
—in the course of the year by sodawater, the cal-
culation being that it ought to have gained 3,0001.
The difference, of course, has been in favour of the
contractor.

The conclusion which the report points to is one
which any person of common sense could have
prophesied,—that the " attractions" are not the
attraction at the Crystal Palace. People go there
for an "outing," for fresh air a fine view, and a
magnificent garden. A jaded Londoner does not
want to see sights,—he is sick of sight-seeing,—
he wants to get out of their way. They are part of
London ; he is glad to leave them with the smoke
and toil of the city , behind him, and to go to
somewhere where there there is nothing to see
but what he can see by simply opening his eyes.
There is all the difference between sights ; we
see some sights by simply opening our eyes ; we
see others by "screwing" them. The connoisseur
looks at Dante describes his tailor looking when
he threads his needle—squeezing his eye into the
smallest compass. The organ is stimulated by
compression, and shoots its sharp arrows out of a
corner of itself—a sort of essence of sight. But
to look through a tenth part of one eye, or even
to fix both with a constant tension upon curious
objects, is not so healthy or pleasant or cheering
a process as to look with two good open uncon-
strained eyes upon land or sea or sky. The
reason why flower shows are such popular sights—
for they appear to have succeeded even at the
Crystal Palace—is because nine people out of ten
hardly look at the flowers. There is just a hasty
glance thrown round two or three tents—we look
at the banks of azaleas, and pimeleas, geraniums,
and calceolarias, and then the eye reposes with
dreamy pleasure upon the successive waves of the
well dressed and brilliant crowd, or we listen in
" a wise vacancy" to the strains of music from the
band. The Londoner, then, goes to the Crystal
Palace for the freshener which the air and the land-
scape give him. He eats his cold dinner and drinks
pale ale with the heartiness of a rustic, and goes
back to his work again. This is his attraction. A
concert is no more to his taste than a gallery of pic-
tures or statutes. He can hear concerts enough in
London. He does not go out of London to sit still
on a chair, with only moderate room for his legs.
It is quite true the Crystal Palace is more liberal
of room to the knees than Exeter-hall ; it is possible
to sit out even a concert there and not feel yourself
in the stocks. This is a great undoubted merit ; it
is almost a revolution in the musical world. It, at
any rate, deserves to be marked as an era in the
history of music. The Handel Festival gave the
satisfaction it did principally from the fact of the
perfect comfort in which the performances were
heard: We throw no reflection on the vocalists or
the orchestra, on the choruses or the solos, but no
music can possibly entrance when the space between
the back of your own chair and that of your neigh-
bour's before you is less than the length which
nature has made from the knee to the hip joint.
There is an insurmountable obstacle to anything
like ecstacy under such circumstances. No man
was ever enraptured in the stocks. It is one of
u without
the remarkable consequences of the new Crystal
architecture m tobe
r s
be
heard
gitivesroom for numbers enables nisi
without pain,
undue compression. Space and profit—those old
that it
and mortal enemies—ism at last decently recon-
cile& But, with all the superior resources
which the Crystal Palace possesses for concerts,
concerts are not the attraction to bring the
masses out of London. Everybody knows
Sidney Smith's opinion of concerts. They
require singular patience, and they impose au
unnatural stagnation of your limbs for some three
hovers, The iniggspi want giolactbiug mud; more

free and simple. The liandel Festival was an
" event," and appealed to a large upper class pos-
sessed of ample leisure snd purse; but ordinary
concerts will neither bring the upper classes nor the
middle ones.

If the Crystal Palace Company will take our ad-
vice they will try a much shorter and simpler mode
of courting the public. They have already in the
air, sky, and landscape which the place commands
the great attractions which appeal to a Londoner.
It only remains that they should give him as good
a lunch or dinner as is practicabl in this unculi-
nary country. Let the refreshment department
be attended to. Let the pale ale be the very best,
the wine excellent, the attendance unexception-
able. If they give the " best good dinner" that
can be had, the Crystal Palace is sure to be popu-
lar. Let the price be only fairly remunerative. It
will be a mistake if they try to make 3,000/, a-year
by soda water. Let them be content with the shil-
lings as their main payment. The shillings will
come in when good and cheap fare is to be had.
Look at the thousands who go to Greenwich and
other places simply
to dine. The Crystal Palace,
with its superior accommodation, its magnificent
gardens, its prospect, and its band, ought to be
able to outbid humbler rivals. There is an-
other point to attend to. The Crystal Palace
is by no means easy of access from some parts of
London. It takes as long to go from Belgravia to
London-bridge as to drive to Sydenham, and there-
fore for all that part of London the railway is useless
and a carriage is necessary. But how few have car-
riages or horses, or can afford to have them ! The
price of admission may be only one shilling, but the
conveyance will be one pound. There must be new
railway accommodation before one-half of London
can make the Crystal Palace a place of resort..

A_T x war 71+7`r-r Arri

GREAT WESTERN.

The directors of this company have just issued
heir financial statement for the half-year ending
he 30th of June last. It shows, on comparison
with preceding statements, that the heavy expen-
diture of capital 'requisite for the completion of
their authorized system of railways is being
brought to a close. The opening on the Ist of
July' of the Devizes branch, 8i miles in length
has completed the whole of the railways the Corn
pany are authorised to make.
The statement of receipts and expenditure to
the above date shows that the total receipte on
capital account amounted to 23,537,5641., consist-
of 8,161.1251. ordinary stock, 7,784/. Windsor
shares, 59,392/. Berks and Hams extension shares
1,341,979/. irredeemable 4 per cent stock, 129,0001.
redeemable 4 per cent. stock, 1780,457/. redeem-
able 43/4 per cent. stock, 1,006,W2/. redeemable 5
per cent. stock, and the debentures, loans, Sic.,
amount to 10,603,7101. The total expendiure on
capital account amounted to 23,115,4061. Of this
sum -10,171,2821.- was expended on the Greg
Western, Oxford, Berks and Hants, Windsor, and
other lines, and on rolling stock ; 143,0611. on the
Uxbridge and Henley Railways, 4,715,059/. on the
line from Oxford to Wolverhampton and Dudley,
1,577,045/. on the Wilts, Somerset, and Wey-
mouth Railway, 41,335/. on the Didcot deviation
line and engine-house, 134,641/. Ter laying narrow
guage rails from Oxford to Basingstoke ; 29,8511.
Western Fort at Reading ; 12,5971. on bridges in
lieu of level crossings ; 2,749/. on the Acton and
West London Junction ; 2,060,7371. in subscrip-
tions and disbursements for other undertakings, in-
cluding 707,2801. for the South €Vales, 225,000/.
for the South Devon, 125,8821. for the Glocester
and Dean Forest, 545,0001. for tie Wilts, Somer-
set, and Weymouth, 183,857/. for the Oxford, Wor-
cester, and Wolverhampton, 60,0(04 for the Corn-
wall. 97,0311. for the Shrewsbury and Chesteill
35,1241. for the Shrewsbury ad. Birmingham,
24,6921. for the Shrewsbury Amalgamation Act,
10,0001. for the Wycombe, 12,500/. for the Ply-
mouth Great Western Docks, 34,3701. North Me-
tropolitan Railway, 815,7791. on mw rolling stock,
631,7521. on new station at Paddington, and
79,5011. at Bull's-bridge and in other new station
accommodation, making the total expenditure, as
above, 23,115,4051., leaving a balance of 411,958 .
The capital account of the Shrtwsbury railways
shows that 3,427,9901. had been raised, including
2,450,129/. in steps* and shares, V 1,576/. on loan,
247,720/._ loans raised for joint purposes, and
58,565/. on personal accounts, inclusive of 19,276/.
due to Great Western account. The total expen-
diture on these lines to the 30th of June last
amounted to 3,208,201/., and for subscription to
Stourbridge Valley Railway 150,087/., together
3,398,288/., leaving a balance consisting of assets
and personal accounts amounting to 29,701/.
The debenturestatement showe d that 10,222,7601.
had been borrowed to the 30th of June on deben-
tures, of which 4,333,421/. was borrowed at 5 per
cent., 1,139,7451. at 41 per cent., 3,085,826/. at 4i
per cent., 90,5001. at 4i per cent, 887,160/. at 4
per cent. 57,200/. at 3i. per cent., and 628,907/. at
33/4 per cent.
The revenue account of the Great Western lines
for the half-year ending the 30th of June, 1857,
shows that 768,954/. had been received, including
7,050/. rent from the Bristol and Birmingham Rail-
way and dividends from Glocester tramroad,
12,1701. for the use of plant by other companies,
2,914/. interest on revenue cash balances during
the half-year, 6,073/. rent of Great Western Hotel
and other property, and 223/. for registration fees.
The expenditure on revenue account amounted to
349,257/., 01'17.16 per cent., including 16,671/. for
Government duty, 15,6521. rates and tixes, and
2,500/. for Parliamentary and legal expenses, leav-
ing a balance for the half-year of 419,696/. To this
sum is added 17,278/. balance from the preceding
account, 2,5721. from net balance of Kennet and
Avon Canal traffic for the half-year, 570/. profits
under South Wales lease for half-year ending 31st
Dec., 1856, and 16,566/. dividends on shares held
in the South Devon,. South Wales, and Dean Forest
companies—making a total of 456,684/. From this
sum is deducted 158/. for additions to works,
20,1681. for guaranteed annuities to Wilts, Somer-
set, and Weymouth, and the Kennet and Avon
Canal proprietors, 15,832/. rentcharges for the half-
year, including that of the Glocester and Dean
Forest, Hereford, Ross, and Glocester and Wycombe
Railways and of the Paddington estate, 5,422/. ap-
propriated against loss on the lease of the South
Wales Railway prior to the 30(11 June, 1851 (being
a moiety of the dividend received -this half-year),
239,136/. interest on loans, and 106,1481. for inte-
rest on Berks Extension shares and Great Western
Preference stock, and 18,6191. to make up deficiency
of receipts on Shrewsbury lines,
leaving a disposa-
ble sum of 51,197/. Out of this MU the directors
recommend a dividend at the rate of 1 per cent.
per annum, which, on 8,237 276/. of ordinary capi-
tal, will absorb 41,1861., and leave a balance of
10,011/. _ _

The revenue on the Shrewsbury lines for the half-
year, after deducting 5,6571. to cover expenditure
in respect of traffic at Birkenhead and passing over
the Birkenhead Railway, amounted to 124,3381. ;
and the working expenditure to 74,7911., leavinga
balance of 49,5461. to meet 19,1781., the interest
paid on debentures, loans, &c., and 48,9881., the
amount of the half-year's guaranteed dividends ;
together, 68,1661., leaving a deficiency of 18,6191.,
which is provided by the Great Western Company
out of their revenue.
The decrease in the dividend from 21 per cent. at
the corresponding period of 1856 to 1 per cent. in
the past half-year is owing entirely to the whole
of the interest on the capital (with the exception
of 7,6171.) being charged for the first time against
the revenue. The increase in the items of interest
on loans and preference shares charged against re-
venue amounts to 60,8001. over that period for the
half-year ending June, 1856, and is about equiva-
lent to a dividend at the rate of 4 per cent, per an-
num on the consolidated stock of the company.
This result was to a great extent anticipated, but
it was expected that the profit arising from the in-
crease of traffic would have the effect of reducing
the pressure, and thus increasing the net revenue
to meet the heavy charges against it for the inte-
rest on the capital expended on the new lines as
they came into operation. Against this expected
advantage, however, there were the expenses of
the additional working and maintenance of 92
miles of new railway opened in sections, and at va-
rious periods within the space of 13 months. Not-
withstanding the efforts made by the officials the
traffic on these new lines:could not be sufficiently
developed to pay all the working expenses, and
consequently some disappointment has been expe-
rienced in that respect. Time will be required to
develops the traffic on new lines, particularly on
those passing through the agricultural districts, but
there can be no doubt, according to the statistics of
railway traffic, that the returns on these at present
unproductive lines will gradually increase year after
year. It is right to state that the total receipts
during the past half-year show an increase of
64,0001. over those of the corresponding period of
1856, and its probable that a large portion of it be-
longs to the ordinary increase of traffic on the old
lines. On the other hand, the increase in the work-
ing and other expenses appears to be about 67,0001.
mac than, at th 9 gorrespowling period a 1856 §Q

' that for the present the expenses cons€ quent on the
developement of the new lines appear to have more
than absorbed the advantages of the increased traffic
during the half-year. During the first half of the
year the traffic is considerably less on the Great
Western lines than in the second half-year ; this
difference might be estimated from former returns
at about 90,0001., while the difference in the work-
ing expenses may be taken at about 20,0001., so
that the result of the second half-year's working,
even should the traffic on the new lines not increase,
will show a considerable improvement in the sum
available for dividend at the end of the year. There
is another matter, in the present state of the money
market, which acts injuriously to the Great West--
em ; that is the very large proportion of their bor-
rowed capital to the ordinary capital, being about
10,500,0001. against 8,250,0001. of ordinary stock.
The increase of 1 per cent. in the rate of interest on
the borrowed money would alone reduce the ordi-
nary dividend by 11 per cent., quite irrespective of
the traffic, and, vice versa, a decrease in the rate of
interest on the borrowed money would raise the di-
vidend on the ordinary stock. The conversion of
the whole of the borrowed capital into a 4 per cent.
debenture stock would be of considerable advan-
tage to the ordinary shareholders. Considering
that very nearly everything is now being charged
against revenue, both in respect of capital and traf-
fic, in this, the least productive half of the year,
that all the company's lines are completed and
opened for traffic, it may be presumed that the
Great Western Railway Company have arrived at
their lowest dividend, and as the traffic and re-
sources of the undertaking become more productive,
and increase beyond those of the past half year, the
ordinary shareholder may look forward to a pro-
portionate increase of dividend. The company
have 'rlow 467
miles of railway in operation, with
„,„„e,,, ..main. 67. leg at the
corresponding period of 1806. tis pro ale that
the traffic on the 100 miles of additional railway
will increase from time to time as on all other new

lines, pay their working expenses, and eventually
yield a profit on the working. At present the traf-
fic on the old lines pays the interest and preference
dividend on the capital which has been expended
on the new lines. These being as it were already
paid for by the ordinaryshareholders, it is clear that
whatever may be the increase of traffic or profit on
those new lines it must go directly towards increas-
ing the dividends of the ordinary shareholders.