The Sun.
London, England, 1861-04-05 00:00:00

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

SOUTH-EASTERN.
A special general meeting of this company was
held yesterday at the Bridge-house Hotel, London-
bridge, for the purpose of considering, and, if so
determined, of approving the following bills now
pending in Parliament, viz. :—A bill (as amended
in committee), entitled " A bill to enable the South-
Eastern Company to raise a further sum of money
and to increase their subscriptions to the under-
taking of the Charing-cross Railway Company,"
and a second bill for authorising the Charing-
cross Railway Company to make a line of rail way
from their authorised line into the City of London,
with an additional line in Southwark, and to raise
further monies, and for other purposes." The Hon.
Mr. Byng was in the chair.
The SECRETARY (Mr. S. Smiles) having read the
advertisement by which the meeting had been con-
vened,
The CHAIRMAN said—We have called you
together for the purpose of receiving your formal
sanction to two bills now before Parliament, the
one the Capital 'Bill, and the other the Charing-
cross City Terminus Bill. ' A special meeting has
already been held on the subject of the first, and on
the 25th of October last you authorised the direc-
tors to proceed to Parliament for the requisite
powers on the explanations then given to you. Its
object is to enable the directors to create capital
for the purpose of executing numerous new works,
and to purchase sundry new working stock, as
authorised by you at the half-yearly meetings held
during several years past—and also to increase the
subscription of the company to the Charing-cross
Railway. The second is a bill for the purpose of
enabling the same railway to be extended into the
City, with a terminus in Cannon-street. It has
already passed the House of Lords ; and as it is
proposed to take powers in it to enable the South-
Eastern Company to subscribe towards the under-
taking it is necessary to submit the bill for your
approval before it can be introduced in the Lower
House. I ought to add, however, that both bills
are merely permissive ; and before anything can be
done to exercise their powers you must be spe-
cially called together, and your regular sanction
obtained with this object. I now beg to move
" That the draft now submitted to the meeting of a
bill before Parliament to enable the South-Eastern
Railway Company to raise a further sum of money,
and to increase their subscription to the Charing-
cross Railway Company, be, and the same is, hereby
approved, subject to such alterations as to Parlia-
ment shall seem meet."
Mr. GORDON THOMPSON (the deputy chairman)
seconded the resolution.
Mr. BEVIS wished to know the exact sum which
the South-Eastern would contribute to the Charing-
cross undertaking.
Mr. FILDER, of Manchester, asked whether the
statements made in a circular published by Mr.
Child, one of the directors, was correct as to the
sum of £750,000 which would have to be paid for
St. Thomas's Hospital, and also £160,000 for the
tolls of the Hungerford Bridge and Pier, which
sums would have to be added to the capital cost of
the railway ? (Hear, hear.)
The CHAIRMAN, in reply, said—The statement to
which the proprietor refers is unfortunately very
inaccurate. The writer of it has not only included
in his estimate of the cost of the railway the capital
which the company has estimated as the full value
of the hospital property required for the purpose of
the railway, but also set down as a further capital
cost the whole of the demand made by the gover-
nors of the hospital. I need not tell you that this
is an altogether erroneous mode of estimating
capital expenditure. What the hospital governors
ask is one thing ; what they will be paid is another;
and you know very well that nothing is easier than
to make a very large claim—(hear)—but we still
believe that in our original estimate of capital we
have set down an ample sum to cover the actual cost
of the hospital property required for making the
railway. The statement made in the same publication,
that "a decision has been come to which will compel
the railway company to purchase the entire estate,"
is not correct. The Vice Chancellor has merely
granted an injunction to restrain the Charing-cross
Company from nroeeeding, under their notice, to pur-
chase the portion of property required for the rail-
way on the verdict of a jury, until the case has been
argued and a decision come to. But even in the
event of the Charing-cross Railway Company being
compelled to purchase the whole property we shall
not have to pay what is set down in the circular—
that is, the whole claim of the hospital, in addition
to our own estimate, but only what the property is
proved to be worth before a jury, and what it will
now sell for in the market. Assuming that we do
buy it, the purchase will not add to our capital ex-
penditure any thing like the sum which had been
published in the circular. I need not tell you that
whatever the surplus property will sell for will
fairly have to be deducted from the capital cost of
making the railway. (Hear.) There is another sum
specified in the circular as extra capital cost of the
railway, in the amount authorised for the purchase
of the tolls of the Charing-cross Bridge and Hunger-
ford Pier. It might be inferred from his statement
that these tolls were to be extinguished by the CUll-
struction of the railway greatly to the increase of
its capital cost. But the writer has omitted to state
that these tolls actually yield a net income of nearly
£B,OOO a year, and there is every probability of this
income being largely increased on the construction
and opening of the railway and terminus. In short,
I may state that the tolls capital is altogether dis-
tinct from and forms no part of the cost of construct-
ing the railway. It is only right to state these views
at present, as I regret to find that unnecessary alarm
has been created by the unguarded statements made
in the publication referred to. (Hear.)
After a short conversational discussion the reso-
lution was carried.
The CHAIRMAN next moved—" That the draft
now submitted to the meeting of a bill before Par-
liament for authorising the Charing-cross Railway
Company to make a line of railway from their
authorised line into the City of London, with an
additional line in Southwark, and to raise further
moneys, and for other purposes, be, and the same is,
hereby approved, subject to such alterations as to
Parliament shall seem meet."

The resolution having been seconded, a lengthened
discussion took place, which resulted in an amend-
ment for the postponement of the question until the
next half yearly meeting. The amendment was,
however, eventually withdrawn, and the original
motion carried.

The CHAIRMAN said—l have now to declare this
meeting special, for the purpose of submitting the
working agreement entered into with the Charing-
cross Railway Company. The heads of this agree-
ment were approved by you as far back as the 24th
February, 1859, when you authorised the agree-
ment to be completed, and the company's seal was
affixed to it accordingly. 'The Charing-cross Act,
however, required that it should receive the ap-
proval of the Board of Trade, and after that be
formally confirmed by the two companies concerned.
The Board of Trade have given their sanction ; the
Charing-cross Company haVe given theirs ; and all
that is now required is the vote of this company.
We have postponed this business more than once—
on one occasion because of an informality the
advertisement, and on another because it was
thought better that the whole arrangements
between the two companies should be included
in one agreement. But the confirmation of the pre-
sent agreement will not prejudice us in any way
with reference to any future modification and en-
largement of it, if found expedient, guarded by
the following resolution, which I have Now to pro-
pose to you for your approval :—" That this meeting
do hereby approve of the draft agreement now sub-
mitted between this company and the Charing-cross
Railway Company, and authorise the directors to
affix the company's seal thereto when engrossed."
The resolution was carried, and a hearty vote of
thanks to the chairman closed the proceedings.

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