The Sun.
London, England, 1861-06-03 00:00:00

the meeting for receiving him kindly, and declar-
ing at the same time that he considered it unneces-
sary to add anything to sentiments so well expressed
by the able speakers who had preceded him.
The following gentlemen spoke in succession, and
were much applauded :—Dr. M'Clintock, Captain
Symmes, the Rev. C. L. Thayer, the Rev. M. Lam-
son, Mr. W. K. Strong, and Major Seliver.
The proceedings terminated about 4 o'clock, after
a display of patriotic feeling unsurpassed in unani-
mity.

MADRAS IRRIGATION AND CANAL

COMPANY.

The fourth ordinary general meeting of this com-
pany was held on Thursday at the London Tavern ;

. _
Mr. James Thompson, chairman of the directors,
presiding.
The report, an abstract of which has already ap
peared in our columns, was taken as read.
The CHAIRMAN, in moving its adoption, said he
was anxious to explain the position of the company.
Since the last meeting the directors had had to con-

tend with many difficulties, not of their own crea-
tion, and to overcome which they had used their
best endeavours. The first of these difficulties was
with the Government, in connexion with the limi-
tation and extension of their project. They had
undertaken to raise all necessary funds to meet the
extension of the project without any additional gua:

rantee from the Government, but the Secretary o

State had declined to accede to this proposition, and
had insisted that the expenditure should be limited
to the amount of the guaranteed capital. The en-
gineer of the company had, therefore, been instructed
to modify the scheme by cutting off those portions
which would best bear excision. At the same time

provision had been made for securing a summer sup-
ply of water, although the important district of Bel-
lary had necessarily been shut out of the scheme,
which in its modified shape had, in its main fea-
tures, received the assent of the Madras govern-
ment. It was manifest that a project, which was
both navigable and irrigating in its character, must
have a source as well as a termination. The direc-

tors had accepted Kurnool as a very good point for
one end of the canal, but they regarded the town,
or rather village, of Poonkasala, which was now
fixed for the other, as by no means suited for a
terminal point. The canal ought clearly to come
down to the sea, and looking at the matter with
regard to themselves, it was necessary that they
should have the lands embraced within the valley
of Nellore brought within their project of irriga-
tion. They had submitted a plan to the Secretary
of State for bringing the canal down to the sea
coast, and if the whole project could be constructed
within the guaranteed capital, of course no difficulty
would arise. But if that capital should not be
sufficient, then the directors had asked for powers
to raise additional capital, free from any guvern-
ment guarantee, and with the works so constructed
completely within their own control. Unfortu-
nately, however, the government at home had not
met the directors liberally ; on the contrary, it had
shown a desire to restrict the rights and privileges
of the company—possibly from an idea that they
had got too good a bargain—an idea, at all events,
which the shareholders were not at present in a
position to appreciate. (Hear, hear.) He hoped,
nevertheless, that this difficulty would in time
be surmounted. The second difficulty with
which the directors had had to contend
was in connexion with the alleged extravagant
and useless expenditure of £BO,OOO by their chief
engineer. There was no foundation at all for this.
All that the chief engineer had done was to make
an anicut for a mile and a half from Kurnool, in a
direction which he believed must necessarily be

taken to complete the project; and this he had
done with the consent of the Government consult-
ing engineer. The local Government, however,
had been led by the prevailing rumours to stop
that part of the works, and had sent Major Orr to
examine and report upon them. That gentleman
differed in opinion upon some points from the com-
pany's chief engineer and the consulting engineer
of the Government, in consequence of which the
Government had decided that for the present the
execution of that portion of the works must be held
in abeyance, until detailed estimates of expense
were furnished to them; but it was to be remarked
that while the question was regarded by the com-
pany's engineer and the consulting engineer of the
Government commercially, it had been considered
by Major Orr only in an engineering point of view,
he considering that the anicut would materially
injure if not destroy the town of Kurnool. The
result had been a most unfortunate delay and in-
crease of expenditure, but nothing had transpired
at all calculated to damage the ultimate commer-
cial and physical value of the project. The loss of
a twelvemonth had rendered it impossible to reap
any returns from their outlay, but very soon after
the resumption of the works at and from Koonsala,
60,000 acres would be under irrigation, and then
shareholders would be able to judge of the value
of their investments. (Hear, hear.) In conclusion
the chairman moved formally the adoption of the
report.
Mr. JONES said the company was indebted to
the directors for having gained a guarantee for the
original million and for having given to the under-
taking a fair stand on the Stock Exchange, as well
as for having brought the offices of the Indian
Famine Fund under their own roof, so as to exhibit
the bane and the antidote side by side. But there,
in his opinion, the claims of the directors ended.
They had been most unfortunate in their choice of a
surveyor and engineer, they had held out a prospect
of irrigating a million of acres, they had raised
their caoital with the representation that it would
execute 700 miles of works ; and now their project
was cut down to 200 miles, with an uncertainty as
to whether their capital of a million would suffice
even for that limitation of their project. The
directors had failed in candour, uprightness, and
caution—they had made blunders without having
the manliness to admit their errors, and they had
kept the shareholders in the dark when it was their
duty to enlighten them. With regard to the stop-
' page of works by the Government, that step was
fully justified by the repeated changes made in his
plans by the engineer, and the report made by Major
Orr of the unfavourable character• of the Kurnool
anicut ; and, on the whole, he believed that the
efforts of the directors to shift the blame from their
own shoulders to those of the Government reacted
very mischievously upon the prospects of the com-
pany. In conclusion, be moved an amendment as-
serting that the vigilance of the local Government
was the best security for the profitable character of
the undertaking.
A SHAREHOLDER seconded the amendment.
Sir H. ROPER said the report was full, and the
statement of the chairman still more so. Still they
were but so much dust thrown in the eyes of the
shareholders, by avoiding points upon which they
ought to be instructed. With regard to the ob-
structions said to have been met with from the
Madras Government and the Secretary of State,
they seemed to him to have been entirely owing to
an attempt of the directors to exceed the guaranteed
limits of their enterprise.
The CHAIRMAN, in the course of his explanations,
said that the report, instead of being a delusive
statement, intended to throw dust in the eyes of the
shareholders, was a true and full explanation of the
position of the company. With regard to the choice
of works, the Madras Government originally recom-
mended the whole scheme to the home Government,
who asked the company to take charge of it, which
they agreed to do. The real question was whether
their scheme was to be cut down to meet the limits
of their original capital, contrary to the rule ob-
served with regard to railway and other public
Companies which took powers to raise additional
capital, if necessary. With regard to the alleged
looseness of the original estimates, it was tobe remem-
bered that although those estimates were made by
the chief engineer of the company , they were checked
by the consulting engineer of the Indian Govern-
ment. No doubt there was a great difference of
opinion with regard to the estimates ; and, in fact,
the original estimate of Major Orr himself was only
£BOO,OOO for the completion of the entire project
down to the sea coast, while the original esti-
mate of the company's engineer for the 700 miles
was £1,153,000. (Hear, hear.) The scheme as now
modified would, upon the authority of the Govern-
ment consulting engineer, irrigate 400,000 acres,
with an addition of 200,000 more if the Maury
tank section were carried out. The whole expenses
' incurred in the Kurnool:division was about £9OOO.
The amendment of Mr. Jones was then put, but
found no supportersfrom amongst the shareholders,
with the exception of the original seconder.
The report was, after some further discussion,
agreed to, and a vote of thanks terminated the pro-
ceedings.

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