The Sun.
London, England, 1850-01-11 00:00:00

SAMBRE AND MEUSE RAILWAY.

The half-yearly meeting of this company was held
yesterday, at one o'clock, at the offices, 61, Moorgate-
street, Mr. W. P. Richards in the chair. About
twenty proprietors were present at the appointed hour.
The CHAIRMAN read the report, which waa very
voluminous. its most important and interesting fea-
tures will be found below :

" The report presented to the general meeting, held in
July, informed the proprietors of the insufficiency and
the unremunerating character of the traffic as carried on
the line at that time; it also stated some of the causes to
which the former was to be attributed, and showed how
injuriously the new tariff, reluctantly accepted by the
company, operated upon the other; at the same time the
directors stated that they had given notice of their inten-
tion to require a modification of the tariff at the proper
time, and expressed their confidence in the justice of
the Belgian Government making such fresh ar-
rangements as would approach nearer the spirit
of the original compact. They have much pleasure
in stating that they have not been deceived in their ex
pectation made by the President to the committee of
proprietors on his return from Belgium, on a mission
undertaken with the intention, of discussing the subject
with the Minister of Public Works. From that state-
ment it will appear that Mr. Sheward, the resident
director of this company in Belgium, is fully persuaded
that the tariff, as at present modified, will enable him to
work the line with a small amount of profit; after meet-
ing every outgoing, if the strictest economy is practised
eat the present diminished traffic is maintained.

" The measure of economy in removing the siege of
the company from a hired office in Brussels to their
own premises at Jardinet, as authorised nt the last
general meeting, has been carried out, the directors are
much indebted to the Minister of Public Works for his
valuable assistance in promoting this new arrangement.
" The directors, in their last report, expressed
their regret that they had not succeeded in making
any arrangement with the contractors, with whom
the y had several matters in dispute, and lamented
that the conciliatory spirit with which they wore
then disposed to terminate those disagreements
had not been met by a corresponding feeling; they have
now to state, that a proposition has been under discus-
sion for some time and agreed to by the contractors,
whilst the directors have declined to accede to it, with-
out the authority of the proprietors at a general meet-
ing, as the present position of the company, and of the
directors more especially, makes it desirable that the
opinion of the shareholders should sanction an action of
so much importance.
The contractors claim the right, under their contract,
to ccmplete the whole line from Marchiennes to Vi-
reux, at prices and with advantages which, under
al'ered circumstances, are considerably more beneficial
to them than would be granted if a new contract were
to be formed. The contractors undertook this large
work without adequate means, and increased their
liabilities by purchasing the works at Thy le Cha•
teau and some mines, intending to make them subsidiary
to thcir operations on the railway. At a critical period
the pecuniary accommodation which had supported
them was suddenly withdrawn; as a consequence the
works of the railway must have• stopped at a time
when every one was most anxious to have them com-
pleted. To obviate this serious evil, it was then con-
sidered, the directors consented to advance a con-
siderable sum of money, to be repaid as the works
proceeded, on eecerity which was carefuPy inquired into
and its value duly vouched for by the Belgian solicitor
of the company and their agent at Brussels. It turns
out that the security is such, that it is impossible to
realise it in the present depressed s'ate of affairs in
Belgium. The regular continuation of the railway
would have given the contractors advantages and pot-
sialy enabled them to fulfil their engagements; that,
however, is problematical, whilst it is most undesirable
t continue any connexion with embarrassed contractors,
at higher Prices than present circumstances would justify
in ti new engagement.
" It is unnec ssery to enumerate the various securities
a Lich were given to the company by the contractors, or
the circumstances which have rendered them of little or
no value; excepting as regards 2,240 shares of this com-
pany, on which has been paid about 161. each as calls,
but which at present are of no value, the subsequent
calls being in arrear. The legality of the contractors'
claims is contestable, but to litigate it wou'd involve the
company in much inconvenience, end interfere with any
plan for forwarding the works on the second section of
the line; on the other hand, it is obviously the interest
of the contractors to free their securities from the
claims of the company, in order to a more speedy
settlement of their afFairs with others. It bas, there-
fore, been proposed that the contractors should abandan
all claims they may possess under the contract, and all
other claims of every description, and also to abandon
1,000 of their shares to the company. The company, on
the other hand, is to give up all pecuniary claims on the
contractors, to surrender all the securities they hold,
and the remainder of the shares, to the extept of 1,240,
as if paid in full. The directors, on behalf of the com-
pany, claim from 20,000 L to 24,0004 as due from the
contractors. A substantive resolution will be offered to
your consideration on this subject.
"Referring once more to the report of July, the con-
siileration of the means of completing the line to Vireux
cannot be much longer deferred, the Belgian Govern-
ment is anxious abeut a e ork so imp ltant in its imme-
diate effect on the labouring population of the district,
and the ultimate benefit it will confer on the mining in-
terests, and many circumstances not peculiar to this
company help to complicate the difficulties of raising ad-
ditional capital, and the directors cannot disguise the
fact, that without the assistance of the Belgian Govern-
' ment much time will elapse before this can be effected.
" Already, eighty thousand pounds have been ex-
pended on the second section of the line. It is confi-
de. ntly asserted by the engineer that a further sum of one
hundred and sixty thousand pounds will suffice to open
the main line to Vireux, if certain alterations in the
original plan are allowed to be made; but it will be pru-
dent to assume this sum at two hundred thousand
pounds.
"In order to give some approximate estimate of the
receipts on the line when open to Vireux, there is ap-
pended to this report a -reprint of the summary of
traffic, as stated in Mr. Sopwith's original report made
in 1844. The amount of the figures is 56,0001. If the
present traffic is estimated at 10,0001., the gross receipts
will amount to 66,000/. The working expenses, at a
slow rate of speed, need not exceed 18,0004 to 20,0001,
per annum, when compared with the outgoings of the
first section, leaving an ample margin to secure the pay-
ment of interest on, two hundred thousand pounds, sup-
posing any dependence can be placed on the inquiries
and estimated traffic of Mr. Sopwith.
" The benefit to an important portion of Belgium, to
be derived from this railway, will be very great, and the
income sufficient to destroy all risk; it is, therefore, that
the directors are not without hope that the shareholders
and other capitalists of this country may be induced to
provide the necessary. funds, and that the Belgian Go-
vernment will guarantee a minimum rate of interest to
protect them from all uncertainty of fair remuneration,
with the chance of great profits."
A lengthy report from Mr. Sheward, the resident
director of the line, dated !coin Jardinet, Jan. 2,
1850, which dealt with the matters alluded to and
explained in the official report of the directors, was
then read.

The following is an abstract of the accounts :
" Share Capital Account —Sept. 30, 1849—T0 amount
of calls made at 201. per share on 31,000 shares,
620,0001.; by amount of calls received, 613,5201.; by
ditto, on shares reserved for the contractors, 6,480/.
" Construction and Traffic Account Receipts,
654,426/. 15s. 9d.; expenditure, 619 8361. 3s. sci.; by
balance, viz., amount deposited with the French Govern-
ment, 2,000/, ditto, advanced to the contractors, 30,1421.
83. 10d., ditto, of cash, 2,4501. 3s. 61.-34,592/. 123. 41.;
total, 654,4281. 153. f d .
" Approximate Statement—To the 31st Dec., 1849-
11,?ceipts, 38,230/. Os. 5d.; Expenditure, 4,485/. 2s. ld, ;
by balance, viz., amount with the French Government,
2,0001., ditto, contractors, 30,142/. Bs. 10d., ditto, by
cash, 1,602/. 9s. 61; total, 38,23u1 Os. sd.
" Debts, 4,224/.,165. 10J.; available—cash, 1,602/. 9s.
61, sums due, 1,6121. 9s. 10d.

" The passenger and goods traffic during the year had
amounted to 7,6301. ss. 7d. from Jan. to Dec., 1849."
The CHAIRMAN addressed the proprietors, and said
he liked their present position better than when he left
Brussels, whence he had gone to assist Mr. Sheward
in promoting a suitable arrangement with the Belgi.ui
Government ; and they were much indebted to the
Belgian Minister of Public Works, who had given up
his favourite plan of an universal railway tariff,
in order that he might not break faith with
the company. Two important questions were
submitted to their consideration in the report, viz ,
the settlement of the claims of the contractors, and
the creation of new capital in order to carry on the
line to Vireux. These were matters which the
directors left entirely to the decision of
the proprietors. Unless they carried the
line to Vireux, they could not expect
any remuneration for the capital they had invested in
the undertaking. His own opinion was that they
should unquestionably do so.—(Hear.) They would
thus complete their original line, and carry coals
and other minerals into France. There were difficul-
ties in the way of raising additional capital, because
their present position was by no means favourable
to that view, though by no means unpromising.
Tie Belgian Government had done much to disgust
and damp English speculation. Belgium acted rather
on the principle of compulsion than of conciliation or
kindness.—(liear, hear) Now, he considered that
it was to the interest of the Belgian Government to
lend a helping hand to the completion of the line, by
guaranteeing 5 per cent. on the c:lpital, provided they
were enabled to raise it.

After some farther remarks, the CHAIRMAN moved
th 3 adoption of the report and accounts.
A. SHAREHOLDER blamed the directors for taking
the useless security they had from the contractors,
and was altogether opposed to giving them a number
of shares, which, even at their depreciated price,
would realise a considerable sum, and moved that the
• report be adopted, with the exception of the paragraph
relating to the giving of 1.240 shares to the contrac-
nd the proposed arrangement with them.
After considerable discussion the report was
adopted with the exception of the paragraph re-
ferred to.
A motion was then passed empowering the direc-
t-Ts to come to terms v ith the contractors in accord-
ance with the rules of their original contract, with
the view to its determination. It appeared that until
this was done they could not enter into a new con-
tract.

A SHAREHOLDER mowed that the contractors be
not allowed to have the 1,240 shares.