The Sun.
London, England, 1850-02-28 00:00:00

u-N, FEBRUARY 28, 1850.

pehses, andahe capital accent:it. He charged the direc-
tors witteliaving the shareholders .in the dark as ta. the
'atrieuneof their capital.
~',f! No, no," from a dirsctor.)
•.fle was aware atihesie:mie timeof the great difficulties
witkwhieti the direatertehad tia to mintilind. . He moved
Eta asubstatitive reselirtion,-ituit for the future 'the earn-
ingaiof the Norfallt Railway should, bs, kepeleyarate and
listot,-i-(He sr, hear.)
QUILTER stated that, hie time had been almost
,
exelealeely .occupied in 'auditing the accounts of the
company fdr the last half-year, and- the remit had been
that be had extricated from.the accounts of the Norfolk
Conipapyl a sum of 164,004 which the Eastern Counties
Compsati had paid, and great portion of which had
been charged to the capital account-of this company.—
,(Cheers.) - • . . • , -
Mr. "Mleartzte. rose to explain,, bat the meeting re-
fused t) hear ' •
Mr. Plum said, •if the accounts of the Norfolk line
were properly kept. the shareholders would be receiving
a dividend se. Aithare iletaiof 3s. ;He charged
ipOti the. directbra that thoie accounts were illegally
'and improperly kept. - The
,Norfolk line, it was well
knew% did not pay itliavorkiog expenses,. and therefore
the money- expended: u&t,:i;TP!a .so ,much, *km
from - the profits, , among*. .the share-
holders of the- Egitirit "Countlei - ' contended
that the Norfolk and the Eastern Countiea lihe:shdukl
be managed separately.--(dear, hear.) That_ that. was
not in, he could only explain -by the circumstance of
one of the lehdibespecters qf , the Noll:ilk line being a
relative of 'the CWarrissati of Ile EaStern -Cbritities
He conCluded by moving as an amendments that the ac-
counts of 'the Norfolk line be keptseetraKYA-r-,....1-,...-m
Mr. OTtitflif Glasgow, "secoiidWile amendment. -
Mr. GLTNN said the Committee of the Investigation
reported in favour of the amalgamation with the Norfolk
Company. The directors of the Eaitern Counties line
were brought into office on that uuderstanding.—(" No,
no.") It was his opinion that it was in the highest de-
.greatlesirable that the two lines should be worked to-
gether.—(" No, no," and uproar, in the midst of which
-Mr. Glyn resumed his seat.)
Mr. Bnosianera, of Manchester, spoke in favour of the
two lines being worked together. The directors could not
proceed unless they had the confidence of the share-
holders; and if they were not working with the confi--
deuce of the shareholders the sooner they went out of
office the better.
Mr. HELPS could not give his vote in favour of the
adoption of the report unless he had an assurance that
it did not,include the auditors' report, which was false
in many respects. He then advocated a Government
audit in much the same terms as he used yesterday at
the South-Western meeting.
Mr. MARGRA.YE, said, when the present directors
came into office they heard on all hands that no dividend
was to be made, but they were determined to make one
if possible; and their first object was to hold both their
hands, and therefore they incurred no other expenses
but what were absolutely necessary.—(Hear.)
Mr. MARTIN congratulated the directors and the
meeting upon there being now something approximat-
ing to a remunerating dividend paid to the proprietorie
This time twelve months, they received a dividend of 25.,
and it was satisfactory to find that within the last half-
year a very considerable improvement had taken place,
so much so that a dividend of 3s. was now declared.
Still more was he delighted to see that there was a much
better prospect of a gradual increase. They could not
hope to spring into prosperity in a moment.—(Hear,
hear.) They could not hope that the directors, who bad
been but six months in tifice, could in that limited pe-
riod bring the affairs of the company into a perfect state,
but they were making progress. It was, therefore,
the interest of the shareholders to place confidence in
the directors to a certain extent. —(Hear, hear, and
cheers.) If they saw anything unfair, anything un-
conscientioes, anything exhibiting a want of integrity or
honour in the directors, no man would come forward
sooner than. be (Mr. Martin) would to condemn them.—
(Cries of " Hear, hear.") But they were not
to attack those , gentlemen on the vague
suspicions and crude insinuations that had been put for-
ward.—(Cheers.) The meeting hid heard a long Atte-
ment about coke, but it all turned out to be unfounded.
—(Laughter.) The Honourable Gentleman in the chair
was the first man to call attention to the ruinous
state of the affairs of the company, and to sug-
gest an investigation into them, and that investigaton
had been exceedingly satisfactory and advantageous to
the company. The meeting were told that the Chair-
man was connected with an honourable gentleman who
had property at Lowestoft; and simply on that ground,
forsooth, a most unwarrantable charge was brought
forward against the Honourable Chairman, for the
mere purpose of creating a prejudice against him
in the minds of shareholders.—(Hear, hear, and cheers.)-
Now, he (Mr. Martin) would respectfully say, if they
hoped for prosperity, and to have tbeii affairs managed
in a sound and healthysnanner, they ought not to listen to
such charges.—(Cheers.). Let the man who brought these
charges see beforehand that they svereLstell founded,
and let bins not ,put forward insinuations which- on in•
vestigationAurrieft out toliiive;no foundation whatever.
He (Mr.! Margie) was. satisfied with the .bOard of
directors,. judging .meiell fiom the amounts and the. re-
ports they had "produced-this this day, but he thought there
would be no harm arising from an expression of opinion
on this subject. He had examined their accounts; he
had also looked over the accounts of almost every rail-
way company in the kingdom, and he could honestly
and conscientiously say he did not remember seeing a
set of accounts so perfectly satisfactory, especially that
opfo retvi oenryo futnhperme
uwd
ihciecdh p
ec
rasrorni e dt
that
tntvhi ce t
si ounm toof t4h2e4,omoi
on
had been faithfully earned, and that every shilling that
could be fairly charged against revenue has been
fairly and properly brought into that account.
xeri n)p,
enwnf
dettheirhteue r deenatr
which
1, e
ab t
Chairman
and the directors, and of the excellent accountant em-
ployed
the approbation of the meeting. There was
Ta
nhde y
he
would
hadou l d been
u y t
phaannti
yt letom(hnmeg
re.
xtoclei
fmrut
iei
They now knew the worst of their affairs,
gleam of light had been let in upon them,
otnee
n ot
obnye the
singlecom
s
bad not been brought into a decimal form, showing how
a hundredth part of a farthing had been expended in
each department. (Cheers.) For these reasons,
great must have been the intelligence and
enormous the labour on the part of the
gentlemen by whom that satisfactory state
of things had been achieved. They bad been told that
none of the capital had been charged as unproductive,
and that the whole of the interest of the guaranteed
stock and debentures was for the first time charged
against revenue. But they had at least this
satisfactory result, that through the exertions
of Mr. Quilter and the directors, 2,5331. had been added
to the capital account that must have been wholly lost if
the account had been unduly closed.—(Cheers, and
" Time, time," from Mr. Nathan.) The Hon. Gentle-
man who was taunting him about time got up and
made a long speech about 30,0001. of preference
stock which the Chairman assured the Hon. Gentleman
was never intended to be issued.—(Laughter.) He (Mr.
Martin) would say one word upon the rates and taxes
charged on railways. By the accounts he found that
the net earnings of the company had .been
51,000 some hundred of pounds, and the parochial
taxes were 13,221/. odd. In other word", there was in
this way rather more than 25 per cent. taken from the
sum fairly earned and divisible among the share-
holders, to be expended in poor-rates. He
also found that there was a sum of 9,6471.. 17e.
put down fur Government duty on the passenger
traffic. Between those two items there was 45 per cent.
taken from the profits divisible among the shareholders.
He thought the bands of the directors would be
strengthened by an expression of the opinion of the
shareholders that the directors bo requested to
continue their exertions for the purpose of bringing
down those enormous expenses.—(Cheers.) As to the
Norfolk amalgamation, the question was, were they to
enter into a series of expensive litigation, in which they
must be defeated, for the purpose of grati'ying the ca-
price of some few gentlemen who proposed and sup-
ported the amendment?—(Cheers and great uproar
among the Nathan clique.)
The CHAIRMAN rose to order. If the Hon. Pro-
prietor (Mr. Martin) wished to be heard, he (the Chair'
man) hoped the meeting would allow him to speak out.
Mr. MARTIN—If others are permitted to, speak, I
think I have a right to be heard. I will merely say
that we are bound as men of honour to carry out that
undertaking. We have had the opinion of two
eminent Parliamentary counsel, Messrs. Hope and
Talbot, that we could net abandon it. The
amalgamation _was subsequently confirmed by
a majority of the shareholders ; and I do
not see that we are called upon to abandon it, more
particularly when the Bill .was not before Parliament
at present, and when, the directors have allowed' a year
to elapse in order to obtain the fullest information upon
this question. Under these circumstances, I do not see
,
why this question of the Norfolk amalgamation should
have been lugged so strongly into this discussion.—(Loud
cheers.)
The CHAIRMAN then put the amendment, which was
almost unanimously .negatived amidst loud cheers and
shouts of derisive laughter.
The CHAIRMAN next put the original resolution, ap-
proving,of the report, which was carried with acclama-
tion, only about six persons holding up their bands
against it.
The meeting then passed to the question of audit.
Mr. Sergeant GASELEE took occasion to eulogise
the conduct of the present board of directors for the
way in which they had succeeded in extricating
the aff.iirs of the company from the almost hope-
less confusion and complexity into which their
predecessors had plunged them. The . Learned
Sergeant concluded byi moving that a committee
of three of the shareholdrs be appointed
to confer with the delegates from other railway compa-
nies, with the view to prepare and carry through Parlia-
ment a Bill in favour of a stringent Government audit of
railway accounts.
Afcerla long and rather'stormy discwsion,the
ing three gentlemen were named as the shareholders to
meet the other delegates—Messrs. Christiosed the, Martinat, an
five
d
Sherwood. It had originally been p p
should 4e_ appointed,-but three was the number finally
fixed up!ory.
The question of-the, granting. of free tickets to traYel
- ro

[PRICE SD.

on the line to shareholders comingl up to town to the
meetings of the company, also led to a protracted and
desultory conversation, in' which many proprietors took
'part. A resolution rescinding that custom was finally
carried by a great majority, though not without some
strenuous opposition from a few country proprietors.
It was then proposed to adopt the same principle with
respect to the officers of other lines of railways; but that
proposition was not carried, the inexpediency of adopt-
ing such a course on their line having been pointed out
by the chairman and others.

Mr. GREEN proposed, and Mr. CHRISTIE seconded, a
motion to the effect that the Messrs. Reeves and Mayhew
should be re-appointed auditors for the ensuing year,
which was agreed to.
Mr. Ellis and Mr. Reid, the directors going out of
office by rotation, were then re-elected.
Mr. MACLA REN proposed a resolution to the effect that
the accounts of the Norfolk line should be kept separate
from the other as far as it was practicable—(Hear, hear,
and laughter)—which was understood to have been
agreed to.
A vote of thanks to the Chairman and directors was
then proposed, and having been carried by acclamation
and briefly responded to, the meeting broke up.

NAVAL* INTELLIGENCE.
PORTSMtiCITII, WEDNESDAY.—The Basilisk, new
steam-sloop, by Mr.-Lang, of 'Woolwich, on the paddle
principle, 1,000 tops, oscillating engines by Miller,
.Ravenhill, and Cp., 400-horse power, was taken out of
the steam reserve to-day by Commander J. A. Stevens,
of the Blenheim, for trial at the measured mile iri Stokes
Bay, wind, water, and weather being as propitious as
possible. She made six runs along the course, and ave-
raged a mean speed of 10,551 knots, making 204 revo-
lutions, and drawing 14ft. 10in. forward, and 15ft. 9in.
aft. Captain Hayes, Mr. Murray, C.E., Lieutenant
Hamilton, Mr. Lynn, C.E.,'Mr. Macdonald, Assistant-
Master-Attendant, and other officers, went out in her.
The St. Vincent, 120, is to be docked to-morrow, in
the room of the Britannia, 120, to make good defects.
The Lily,l2, is rigged, and will be commissioned next
month to carry the April mail to the west coast of Africa.
The Fairy royal yacht, Master Commander Welsh, is
in the basin, being re•embellished for the summer ser-
vice of her Majesty.
THE ARCTIC EXPEDITION.

The following address has been issued by Captain
Austin to the service, on his taking the command of the
new expedition about to be fitted out to proceed in
search of our long absent countrymen :
" Petty officers and seamen of the Royal and mercan-
tile navy, especially those who have traversed the Arctic
seas, are invited to send in their names and addresses,
with copies of testimonials of good moral conduct, capa-
bility, and good temper, to ' Captain Horatio T. Austin,
R.N., C. 8., Admiralty, Whitehall,' on the Ist day of
March, in order to their being registered.
" Such persons, when approved, should provide them-
selves with a fair supply of useful clothing, including an
easy-fitting light pair of sea boots and fisherman's stock-
ings. Every individual will be required to wear flannel
next the skin, and a waist-belt. Bed and blankets may
be had, atter entry on the ship's books, at the moderate
Government price. No one will be accepted who is not
in a perfectly sound state of health, and who is not pre-
pared to undergo the scrutiny of a medical board.
" The crews wilt be paid six months' single pay in
advance before leaving England, in addition to the river
pay from the time of their entry; and from tho date of
their sailing they will be paid double pay till the time of
their return.

"The crews of the 'vessels employed in this expedi-
ion will be composed of the following, viz.:—
" FIRST CLASS PETTY OFFICERS.

Ice quarter-masters as pilots ...
Gunners' mates ...
Boatswains' mates
Captains of the forecastle ...
Carpenters' mates ... ...
Blackstuiths

Singl© Pay per
Lunar Month,
13 months per
annum.

Sailmakers
Captains of maintop
Captains of foretop
Captain's coxswains

. ...£3 10 0
... 2 5 0
... 2 5 0
... 2 5 0
... 2 9 0
... 2 9 0

... 2 9 0
.2 5 0
.. 2 5 0
... 2 5 0

Captains of the hold ... 2 5' 0
Ship's cooks ... 2 13 0
Caulkers (who should be also shipwrights) 2 9 0
Tool money 0 7 0
2 Coopers (who should be also carpenters) 2 4 0
Tool money 0 7 0
4 Officers' cooks (who should be also bakers) 1 14 0
2 Captain's stewards 1 14 0
2 Paymasters' and pursers' stewards ... 2 1 0
8 Stokers aid coal trimmers, (to receive
double pay as stokers in the summer
months, and that of able seamen in the
winter months.)

Stoker 2 6 0
A. B. 1 14 0
Total—Petty officers 64; able seamen 46; and Royal
Marines 26.
"As unanimity of purpose and cordial co-operation
are indispensable to the success of an expedition of this
kind, the undersigned is desirous of communicating in
this manner (which, it is hoped, the peculiar nature of
the service will justify) with all those who may volunteer
their services in the enterprise.
" This undertaking is a duty acknowledged by our ge-
nerous country, and the Government, with great liberal-
ity and kindness, is about to provide adequate means
for its performance.
" It is the present intention to fit out for this purpose
two sailing ships, and two auxiliary screw steam-vessels
attached to thous as tenders.

" The object of this address is to insure a good under-
standing with all who may be engaged in this service.
None, therefore, should offer who will not pledge them-
selves to the following conditions:—
" 1. To support, in its entire spirit and integrity►, the
discipline of the British navy—the main pillars of which
are obedience and a good example.
"2. To join heart and hand in zeal fur the service
in which we shall be engaged; in employing our best
endeavours to promote the benefit, amusement, and im-
provement of each other, and the general good of our
little community.
" To refrain from evil speaking; and especially to
avoid, what may be culled our seamen's proverbial pro-
pensity • growling,'—a term well understood throughout
the service. ,

" With these resolves inscribed on our banner, we go
forward, trusting in Him who hath measured the waters
in the hollow of his hand,' to direct our way, and to
crown our labours with success.

" HORATIO T. AUSTIN.

* " These ratings will be given to such men only as
have had experience in ice-navigation, such as har-
pooners or boat-steerers, and who can produce testimo-
nials to that effect."

APPOINTMENTS.
WOOLWICH, FEB. 27.—Lieutenant C. M. Buckle
(1847), to the Excellent gunnery-ship at Portsmouth.
Surgeon George D. Maclaren (1837), to the Blen-
heim steam-guardship of Portsmouth.
Surgeon Abraham R. Bradford (1838), to the Reso-
lute, flag-ship of Captain Austin, C. 8., for the Arctic
expedition.
Surgeon James J. L. Donnet (1846), to the Assis-
ance, fitting for the Arctic expedition.
Assistant-Surgeon Richard King (1846), to the
Resolute.
Assistant-Surgeon John Ward (a) (1843) from the
Dasher to the Assistance.
Assistant-Surgeon Thomas R- Pickthorn (1842) to
the Pioneer, fitting for the Arctic expedition.
A*sistant•Surgeon Wiliam Patrick (1847) to the
Dasher steam-vessel, at Woblwich, vice Ward.
Captain Austin, 0.13.. proceeded to Blackwell to-day,
and hoisted his pendant on she Resolute, on his appoint-
ment to command that vessel.
Captain Erasmus Ommaiiney hoisted his pendant to-
day on board the Assistance, at Blackwell, on his al-
pointment to command that-vessel.
Lieutenant Sherard Osborn hoisted his pendant on
board the Pioneer to-day, on being appointed to that
vessel, now in dock at Woolwich, and progressing very
rapidly in her equipments for a voyage to the Arctic
regions.
The Free Trade, the sister steamer, has not yet ar-
rived, but it is expected she will be immediately core•
missioned by Lieutenant Browne, one of the officers
who served in Captain Sir James Ross's expedition.
It is now beyond doubt that the two eailing vessels of
Captain Austin's expedition
.will be commanded by
captains, and the two steamers by lieutenants.
It is not' yet decided, however, whether any other
officers of the rank of . captain or commander will be
afforded :an opportunity of proceeding with the expedi-
tion as volunteers. Dr. Robert M'Cormick is confident
that he will proceed in oce of :the vessels, and when he
arrives in the northern regions will take the charge of
a boat party, for the purpose of exploring the coasts,
and examining Wellington Channel.
Captain William Peel visited Woolwich dockyard this
afternoon.

Captain Austin intends visiting Woolwich to-morrow,
and a medical board will attend to inspect a number of
men borne on the books of bis previous establishment
who have volunteered their services, and are most
anxious to be permitted to serve under their former
gallant officer in the expedition to the Artic regions.
The Widgeon steam-vessel, Captain Bullock, arrived
here on Saturday, having completed the measurement
of the new mile fur testing steam-vessels in an eligible
part of the river below Gravesend.
The Ja•psr steam-vessel has been employed to-day,
in charge of Ma,tar-Commander Bryant, in conveying
stores from Blackwall to Woolwich.

[ADVERTISEMb;NT.] --INTRAMURAL INTERMENTS.
—The important report of the Board of Health; the
remedies stated and recommended, on which the Bill
will be founded for the consideration of Parliament,were
carefully abridged and originated in last Sunday morn-
ing's Observer, to the extent of four folio columns and
a half. The Observer is regularly published, at four
o'clock on Sunday mornings, in time fur all the early
Sunday morning railways. On Sunday next, March 3,
the Observer will he printed with an entire new type,
from the foundry of the Messrs. Figgins. Price of the
Observer, 40 columns, 6d. • •