The Sun.
London, England, 1850-08-23 00:00:00

NG, AUGUST 23,

arose on inquiring into the payments formerly made
for land and other purposes, terough Mr. Deutcera
the late solicitor to the company, they found it neces-
sary to direct the accountants stricily to examine all
those transactions; and the result of these inquiries, as
reported by Messrs. Quilter and Company, has ben
that various sums of money, for which cheques had
been given to Mr. Duncan, were not paid by him for
the purposes intended; that other sums had been
charged and paid twice over; and that certain payarnts
reported to have be( n made, had not been made. Mr.
Duncan having delivered, and having been paid, his
Parliamentary accounts- to a point, by the farmer direc-
tors, according to a scale of charges agreed upon, he has
since also demanded to have additional remuneration for
the same services, on the ground that the scale agreed
upon was below the usual charges, and that he has not
had the amount of business he was led to expect wren
the scale was fixed. A copy of the accountants' report
was given to Mr. Duncan, and an explaeation required.
The answer received contained an of er of resignation,
which the directors accepted; and they forthwith
sought the assistance of Messre. Croce der and Maynard,
who are at present acting as solicitors to the company,
and by whose advice they are and will be guided in any
proceedings which may take place. It will be remem-
bered that, at the time the present directors took office,
Mr. Duncan continued to conduct the law business of
the company, although he had proviouAy tendered his
resignation. The well-known talent of Mr. Duncan, the
intimate knowledge he posse sed of all the company's
affairs, and the zeal and industry he displayed in their
service, during a period of transition, when there was
also much dispute and litigation, rendered it prudent
and necessary to request him to withdraw his resigna-
tion, and it was not until time and opportunity had been
found to search into p est transaction:a that the present
directors could obtain knowledge of thefe errors. In
concluding this report, the directors venture to state
their hope and belief that, difficult and harrassing as
their duties have been, and still are, they shall, if they
continue to possess the confidence and support of the
proprietors, be able substantially to improve the condi-
tion and prospecis of the company, and to lessen the
working expenses. In so doing they would repeat their
resolution, more than once expressed, to endeavour, by
conciliatory means, and by co-operation with neigtebdur-
ing railways, rather than by competition with them, to
secure to this company and to the great system of rail-
ways in the eastern division of England, the traffic and
revenue which they ought to possess and retain.
" EDWARD L. BETTS, Chairman."
The following is the Auditors' report :
" 57, Coleman-street, Aug. 9, 1850.
" Gentlemen,—We regret that, notwithstanding the
utmost diligence and perseverance, we find ourselves still
unable to wake a complete report of the result of our
investiga'ion and analysis of the capital expenditure of
the Eastern Counties Railway Company.
"The examination has a twofold object: namely, tic
ascertainment of the integrity of the e xpenditure
charged; and the production of an accurate and lucid
statement of it, in order to the due exhibition, under
appropriate heads, of the cost of the various lines and
works executed.

" The extent and multifarious character of the trans-
actions which constitute the subject-matter of investiga-
tion would alone render much time and great labour
necessary in order to its satisfactory completion; but the
difficulties we have met with in the conduct of our in-
quiries have not been simply those which necessarily
pertain to every operation of the like nature; we have
had to act upon contused, imperfect, and erroneous ac-
counts, only partially supported or explained by vouchers,
while the vouchers that could be found were promis-
cously heaped together without order or arrangtmeut;
added to which there existed a general want of uni-
formity in the mode of treating various parts of the same
t. i similar accounts at dlfferent periods.
" In this state of circumstances we found it indispens-
ably necessary, in order to carry on the examination in-
telligibly and with certainty, to establish supplemental
hocks; and, in effect, to reform the entire accounts for
a considerable period, openieg a personal account with
each individual recipient of the company's cash, and al-
lowing no credits to 1- uch recipients in discharge of cash
paid to them, except upon the authority of bills, in-
voices, certificates, or other ade qu stn vouchers.
" r he deficiency of voucbcrs has thus proved a 'ruit-
ful source of difficulty and delay, leading unavoidably to
much correspondence and personal discussion
.with par-
ties, in order to outain from them the iuformatioa which
the vouchers would have afforded.
" Although to the causes thus glanced at is to be
mainly referred the non-terminetion of this inquiry, it is
to be borne in mind, that in a idition to the continued
investigation of the capital expenditure, we hate been
called upon during the half year to perform . certain
other special services connected with, or arising out
of, the accounts, such as extensive calculations to
det?rnnine the amount earned by the company's
traffic over each particular section of the line, with a
view to the formadou of a basis win reon to found a re-
vision of the present system of rating railways for pa-
rochial purposes, the preparation of the voluminous re-
turn made to the House of Lords in answer to the order
obtained by Lord Brougham and other matters.
" We may also Location that the examination of the
important items of land purchases and compensation
has been attended with peculiar difficulties; the course
of our examination into these matters in connexion with
the pecuniary transactions conducted through the agency
of the late solicitor to the. company, made clear the ne-
cessity, in order to do justice to the interests of the
shareholders, of subjecting the whole of those transac-
tions to a most rigorous scrutiny.
"The meagre and unsatisfactory state of the infor-
mation which we found existing in relation to this
branch of the inquiry had been an especial cause of
delay; but having already made a report to you upon
it, we do not feel it to be necessary now to refer to
the subject, further than to state that we are still pur-
suing it; and that since the date cf the report alluded
to, we have found further sums to be accounted for by
Mr. Duncan, which, together with those reported, make
a present total of about 30,0004 to be accounted for by
that gentleman. The items of which that total is com-
posed occur at various dates during the years 1845,
1846, 1847, and 1848.

" Independently of the advantages which must neces-
sarily result from this extensive examination, in the
sense of a well informed conviction produced by it, of the
truthfulness of the accounts when finally settled, and the
more intelligible and comprehensive view which it will
have been the means of presenting of the character and
lucation of the objects to which the company's capital
has been applied, it has alriady been productive of
direct pecuni-sy hwnefit in the discovery and setting
r:ght of errors to the extent of upwards of 6,0001., ex-
clusive of the important result of a similar character
arising out of the examination of the transactions and
proceedings of the late solicitor.—We remain, gentle-
men, your most obedient servants,
" QUILTER, BALL, and Co.
"To the Chairman and Directors of the
Eastern Counties 11,ilway."

The CHAIRMAN said in that room there was gene-
of opinion, and he trusted to-
rally a great diversity
day they should gain
a better character for order than
they had hitherto obtained.—(Rear, hear.) The very
great difficulties that the directors had experienced in
getting correct information of the company's affairs,
and the want of discipline they had found in every
department of their service, lezd rendered it almost
impossible to carry out those reforms which they all
felt to be necessary, and now more than even—(lle:a,
hear) The most important point, which was now so
much before the public, and in which the shareholders
were all so deeply interested, was the locomotive de-
partment of their railway. This half year tenders
had been received from most substantial gentlemen
who were wilting to take the working of the line at
correct
rvreercre
tycotrcsdo
anvt.s.
,dr
eear
rsda abletiistsfiaheeind'ad gt
beenh
et or tle
fa;offuan affairs
aw shareholders.
deirfeli
c basedult lhe
' o n
ques-
tion to decide how the proposed saving was to be
carried out. It had been thought desirable by
the directors to advertise for a suitable locomotive
superintendent, and out of seventy or eighty appli-
cants they ha i chosen Mr. John Goccb.—(Cheers and
hisses.) That gentleman had come to the directors
with the highest testimonials from every leading en-
gineer of this country ; and from the knowledge
they lead .of his private character and his professional
experience the directors were satisfied they bad
taken a right step in placing Mr. Gooch at the head
of the locomotive department.—(Hear, hear, and
disapprobation.) With respect to the strike
among the engine-drivers, the drivers complained
that they were not fairly heard. Tee men
were asked to wait until the directors had ex-
amined into the causes of their complaints. He
(the Chairman) asked Mr. Gooch, with a view to that
inquiry, to stare to him all the fines that had been
imposed on the men. He did so ; but in the interim
every man of them resigned.—(Cries of " Hear,
hear," and " Shame.") Under the circum-
stances the directors considered it prudent to
accept the resignation of the men. He (f he Chair-
man) and another of the directors had investigated
every one of the fines that had been imposed, and he
told the meeting, es a practical man, that there was
not a fine imposed which ought not to have been im-
posed.—(Hear, hear.) Such had been the want of
discipline among the men at Stratford, that it had
resulted in the loss of almost the whole
dividend.—(Hear, hear.) The men were generally
fined for not reporting instances of mischief which
they had done, whether they had any control over
them or not. (The lion. Gentleman here related
several instances of misconduct on the part of the
men.) Another question hed been mooted as to
whether these flees had been returned to the
men. The fact was, that when the men
they gave the directors
came to be paid
they intended to test the
to understand that
legality of the fines which hed been imposed, and
to i
initted them.— (Hear, hear.) On Thursday last the
their new
the directors, not wishing insist on the fines, re-
with
with thedirectors comma aced exception
the men on
of a trifling shaking and,
Norfolk district,
which one of the passenger
trains had, there had been no accident on the lines ;
and although a great number of strange men had been
brought together, they were keeping time better than
he (the Chairman) ever could have expected.—
and sand
(Cheers.) The Honourable Gentleman then pro- :
ceeded to detail several malicious acts on the part of
the drivers previously to i
eaving the company's ere_
Ploy, such as tieing song nto the engine-boilers, of
difficult to g
of the carriet rid, and tallow grease
which it was P
(A Voice—e, Don't take them back.") He (the Chair-
mar) held in his hand the character every 12411
into the axle-boles ages.—
f

who had assisted the company on this occasion. He
bad locked through every one of those charact
and there was not a man on. the line at this time
w was not equal to his duties ; there were seventy-
five of them, and eighteen more of a first-rate
character were now on their way to jeia
the E astern Counties line, from the north and south.
The directors did not intend to reduce the wages of
the drivers.4-(Elear, hear.) They were only de-
sirous of exercising such econonomy in the manage-
ment of the line as any man would wish to do
in his own private business.—(Loud cheers.)
With respect to the accounts, although the directors
had not been able to effect much saving, what there
was 'was in the right direction. The receipts per
mile in the corresponding half-year with this
were 1,2361.; this year they were 1,2401 ;
and while their working expenses of the
corresponding half•year were 6221., this year they
were 5981.—(Hear, hear.) With respect to the re-
ne'a al fund the directors had thought it right to
bring it down at once to the point at which
they thought it prudent to cmatinue it. The
capital account stood exactly in the same posi-
tion as they placed it last half-year, and al-
though Mr. Duncan's defalcations had occurred,
the directors had the great satisfaction of telling
the meeting the margin they then took was
still amply sufficient to cover them, and there would
be no increase on that account. The irregularities of
Mr. Duncan took place before the present board came
into office, and it was a matter over which they had no
control. The Norfolk estimate of this half-year was any-
thing but satisfactory.—(Hear, hear.) They had
upon the Eastern Union line an apparent loss of
revenue, compared with the corresponding half-year,
of 20,0001.—that was on the actual revenue on that
line, and there had been an increase in the mileage
which had been adopted, more fully to develope
the resources of the district, and possibly that had
been a mistake. The Hon. Gentleman concluded,
after some farther remarks, by moving the adoption
of the report and accounts.

Mr. THOMAS WOODLEY, a grocer at Cambridge,
was grieved to say he stood there as the representa-
tive of a deceased friend, who had left him a very nice
legacy in the Eastern Union Railway.—(Laughter.)
He would ask why, when the Cambridge people took
a day ticket from Cambridge to London for 155., they
should have Is. 9d. tacked to it? Where was the
justice or policy of such a charge ?—(Laughter.)
With respect to the combination among the drivers,
he thought some blame attached to the directors for
not having shown the men a little more courtesy.—
(Loud cries of " No, no.") The speaker proceeded
to recur to the grievance of "one and ninepence,"
but the proposition was received with bursts of
laughter.
The CHAIRMAN said if the gentleman would call at
the office, he would give him every satisfaction in re-
lation to his complaint.

Mr. Woom.Ey, amid a scene of great confusion,
attempted still to dilate on his complaint. Lou'
cries of " Turn him out " resounded from all parts of
the room ; and Mr. Woodley eventually Eat down
amid loud cheers.

Dr. RILEY, of Ware, had attended there at much
personal loss, and until he arrived in London he was
totally ignorant that the report of the directors was
in circulation. He contended that it was a great in-
convenience to the shareholders that they hart not had
the report in their hands till just immediately before
the hour of meeting. He a:--ked the directors to give
a reason for so bad an arrangement.—(Uproar )
Mr. N,ITIIAN complained that the directors had
raised their fares on the Colchester line, to the pre-
judice of the Eastern Union line.

Toe CHAIRMIN said the directors had endeavoured
to raise the fares at every point legitimately to the
highest limit, where there was not competition.
Mr. NATHAN asked if the directors were going to
bring the Norf.() line before Parliament again ?
CHAIRMAN was understood to reply in the ne-
gative, unless the shareholders should determine
otherwise.

Mr. NATHAN was proceeding, on the authority of
an anonymous letter, to question some of the items
in the accounts, when

Mr. ELLica,a director, intimated that that was not a
question which could come fairly before that meeting;
and asked Mr. Nathan if it was prudent to read an
anonymous letter to such a meeting as that?
Mr. NATHAN, waiving the question, proceeded to
say that the directors ought to do their duty by their
men, but he would rather lose his dividend than see
any one of the drivers who had struck do an unjust
thing to the directors, or the directors do an unjust
thing to the men.--(Cheers.)
Mr. Cox, of the Harrow-road, said he was on the
side—if he was on any side—of the engine-men,
because they were the weakest. It was highly im-
proper that any body of men should ever be in the
power of those who employed them. He was sorry to
see in the Times—(lronical cries cf "Hear, hear")—
a leaning to the conspiracy on the part of the men.
The question for the meeting, however, was whether
the men were in the right or the wrong. He denied
the statement made by the men that the directors
had said that they might go about their business on
the following Monday morning.—(Hear, bear.) It
was the men who sent in their own resignations.--
(Hear, hear and cheers.) He contended that the
Times' proprietors themselves would not tolerate such
a combination among their own men.—(Hear, hear.)
There was an example on record where, on such a
combination showing itself among the men at the
Times' office, the paper was one morning, through the
address of the late Mr. Walters, printed by steam, to
the great amazement of them all.
The CiaAIRMAN, in reply to a question pat by the
preceding speaker, said the directors would not gain
by shutting up the Enfield line, but they gained
very little by keeping it open.
Mr. Box asked under what agreement the direc•
tors were acting with the Norfolk Company ?
The CHAIRMAN said there was no agreement of
amalgamation, but there was a working agreement
entered into in that room on the 2d May, 1848, under
seal and confirmed by the shareholders.
Mr. Box submitted that by reason of that amalga-
mation the shareholders had sustained considerable
loss, and that but for it they would now have a divi-
dend of Lls. instead of 2s. a share.—(Hear.)
Mr, llowEs attempted to show from the accounts
tbat a loss of something like 13,0001. during the last
year had resulted from the continuation of the Nor-
fo!k amalgamation. He asked whether the agree-
ment with the Norfolk Company was of such a cha-
racter that they could, if they thought proper, repu-
diate it to-morrow ? (Cries of "No, no.")
The CHAIRMAN said the agreement had been drawn
up by counsel, and the directors had been advised by
Messrs. Talbot and Hope that it could not be set
aside.

Me. HowEs was sorry to hear it. He hoped, how-
ever, that this amalgamation would not be continued
at a loss to the company any longer than could pos-
sibly be avoided.—(l-lear.)
Mr. W. PRICE said any agreement, working agree-
ment or otherwise, which should alter the accounts of
the company, without having first been sanctioned by
Act of Parliament, was illegal, and could not be jus-
tified. He made his solemn protest against the faith-
fulness of the.• printed accounts of the company, in
that they were not rendered precisely in the form re-
quired by the Act of Parliament.
The CHAIRMAN assured the meeting of the perfect
legality of the agreement.
Mr. MCLAURIN admitted that the accounts ren-
dered with respect to the Norfolk Railway Company
were correct, -as far as those accounts went; but he
contended there should be no distinction made be-
tween tha working expenses on the Norfolk line and
those on the Eastern Counties line, which had been
made by Mr. Quitter in making up the accounts.
The CHAIRMAN said, everything that could be kept I
separate had been kept separate cn the two lines.

_ • - - -------
Mr. MeLanais went into a statement of figures,
from which he sought to deduce that the working
expenses of this line were unnecessary, extravagant,
and enormous—(Hear, hear)—and that it? only re-
quired economical and prudent management on the
part of the directors to make this company one of the
finest and most remunerative of any in the
kingdom.—( Hear, hear.)
Mr. GILBERTS, of Hertford, said it gave him pain
to hear the acts of the directors questioned in the way
they were, without those gentlemen offering any de-
fence or explanation of themselves. He complained
that there had been fictitious entries of shares in the
share list in several instances, and that that had been
done with the knowledge of some of the directors.
Mr. BAGSRAW, M.P., defended • the' conduct of
the directors with-reference to the Norfolk amalga-
mation, and the legality of the existing agreement.
Mr. Gooch, of Birmingham, deprecated the time
of the meeting being taken up in asking and answer-
ing questions which might be far more readily solved
by a reference to the accountant. The company was
a large body of carriers, and they could not of ne-
cessity carry out their objects collectively, and it was
necessary, therefore, to delegate the management to
a smaller body'of individuals. It was, however, -the
duty of the shareholders to see that the directors, in
whom that trust was reposed, did their duty. They
must to a great extent repose confidence in their
directors, and assist them in carrying out the legiti-
mate purposes of the company, until they found out
that they were dishonest and incapable.—(Cheers.)
The CUAIRMAN then put the resolution, which he
declared to be carried unanimously.
Mr. MCLAURIN moved that the abstract of the
agreement existing between this company and the
Norfolk Railway Company be made out by the soli-
citors of this company, and that the same be printed
for the use of the proprietors of the Eastern Counties
Rail way.
This resolution was seconded, an I eventually
adopted amid considerable uproar.
A vote of thacks liras then passed to the Chairman,
and the meeting, Yibkh WM of a somewhat nosey