The Sun.
London, England, 1868-01-16 00:00:00

LATEST INTELL MENCE.

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

AUSTRIA.

TRIESTE, Jan. 16.

Advices received here from Athens state that the
last modification of the Greek Cabinet had taken
place at a time when it possessed a large majority
in the Chamber. The reason has not transpired.
It is said, however, that the King disliked some of
the Ministers. The chief of the Opposition declined
to construct a Cabinet, as the King was unwilling
to dissolve the Chamber. The present Ministry
does not belong to Parliament, none of its members
being Deputies. It is thought certain it will not last
two months. The public is discontented.

The steamer Union continues to make trips be-
tween Greece and Crete with cargoes of provisions
and munitions of war. Russian vessels still receive
and carry away Cretan refugees. Sharp engage-
ments frequently occur between the Christians and
the Turks in the island, and the insurrection is still
kept up.

ITALY.

FLORENCE, Jan. 15.

The Corriere Ilaliano of to-day says that the
general committee for the examination of the
budget have approved of the budget of the Ministers
of the Interior, Foreign Affairs, and Commerce.
The sales of the ecclesiastical property appearsito,
proceed most satisfactorily.

The sales effected up to the 31st ult. had produced
an increase of 43 per cent. on the valuation.

THE WAR IN THE BRAZILS.
PARIS, Jan. 15.

The Moniteur of this morning says in its bulletin
that no serious engagement had taken place in
La Plata since the attack by the Paraguayans on
the camp at Tuyuti. The Paraguayans had never-
theless succeeded in sinking various vessels of the
Brazilian squadron. But, on the other hand, the
Brazilians seem to have completely invested Hu-
maita. It was even asserted that President Lopez
would abandon Humaita.

LIVERPOOL, Jan. 16.
The Athenian from the West Coast of Africa has
arrived here.

Iler dates are Benin, Dec. 19 ; Fernando Po,
15 ; Cameroons, 15 ; Bonny, 18.
Lagos, 21 ; Accra, 23 ; Cape Palmas, 26 ; Sierra
Leone, 31; Tenereffe, 7 ; and Madeira, 9. At
Camerons and Fernando Po trade was healthy.
At Accra trade was dull. A terrific
hurricane swept over Tenereffe on the 22d
of January. All the vessels were driven out to
:sea, houses unroofed, and the general appearance
of the island was indicative of an earthquake.
The cochineal plants were torn up by the roots.
No lives were reported lost.

THE BRAZILS.
BUENOS AYRES, Dec. 12.
Exchange on London, 49. Dry hides, 40 for 21.
Wool, 42 to 78. Lumber, 37 to 40. Sugar, 18.

FRA
BOURSE, JAN. 15, Thi
closed as follows :

.NCE.
ree o'clock.—The market

Bank Shares 3260
Italian Loan
End of month 42 35
Mexican Loan
Do. Bonds
Spanish Threes
Home Debt —
Deferred —
I. Account
Orleans
•
N orthern ll5O
Lyons and Mediterranean
Southern..... 5371
Western
Eastern • • 5321
Sardinian
Austrian 5014
Lombard 336k
forth of Spain.
Saragossa,
Roman 4B

4i per Cont.
End of month —
3 per Cent
End of month 6B 60
Credit Mobilier
End of month 163 75
Credit.Foneier 1355
End of month 1347 50
RAILWAY

RAIL TVAY INTELLIGENCE.

MIDLAND.

A special meeting of the shareholders in this com-
pany was held yesterday at Derby ; Mr. W. E.
Hutchinson in the chair. The meeting arose out
of the circular recently issued announcing that an
increase of £5,000,000 capital was required to com-
plete the new works. The attendance was most
unusually large.

The CHAIRMAN said that this was a meeting for
information rather than discussion, and he suggested,
therefore, that it would be inconvenient to antici-
pate questions which would naturally arise at the
ordinary half-yearly meeting in February. More-
over, he had received notice of the intention of some
shareholders to propose that a committee of large
and influential proprietors should be appointed at
that meeting to consult with the directors on matters
involved in the bill ; and, should the proposal receive
the sanction of the meeting, it would obviously be
premature to discuss beforehand the very questions
which it would be their business to discuss at
the ordinary meeting. lie understood that com-
plaints had been made that the circulars of the 14th
of December were not in the hands of the share-
holders until the 17th—(" True !").—that being the
day on which the bill was deposited. The circular
was finally settled on the morning of Saturday,
December 14, and was dated accordingly. The
whole of the circular was in type on the morning of
that day except the figures, which the directors pre-
ferred not giving till the last moment, in order that
they might not be divulged. There were so many
to be printed that it was not practicable that the
whole could be finished on that day ; and the 15th,
being Sunday, was a dies non. The morning of the
16th was occupied in printing off the remainder of
the impressions, so that each shareholder might re-
ceive his copy at the same time—that was on the
morning of Tuesday, the 17th ; and when he told
them that they had nearly 15,000 circulars to despatch
and get ready and send by post, it would be seen that
it was a work which required a great deal of time.
By special arrangement with the Postmaster at Derby
the circulars were posted on the night of the 16th in
time to be delivered on the following morning. It
was said that the information contained in the cir-
cular reached the Stock Exchange on the 16th, a
day before the shareholders got it, and that it was
used very much to the injury of the shareholders.
If that had been done, it been done without the
knowledge and against the express instructions of
the directors and the chief officers of the company.
(Hear, hear.) The chairman proceeded to explain
the provisions of the bill which they were met to
consider. Although it was entitled " A bill for
conferring additional powers on the Midland Rail-
way Company and for raising further capital," it
appiled also for the construction of some few new
works and other purposes. Clause 4 enabled the
company to raise additional money by the creation
of shares amounting to £3,750,000.
,Clause 14 en-
abled the company from time to time to borrow on
mortgage a sum not exceeding £1,250,000. Clause
19 enabled the company to construct certain short
railways or branches. (Interruption.) The first
of these was the Darfield Junction Rail-
way, in order to connect the Cudsworth and
Barnsley Line with the South Yorkshire Railway,
which was necessary to enable them to make an
exchange of traffic with the South Yorkshire Com-
pany. There were other clauses for the construc-
tion of short branches. A good many comments
had been made on that portion of the circular
which stated that the value of the property re-
quired for the London line and the amount of com-
pensation were enormously in excess of what was
anticipated. It would seem that the cost of carrying
a railway into London defied all previous calcula-
tion, and great blame had been given to the direc-
tors and the officers they employed because of the
expenditure on the London and Bedford line. The
excess had been principally occasioned by the great
increase in the quantity of land purchased, and the
magnitude of the works undertaken as compared
with the amount of works contemplated when the

first act of Parliament was obtained for making
the railway in 1863. The value of property, espe-
cially in London and the neighbourhood, had risen
considerably between the autumn of 1862, when
the plans were deposited, and the time when it
became necessary to acquire the property, and
the amount of compensation in many instances had
been enormously in excess of what was anticipated.
The traffic to and from Loudon had increased so
rapidly and so largely that they believed that by the
time the railway should be open for traffic the ac-
commodation they had provided would be wholly
inadequate. (Question.) The receipts from the
coaching traffic increased from £32,800 in 1858 to
£144,943 in 1867, or 41 times as much. (Applause.)
During the same period the increase in the receipts
from the goods traffic had been five-fol 1. (Ap-
plause.) The cattle traffic, owing to the prevalence
of the cattle plague and its subsequent diversion into
other directions, had not so increased ; and, owing
to their want of accommodation, their coal traffic
was not so large as they hoped to make it, although
it had increased from 57,000 tons in 1860 to
152,000 tons in 1866, and 133,000 in 1867. Then,
again, the line between London and Bedford was
originally laid out for two lines, but it had been
constructed a portion of the distance with four lines
instead of two ; and for nearly seven miles north
of London the rails were of steel instead of iron,
thus increasing the expense of it very considerably.
The gradients, too, had been improved, and this
added another item to the expenditure. The ques-
tion of the accommodation they should provide in
London was the subject of serious consideration in
1863 and 1864, and in the state of uncertainty
which then prevailed it was thought undesirable to
construct a large station for passenger traffic, it be-
ing impossible to tell what the operation of the other
projected lines would be, and whether there would
in consequence be any alteration in the accommo-
dation which was necessary. They therefore pro-
vided one of very moderate extent ; but when the
uncertainty ceased they found it necessary to in-
crease the accommodation. Having originally pro-
vided two acres of land for a London terminus, they
found it necessary to double the quantity. The
terminus was 15 feet above the level of the ordi-
nary road, and it was intended to fill up the va-
cancy with earth ; but the demand for stowage
accommodation being very urgent, they arched
the space over, and, although this largely in-
creased the expense, they received a considerable
revenue from the accommodation which they pro-
vided. They also concluded to build a first-class
hotel, in order that they might place them-
selves on a par with the Great Northern and Lon-
don and North Western, and the Great Western
Companies. He understood that those hotels an-
swered exceedingly well, and also that they were
the means of insuring to those companies a very
large passenger traffic. (Hisses.) Other additions
were proposed which would increase the expendi-
ture, but would produce to the company a very con-
siderable revenue. The chairman having given a
detailed statement respecting these, he proceeded to
say that the total outlay required for the completion
of the line and works was estimated at £5,299,408,
leaving a deficiency of capital amounting to
£2,150,000. He had upon farmer occasions stated
to them that there would be no economy in delay-
ing the progress of the works on the Bedford and
London Railway. (Hear.) So much capital had
already been expended in that undertaking that
the sooner they could make it productive the
better. These remarks were still applicable with
regard to those works, and with still greater
force, because they hoped to have them fully
open for traffic in the course of a few months.
Of course, in order to prosecute these works,
large sums of money had to be provided, and
still further sums would have to be provided. The
directors had therefore found it necessary to make
another call upon the £22 shares. It was of the
greatest importance that they should urge on those
works, and their speedy opening, he had no doubt,
would justify them iu having expended so large a
sum of money. (Hear, hear.) He referred in
much detail to the various lines in course of con-
struction and the new works, and said they had all
become necessary by the increasing traffic, and that
the cost of them would not exceed the £1,350,000
estimated. The Sheffield and Chesterfield line was
very difficult to make. There were on it some very
expensive works; they had to erect a large pas-
senger station at Sheffield, the old one being greatly
needed for the accommodation of the goods traffic.
The compensations they had to pay in connection
with some of the new works were such that no man
unless he shot with the long bow could ever have
contemplated such amounts as had been required ; in
many instances they had been compelled to buy more
land than was required ; a portion of that would be
resold hereafter, but in the meantime they would
have to provide the money. When the works at
Sheffield were completed that town, with 200,000
inhabitants, would be on the main line instead of
at the end of a branch. A promise had been made
years ago that this line should be made ; it had
been put off from time to time ; deputation after
deputation had waited on the Board, until they
could put it off no longer. A question had been
asked—" How do you know that your present esti-
mates will not be exceeded ?" His answer was
that the greater part of the most expensive works
had been executed, so that they were now in a
position to calculate with confidence if not absolute
certainty ; as to some of the works not yet com-
menced, none of them were liable to such dis-
turbing elements in the matter of cost as those
works recently in course of execution. Some of
the new lines it was proposed to make single instead
of double for the present, so that they might rely on
the statement as to the amount of the capital pro-
posed being sufficient. It had been stated, he said,
with reference to the £960,000 expended for rolling
stock, &c., that they had borrowed it from a bank
or financial company ; the fact was it was part of
the capital authorised for new works, as shown in
the accounts up to June, 1867. The directors had
caused the rolling stock to be revalued, and he
pledged himself it was of the value estimated in the
accounts. With reference to the new capital,
£2,000,000 would be required in 1868, £1,000,000
in 1869 ; the remainder of the expenditure to be
spread over as long a period as Parliament would
allow for construction of the new works. On the Ist
of January, 1870, their total capital would be
£35,000,000, and when all the works were done to
which the company was committed their total capi-
tal would be £40,000,000.
Mr. BAINES, M.P., moved the following resolu-
tion :—" That considering the injurious effect pro-
duced on the value of the Midland shares by the
intended application of powers to raise new capital
to the amount of five millions, it is essential, in the
opinion of this meeting, to revise the engagements
of the company for lines and works, and all con-
templated outlays, with a view to the relinquishing
or postponement for a considerable time of all that
can be relinquished or postponed without serious
detriment to the interests of the company."
Mr. JEREMIAH GARNETT, of Leeds, agreed in. the
desire Mr. Baines had expressed as to " abandon-
ment ;" he deprecated the making of the Settle
and Carlisle line ; it was quite clear, he said, that
they had some fast men connected with tbe man-
agement ; what they wanted was not large under-
takings, but large dividends. He seconded the re-
solution.

Mr. ItAwsoN, of Manchester, urged an arrange-
ment with the London and North Western Com-
pany, with regard to the Scotch traffic to prevent
the wasteful expenditure of making the Settle and
Carlisle line. _

The resolution moved by Mr. Baines was carried
unanimously.
Lord LYVEDEN moved the appointment of "a
committee of consultation," to be composed of Mr.
W. O. Foster, M.P., Mr. J. Garnett, Mr. It. Leader,
Mr. W. Overend, Q.C., Mr. Charles Paget, Mr.
11. J. Stanton, Mr. E. Warner, Mr. Joseph Whit-
worth, and Mr.. E. Baines, M.P., the committee to
report at the half-yearly meeting next mouth. In
moving this resolution his lordship said that after
what had taken place he had not that full confi-
dence which he at one time entertained.

Mr. JOIVETT, of Sheffield, seconded the resolution,
which was carried.

The meeting then terminated.