The Sun.
London, England, 1868-08-21 00:00:00

SOUTH-EASTERN.

The directors report that the gross receipts for
the past half year exhibit an increase over the first
half of last year of £12,769 Bs. 11d., while the total
waking expenses at the same time show a decrease
of £8,795 Os. 3d., as compared with the correspond-
ing period of 1867. After providing for all out-
goings, as well as dividend and interest on the loan
and preferential capital, there remain £99,097 4s Bd,
but from this sum have been deducted the cost of
repairing the damage to the Charing-cross Station
by fire in February, and the parliamentary costs for
the Fusion Bill of the past session, thus reducing
the available balance to £90,414 7s. Bd. A divi-
dend at the rate of £2 ss. per cent. per annum
would abscrb a sum of £85,909, which taken from
the above amount will leave a balance of
£4,504 Bs. Bd. There has been an increase in the
total number of passengers conveyed of 293,625,
and the amount received for their conveyance of
£21,565 Bs. sd. In the merchandise traffic there

has been an increase in the receipts as compared
with the year 1867, of £3,633 3s. 6d., which sum
has been earned at the small increased expenditure
of £157. In the working expenses there has been
a diminution of £8,795 Os. 3d. In the item of
" maintenance" only is there any increase when
compared with the like periol of 1867. There is
an increase of local taxation of £1,586 14s. The
diminution in the number of passengers conveyed
by the steam ships, as compared with 1867, is at-
tributable to the opening of the line between Calais
and Boulogne, and to the absence of the Paris
Exhibition traffic. The bill for the working union
of the South-Eastern and Brighton Companies and
of the London, Chatham, and Dover Company was,
as the proprietors are aware, passed in the last ses-
sion of Parliament by the House of Commons, and
read a second time in the Houso of Lords and re-
ferred to a select committee, consisting of Lord
Camoys, Lord Methuen, Lord Vernon, Lord Sid-
mouth, and Lord Penrhyn ; this select committee
(notwithstanding the Apposition to the bill on
second reading in their lordships' house) declared
the preamble proved. Thus the public utility and
advantage of the co-operative union proposed was
fully established from evidence, after opposition
from the districts, corporations, and individuals
affected. But the Lords' committee proposed to
assimilate the maximum tolls on your very costly
railways to those proposed for the Brighton section,
which assimilation your executive advised would cause
a loss of net revenue at the rate of £60,000 a year,
or, in other words, such a reduction of your dividend
upon the ordinary capital as would have been
equivalent to the giving away or extinction of about
£1,200,000 of that capital. Suffice it here to say
that the very moderate advance of rates on the
South-Eastern does not affect the " Residential"
or periodical and season tickets on the Charing-
cross service, or, in fact, the bulk of the passen-
ger company,lebeen
extended and a new while the time of all
thtraffic o
the return
tickets
the
has
and special service has been established for the
working classes.