The Sun.
London, England, 1845-09-05 00:00:00

e *ion, is an arrangement with the promoters of the opposing
schemes in the West Riding of Yorkshire, by which an union
has been effected on the principle (more than once approved of
by the Proprietors a t.23iS company) of a thorough identifica-
tion of the interests of the resweetive parties. This arrsno-e-
-itrient had been concluded to the eritiro• satisfaction of the re-
presentatives of the various companies coneerned, and if sanc-
tioned by the present meeting will obviate, it is to he hoped,
further opposition in Parliament in respect to tLet dis-
trict, and secure at the same time the important influence
of a vast majority of the inhabitants in carrying out the
complicated and extensive system of railways essential to
its convenience and prosperity.—(Cheers.) By the agree-
ments entered into it is proposed to carry out the net-work of
Onte required to connect the varians important towns and
villages in the West Riding with each other, and with thet
Manchester mid Leeds Railway, in conjunc•ion with this com-
pany. The capital to be furnished, 187,5001., by the promoters
of a line between Huddersfield, Halifax, and Bradford, and the
Huddersfield and Sheffield Railway Company, and the rest to
be contributed in three equal parts by the Yorkshire section of
the West Riding Company of last year, the promoters of the
West Yorkshire Company, and the Manchester and Leeds
Company, such capital to become an integral part of the Man-
chester and Leeds stock upon the Act or Acts being obtained,
and to be entitled to dividend when and in proportion as the
lines are opened.—(Cheers.) One immediate advantage of
this arrangement is, that it brings the Manchester and Leeds
Company at once into harmony with the district, and gives to
the inhabitants an immediate interest in the parent line ; and
the more effectually to secure a spirit of union and co-opera-
tion, it provides that six or eight gentlemen residing in
different parts of the West Riding shall become at once
members of the Manchester and Leeds board, in anticipation of
which, powers to increase the number of Directors of this
Company from twelve to eighteen have been obtained. At a
future day a special meeting will be called to consider all ques-
tions connected with the Parliamentary proceedings of the next
session. In the mean time, however, your Directors beg to
intimate that it is their intention to recommend that the capi-
tal which may be required for the new projects then to be sub-
mitted to you shall he issued in the form of scrip, and offered
pro rata to the Proprietors, under the condition of subscribing
a deed or deeds in the usual' form. In conclusion, it may be
desirable on the present occasion to repeat, for the information
of Lose who have recently become Proprietors in the Manches-
ter and Leeds Company, that the calls upon the existing stock
will take place as nearly in accordance with the annexed speci-
fication as the engagements of the Company will admit, and
that the quarter shares will, by their original constitution. rank
with the original shares from the Ist of January, 1847, and
be entitled to receive dividends from that date, on the calls
from time to time paid up at the same rate as the original

shares."
The CHAIRMAN, adverting to the business of the company
during the past half-year, congratulated the Proprietors on the
important advance in the prosperity of the company. For a
long period they had exercised a great deal of patience and
a considerable amount of faith. But now, from the develop-
ment of traffic, and the improved state of the country, their
increase had arrived at such a point as to afford a firm founda-
tion on which to build the prosperity of the company, and
to establish its value in the public mind. They could now
feel assured that their undertaking ranked amongst the
most successful of an enterprising country. It was now ten
years within a few weeks since the first meeting was held and
the company originated. Much exertion, time, and labour
had beers expended since then, and many calls hail been made
upon the proprietary for a continuance of their confidence in
those who had undertaken the responsibility of the management.
The Proprietors would see, on reference to the report, that they
had only arrived at the end of the first half-year since the com-
pletion of the works of the Company. The receipts amounted
to 204,8511. 19s. 6d., which would show that the amount re-
ceived would give a return of 6i- per cent. He was aware
that this would fall short of the anticipations of many ;
but when they looked at the vast excess of the expendi-
ture beyond that contemplated in the first instance, they
could not look to the return of 6 per cent. but as confirming in
a strong point of view the opinions of those gentlemen who had
originated this company that theenterprise would be eminently
successful. It was impossible to conceive that such an
amount of expenditure would be required, and had they been
able to restrict themselves within the bounds that were at first
contemplated, it was clear that their undertaking would have
been the foremost of all the lines up to the present period.
fhs was owing no doubt in part to the improved condition of
the manufacturing districts, and to the increase in the various
classes of passengers, which latter circumstance had been at-
tributed to the reduction that had taken place in the fares.
The total increase in passengers had been 26 per cent. The
first-class passengers had increased 50 per cent., the second-
class 11 per cent., and the third-class 33 per cent. He was
sure that it would not detract from the satisfaction that this
statement would afford when he stated that the increased ac-
commodation to the public had resulted in increased gain
to the Company ; though the sum received was absolutely less.
If the public had paid the same fares this year at in the
last, the receipts would have beets 11,0001. more, which was
in effect the carrying of 100,000 people fourteen miles on the
line for nothing. There would be a balance of 11,0001.
which, added to the reserve fund, would make that fund
amount to 36,0001. Having alluded to the purposes for which
the depreciation fund was intended and applied, the Chairman
next referred to the Acts which they had obtained in the late
session of Parliament. These would place the Company in a
more advantageous position than they stood in with regard to
many of the populous towns in the neighbourhood of the main
line of railway. The railway to Burnley, looking at the ex-
tension of the line towards Clitheroe, must be a great advantage
to the main line. They had long known that there had been
a considerable traffic in grain from the Calder navigation to
that district. The branch from Haywood to Bury would con-
nect their line with the populous town of Bury. The im-
portance of this line would be felt from the circumstance of
Parliament having granted a direct line from Liverpool through
Wigan to Bury; which would make the most direct route from
Liverpool to the valley of the Calder that could possibly be.
The next branch was from Oldham to Mumps, and those
who were connected with that district had stated that it
was impossible to overrate the importance of the connexion
between the Leeds line and the series of railways that would
be formed in the Oldham district. Another Aet had been
passed for connecting the Leeds line with the Manchester and
Birmingham, by which there would be nearly a direct line from
Birmingham south, to Todmorden and Burnley north, which
would be a meat important channel of communication from
north to south. There was another line from Wakefield to
Goole, which was granted by Parliament to the Wakefield and
Goole Company, but which would be worked by the Man-
chester and Leeds Company, and might be looked upon as an
extension of their main line in that quarter. Having referred
to the capital stock of the Company, the Chairman alluded to
the course to be adopted by the Company in the next session
of Parliament. They had previously stated to the Share-
holders that when they considered the excited state of the rail-
way market last year, it was impossible for this Company to
stand still. That excitement was a matter of serious conside-
ration to those gentlemen who had invested money in railway
property for the purpose of an investment, whether they
ought not by every means in their power to discountenance the
various new schemes that were now daily being brought
forward. Lines were brought forward with the view of ex-
torting from existing lines that which the parties had no real
claim for, or for the purpose of taking advantage of the pre-
sent speculative spirit; and the consequence of such a course
must, at no very distant period be ruin, and at the same time
a great national waste of capital. As he saw a great many
gentlemen present from Yorkshire, he would advert to an un-
dertaking which had appeared before the public within the
last few weeks, entitled the Liverpool and Leeds Railway. He
believed that no company ever appeared before the public with
a more respectable list for a provisional committee than that
company. He knew many of the gentlemen whose names
were on the list, and it was to him a matter of surprise that
they should have lent their names to an undertaking of that
kind. But he knew sufficient of provisional committees, and
of the way in which they were got up, to induce him to acquit
the gentlemen of the committee in question of a false repre-
sentation of .their prospects. He held in his hand a letter
from one gentleman well known to many gentlemen
present, repudiating all connexion with the line in
question (which he read); and with reference to the
line itself he wondered why they had not called it the
Liverpool and Leeds Direct. But the prospectus stated
that the line was not going to start at Liverpool, but some
miles from that place—at Bury ; and, so far as the locality was
concerned, it might be called the Direct and Independent. It
seemed to be of a somewhat matrimonial character, for the
Committee held out the prospect that they would not be unwil-
ling to ally themselves to sonic, other parties. He next referred
to the amalgamation with the West Riding Junction Company.
He said that, at the termination of the recent parliamentary
contest, they had the assurance that the contest would be re-
newed with vigour, but their opponents, like themselves, had
sat down to count the cost of the contest, and, after an inter •
view, in which their opponents manifested the greatest cor-
diality, an offer was made, which was ultimately accepted by the
Manchester and Leeds Company, and the presence of a great
number of gentlemen at that meeting, who were formerly their
opponents, showed that they had them with them heartily as
Proprietors of the Manchester and Leeds Company, and they
had thus placed the prosperity of the Company on a grand
basis. That iron link would now bind them together, and
they would promote the interest not only of one line but the
other, as the Manchester and Leeds Company, as men of sense,
and as men of business.—(Cheers.) The Chairman concluded
by moving the adoption of the report.
The motion having been seconded, passed unanimously.
The other formal motions with reference to the dividend,
lex., was agreed to nem die., and Messrs. G. Pollard and Ed- I
ward Ackroyd, of Halifax, William Rand, of Bradford, William
Frith, of Leeds, J. T. Clay, of Raistrick, an-IC. H. Jones, of
Huddersfield, were appointed as an addition to the Board of
Directors.
Colonel POLLARD (late Chairman of the West Riding Junc-
tion Company) paid a high eulogium to Mr. Houndsworth, the
Chairman of the Leeds Company, throughout the whole affair
between the Companies.
The CHAIRMAN said that the Board had derived great as-
sistance from Mr. Hawksworth and Captain Lewis.
Mr RAND, of Bradford, said he felt great satisfaction at the
termination of the late contest. The West Yorkshire Com-
pany sought possession of the whole of that particular district,
and it was again proposed to apply to Parliament to get their
Bill ; but he spoke the sentiments of the whole of the West
Yorkshire body, when he said that they would prefer a share
of their scheme of lines in conjunction with a more powerful
and ably conducted Company, than have it all to themselves.
No event of his life had given him greater satisfaction than the
termination of the late contest. With regard to the Chairman,
although once in opposition to him, his conduct had been
marked with honour and ability, and even though he (Mr.
Rand) had respected him as an opponent, he felt a stronger
attachment to him as a friend.—( Hear.)
The business of the special meeting then commenced, and
resolutions in accordance with the wishes of the Directors, as
set forth in the circular, were proposed.
WILLIAM MARSHALL, Esq., of Penworthana, having taken
the chair,
J. C. HARTER, Esq., of Manchester, moved that a suitable
testimonial be presented to Henry Houldsworth,Esq., in proof
of the high opinion entertained by the shareholders of his ser-
vices to the company.—( Cheers.)
DANIEL GRANT, Esq., seconded the motion.
After several gentlemen had spoken in support of the motion,
it was suggested that Capt. Laws was worthy of the considera-
ao:ilrd.swlloortuhLtnhse,nvopiatTssieldeeade:cvnn.kittrizaisioaleiltwweoliaeeisdd,higcbaehly,deeteirltoeshf.e
tion of the Proprietors.
good feeling with
The motion for a Committee to prepare a testimonial to Mr.
testimonials
ob proprietary.ee op presented
e
as had been sthnet efdr a
et o-
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The motion having been put from the cii. the case on other
railways.
Captain LAWS briefly acknowledged theaircompliment, and
the proceedings terminated at twenty minutes past two o'clock.

THE CALEDONIAN RAILWAY.
(From the Dumfries Courier of Tuesday. )
A great deal of interest has been excited throughout Annan-
dale by the commencement of the works of the Caledonian
Railway. About the head of the valley of the Avon, huts to ac-
commodate 500 men are in the course of erection, as it is here
that the heaviest excavations on the line will be made. The
most of the workmen will be drafted from the Carlisle and
Lancaster line, as the Messes. Stei henson are contractors for
both. Already several waggon-loads of shovels, spades, pick-
axes, &c., have arrived from Penrith. Lower down little has
been done as yet, save marking off the line, by placing wooden
pins in the ground at every little distance, making slaps in
laws, and cutting down a tree here and there to prevent