The Sun.
London, England, 1845-07-14 00:00:00

he bought and sold them for me. The next transaction was, '
I think, in April ; I took up a paper, and I said, " Mr.
Hignett, I have selected three lines, and I should like for you
to buy me 20 shares in each." (I am stating things as they
occurred)-20 in the Manchester and Leeds, 20 in the North
British, and 20 in the Glasgow and Edinburgh," all sixteens.
I think the Manchester and Leeds I hold now, and these are
the papers. ( The witness produced the same.) There was a
premium paid in the market. And these are the North
British, (The witness produced the same.) The Glasgow
and Edinburgh I have not got. I sold them in the market.
Chairman : Did you at any time subsequently purchase any
shares in the North Kent ?—I did.
It appears that, on the 9th of June, Captain Boldero sold
the last mentioned shares. He explains his motives as fol-
lows :
What was the date of that purchase, and the number of
shares? That was in April ; the next and only other transac-
tion that I had in the North Kent, something occurred in
getting the Bill through the Committee; some objec-
tions were got over, and a friend advised me to re-
invest in the North Kent. On the 25th of April, I asked
Mr. Hignett to buy me fifty or sixty shares. In the afternoon
he came and said that he had bought 120 North Kent shares. I
said, " That is more than I want," and I took 70. There
was 2/. premium paid. I asked him, also, to buy 25 shares in
the North Kent, for a connexion of mine, which he did at
21. premium. Sir C. Douglas—Were those 25 over and
above the 70?—Certainly. Mr. T. Egerton—Did you pay a
deposit with the premium?—They were sold in the market at
21. premium on the deposit ; the shares were, I think, at IL
15s. each, and 21. was the premium added to the deposit ; I
sold thirty of those shares in April, and I kept the re-
mainder until the 9th of June. On the 9th of June I sent to
Mr. Hignett, and desired him to sell the 65. Mr. Pakington—
Your remaining 40, and your friend's 25 ?—Exactly. There
were 30 sold first, and on the 9th of June I sold 65. Here is
the paper—" sixty-five North Kent shares, 9th of June." I
sold them at 2,1 premium. Chairman : You have ceased to be
a shareholder in the North Kent Company ? I have. You
have not had any shares since ?—No. Your purchases and sales
were made in the name of Mr. Hignett?—They were. Under
your direction ? Certainly. Your name not appearing in the
transaction at all ?—I suppose not ; I told him to buy and sell
just as I felt a disposition to speculate. The reason why I sold
on the 9th of June I will explain ; finding that the evidence
was being received by the Committee, contrary to the spirit
and wishes of the Master-General, it struck me that possibly
some question might arise in which I should be called upon i
to offer some explanation, and that induced me to sell. Mr.
Duncombe : Where did you expect that explanation would be
called for?—ln the House; there might be some pe-
tition or discussion about it. I saw that as the matter was
going on, Ibad better be out of it. But previously to this
the Master-General having given his consent to the
three competing lines, unqualified to one and condi-
tional to the other, which conditions had been accepted, I
did not think it possible that any question could arise in the
department affecttng the merits of either line, the Master-
General having left it to Parliament which of the lines was the
best, his assent being given to all three. I understand you to
say that the reasons why you directed that the sale should take
place were that certain proceedings were going on before the
Committee, in consequence of which you thought that the
propriety of your holding these shares might be questioned ?
Decidedly. f had previously entertained the opinion that no
possible question could come before us. I thought that the
present conditions of the Master-General would, in this case,
as in every case which we had had before, be insisted upon by
the Committee to which the Bill went. I had never known
any instance to the contrary.
The following evidence was given by Mr. Wray, Receiver-
General of Police :
Chairman—Were you engaged in promoting the South-
Eastern Railway Bill in the year 1836 ?—Yes, I was. I was
retained by the Company for that purpose, as barrister, or pro-
fessional man. Were you not then the receiver of the police?
Yes, I was ; at that time I was not of the police courts. When
you say you were retained as a barrister, is the Committee to
understand that it was strictly a professional engagement ?
Yes, in this way : I retired from practice at the time of my ap-
pointment in 1839, but I had a good deal of business as arbi-
trator and referee, and the manner in which I acted for the
South-Eastern Company was this : I arbitrated a great many
of the claims of gentlemen of landed property, and amongst
the rest Lord Strangford's case. I settled and awarded him
3,000/. as compensation for his land, by which 1 saved the
South-Eastern Company a very large sum, for, in point of fact,
they had given me authority for a good deal more. What were
the duties you had to discharge as a barrister ?—I had three or
four references of that kind, and generally promoting the inte-
rests of the company, and of course I did everything I could to
promote them. Did you canvass members of Parliament on
behalf of that company ?—Yes, certainly. Were you acting
with any other persons in the same way ?—No, I am not aware
of that. It is a difficult thing to recollect what occurred so
many years ago now, but I have no recollection of any par.
ticular persons. How were you paid by the Company for your
services ?—I thought myself very ill-paid, but I think al-
together about 2001. or 3001. That you considered was for
professional services, and for canvassing?—lt was for a long
time : I might have been six weeks, or perhaps two months
altogether engaged, and I was asked to go over to Paris to ne-
gotiate with the French Government for a continuation of the
railroad, which 1 believe they now style the French Northern
Railroad, with Dr. Bowring and Captain Pringle. I declined
it ; I thought I could not well go consistently with my other
engagements ; those gentlemen went, and of course were paid
for their services, and 1, in fact, subscribed money towards it.

MIDLAND RAILWAY COMPANY.
DERBY, SATURDAY EVENING.—This afternoon a special
general meeting of the Proprietors of the Midland Railway
was held in the large room at the station in this town, for the
purpose of agreeing to a lease of the Great North of England
Railway.
Considerable disappointment was felt by a number of Share-
holders, who left London by the train for Derby in the morn•
ing. This train should have arrived in Derby half an hour
before the meeting commenced, but, in consequence of a large
number of private carriages having arrived at the Euston-
square station to go by the quick train to Birmingham, which
starts before nine o'clock, that train was delayed three-quarters
of an hour beyond its usual time of starting. The Derby train
consequently could not get off, and instead of starting at sine
o'clock, the usual time, it was ten before the train left the
station. Several of the Shareholders of the Midland Railway
were in the train, together with the reporters for the railway
press, and much disappointment was felt by the parties as they
did not arrive at the meeting until half art hour after its com-
mencement.
George Hudson, Esq., Chairman of the Board of Directors,
occupied the chair.
The Secretary (J. F. BELL, Esq.) having read the adver-
tisement, by which the meeting had been convened,
The CHAIRMAN submitted a resolution confirming the
agreement entered into with the Great North of England Com-
pany. The Chairman entered into a statement of the advan-
tages likely to arise from the arrangement which had been
made, and recapitulated nearly the same arguments which he
used at the meeting on the same subject, held a fortnight ago,
of the shareholders of the other railways, with which Mr. Hud-
son is connected.
Captain WATTS contended that too high a price had been
paid for the Great North of England line, and moved that the
agreement be rejected.
The motion, however, fell to the ground, for want of a
seconder.
The CmAirtmAN was about to put the resolution, when the
shareholders who had come by the trains from London entered
the room.
Colonel IiLAINE, who was one, said that he had just arrived
by the train which had been so much delayed, and therefore he
did not knew what proceedings had taken place. He would,
however, before the resolution was put, suggest that if there
should be more than 10 per cent. returns on the Midland Rail-
way, some of the surplus should be given to the shareholders in
the Birmingham and Derby Railway.
The CHAIRMAN said he should be delighted to see the time
arrive when this railway paid ten per cent. Certainly, he
would be very glad, if he had the opportunity, of supporting
the proposition of the Hon. and Gallant Gentleman. It must,
however, be remembered, that their receipts must increase
250,0001. before they would be enabled to pay ten per cent.,
and that even to pay one per cent. more than they did now
would require an Increase of nearly 50,0001. That was without
taking into account any increased expenditure. He did not
say that such an increase would not take place ; he hoped it
would, of course; but, certainly, if it should, and they should
be enabled to pay ten per cent., he should be glad to aid in
crrrying out the proposition of the Honourable and Gallant
Gentleman.
Col. ELAINE expressed himself perfectly satisfied.
The resolution was then put, and unanimously agreed to.
The CHAIRMAN then rose, and said—l think this is nut an
unfitting opportunity to call the attention of the Proprietors to
the different extensions of our lines which we have felt it our
duty, at various times, to submit to your consideration. We
anticipate that every person who has watched the course of
late events will be impressed with the conviction that the Lon-
don and York Bill will not be enabled to pass through Parlia-
ment this session. We may, therefore, fairly anticipate that
the whole of the projects in the group of Bills referred to the
Committee will go over to the next session. There will then be a
fair and open field for us all, the London and York, the Cam
bridge and Lincoln, and other companies. Gentlemen, it was
said last night in the House of Lords by a Noble and Learned
Lot d that we had been the means of placing obstructions in the
way of passing the London and York Bill, that the counsel em-
ployed by the companies with which I have the honour to be
connected had been the means of obstructing the Bill, and of
preventing a decision being come to on the merits of the dif-
ferent lines. A Noble Lord did me the honour to get up and
give a contradiction to Lord Brougham, for the Noble and
Learned Lord had stated a thing that was totally untrue.
Among other things that Lord Brougham stated was that we
had twelve counsel employed. The simple fact is that we had
four or five counsel who, during the progress of the London
and York case, attended to watch the course of the business.
But when the Cambridge and Lincoln came under consideration
of the Committee, our counsel did not attend, because we did
not feel ourselves in a position to oppose that company. We,
therefore, took no part whatever then in the proceedings. Then
came on the direct Northern, in which we were interested, and
then our counsel did attend. Every one knows that that case
did not last more than a week or so ; and to sty that we were
the means of obstructing the business of the Committee was a
most unfair and unjust accusation, not only upon you, but upon
me individually. The Faringdon station case is now before
the Committee ; and as in the case of the Cambridge and
Lincoln, we did not think that we were in a position to
oppose it, and therefore we withdrew our counsel from the
Committee. As I said before, I think that no determination
will be come to upon these Bills this session, and we shall,
therefore, have to begin afresh. The Directors of this Com-
pany have taken an interest in the lines which have been
before Parliament, which lines we felt it our duty to resist as
much as possible. I allude to the Chesterfield and Sheffield
and the Sheffield and Newark. We opposed them, and very
fortunately we were successful in throwing out the two lines
We were, however, fully aware that such a district as that
ought to be supplied with railway communication, and we are
quite prepared to adopt such measures as will enable us to
supply that district with good railway communication. We
intend, therefore, gentlemen, to request Mr. Stephenson to
survey for us a good communication with Nottingham, going
near to Newark, then going on to Mansfield and down to Ches-
terfield. We are also fully aware, from the feeling which has
been evinced in the town of Sheffield, that it. is our duty to
give to that town a better southern communication. Ido not
think, however, that there will be any saving in time, although
there may be in distance. Still, seeing the feeling of the town,
we are prepared to recommend to the Proprietors of this Com-
pany.mto adopt a line which will give a better southern cern-
rflUeatl.on to Sheffield than at present exists. We are also
anxious to accommodate Worksop, and we hope to be enabled
to give such accommodation to that town and its neigh-
bourhood as will be satisfactory to you and to the public.
You are aware that the-e is a line projected called
the Barnsley Junction. This will accommodate Silkstone coal
fields. We propose to do this, if no other parties purpose doing
so, but we do not wish to interfere with our neighbours, the
Sheffield and Manchester Company, if they think proper to
afford the accommodation. You are aware that we have two
lines, one from No'tingham to Lincoln, and the other from
Syston to Peterborough. These Bills have received the royal
assent, and the railway from Nottingham to Lincoln we shall
open to the public as early next year as we possibly can.
(Applause.) The town of Grantham we hope to supply from
our Systcn and Peterborough branch, which will give both a
northern and southern communicatien. There will be a
northern communication by niAins.q the Amber-gate scheme,
9f the capital of Which tliis company hold& one quarter.