The Sun.
London, England, 1844-05-28 00:00:00

TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THE LEASE.

The Minister of Public Works has demanded of the Chambers,
in the present Session, a vote of 54,000,000 of francs, to be spread
over a period of six years, for the construction of the works be.
tween Tours and Bordeaux. Of this sum 4,000,000 of francs will
be applicable to the service of the present year, 1844, and
10,000,000 for that of 1845.
The Projet de Loi, or Bill, for this purpose, and for defining tho
terms and conditions of the Lease to be granted, has been sub-
mitted for the approval of the Chamber of Deputies, and is now
before a Commission, namely, in that stage which is tensed in the
English Parliament, " in Committee on the Bill.''
_ _

The following are the principal conditions proposed by the Mi-
nister and embodied in this Bill. The obligations of the State
are fixed by the Law of 11th June, 1842; And there is good rea.
son to hope that the conditions to be required of the Company, in
return, will not be materially, if at all, modified by the Commis-
sion, or in the subsequent discussion in the Chambers

The Minister of Public Works, in the name of the State, en-
gages to pay for the land, and compensation to landowners; to
execute the earthwork, masonry, stations, workshops, police sta.
tions, and buildings of every description ; in short, to make the
Line, and its dependencies, up to formation level, be the cost what
it may; to maintain the earthwork for one year, the masonry
for twn years, and the buildings for five years, after delivery to the
Company.
The Company have only to provide, lay, and ballast the perma•
nent way ; fence off the Railway, supply the locomotive and car.
rying stock, work the Line, and maintain it during the term of
their Lease. To these alone their liability extends.
A Lease for a term of years sufficient to liquidate the Company's
entire capital, by the operation of a sinking fund of one per cent.,
improved at compound interest. if so improved, at four per cent.,
the term would be 41 years and 16 days; if at three per cent., it
would extend to 46 years and 324 days. The latter has been pro.
posed by the Minister. The term commences from the delivery,
by the Government to the Company, of the whole of the works on
the entire Line to Bordeaux.

The entire Line is to be delivered t• the Company in work-
able lengths—say between first class stations, and two years after
such delivery are allowed to the Company for the opening to the
public.
The State is to participate equally in the nett profits of the
Company, after ten per cent. to the Shareholders upon the capital
expended, namely nine per cent, dividend and one per cent, sinking
fund.

The right of the State so to participate in the nett profits does
not arise until after the first five years of the opening of the Line
throughout to Bordeaux.
This will give to the Company about twelve years of undivided
enjoyment of the nett profits of the section between Orleans and
Tours.

The Company are required to surrender the permanent way and
its dependencies, at the expiration of the term, without compensa-
tion ; but are to be paid the actual value of their carrying stock,
materials, and stores, either by the Government or the new
Lessees, within three months after the term of their Lease shall
have expired.
The tariff, or rate of charge, for the transports of passengers and
merchandise is to be the same as en the Paris and Orleans Rail.
way, with a small addition for third-class passengers, to meet the
extra expense of covered.in carriages, with curtains at the sides,
which this Company will be bound to provide.

RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF SHAREHOLDERS.
(Extracts from the Statutes of the Company.)
Every Share represents a proportional part of the whole Capital
Stock of the Company, and will be issued at par.
The liability of Shareholders is limited to the amount of the
Stock held by them—a " Societe anonyme" in France, being pre-
cisely the same, in this respect, as the Railway Company in
England, authorised by Act of Parliament.
The liability of the original Subscribers to the Company extends
only to three.tenths, or 6/. per share, of the amount of their
subscription. That amount paid up, the shares may be transferred
without restriction, and the liability of the original Subscriber
ceases.

The amount of each Share shall be payable as follows :—One-
twentieth on allotment ; one.twentieth within two months after
the concession of the Lease shall have been obtained ; the re-
mainder by tenths, as the Directors may see requisite, but at in-
tervals of not less than four months between each call, until the
whole 204 shall have been paid up.

....-.-
The calls bear interest, after the rate of 4 per cent. per annum,
upon the amount called up, to date from the Royal Ordonnance
authorising the Company, and payable half-yearly, until the open-
ing of the section of the Line between Orleans and Tours, after
which the Shareholders will be entitled to share, pro rata, in the
nett profits, divided half-yearly.
The Shares will be in the names of the proprietor by subscrip-
tion or purchase, until the whole amount shall have been paid up,
after which the bearer shall be deemed to be the proprietor, and
they pass from hand to hand like Exchequer bills.
The possession of one or more Shares carries with it all the
rigl•ts and obligations of the original Shareholder.