The Sun.
London, England, 1845-11-14 00:00:00

BRISTOL AND EXETER.

Yesterday a meeting of proprietors in the above company
was held at Bristol, for the purpose of considering what mea-
sures should be adopted in conseauence of the recent decision
at the late general meeting not to sell the line to the Great
Western Company, in accordance with the provisional agree-
ment of the Directors of both companies. Mr. Stone, of
Bath, having been called to the chair,
Mr. J. S. Truer rose, and in a long and eloquent speech
described the merits of the Bristol and Exeter line, and
showed how entirely inadequate to its value was the sum of
6 per cent., offered by the Great Western Company for the
purchase of the line. The period had arrived when they
must either sell their line or work it independently, and
it was said that they could not do the latter ; but there
could not be a greater mistake, except that which led some
people to believe that they were entirely dependent upon
the Great Western, as if their whole traffic depended upon
their connexion with London. But it should be recollected
that if they acted independently, they would not only en-
sure the friendship of their Great Northern neighbours,
but also of the intelligent South-Western Company, who
would act with the Bristol and Exeter Company if the
Bristol and Exeter would act with them, but who were too
intelligent to lend themselves to the advancement of Great.
Western intereets. Thee were then told that if they did
not assent to the terms offered by the Great Western they
would have a direct line. He could assure them, however,
that so far from being apposed to a direct line they would ad-
vocate one properly formed, and which woulcLiot be preju-
dicial to their interests. There was another consideration,
which was, whether they should lease their line—he thought
if they did so they were lost for ever. As an instance of this
he would cite the case of the Hull and Selby, the property
in which had never increased in value since the lease, nor
had the shares gone up; but it had been said that 5 per cent.
was a good return for their money. They should, however,
recollect that persons did not embark their capital in railways
for the sake of 5 per cent., but for an increasing revenue to
meet increasing expenses. If a man went into Consols he
knew that he only would receive a certain per centage for
his money; his revenue would never increase, while his ca-
pital might ; but in railways suchwas the development of traffic
that both his revenue and his capital might increase, so
that in the end, instead of leaving his children 20,0004, he
might be able to leave them 40,0001. Though ho thought it
would be highly impolitic to lease their line, an amalgama-
tion would be another question ; but then they should take
care with whom they amalgamated, and that they were not
in a worse position than themselves. They should not be
deluded by an apparent dividend. People in London were
too wise to be deluded by the mere show of a dividend, for a
man might say, if you will lend me 100/. I will pay you 50
per cent., but the party to whom the offer was made would
naturally say, show me the position of my 100/. Allusion
had frequently been made to the cheapness by which their
line had been constructed, but no allusion had hitherto been
made to the political influence of the Bristol and Exeter Com-
pany. They were all aware that in the south-west of Eng-
land the greatest opposition was felt by numerous companies
to the Great Western projects, and that in the next session
of Parliament that Company would meet with much greater
opposition than they expected. Now it should be recollected
that the Bristol and Exeter Company held the key of the
south-west. After some further observations Mr. Tripp moved
the following resolution :
That, reviewing the history of the Bristol and Exeter
Railway, and the proceedings of its directorate; looking at
the fact that the Great Western Railway Company has been
gradually extending its branches to the prejudice of the
Bristol and Exeter Railway Company, and taking possession
of ground which ought to have been occupied by the latter
Company, and this without opposition on the part of the Di-
rectors of that Company, and without any extension by
them of branches from their railway; looking also at the
oppressive terms of the lease of the Bristol and Exeter
Railway, granted to the Great Western Railway Company;

calling to mind, too. the fact that in the draught of the Act
of Parliament, submitted to the Proprietors of the Bristol
and Exeter Railway, at their meeting in . last, a
clause had been introduced, the effect of .I,Ach was to
give a right of pre-einption to the Great Western Rail-
way Company, and looking, lastly, at the terms of the late
provisional agreement, so justly rejected by the almost unani-
mous vote of a verylarge and influential meeting of the share-
holders of the Bristol and Exeter Railway on the 7th inst.,
this meeting cannot but consider the close connexion which
has hitherto existed between the Directors of the two Com-
panies, and the employment by the Bristol and Exeter Rail-
way Company of the same engineer and other officers as the
Great Western Railway Company, to have given an undue
influence on the side, and in favour of the latter Company,
and to have been highly detrimental to the interests of the
former ; and that this meeting now contemplating the pre-
sent situation of the two companies, and deeming it to be ab-
solutely essential, whether it be ultimately determined by the
Bristol and Exeter Company to sell or to work on its own
account its railway, in order that the interests of the Share-
holders in that railway may be freely and justly considered
and dealt with, that their Directors should be in a position
as unconnected with and free from the control, counsels, and
influence of the Directors of the Great Western Railway
Company, and their officers as pos,ible, and should have
a ,separate staff of officers of their own, do most respect-
fully request the Directors of the Bristol and Exeter Railway
Company forthwith to dismiss from their councils all ofli.:ers
in any way .connected with, or interested in, or under the in-
fluence of, the Great Western Railway Company, and to call
in as the engineer of the Bristol and Exeter Railway Coin-
pany, either Mr. Stephenson or Mr. Locke, or some other
disinterested eminent engineer, and to request such engineer
immediately to survey their railway, and to report as early
as possible to a general, or special general meeting of the
Shareholders, upon its present condition and traffic, and fu-
ture prospects, and whether any, and what steps should be
taken by the Directors for the advancement or protection of
the interests of the Company, either by forming branches or
opposing the projects of other companies in Parliament ; or
otherwise, as he may deem expedient.—That a deputation,
consisting of the following gentlemen, viz., Mr. Stone, Mr.
Daniel, Mr. Buckley. and Mr. Lucas, be requested to wait
upon the Directors of the Bristol and Exeter Railway Corn.
pany, and lay before them the foregoing resolution."
The resolution having been seconded, the meeting was
addressed by several gentlemen. In the course of the dis-
cussion, Mr. Bedon, who had been a Director, observed that
he knew that the Directors of the Bristol and Exeter Com-
pany* were acting under Great Western influence. When
he was on the Directory he had opposed the lease, and had
done so honestly, but because he had done so it had been
intimated to him that he must retire from the Directory.
He was in ill health when he received this intimation
from the secretary. Still his blood boiled, and if he had
published the facts then in his possession he felt assured that
their Directors must have gone out passive as they were.—
(Hear, hear.) He had been down the line yesterday,
with a view of ascertaining the state of their traffic, and had
asked the officials if the traffic was increasing, and the uni-
form answer he had received was, that it was increasing
amazingly—indeed, so fast was it increasing that they were
not able to transact the busiuess, and that the Great Wes-
tern Company did not give them trucks enough, or they
could at this moment do half as much business again.

The resolution was then put, and carried with two dis-
sentients ; a.,; also were resolutions appointing a committee
for general purposes and to act with local committees, &c.,
and to obtain subscriptions.
Thanks were then given to the Chairman, and the meeting
separated.

RAILWAY SHARE MARKETS.
LIVERPOOL, Nov. 13.
STOCK EXCHANGE.—The sales are—British and Irish
Union, 34—Chester and Birkenhead, Half Shares, 244—
Derby and Crewe, 514—Edinburgh and Perth, s—Grand
Junction; Quarter Shares, 47—London and Birmingham,
321. Shares, 42—Manchester and Birmingham Continuation,
I%—Midland, 137—South-Eastern and Dover, 36.
MANCHESTER, Nov. 13.

STOCK EXCHANGE.—The sales are—Caledonian Exten-
sion, 3%—Cambridge and Lincoln, 81s. 6d.— Dudley, Iron
Bridge, and Shrewsbury, 23/4—Eastern Counties, 20%—East
Lancashire, No. 1, 181/2—Glasgow and Dumfries, 29i—Goole,
Doncaster, Sheffield, &c., 3%--Huddersfield and Manchester
Railway and Canal, 83/ c. n.— Leeds and Thirsk, 13—Lei-
cester and 13edfoid, 1 15-16—London and Manchester (Rem.),
2:j4—London and York, 4%—Manchester aril Birmingham,
70—Manchester and Southampton, 3%—North Staffordshire,
s%—North Western, 3%—N ot tingham and Boston, 2%—
Nottingham, Belvoir, and Grantham, 3%—Oxford, Worces-
ter, and Wolverhampton, 17—Sheffield and Lincoln June-'
tion, 3 Sheffield and Manchester Quarters, No. 3, 6
Shrewsbury, Oswestry, and Chester, 6—South-Eastern and
Dover, 35=Trent Valley, 15%.

SHEFFIELD, Nov. 13.
STOCK EXCHANGE.—The sales are—Midland, Sheffield,
and Rotherham, 35—London and York, 41. 11s.—Mau-
chester, Sheffield, and Midland Junction, 51. 1-Is.—Notting-
ham, Erew•ash, and Ambergate, 3—North Staffordshire, WA
—Sheffield and Lincolnshire, 3►%—Wakefield and Harro-
gate, 2% . _

_
BRISTOL, Nov. 13.
STOCK EXCHANGE.—The sales are—Bristol and Exeter,
New, 7%—Midland, New, 181h—Northampton, Banbury,
and Cheltenham, 3—Wilts, Somerset, and Weymouth, 4%.

LEEDS, Nov. 13.
STOCK EXCHANGE. —The sales are—London and Croydon,
20—Manchester and Leeds, Fifth Shares, 10% p.—Midland,
New, 191/2—Leeds and Bradford, 42—Ditto, Extensions, 381/2
—Leeds and Dewsbury, 18 c. n.—North British, New, 48
—Wakefield, Pontefract, and Goole, 38—Wilts, Somerset, and
Weymouth, 41/2—Liverpool, Ormskirk, and Preston, 414—
West Biding Union, 7—Grand Union 7s. p.—Lancashire and
North Yorkshire, 4s. p.—Leeds and Liverpool Direct, 2s. 6d.
dis.—Leeds and York, par—Leicester and Birmingham, 10s.
p.—Leicester and Bedford, 10s. p.—Manchester, Buxton,
Matlock, and Midland, 3 p.—North-Western, 3%—Notting-
ham, Erewash, and Ambergate, 3—South Midlands, p.—
Wakefield and HarrogAte,,lGs. p.—York and Carlisle, 3/. 4s.
HUDDERSFIELD, Nov. 13.
STOCK ExcitAxoE.—The sales are—London and York,
4%—Grand Union, I%—Huddersfield, Halifax, and Brad-
ford Union, 8/. 17s. 6d.—Hull and Holyhead, Ss.—Leicester
and Birmingham, Bs. Gd. p.—North and South Junction, 245.
6d.—Nottingham and Boston, 12s. Gd. p.—North Western,
3i—Wexford, Waterford, and Valentia,
HULL, Nov. 13.
_ _

STOCK EXCIIANGE.—Tho sales are—Londun and Brigh-
ton, 60 L4-:-Aberdeen, 7—Great Grimsby and Sheffield, 14—
North British, Half Shares, 31. 18s. 6d.—Ditto, Dalkeith,
578—Coventry, Nuneaton, &c., IL 16s. 9d.--Derby and
Gainsborough, I%—Hull and Barnsley Junction, 275. 6d.—
London and Birmingham Extension, IN—London and York,
4%—Nottingham, Belvoir, and Grantham, 278.