The Sun.
London, England, 1844-12-05 00:00:00

rt Erb Mbition

GREAT WESTERN STEAM-SHIP
COMPA,N Y.

SPECIAL MEETING.
(From the Bristol Mirror.)
A special general meeting of this Company was
held on Tuesday last at the office in Princes-street.
There was a large number of the proprietors present,
the questions for consideration being of vital im-
portance to their interests.
Henry Bush, Esq., having been called to the chair,
the notice for convening the meeting was read, which
was followed by a lengthened report from the di-
rectors, in which the necessity of raising additional
capital, by the creation of new shares, was fully and
clearly explained. The sum required was stated to be
50,0001, which was proposed to be raised by the crea-
tion of 1,784 new shares of 301. each, being the same
number as the original shares. The following are the
terms on which the new shares were to be issued, as
detailed in the report :-
1. That out of the net proceeds of the undertaking,
after paying and providing for the cost of management
and repairs, and other expenses incident to the conduct
of the business of the Company, a dividend of 5L per
cent. per annum shall be paid half-yearly upon all
moneys paid in respect of such 30/. shares, previously
to any moneys being set apart for the reserved fund, and
the payment of dividend upon the existing 1001. shares.
" 2. That after the payment of such dividend on the
301 shares, the surplus moneys of the Company, ap-
plicable to the payment of the dividend shall be appro-
priated to or towards the payment of 51. per cent. upon
the existing 100/. shares ; and if after the last-men-
tioned payment any surplus shall remain, the same shall
be divided among the proprietors of both old and new
shares in proportion to the amount of capital paid up
on each.

" 3. That if in any one year there shall not be suffi-
cient to pay the full dividend of 51. per cent. upon the
capital 'for the time being paid up in respect of new
shares, the net proceeds (as before-mentioned) of any
future year shall be applied to make good such deficiency
before any portion thereof is applied to any other
purpose.
e 4. That on the sale of any portion of the Company's
property; the proceeds of which shall, under the deed of
settlement, be applicable to the repayment of capital, the
capital paid up in respect of the 301. shares, shall, at the
option of the proprietors of such shares, be first dis-
charged thereout.
5. That the proprietors of the existing shares shall
have the preference of taking such new shares, and if the
whole be not taken by them, the directors to have the
power of disposing of the remainder.
" 6. That the first call upon such new shares shall not
exceed 101. per share, and no subsequent call to exceed
5/. per share, and that there shall be an interval of three
months at least between any two calls.
" 7. That interest at the rate of 5/. per cent. be paid
upon all moneys advanced in anticipation of calls."
The report of the directors then went on to state
that it having been urged at all the meetings of the
Company fur the last three years, in the strongest
manner, that measures should be edopted for dispos-
ing of the Great Western and the works, not only
with the view of providing the requisite funds for
completing the Great Britain, but as a step pre-
paratory To the disposal of that ship when completed,
and the final dissolution of the Company, the directors
had made, from time to time, every effort to meet the
wishes of the proprietors. Repeated attempts had
been made to sell both the Great Western and the
works by private contract, and ultimately by public
auction ; but all had been alike unsuccessful. No
offer had been made to purchaee the works at any
price, and there had been only two bona fide negotia-
sions for the purchase of the Great Western. The
first 'negotiation terminated abruptly; the other was
with the Peninsular and Oriental Company, to whom
it was agreed to sell the vessel, provided the Govern-
ment surveyors should approve of her as a fit and
proper vessel for the Royal Mail service. Some time
was occupied in her examination by these officers
the result of which was most satisfactory, proving a'
it did that the ship and machinery were in the hese
Condition. The Government engineer not beingt
satisfied as to the sufficiency of steam for the Royal
Mail service, alterations %sere made for the purpose of,
meeting his views, and the Peninsular and Oriental
Company were requested again to send him down.
After waiving his arrival ten days, during which
time the ship was kept at Kingroad, manned and,
ready for sea, the last post-day for writing to the
United States previously to her sailing having
arrived, the directors had no alternative hut
to decide at once upon placing her upon her
old station. The Peninsular and Oriental Company;
then applied for and obtained an injunction to prevent,
her sailing as advertised. This, however, on the.
case being argued before the Vice- Chancellor, was
dissolved, and, subsequently, the bill filed by the
Peninsular and Oriental Company for a specific per-
formance of the contract had been dismissed, and the
contract rescinded. This result the directors could
not regret ; the price at which, under the pressure
from their proprietors, they felt bound to agree to
sell the vessel—namely, 32;000/.—was, in their opi-
nion, far below her value. The report then went on
to explain that these proceedings had operated preju-
dicially to the interests of the proprietors, both from
the loss of traffic occasioned, and from having given rise
to reports which had caused a serious diminution in
the earnings of the Great Western. The directors had
during the past year devoted themselves most ear-
nestly to the consideration of every measure which tips
peered calculated to meet the expressed wishes of the
proprietors. With that view they had attentively
considered the question of separating the interests of
the proprietors in the manufacturing and in the mer-
cantile departments, and especially the very valuable
suggestions of Mr. Charles Bowles Fripp on that
point. They had, however, most reluctantly been
obliged to come to the conclusion, that however de-
sirable such plans might be, the difficulties which ne-
cessarily attended them were of such a nature as to pre-
sent insuperable obstacles to their being carried into ef-
fett. They were, therefore, compelled, for the present at
least, to abandon the idea of providing for the more
profitable use of the works by any measure of that
description ; nor were they prepared to suggest any
other plan, it being their opinion that it would be
more for the interest of the proprietors to defer the
consideration of their disposition for the present. The
superiority of iron steam vessels of the largest class
was now so clearly establined, and the convenience
for building and repairing both vessels and machinery at
the Company's works -so great, that the directors
could not doubt that ere long an opportunity would
occur either for selling or letting the works, without
that sacrifice which must necessarily attend a forced
or hasty attempt to dispose of them. At the com-
mencement of the present year they were not pre-
pared to advance such an opinion with the confidence
they now entertained; circumstances, however,
had since occurred, which, in reference to
the value of the works and the prospect of an
advantageous disposal of them, the directors deemed of
the last importance. They alluded to the determina-
tion of the Dock Company to widen the entrance
locks into the port, which, when effected, would
afford to Bristol the means of taking advantage of the
undoubted facilities it possesses in all other respects
for manufacturing and repairing iron steam-vessels,
and from which it was at present debarred solely
by the narrow dimensions of the locks. It was
needless to remind the proprietors that at present there
were no works in the kingdom, save those belonging
to the Government and that Company, in which the
largest class of steam-vessels could be docked and
equipped. Under those circumstances the directors
thought that the most prudent course would be to defer
the question of the disposal fur the works for the present.
After adverting to some minor matters, the report
proceeded to state that the completion of the hull
and machinery of the Great Britain was accomplished,
that she would pass through the outer lock in
the course of next month, and should the proprietors
adopt the proposition for the consideration of which
they were met, she would be ready to sail on her first
voyage to New York in the spring of next year. The
report then went on to allude to that proposition and to
enforce it on the proprietors, and then stated that
the object of the directors was not to secure the
permanent prosecution of the undertaking, but to
provide fur the discharge of the liabilities of the Com-
pany, in such a manner as to prevent the property of the
present proprietors from being absolutely sacrificed,
and, at the same time, afford the opportunity of at
least attempting, now that the time for so doing had
arrived, to realise those expectations of success which
induced the proprietors to embark in the undertaking;
and they (lid not hesitate to express their firm convic-
tion, that if such an opportunity was afforded, the re-
sult would be (if not a realisation of the expectations
of the most sanguine) such a one at least as would be
satisfactory to the proprietors in restoring their pro-
perty to its legitimate value. The report concluded
by shoe ing what had been the yearly nett earnings of
the Great Western, and then gave an estimate of her
future probable returns, which were calculated at
8,2481. The net proceeds of the Great Britain, taken
on the same basis, would probably amount to 22,465/
per annum ; those sums would amount together to
30,7131., which, ii was obvious, would not 'Ally give
a fair return to the proprietors, but provi'l'• a reserve
ample or every concingency, and for the ulthente re-
demption of the capital of the Company within a very
limited period.
Much conversation ensued upon the fourth and fifth
clauses of the report; to the latter was added, " upon
the same conditions, but not at a lower price." It
was also arranged that the operations of the Company
Should be restricted solely to the working of the Great
Western and Great Britain steamers, and to the ne-
cessary repairs of these ships and the Company's works
until otherwise determined by the proprietors.
The report was then unanimously adopted.
A vote of thanks eves gives to the Directors, for the
responsibility they had takeni upon themselves in the
alteration of the dock, to
ow of the entrance of the
Great Britain into the bale
given__ to the Chairman,
A vote of thanks wasin
walhs.oc.
h he had conducted the
for the able manner
proceedings.

THE FUNDS-(C

BRITISk
Raßk Stock ec div. 2€B
3 per Cent. Red lOO%
3 per Cent Cons. ..... 101

per Cent. Red
New 3U per Cent...- IO2
New 5 per Cent.... .....
Long Annuities to expire
lan. 1860 l2 1-16

Oct. 1859............... --

Jan. ...... 1244 3i
Indian 5t0ck........« .......

,OSING PRICES.)

I 'FUNDS.
Ditto Bonds £l,OOO 78 rim.
Ditto under Xl,OOO 7B pm.
South Sea Stock
Ditto Old Annuities
Ditto New Annuities —
Ex. Bills, 1,0001. I%d prn.
Ditto 5001
Ditto Small 53 pm
Bank Stock for Acct —
Consols for Opg ..... 9074
India Stock fer Acct —
FUNDS.
Russian, 5 per Cent
Ditto, Ddetallic
Spanish, 5 per Cent., 1840 2436
Oat°, 1841 ......
Ditto, 1842.......... .......
Ditto, -
Ditto, 1844 ..... . .
Ditto, 3 per Cent
Venezuela Bonds, 2 per Ct —
French, 5 per Cent.,...... —5 c.
French, 3 per Cent.... .—f
Exchange ..... —5.
Dutch, 2% per Cent
Ditto,ls per Cent

Austrian, 5 per Cent —
Belgian, 5 per
Brazilian Bonds BS3
Buenos Ayres, 6 per Cent
Cuba Bonds, 6 per Cent —
Chllian, 6 per Cent
Colombian, 6 per Cent
Danish, 3 per Cent
Greek, 18.:5, 5 per Cent
Mexican, 5 per Cent .."
Neapolitan Bonds, 5 per Ct —
Prussian Bonds, 4 per Cent —
Peruvian Bonds, 6 per Ct —
Portuguese Bonds, 5 per Ct

SHARES.
Bristol and Gloucester, 30 paid
Cambridge and Lincoln, 1% paid 2%
Churnet„Valley, 2 paid
Edinburgh and Glasgow, 50 paid
Great Western (75 paid) ............. .................. 114
Ditto Half Shares, 50 paid
Ditto Fifths, 12 paid
Hull and Selby, 50 paid —
Ditto Quarter Shares (12 paid) ......
Liverpool and Manchester, 100 paid 213
London and Brighton (50 paid)
London and South Western (411. 6s. 10d. paid)
Ditto Eighths (15s. paid)
London and Croydon ...... ........... ..............
London and York, 2% paid 3%
Manchester and Leeds (70 paid)
Ditto, Half Shares, 30 paid ........—..
Manchester and Birmingham
North Kent, 2% paid 314
Richmond and West Endf.Junction, I;paid 23(
South .Eastern and Dover (33 2s 4d paid)
Ditto, New Shares. 4 paid... ............ ..... 10%
York and North Midland (50 paid) ....
Ditto Half Shares (25 paid)
Ditto Scarboro' Branch, 10 paid
Boulogne and Amiens, 2 paid
Orleans and Vierzon, 2 paid..... ..... ... . ........ .....'„ II
Orleans and Bourdeaux, 1 paid .. ...... ................ 6%
-Paris and Lyons, 2 paid ..... .......... .......... 3
Paris and Orleans (20 paid) 4O
Paris and Rouen. 20 paid ...................... ....... .... 395 i
Paris and Strasbourg, 2% paid V%

MIDDLESEX SESSIONS.
(THIS DAY.)

THE CASE OF MRS. TYRWHIT.
(Continued from our Afternoon Edition.)

At a quarter to four o'clock the jury empanelled to
try the indictment against this lady entered the Court,
and announced that they had agreed to return a verdict
of Acquittal.
The moment the verdict was announced, the audience
in the Court testified their approbation by loud cheers.
The Learned ASSISTANT-JUDGE said he could not by
any means tolerate any indecorous manifestation. The
jury had only done their duty, and he should do his by
ordering any person who again repeated those unseemly
manifestations of applause into custody.
Mrs. Tyrwhit, who, as we before stated, generally
manifested through the trial much firmness, became
deeply affected at hearing the verdict, and expressed a
wish to make a few remarks. In a voice almost in-
audible from emotion, she said, " Before God I declare
my entire innocence."
The Learned A ssxsTANT-JuDGE—Any protestation
of innocence on your part is uncalled for. The jury have
declared you innocent.
Mr. M. CHAMBERS begged to remind the Learned
Judge that if this protestation could answer no other
purpose, it must be, at all events, pleasing the minds
of the jury after the verdict they had come to.
T-3 rwhit then walked from the dock, and was
received by a number of friends, several of whom walked
down from the bench to congratulate her. . Upon reach-
ing the hall of the Court, on her way to her carriage,
she was received with loud cheers, which were taken up
by those outside on Clerkenwell-green, and were con-
tinued until she drove away, accompanied by her friends
in their respective carriages..

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.

FROM THE EVENING PAPERS OF THIS DAI.

. GLOBE.—Two lives were sacrificed by the recent
collision of two trains on the Midland Counties Rail-
way. As the death of one of the sufferers took place
in the county, while that of the other occurred within
the limits of the borough of Nottingham, two in•
quisitions were necessary. That held by the city
coroner returned a verdict of manslaughter against
Mr. R. Lightfoot, the station superintendent. On
that verdict we ventured to ofter some remarks
on Monday, which, from the observations with which
they accompanied their finding, seem to have been
read and considered by the county jury. Although
the evidence in the two cases was precisely the same,
the verdicts were opposite. The one imputed cri-
minal blame to the station superintendent, and thus
preserved the Railway Company from pecuniary in •
fiction ; the second exculpated the servants of the
Company, by an unanimous verdict of " accidental
death." By imposing a deodand of 1,0001. on the engines,
tenders, and carriages, the jury showed that they
considered the real cause of the accident was the lack
of those precautions, on the part of the Directors,
which are essential for the public safety.
Neglect of the means which experience has shown
to be the only effectual safeguards against accidents,
when they lead to the loss of life, can at present only
be visited on public bodies by such penalties. We
hope that the present instance will operate as a
salutary caution to other companies, as well as
to the Midland Railway Company, through which
the lesson has been conveyed. The jury say—
" We are convinced the collision took place in conse-
quence of mismanagement and the want of a clear
understanding on the part of some of the Company's
servants of the directions which were given; but,
owing to conflicting evidence, we are not able to de-
cide who are the parties individually implicated. We
are also of opinion that much improvement may be
made in the general management of the Midland
Railway, particularly' at the Nottingham station,
which would tend materially to secure the public
safety. We think it important that the ser-
vants, especially the enginemen and guards, should
be properly instructed in, and duly impressed with
the importance of, the printed rules, which should as
much as possible be observed to the letter. We are
also of opinion that Jonathan Raven, the Beeston sta-
tion-master, has given evidence before this inquest
which the jury can place no reliance upon, and that
he ought to forfeit the confidence of the Railway
Company, and be no longer retained as a public servant.
The jury, in expressing their opinion that " much
improvement may be made in the general management
of the Midland Rail way," do but give effect to the ge-
nerally expressed opinion of all who have had occasion
to travel by that railway, since the amalgamation of
the line. The interests of the Company, no less than the
convenience and safety of their passengers, impera-
tively demand prompt attention to this subject on the
part of the directors. The allusion which the jury
make to the evidence of Jonathan Raven, the Beeston
station-master, is important. His evidence, if relied
on, would go to fix a considerable degree of culpable
negligence on Mr. Lightfoot. Supposing his evi-
dence to be given with another purpose than that
of deposing to the facts, so far as they came within
his cognizance, two objects may be assumed as
tending to influence his testimony. He would exone-
rate himself from blame ; and, by inculpating Mr.
Lightfoot, he would preserve the property of his
employers from the visitation of a deodand. His
evidence, under any circumstances, was to be re-
ceived cum gransalis ; and the contradictions
and evasions with which it abounded induced the
jury not only to exclude it from their regard,
but to pass upon the witness the strong and
unqualified condemnation they have placed on record.
Every one must regret that the mulct which the jury
has imposed on the funds of the Company, cannot
be made available for the families of the deceased
persons. The deodand is a relic of by-gone
days ; when superstition, and the ignorance in
which it originates, led to practices that are
now abrogated, at least in this country. The
deodand was assigned to the nearest monastery,
and purchased for the deceased soul of the per-
son who had been deprived of life by accident,
and was sent to his great account without the
offices of the Church, those masses which were
deemed to possess great influence with the Deity, and
to procure his early deliverance from purgatory. The
design was benevolent. Let a better-instructed be-
nevolence direct the deodand to be applied to the corn-
pensation, though vastly inadequate, of those to whom
the deceased person's cares were devoted while he
lived, and who are, probably, deprived of protection
and sustenance by his death.
STANDARD.—The accounts from the manufac-
turing districs indicate a degree of activity, enter-
prise, and profit, beyond any former example; these
accounts are indeed so favourable as to be even
alarming to all who look to the future. In some
places millowners calculate upon realising a gain
of fifty per cent. upon their capital within
the year ; in others fortunes of 50,000/., 70,0001.,
and 100,0001. have been already realised,
while mills are rising in all directions ; facts to
which the Property-tax Cotnmissicners must be
duly attentive. It is not our disposition to dash
the enjoyment of present prosperity with sur-
mises of future evil ; in general we hold it to be the
truest wisdom to make the most of the good we have,
and let the future take care of itself. But this rule
is extended too far, when the present good is, as in
the present ease, obtained at the expense of the
future; when the present gain to- a few is made
at the cost of much misery hereafter to the ,
many, who even now scarcely participate in it; I
when the very men who are now pushing
enterprise beyond its due bounds, are the same who
will labour to shift the blame of the ill consequences
of their own lucrative speculations upon innocent
parties. It is speaking very moderately to assert
that the present manufacturing activity and manatee-
turing profit cannot be maintained at anything like
the point at which they have arrived ; or, if we may
be allowed to use this mode of measurement, with. 1

in ten or twenty per cent. of that point. The
demand of the whole world, though all directed
upon this country, would not maintain both enter-
prise and profit at the present standard. What,
then, must be expected ? A relaxation of enter-
prise and a decline of profit. This would
be no great harm if it concerned only
the mill-owners, who are now so desperately
" going a-head," for they—such of them, at least,
as stop in time—will be safe at anchor, with each
his 50,0001. or 100,0001. secured within the year.
But what is to be the fate of the labourers—
the persons by whose unnaturally-extended and pe-
nuriously-requited toil all this immense wealth will
have been gained ? Ten or twenty per cent. of them
at the very least will be turned adrift to starve or to
be supported by the agricultural parishes ; the re-
mainder set to work at short time and shorter wages
—an ample preserve for the Radicals and Chartists.
This, we must contend, is the prospect before us,
let it arrive soon or late—the cloud that overhangs
the evenings of every particularly bright day in our
commercial progress. Are these painful re ac-
tions necessary ? We say, certainly not in the de-
gree, probably not at all. It is undoubtedly a
delicate affair to intermeddle in the concerns
of commerce, but in cases of necessity we see
finance ministers intruding into these concerns
with very little ceremony. The whole process of
malt making, for example, is regulated by laws as
minute as the receipts in cookery book ; and we
believe that in distilleries, glass-houses, paper-
mills, tobacco manufactories, &c., a Chancellor
of the Exchequer is the virtual " master of the
works." From all which examples it is pretty
plain that the penetralia of trade are not absolutely
inviolable. If, therefore, the protection of multi-
tud-s of our fellow-subjects from the last degree of
suffering be as important to the Legislature as
mere revenue, the Legislature may as properly re-
gulate the manufacture of calico as the manufacture
of malt, more especially as the interference in the case
of the calico needs to be but very slight, and will, in
the end, greatly serve the trade with which it has
to do, as well as greatly serving the country—
what nobody has ever predicated of the malt
duty, as far as we are informed. Before sug-
gesting the obvious and just guard against
the frightful evils of manufacturin re ac-
tions, or as they are called " gluts,' let us
meet one objection—the objection, namely, that
enterprise must be left free in order to catch the turn
of the tide. This is an objection founded upon a
fallacy. There are, at least there ought to be, no
tides in commerce—commerce ought to be a constant
stream, and would be such were it not for rare acci-
dents and for the obstruction offered to its progress
by gambling speculation. The wants of mankind are
uniform and constant ; and if those who are invited
to supply such wants would be contented to supply
them only uniformly, the demand would be steady,
uniform, and constant also. Are the manufacturers
of 1844, however, working for the supply only of
1844? No, in the fury of competition they work for
the supply of five years to come ; what wonder, then,
if the demani shall flag until 1850, .or even later. The
tide, the regular irregularity, if we may so call it, be-
gins in the furious competition of speculators, not in
any thingpon fleeted with the markets If in one year they
produce a supply for five years, they must expect
that the bulk of the goods will lie in their own
warehouses, or in the warehouses of such consignees
as they have prevailed upon to take them. It is
altogether an error to suppose that there can ever be
danger of missing a market because of insufficient
stock, the danger is that no market can be found to
take the immense amount of stock always redundant.
What then is the proper guard against " gluts ?"
You cannot control the amount of capital to be
employed if you would, and you ought not if
you could. You are neither able nor justified to
arrest the progress of improvement in machinery
—least of all can you think of imposing
regulations upon the exportation or the consump-
tion at home of manufactured goods. This, how-
ever, you can do ; you can set reasonable limits to
the human labour in manufactories. You can by
law prevent persons being forced to toil 16 or 18
hours a day in 1844 or 1845, in order that they may
be starved for the three years following. You will
thus render it impossible for speculators to anti-
cipate the markets of future years to the extent
they are now doing, and you will get better
work, because you will have a class of constantly em-
ployed, and therefore more skilful workmen. This
is the guard against "gluts," and the consequences of
"gluts'—misery, discontent, Chartism, and insurrec-
tion. We write this on the sth of December, 1844.
We hope that we shall not have to refer to the article
before the end of the next year.

ACCIDENT ON THE SOUTH EAS-

TERN RAILWAY.-TWO LIVES LOST.

DOVER, DEc.—A great sensation was caused here-
last night, by a report that two lives had been lost in
one of the tunnels between Dover and Folkstone.
Upon inquiry it was found to 'be too true ; the suf-
ferers were G. Coveney and E. Jackson ; both have left
wives, and, it is believed, families. The deceased
• were employed as labourers on the South-Eastern
Railway, near the Warren, and when the accident
happened were on their way home from work.
lhey were in the Abbot's Cliff Tunnel, and probably
wee walking on the rails. The up-train which leaves
here forty minutes past five, passed them ; and it
is supposed that from the noise and smoke they
neither saw nor heard the down train, which should
reach here at twenty-six minutes past five, enter the
tunnel ; in consequence of which they were knocked
down by the engine, and the train passed over the
bodies and killed them. The scalp of Jackson's head
was dreadfully torn, and was lying on his breast;
indeed, both bodies were severely lacerated. The
bodies having been brought into Dover, and notice
given to the Coroner, an inquest will be held this
evening.