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

able House will institute an inquiry into the circumstances of
the case, and into the bona fides and expediency of the said
arrangements between the said London, Chatham, and North
Kent Railway and her Majesty's Board of Ordnan e on behalf
of the public service.
And your petitioners will ever pray, &c.

he bought and sold them for me. The nett 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.

The letter set forth in the petition is the mo remorkable
among those laid before the Committee ; but they consider the
following letters worthy of especial notice, as di-ylaying, in a
striking manner, the general character of the correspondence
which Mr. Hignett allowed himself to carry on with successive
secretaries of the South-Eastern Railway Company:—

COPY ADDRESSED TO SIR. WHITEHEAD.
("Private.) " March 3, 184.5.
My dear Sir—l thank you for your note. I think the Com-
pany have played their eards badly. Mr. Fearon is very
talented and zealous, but he cannot know so well as 1 do the
feeling which prevails at Greenwich and Woolwich. I think I
could have prevented the petition from Greenwich against you,
and which will be so powerful ; it is now too late I fear. I
gave you a hint, but as it did not appear to meet with accept-
ance, I could not press a matter of that delicacy and importance
further. I could, however, satisfy you that I could have saved
you all trouble at Greenwich, your starting point. If you like
to let Captain O'Brien know this, and it be not too late, you
may do so privately. I saw that gentleman on Friday; he ap-
peared to be aware of my friendly views, but he cannot know
what I can state and do, unless I have an invitation and assur-
ance of confidence. I have great personal interest at Green-
wich and Woolwich, and also at Rochester and Gravesend, and
with the well known great personal desire I have always felt
and shown to serve the South-Eastern line, it is inconceivable
why I was not looked to for assistance. There is no delicacy
as far as my friend, Mr. Fearon, is concerned, because I should
not, and, indeed, cannot act professionally in this or any case.
Hy help would have been entirely from influence at my own
control. —Yours very faithfully,

" J. HIGNETT."
COPY ADDRESSED TO CAPTAIN O'BRIEN.
(" Private.) " March 3, 1845.
"Dear Sir,—l was about to forward the inclosed note to
Mr. Whitehead, but, on reflection, it occurs to me that he
may possibly have left you on unfriendly terms, therefore I
deem it most prudent to submit it to you, and perhapsl,you had
better use it promptly. At all events, I will let you know what
I think I can do, and you can then judge for yourself. This,
however, I am quite convinced of, that if I had been consulted
early and in confidence, I could have rendered assistance of
valuable importance. I could have stopped the Greenwich op-
position, and that would have removed from the Crown an ex-
cuse for refusing compliance with your wish to pass through
or under the Greenwich Park. Pray understand that I submit
this to you entirely in confidence.—Yours faithfully,
" J. HIGNE TT."
ADDRESSED TO CAPTAIN O'BRIEN.

.' Office of Ordnance, March 1,1845.

"Dear Sir,—l have just been informed that Mr. Goldsmid
stated yesterday to an influential friend of mine, that if the
Committee on Private Bills should express any opinion in
favour of your line he will withdraw frem the contest, and give
you no further trouble. I can vouch for the accuracy of this
statement, and I thought you would like to know.—ln haste,
yours faithfully, " J. HIGNETT.
"P. S.—l am concerned to find that 3ou a:e thwarted by
this Beard at Chatham."

COPY OF CAPIAIN O'BRIEN'S ANSWER.
" (Private.) "March 7,

"My Dear Sir,-.I am sorry that an unusual amount of
business has prevented me from sooner answering your note of
the 3d. I immediately gave to Mr. Whitehead your letter,
and I am glad to be able to assure you that he leaves the Com-
pany on very amicable and friendly terms. I begged him to
explain to you, if he happened to see you, that the Directors
are aware of your friendly disposition towards the South. Eastern
Railway, and that they feel much obliged to you for such sup-
port as you could give to these schemes of great public utility.
Any information which you see no objection to give to me I
shall be most happy to communicate to the Board; and I need
hardly assure you that we are glad of any help in this great un-
dertaking. Believe me, my dear Sir, very faithfully yours,
" W. O'BRIEN."
And the following, subsequently addressed to Captain
O'Brien :

" (Private.) " Office of Ordnance, April 18, 1845.
"Dear Sir,--It has been hinted to me this morning that now
is the time for a compromise between your Company and the
North Kent party. I have heard that the Committee on
Standing Orders will decide for the latter, but the Chairman
waits to give you time for an arrangement. I have no doubt
about the accuracy of my information, and have only forborne
to write to or see you on the subject, that I might not be trou-
blesome. As I have said before, if I can he of any use, I shall
be most happy in affording any assistance in my power.
" Yours faithfully, " J. HIGNETT.
" Addressed to Captain O'Brien," &c.
" Office of Ordnance, April 28, 1845.
" Dear Sir,—l forgot to tell you in my letter of this morn•
ing, that we have received an overture from Mr. Moneypenny,
on behalf of the Hvstings, Rye, and Tenterden Railway Com-
pany, for the purchase of the Royal Military Canal from Hithe
to Cliff, in Sussex. We shall let them have it.—Yours.
faithfully,
" Addressed to Captain O'Brien," &c.

. J. HIGNETT,

" June 26, 1845.
" Dear Sir,—Mr. Fearon has just written to tell me that he
means this morning to produce a letter of mine to Mr. White-
head, dated 3d of February last, before the Committee. I
have no copies of any letters I wrote to Mr. Whitehead ; but
in the strictest confidence I certainly wrote both to him and
yourself. I protest against this most unfair and unwarrantable
breach of confidence, which I am quite sure you will not
sanction, nor would any of the Directors.—" Yours, faithfully,
"J. HIGNETT.
" Addressed Captain O'Brien, &c.—lmmediate."
In reference to the payme• t of 3001. for Mr. Bonham's ser-
vices in passing the South-Eastern Railway Company's Bill,
through Parliament, already alluded to, his statement is as
follows --
" In the early part of the session of 1836, Mr. Wray, to
whom I was under particular obligations (it is not necessary
to state them with any explicitness), came to me and said, I
am very much interested in the success of the
South-Eastern Railway, and I wish you would give us a lift ;
and I want your advice upon some points.' I said, 'My dear
Wray, I owe very great obligations to yea, and will do any-
thing in my power to serve you.' He said, I should be very
much obliged to you if you would.' And, upon that, I have
not the least hesitation in stating that I did all I could indi-
vidually to assist Mr. Wray in the object he had in view ; that
is, in plain terms, I did what I could to assist him in passing
that Bill, both in and out of Parliament. Mr. %'Tray never
held out to me one word, nor did any conversation ever take
place, as to any advantage of any kind or sell that I was to de-
rive from it. I considered it a great personal advantage. I
mean personal, with reference to the debt of gratitude that I
owed him. I considered it a great pleasure to myself to do what
I could for him. There were some questions upon the French
lines where I gave them some advice, I w 11 not say assistance,
because they were able to assist themselves. I never had any
communication in any way with any of the members of the
South-Eastern Railway Committee. 1 never had from them,
directly or indirectly, any offer of any personal advantage to
myself to be derived from it. After that bill was passed, Mr.
Wray came to me and stated that the South-Eastern Railway
Company felt that I had been of use to them, great use to
them, I think he said, and that they had kept a quantity of
reserved shares, which had not been disposed of, and that they
had determined to appropriate one hundred shares fur my
benefit. Mr. Wray said. ' I know it will not be convenient for
you to hold these shares,' meaning, of course, what I do not
deny, that lam not a rich man. ' I will hold them for you,
and I think I can derive some advantage from them ;' and Mr.
Wray, I think, about three weeks afterwards (he will be able to
tell you better,) came to me and said, I have been able to
make 3001. of those shares, which I will give you.' From be-
ginning to end, so far as I know of the transaction, I have no
hesitation in stating that this is the whole of the transaction.
It is nine years ago, and I had very much forgotten it ; my
impression was, the other day, that Ihad not received the 3001.
but that, in point of fact, as I owed Mr. Wray
money, Mr. Wray had received the 3001. for my
benefit, liquidating the debt. That was my impression ;
but the day before yesterday, when I stated this to Mr. Wray,
he said, You are wrong, depend upon it; I gave you the
money, either in a cheque or money.' And I said, " If you
did, I have not the least recollection; but as I never meant to
suppose for a moment that I had not had the benefit of it in
some way, you are much more likely to know than I am, and,
therefore, I take it for granted, under the circumstances, that I
received the money.' I have not the least recollection of re-
ceiving it, bat 1 take it for granted that so it is. I cannot have
the slightest doubt about it, and I must take it for granted that
he did give me the cheque. I can only state again, that as to the
transaction itself, there was never, at the time I assisted him,
the smallest expectation on my mind of deriving any advantage
from it; and, of course, when I state this, the Committee will
mostnaturally and properly take care to ascertain that fact
from other quarters. I think I can undertake to say, not
knowing who the Directors of the South-Eastern Company
were at that time so much as this, that all those gentlemen will
tell you the same. I should hope so, for, upon my honour,l do
not know their names, notall of them ; but I challenge them all,
from beginning to end, to say that I had ever the slightest expec-
tation of any kind or sort, and Mr. Wray also; and the proposal
as to these shares was never made to me till after the Bill had
passed, and the shares I never received, inasmuch as it would
not have been convenient ; but the shares' worth, afterwards, I
did receive from Mr. Wray ; that is the transaction."
It appears further, from the testimony of Mr. Bonham him-
self, that he held and still holds shares in the North Kent Com-
pany. The following is a portion of his evidence upon this
point

It appears that, on the 9th of June, Captain Boldero seld
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
2/. 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 11.
15e. 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# 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
to ofer 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, Ihad 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. I 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 wont. 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
3,0001. as compensatiou 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 I, in fact, subscribed money towards it.

MIDLAND RAIL WAY 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 eine
o'clock, the usual time, it was ten before the train left the
station. Several of the Sh ireholders 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 an 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 advers
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 ke
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 CHAIRMAN was about to put the resolution, when the
shareholders who had come by the trains from London entered
the room.
Colonel BLAINE, 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
250,000/. before they would be enabled to pay ten per cent.,
and that even to pay ole 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. BLAINR expressed himself perfectly satisfied.
The resolution was then put, and unanimously agreed to.
The CHAIRMAN then rose, and said—l think this is not 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
Lord 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 thingl that Lord Brougham stated was that we
hail 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 ease
did not last more than a week or so; and to say 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 recemmend to the Proprietors of this Corn-
pany to adopt a line which will give a better southern com-
munication 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 there 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 Nottingham 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.
(Applanse. ) The town of Grantham we hope to supply from
our Syston and Peterborough branch, which will give bath a
northern and a southern communication. There will be a
northern communication by means of the Amber-gate scheme,
of the capital of which this Company holds one quarter.

Chairman : Will you state the number of shares you had in
.he North Kent Railway ?—I had 100. You purchased 100 ?
—Ye.. You still hold them ?—Yes ; that is to say. I had

125 ; those 125, it seems, were sold upon a profit of some-
where about 2s. 6d. or perhaps ss. a share. Lord Worsley :
You mean the whole 125 7—Yes. Chairman : Then you pur-
chased again ?—Yes, I purchased again very recently 100, and
those I have. Did you buy them in the market ?—I bought
them, at least my friend who managed the transaction for me,
bought them in the market at a high premium. They were
not bought in your name ?—They were not bought in my
name. Your name does not appear ?—No, it does not ;
suppose not. Then they are, in fact, held by him at this mo.
ment ?—They are, in fact, at this moment held by him. Are
they held by him in trust for you ?—Yes. You having paid
the deposit and the premium ?—He must have paid the de-
posit and the premium ; they are held by him in his hands
for me. In point of fact, up to this time, you have paid no-
thing ?—I have paid nothing upon those ; they were bought
only a few days ago. Was that friend any person connected
With the Board of Ordnance ?—Not in the remotest degree.
Was it any person connected with the promoters of the North
Kent Railway ?—Not in the remotest degree.
Captain Boldero's evidence was next taken. Captain Bol-
dero had only received the evidence taken on the first day of
the sitting of the Committee when he »a as examined. He de-
nied that Mr. Hignett had any authority to use his name in
the letter of the 3d of February. The facts elicited in the
examination of Captain Boldero are briefly stated in the fol-
lowing extracts from his evidence :

Chairman—Are you a holder of shares in the North
Kent Railway ?—I am not now ; I was. Did you buy them
yourself in the market ?—I did not buy them myself in the
market. Will you state the particulars of that transaction to
the Committee? Decidedly. The date when you became a
shareholier in the North Kent Railway, and the date when
you got rid of those shares ?—Until the beginning of this year I
never held a railway share of any description. My first trans-
action in speculating a little in railways commenced thus :—A
(rind of mine asked me if I would buy some shares in the
Chester and Holyhead. I said, " Yes; provided they are
moderate in price." It was finally agreed between him and me
that I should buy twenty shares of him, and he would deliver
them in the course of four er five days if I would give him a
cheque for 1401. I sent for the newspaper, and I blind the shares
quoted in the market at 6i. He said, " Well, if you give
me a cheque for 14'1. that will include brokerage and every-
thing," and I bought the shares. On the 10th of March I
asked Mr. Hignett to buy me 90 shares more in the Chester
and Holyhead. I knew no broker : I was never on the
Stock Exchange, and I therefore asked him to buy them for
me. Mr. Pakington :—And you got those shares ?—Yes ;
he bought them for me at my desire. On the 7th of March
Mr. Hignett was at my room, and we spoke about the North
Kent Railway. He said he thought it was a good speculation ;
the premium was very low, and I requested him to buy me
100 shares. H bought 100 aharee, and of course paid the
ioremivat, and paid the brokerage, and I paid him for them.
I kept them for a short time, and sold them. Mr. Pakington :
The whole business was transacted by Mr. Hignett?—lt was;

TFIE SUN, LONDON, MONDA V' EVENING, JULY 14, 1845.

When the line is completed, they will not As have the best
north and south communication at Grantha , but the best
communication to the west of England. You are aware that
we have a scheme before Parliament for a line from Swinton
to Lincoln and from Lincoln to Ely. This scheme has been all
but rejected for the present, but I see no reason why it should
not be prosecuted next session if we do not this. We will,
gentlemen, now come a little nearer home. We propose to
make a line from Burton to Leicester. We have made ar-
rangements by which we have purchased the Leicester and
Swannington Railway. We have guaranteed to the pro-
prietors of that railway an interest of eight per
cent., the return which the railway makes to them
at the present time. We feel that it is important
that we should have possession of that line, as it will form part
of the line from Burton to Leicester. There are other mea-
sures which are before us, by which we hope to fortify your
position, and by which we shall endeavour to make our railways
afford the public accommodation in the best possible manner.
We may consider that we have now 800 miles of railway
which have been sanctioned by Parliament, all carried on, and
to be carried on, I may say, under one direction. We shall,
therefore, be enabled to carry on the undertakings in a manner
far more efficiently than it would be possible for any other
company to do. I am sure that every one around me will
admit that a more perfect establishment than ours could not be
found, and I hope and trust that it will long continue to be so,
and I trust that we shall continue the undertaking in such a
manner as to entitle us to the continued support of those who
have invested their money in these Companies. Gentlemen,
there is one other matter to which I beg to call your attention,
and that is that in the next published returns of the Midland
Railway we shall include the receipts of the Birmingham and
Gloucester and Gloucester and Bristol lines. We think it
better that they should appear together. I hope and trust that
the receipts which have latterly appeared have been satisfac-
tory to the Proprietors. I think that they justify the step
which we took as Directors, in leasing the Birmingham and
Bristol lines. I think that the receipts will still continue to
be satisfactory, and still further justify the step which we took.
—( Applause.) The reason why we thought it better to unite
the receipts of all the Companies was, that it would give you
a better opportunity of estimating the value of your stock.
Gentlemen, 1 have now discharged my duty as chairman of
this meeting ; but there is one other subject to which I beg to
call your attention.