The Sun.
London, England, 1842-09-22 00:00:00

Professor Wheatstone, F. R. S. I Professor Graves, A.M.F.R.
ACTUA RY— W. S. B. Woolhouse, Esq., F. RA. S.
N—J. Elliotton, M.D., F. R. S.
SURGEON—E. S. Symos, Esq.
SOLICITORS—Messrs. Sweet, Sutton, E wens, and Ommanney.

RELIEF OF THE DISTRESSED
POOR OF SCOTLAND.
TO PROVOST HENDERSON, OF PAISLEY.
KELLY, SEPT. 10, 1842.
DEAR SIR,—As the town of Paisley has suffered
longer and more intensely than any other in the king-
dom, I have sent to you, as Chief Magistrate, a copy
of a Return which I procured to be made to the House
of Commons, in order to show that public mo-
neys had often been given in aid of distressed
communities and districts ; and that her Majesty's
present Ministers were not dealing fairly by the
suffering portion of the people, when asserting
as they often did, that the issuing of grants Of money
for aiding and feeding the distressed, was contrary to
all rule and practice. I hope you will give the Re-
turn sent the utmost publicity in your poiver, and
that it shall appear at full length in the columns of
the Renfrewshire Reformer, of which you are the
Editor ; and, in order to allow the other county papers
to publish it also, should their Editors see proper, I
request of you to send to each of these a slip of what
you do publish, or to hand to them the Return itself
should that be required.
You will please to observe that grants of public
money have been given indiscriminately, by Whig
and Tory Governments and that these took upon
themselves the responsibility of giving away the
people's money, not only while Parliament was not
sitting, but while the Three Estates were assembled,
to whom alone it is supposed the right belongs of
applying the money of the State. You will observe
that distress and want of employment have been the
chief causes of the grants, so that wereprecedents only
wanting, Sir R. Peel need not have been so very fastidi-
ous as he chose to be during the by past session of Par-
liament, in relieving distress from the coffers of the
State. You will not fail to notice that the public
monies. have been given out on loans or as free gifts
during the last sixteen years, and that in this respect
the Whigs and Tories have been on a par. You will
observe that the sums advanced have been charged
in some instances against the civil contingencies, and
that Parliament had actually voted 40,000/. in 1831-2,
for the purpose of preventing the inhabitants of cer-
tain parts of Ireland from dying of starvation.
Here, then, is a case precisely similar to what has
been in Paisley, and in many other Scottish towns
during the last winter, spring, and summer. Ireland
then had no Poor law by which able-bodied men or
women, when in destitution, could be supported.
Ireland now has such a law, but Scotland has no such
law as yet; and I state this purposely, because, in
my opinion, much has been said erroneously on this
subject to the evident misleading of the unemployed
and distressed. I assert that there is no recognised
law in Scotland, under which healthy, able-bodied
persons can claim successfully to be provided against
starvation. from eold or integer; and I say it broadly,
in order that those who are now unemployed and in
distress, may carefully look to the difference between
alleged constitutional rights and acknowledged laws,
to which they might appeal with success. I say with
success ! for no man in his senses, who knows the dis-
graceful state of our Scotch law courts will venture to
say that an action to try the validity of the old Scotch
acts, which some men refer to, would prove successful
in placing- unemployed able-bodied men on a fund for
their support, or- would be brought to a close until it
had run the usual curiculum of Scottish injustice, in
the Sheriff Court, Court of Session, and House of
Lords, which would occupy somewhere from three to
four, or perhaps six years—a pretty prospect no doubt
for famishing men, even if it could be supposed that
the kind-hearted and humane would advance the
enormous funds which would be required to try a case
so expensive and hopeless.
The Return sent you will show that money has
been "expended in employing the poor in public
works." Why, let me ask, could not this be done in
1842, as it had bean in 1835 ? and why was my mo-
tion for inquiry into the causes of the existing- dis-
tress, and to provide for the sustenance. of the people
before Parliament should be prorogued, so strenuously
opposed by the Queen's advisers ? Why, because if it
be true that" where there is the will there is the way,"
then I say there was no will on the part of Sir
Robert Peel's Government to do in the ' present
unprecedented year what had been done in for-
iner times. The Return shows that large quan-
tities of wearing apparel had been given out
from the public stores in aid of the distressed of former
periods, and even in this eventful year, that this ex-
cellent precedent was followed in regard to the Spit-
talfields weavers ; but this was immediately put a stop
to, on its being accidentally discovered by myself,
and perhaps by others—which was done through the
unexpected thanks, by a letter in the London news-
papers, from some humane person connected with the
relief of the Spitalfields sufferers.
You will perceive that almost every article of body
raiment was distributed from the public military and
naval storehouses to the sufferers of former years, as
well as bed clothes; and yet you, and others of your
townsmen, were bitterly reprobated, by those who
should have known better, for providing shoes in the
very depth of winter in our cold, wet climate, to en-
able the unfortunate beings who had been bred up
through life to in-door employment, to stand out
against the rigours of winter in breaking stones, in
digging land, and in other similar out-door labours.
But, then, in former years there were no Govern-
ment Commissioners nor Commissary-Generals set
over the distribution of the charities of the charitable
in Paisley, or anywhere else—and this sad want may
in some measure account for the reprobation which was
heaped on the ministers of the Gospel in Paisley,
and the humane man whom the people had chosen as
their municipal guardians, for applying a very small part
of the charities entrusted to their care, for the pur-
pose of providing shoes for the feet of unhappy arti-
sans, who had been, from want of employment they
were 'sways to blame for, compelled to be outdoor
labourers, on the very brink of starvation.
Sir James Graham, as the organ of the Govern-
ment, refused me point blank, all information re-
specting Mr. Commissioner Twisselton and Mr.
Commissary Ramsay, as well as copies of their in-
structions, and the correspondence which had passed
between these gentlemen and the Government. Nay,
more, Sir James Graham insisted that they were not
officers employed by Government, and on this plea re-
fused me the information I asked for in Parliament;
and, as the immense quantity of public business
which stood before my motions for the production of
these documents prevented my being able ever to
bring them on, I had not the opportunity of eliciting,
by means of discussion, that the Government had been
acting in a way they would not venture to justify in
the House of Commons.
But, further, had the Return sent you been a com-
plete one, it would have shown who were the em-
ployers of Messrs. Twisselton and Ramsay; as it
would have included the pay and expenses of their
mission to Paisley, for they themselves admitted they
• .
were public officers, and we know to our cost that
none such are Without pay from the public. The
London Relief Committee could not have paid them,
for, if they had, they could not have disallowed the
charge you made for your own and some other per-
son's expenses in going to London on account of the
unemployed. Well, then, they must have been paid
by Government out of the Exchequer; and is not
this the giving of public money in aid of the dis-
tressed—a principle, which Sir Robert Peel and his
Government pretend to repudiate as unconstitutional
and unprecedented, but violate when it suits them ?
See as an additional proof the 5001. advanced to Pais-
ley at the end of the Return.
Like almost every Return from Public Departments,
that which is sent you is incomplete, and, as usual,
in some stringent essential. You may observe that
my motion and the order of the House of Commons
includes, " The authority under which these grants
or loans were made ;" but you will look in vain for a
compliance with this order, and you may safely infer
that to give it would be what is called, in high quar-
ters, " inconvenient," or it would have appeared;
and it might, and probably would, if given, have im-
plicated the very Ministers mentioned above.
I felt quite confident, when moving for it, that the
Return I sought for would show that the principle
of advancing public money in aid of the people when
out of employment, or when in distress from want of
food, had been resorted to and was recognised in prac-
tice. I shall personally, however, leave the further
discussion of this matter until Parliament is again
assembled ; meantime, I trust the Return itself will
bear inc out in all I have advanced in or out of the
House of Commons, and prove that others will find it
impossible to vindicate their refusing the advance of
public funds, when these were so imperatively required
for the use of the people.
In conclusion, I here give it once more distinctly,
as my unalterable opinion, that the people of this
country have an unalienable right under the Constitu-
tion, to be so taxed and so governed, as to be able, at
all times, to trust implicitly to employment, to a fair
rate of wages for their labour, and to food and rai-
ment at the lowest rate which a free trade with the
whole world can afford. And that this being the in-
lienable, indisputable right of the people as a body, it
is preferable to every other State claim whatever, be

GOVERNMENT GRANTS FOR RE-
LIEF of DISTRESSED DISTRICTS.
A Return of all Aids afforded by the Treasury De-
partment of Government for Relief of Distress,
with and without a specific Vote of the House of
Commons, from Ist January, 1826, to the present
time; specifying, Ist, The Date at which the Aid
was given, and whether Parliament was then sit-
ting ; 2d, the Place to which the Aid was sent ; 3d,
the Articles sent; 4th, the Value of the Articles ;
.sth, the Circumstances requiring Aid; 6th, Whe-
ther advanced as a Loan or as a Gifc : 7th, if as a
Loan, on what Security; and Bth, the Date of Re-
Pyment :-(so far as relates to the Treasury.)
ARLIAMENT SITTING.-9th Feb., 1826, Spitalfields,
in money, 1,0001.; 4th April, do., do., 1,000/. ; 26th
April, Macclesfield, do., 1,000/. ; 26th April, Black-
burn, do., 1,0004 ; Ist May, Rochdale, do., 5001.: 2d
May, Manufacturing districts, general subscription,
2,000/. ; 2d May, Craven, do., 500/. ; 9th May, Bol-
ton, do., 5001.; 12th May, Glasgow, do., ;
1,000/. 12th
May, Paisley, do., 5004
~1
; 15th lay, Dublin, do.,
500/. ; 15th May, Drogheda, do., 200/.
PARLIAMENT NOT SITTING.-12th June, 1826,
Manchester, in money, 1,000/. ; 15th June Lower
Darwen, do., 1001.; 15th June, Thornton, do., 50/. ;
21st July, Spitalfields, do., 1,0001. ; 14th August,
Distressed Irish, do., 3,000/.
PARLIAMENT SITTING.-21st Feb. 1827, Dis-
tressed Operatives, in money, 1001.
PARLIAMENT NOT SITTING.-25th Sept. 1827, Ma-
nufacturers' Relief Committee, in money, 2,010/.165.54.
PARLIAMENT NOT SITTING.-Bth Sept. 1826. The
London Committee for the Relief of Distressed
Manufacturers, in money, 10,000/. ; 13th Jan. 1827,
do. do., 5,000/.
Advanced as a loan ; no security; repaid 23d
June, 1827. A resolution of the Committee . was
passed, stating that they would repay the money if a
sufficient surplus should remain in their hands, which
was done accordingly.
PARLIAMENT SITTING.-13th June to 17th Aug.
1831. Westport, Newport, Castlebar, Galway, and
other places in the counties of Galway and Mayo, by
the purchase and distribution of potatoes and other
provisions, small sums distributed to numerous fa-
milies, contributions to soup establishments, and
money paid to the central committee.; of Mayo and
Galway, 14,8671. 16s. 10d. This money was ad-
vanced from time to time by the Commissioners of
Victualling, and afterwards repaid to them out of the
grant. Money paid for potatoes purchased in Jersey,
expenses of conducting
Na.ensdseslhsipepoendvet.loilnrgelpairlodv,isli,o6n3s-1,1. 12s. 7d. Freight of
the service, rent, postage, &c., 5101. Ifs. 11d.
PARLIAAIENT SITTING.-23d Feb., 1832, Dublin,
money paid by direction of the Irish Government to
the Relief Committee of the Mansion-house in Dublin
for the relief of the poor in Dublin, 5,0001.; 1831 and
1832, Western districts of Ireland, money expended
under the direction of the Irish Government in em-
,
ployment of the poor on public works, &c., in the
Western districts of Ireland
17,986/. 18s. Bd.
Fund from whence Taken.-40,0001. voted by Par-
liament in 1831 for employment of the poor and re-
lief of distress in Ireland.
PARLIAMENT SITTING.-May, June, July, August,
and September, 1835 ; Distressed districts on the
Western coast of Ireland, viz.-Counties Clare, 751.;
Cork, 20/. ; Donegal, 50/. ; Galway, 951.; Mayo, 2071.
18s. 10d. ; Kerry, 65/.-money in aid of local subscrip.
scriptions. Aid afforded to loan funds, 3501. Ex-
pended in employing poor on public works, 1,600/.
Purchase of potatoes, 3531. 173. 10d.
PARLIAMENT SITTING.----15th July to 31st Aug.
1836 ; Northwest coast of Donegal, in 'the purchase
of oatmeal, small sums given to the poor, and ex-
penses of the inquiry, 1,193/. 10s. ld.
PARLIAMENT. SITTING.-.April to August, 1830 ;
North-west coast of Donegal, in the purchase of po-
tatoes and oatmeal, 1,956/. 12s. 4d. ; in money, and
expenses of conveying and distributing the provisions,
&e.,... 561/. 15s. 9d.
PARLIAMENT SITTING Up TO 17TH JULY.-June
to September, 1837; North-west coast of Donegal,
in the purchase of oatmeal and potatoes, &c., 9321.
3s. 10d.; medical attendance on the sick poor, 1121.
Is. 10.1.
PARLIAMENT SITTING..., April, May, and June,
1837 ; the Highlands and Western Islands of Scot-
land ; money, in aid of local subscriptions, for the
purchase of oats, corn, and potatoes, and expenses of
conducting the service, 6,622/. 9s. 10d. ;-this service
was conducted by Sir John Hill. Further expense of
inquiry into the state of the destitution, 1271.25. 10(1". ;
-this service was performed by Mr. Graham.
PARLIAMENT SITTING.-21st June to 13th Au-
gust, 1839 ; Donegal, Mayo, Galway ; money, in aid
of local subscriptions, expended in employing the
poor on public works, 1,440/. Cork, Clare, Roscom-
mon ; money given to the sick and infirm, and most
necessitous poor, 4001. Kerry ; purchase of potatoes
and other relief, 3001. Remuneration and expenses of
conducting the inquiry, 3611. 10s. sd.
PARLIAMENT SITTING.-21st June to 13th Aug.,
1839; Kerry ; Dingle, Bandon, Valentia ; purchase
of potatoes and other relief, 376/. 12s. 3d.
PARLIAMENT SITTING.---2d June, 1842 ; Paisley,
in money, 5001.
NOTE.-There have been several issues during the
period of this account, for the relief of distress, occa-
sioned by calamitous events ; such, for instance, as
Hurricane in the West Indies£loo,ooo in 1832
Earthquake at Zante ...... 4,000 in 1840
The Cholera various sums in 1830-1-2
Fever in Ireland (grants to
hospitals
15,792 in 1827
Ditto, Ditto
5,529 in 1837 &c.
But it is presumed they do not come within the
meaning of the Order.

leaooltfffil):lAanprinlyel
es leraN
American
c a n
IMPORTATION OP
CATTLE.--
In the• course of a case heard yesterday at Guild-
hall police-office, , Mr. Venables,
gate-market, haVing given his evidence,
a butcher in New-
glad to get informa-
Sir Peter Laurie said he was
tion from practical men. Hein:l:ha:dint; know whether
Was decreasing or
Bmithfield-market
itnhceriemaspinogrt?ation of foreign cattle
from Spain had
WaTs 'there werelow,
Mr. Venables said it was
3s,oems
tee
rvdez fine Spanishprice p cattlen in pa i
II
and the importers had made a good profit.
i n a year
tneher
el.:
• been
lliSii Sir Peter
account of the
xlv'peeetcentraebadis:ksesdaiidf
certainly
orntaotti,oonn
length of the voyage • but they
carne in good con-
dition for killing. No' foreign meat, ho
equal to our own. Weyer, was
ip nn
lrsttihi
rreo.
pip-1;e
Venables
beeneeraabos askedlfte msa nedat'
N.' ;N ,
repliedsi ihaetpe,erdpri
c.eleid
Holland, and the cattle thereabout
Sir Peter said he had recently visitedopou:
seemed to him to
tidenioli;luyirsivacpnesd-
be in excellent condition.
Mr. Venables said, what we have received front
that quarter was certainly very fine ; but they put
ten beasts to graze on a plot thatwouldbeb,e:ngeiffveezettedto
three in England. An acre
last day
and it
very
sreAyotolitdoSat:unhptehielrior article, and
Blatrnet fair just
would never rise aegiii:Nnmassibliaaese‘i_.'n
head reinain:‘cl unsold as
tin‘N‘Vh.
eloelrsnestChalcesl
eo.arml.:,tonLhguealydrignb.e7qsuta
quantities
t lower
of the unsold
fall
iohrsee2add2,nooololocattle
tasl
ectoryueeml
adra,lis)en sold
day of the last year not .one. while on the same
"ri.Y as two o'clock. •
Sir Peter asked what Would become
'beasts ? .. .. "01
Mr. Venables said' tti y
-I. ewould
to other fairs, and sold at the „line reduction of 3t. a
head. The graziers were suffering now, btit ulti-
mately the landlords must bear the loss,
Sir Peter thanked him for tho information he had
derive(l,

FOREIGN

The British aiiil
.._
North Arnerical Royal mail
steamer the Colombia sailed from Liverpool on Tues-
day, for Halifax and Bosto.i. She carried out up-
wards of 60 passengers,

RO VAL MAIL STEAM PACKETS.
The first general meeting of the Proprietors of the
Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, took place yes-
terday at the London Tavern. The meeting was
most numerously attended.
J. laviNG, Esq., M.P., took the chair at one
o'clock, and the advertisement calling the meeting
having been read,
The CILLIRMAN stated that whatever anxiety might
have been felt or experienced by the Proprietors to
know the proceedings adopted by the Court of Direc-
tors, he could assure the meeting with great sincerity,
that that anxiety had not exceeded that which had
been felt by the Court of Directors themselves ; but
the affairs of the Company had got into so great a
state of derangement, that before they could lay be-
fore the Proprietors any distinct accounts, either of
the past, the present, or that which"was to come, it
was necessary that the Directors should condescend
upon some plan for the future ; but more especially
to confer with the Government upon the plan
they had laid before the Proprietors, which
had been printed, and he trusted was in the hands of
every Proprietor. That plan had been matured, after
great labour and great consideration, and the Direc-
tors flattered themselves that it was such as to be
capable of execution, and might be worked without
more collision than such a combination was neces-
sarily attended with. It was necessary, also, as the
Proprietors would easily conceive, to consult the Ad-
miralty, and the different branches of the Government
on the subject—that necessarily occupied considerable
time, as the negotiation was a difficult one • but, ne-
vertheless, the Directors had now come before the
Proprietors, with a definite plan and arrangement,
acceded to by the Government, in which great con-
cessions had been made in a pecuniary point of view ;
but the Proprietors would perceive that the Govern-
ment had manifested a sincere desire to meet them in
a fair and,reasonable spirit.—(Cheers.) That spirit
he had reason to believe would be continued, if they
only succeeded in doing the duty imposed upon them
regularly, and according to their engagement—if
they did that he believed the patronage of
the Government would be continued to them to the
end of their Charter. The negotiations, however, in
which they had been engaged had been very difficult;
they had met with many interruptions which they
had had no reason to anticipate, and under such cir-
cumstances, viewing the importance altogether of the
pro,:ect--viewing the difficulties they had had to en-
counter, the Directors trusted that the Proprietors
would extend to them their indulgence, and that they
would do them the .justice to believe that they had
acted honourzbly and faithfully—(Hear, hear)—and
had done their utmost to preserve the property which
was entrusted to them by the Proprietors.—(Hear,
hear.) The Directors had no wish for concealment.
--(Hear, hear.) They had laid before the Proprie-
tors the whole statement of their affairs as far as they
could judge, faithfully and honestly—(Hear)—and
having done so, they were in hopes that the Proprietors
would consider them entitled to their good opinions.
Of this he was certain, that whatever might be
thought of their conduct, and whatever the present
position of the Company was, the Directors would be
judged by the Proprietors with candour, and that
they would not suffer in their situations by misrepre-
sentation or prejudice.—(Hear, hear.) With the per-
mission of the Proprietors he would now propose that
the Report the Directors had prepared should be read
by the Secretary.
Captain CuArrEr.r., R. N., the Secretary to the
Company then read the following Report :
The Report of the Directors of the Royal Mail Steam
Packet Company to the Proprietors assembled, at
the first General Meeting, held at the London
Tavern, the 21st day' of September, 1842.
The Directors have delayed calling the Proprietors
together till the present tirna, because, although at the
time the Company was established it was contemplated
that the service contracted for with her Majesty's Go-
vernment would have been commenced in the year
1841, so as to have made it desirable to have a meet-
ing of Proprietors in that year, yet as the service was
not commenced, in consequence of unavoidable delays,
till January, 1842, the Directors had nothing to coin-
municate to the Proprietors in the previous year which
could render a meeting necessary, and they considered
under all circumstances, that it was expedient to post-
pone the meeting until they had some experience of
the working of the undertaking.
As soon as the Company was organised, the neces-
sary contracts were entered into for the building and
equipment of fourteen steam vessels, and as the Di-
rectors were desirous that the Company should have
`he best vessels and machinery that could be supplied
ley invited competition from all parts of Great Br'

rain. In the result, contracts were made for building
four vessels in the River Thames, the engines for
which were to be supplied by two of the most emi-
nent engineers in the metropolis. Seven vessels were
contracted for with builders in Scotland, where the
engines for six of which were also constructed ; the
engines for the other vessels being made by an engi-
neer at Liverpool, who also supplied the engines for
a vessel built at Cowes, and the remaining two ves-
sels, with their engines, were contracted for at Bristol.
In spite of every possible exertion on the part of the
Company, it was found impracticable to get a suffi-
cient number of these steamers in readiness to com-
mence the service at the end of the year 1841. The
two vessels contracted for at Bristol, however, were
not in a state of readiness, and it appeared to be so un-
certain when they would be completed, that the Di-
rectors considered it important not longer to delay the
commencement of the service, and therefore purchased
two smaller steam-vessels, which it was arranged
should take the place of the two Bristol steamers, until
they should be in readiness, and the service was at
length commenced on the Ist of January, 1842.
In the original contract, Samana, a safe and com-
modious harbour, in the eastern portion of St. Do-
mingo, was fixed upon as the principal pivot of the
combination, and the port of departure for Europe
with the return mails. The llaytian Government,
however, notwithstanding an application from her
Majesty's Government, would not admit foreign
vessels into that port, and a new combination became
necessary. After some consideration and discussion,
a modification of the plan was arranged with her Ma-
jesty's Government, and the Lords Commissioners of
the Admiralty,—who, by the contract, have power
"from time to time to vary the route of all or any of
the steam and sailing vessels employed in the per-
formance of the contract"—signified their assent to its
being tried experimentally for six months.
It has been a source of great regret to the Directors
that the service at its commencement, was not per-
formed with the regularity that could have been
wished. This may be considered as in great measure
incidental to the commencement of a new, extensive,
and complicated undertaking, but arose partly also
from an undue interference exercised by the autho-
rities at some of the foreign ports. Arrange-
meats, however, were made to obviate such difficul-
ties,
after adapted a
f few
ties, and latterly the ships have performed their
respective services with regularity, and have satisfied
which they have to perform.
The Directors regret, that
the Directors that they are well
trial, it appeared, that in the anxiety to embrace a
large field for securing the benefits of the most ex-
tensive passenger traffic, and to provide for the con-
venience and accommodation of the colonies generally,
more had been undertaken than could be
properly
accomplished by the number of steam-vessels con-
tracted for, and that the plan involved more expense
than could be remunerated by the payment from Go-
vernment for the mail service, and the return that
could be expected from passengers, freight of money,
&c., &c.

The Directors, in consequence, represented the cir-
cumstances to her Majesty's Government, who ex-
pressed a willingness to modify the service contracted
for in such way as might make it remunerative to the
Company, provided the mail service between the co-
lonies and Europe could be satisfactorily performed.
After some discussion a new combination was ad-
justed, and the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty
have signified their assent to its being tried experi-
mentally for six months from the Ist of October,
without prejudice to the contract.
The combination first acted upon involved a steam-
service of 684.816 miles in the year, and though it
was tried with fourteen vessels, yet the Directors be-
, came satisfied that it could not be performed with
certainty without one, if not two, more steam-vessels.
The plan now to be tried involves the employment of
only twelve steam-vessels, and a steam-service of only
392,976 miles in the year. The Proprietors will
therefore perceive that this is a very important im-
provement in the position of the Company, the pay-
ment from Government continuing the same, and the
Directors trust and believe that the contraction of the
work will not be attended with a corresponding or
any essential diminution of the income from pas-
sengers, freight of money, &c.; whilst the cost of
conducting the service will he materially reduced. A
plan of the substituted service is before the meeting.
Having entered so far into the past proceedings
and future prospects of the Company, the Directors
will now call the attention of the Proprietors to their

it will also be seen that the sum expended on ac-
count of capital, exceeds the amount raised upon the
shares by about 275,000/. which latter sum it will be
necessary to provide ; and it is, therefore, proposed
forthwith to make a call of 101. per share, by means of
which, and by sale of such of the vessels as will not
be requized for the reduced service, the Directors con-
fidently hope, that the undertaking can be satisfac-
torily carried out, without making further calls upon
the Shareholders.
Before the Directors conclude their Report, it may
be expected that they express their opinion on
the prospects of the Company under the plan
of service which is to be experimentally tried
for six months, to commence on the Ist of Oc-
tober. The Directors have already stated that the
difference in distance is 291,841 miles, and the work
will only require ten large and two smaller:steamers,
from which it is obvious there must be a great
Saving in the expense. They may. add, the expense
of working the entire service under the old system
would have amounted to upwards of 360,000/. per
annum, exclusive of insurance, wear and tear, and
interest on capital, whilst the charge under the re-
stricted system is estimated at about 235,000/. The
estimate of income must at all times be uncertain ;
but the Directors are of opinion that their receipts
from passage money and freights, together with the
240,000/. which will continue to be received from
Government, will be adequate for a dividend on the
future operations of the Company.
The Directors further express their strong convic-
tion that the new system will be worked with such
regularity as to recommend the service to the favour
of the Government and the public, and satisfy both of
the importance of the undertaking in a national point
of view; in which case, should they be disappointed
of gain, they would have great confidence in expect-
ing the favourable consideration of the Government in
support of those who have embarked their capital in
au undertaking which will be then proved to be highly
beneficial to the country.
The SECRETARY then read the following state-
ments alluded to in the Report :
STATEMENT of the RECEIPTS and EXPENDI-
TURE of the ROYAL MAIL STEANI-PACKET
COMPANY to the 31st August,.lB42, inclusive.
REC
Amount of Capital paid up EIPTS.
Loans £725,645
Outstanding Acceptances, 31st August, 9 6 0,000
applicable to permanent capital.
Ditto, to the working of the Fleet 52,034

-------- 61,
Payments from Government
120592
Passage money and freights received 39,696
39,696

X 1,206,933

EXPENDITURE.
Building, cost, and outfit, of 12 large steamers £733.05.
Purchase of two steamers and outfit 43,082
Building, cost, and outfit, of three schooners 17,808
Payments on account of Bristol ships 121,443
Cost of coal hulks
9,288
Purchase of lease at Southampton and other
expbnses
Lease of London office
Preliminary expenses for the formation of the
Company
Sundry outlays for the construction of coal de-
pots abroad.
Fitting London offices .
Coals
Coal sacks
Depots and Agencies--coaling, washing, pur-
chase of provisions, &c., after deducting pas•
sage money and freigh ts, received in the West
Indies
Stores and supplies received from Government 4,620
Outfit of ships for first and second voyages,
stores, crew's wages, provisions, &c 76,169
9,828
1,554
2,673
21,308

14,857

1,000
623
105,000
4,148

Salaries ,...
General and incidental expenses
Office expenses, including rent, stationery, &c
Balance in hand

£1,206.933
STATEMENT of the EARNINGS and DISBURSE-
MENTS of the ROYAL MAIL STEAM PACKET
COMPANY, from Ist January to 31st August, 1842.
DISBURSEMENTS.
Coals purchased ........................... £105,000
Less stock in hand ........................ 30,000

Coal 5ack5........
Stock in hand ..

4,148
2,000

£75,000

Depot and agencies, coaling, wa-shing, pilotage,
and provisions purchased in the West Indies, 37,600
Stores and supplies received from Government, 4,620
Outfit of Ships for first and second voyages,
stores, crews' wages, provisions, &c
Current wages due on ships at sea
Salaries
General and incidental expenses...
Office expanses, including rent, stationery, ad-
vertising, and travelling

76,169
7,000
3,200
1,554

2,198

£209,489
4,087

£214,296