The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1838-02-27 00:00:00

THE LIVER.POOL

some advances front a large capitalist, but which is not credited,
and sales were yesterday made atFrench five per cents.
hi..ve declined t. 6 109, and the three per cents to 79. 75, ex-
change 25f.511,. The market fur the other continental bonds
has.tluctuated only to the extent of about 4 per cent. this week,
the previous high prices being well sustained. South American
stocks have declined.. Colombian. from 271 to 261; Mexican,
from 29 to 231; and Peruvian, from 21 to 211.
The public -appear to be speculating neeply in the railway
shares, and schemes about, which writ never be carried into
execution, rind willing dupes who-hazard their money to get a
turn of the market in their favour. The rise in the London
and Brighton shares has been to 14, or 6 prem. ; the London'
and Birrriingham 166, or 96 prem.; the Blackwall or 44
prem.'; the North. Midland 271, or 21 prem.; the Soul hompton
494, or 92 discount; the Greenwich 19 or, 1 dis. • the Manches-
ter and London 31, or L t prem. ; the Birmingham and Derby
to 18, or 2' disc.; the Edinburgh and GiaSgow to 5. or 2 prem.;
and the South Eastern and Dover to 7or par. An advance
has taken place in most of the other smaller shares; London
Joint Stock Bank has been sold-at 7, or par; London and
Westminster at 21-1, or 11- prem.: and Colonial at 264, or
A meeting of the merchants of the city of London has been
convened for Monday next, to consider `• the expediency of
availing themselves of the consent of her Majesty's government
that they should make use of the Quadrangle of the Excise-
office," as a substitution for the lioyal Exchange; until the
edifice shall have been completed.

HALF-PAST TlVFLVE.—Aci.ouuts have been received from
the Mauritius to the 20th of November, inclusive. There con-
tinued to be large exports of sugar for England and America.
The exchange on London, at thirty days' sight, was at l z prem.
Freights were at £3 155., with five per cent. priutage.
The cominerciai letters from Ceylon and Bartoce are not of
importance.

In the funds not a great deal of business has yet been trans-
acted. Consuls for the February account remain' at 921. and
for money the same price has also to be paid. Exchequer B.lts,
and India Bonds. both continue steady, the former at 56, and
the latter at 57 premium.

Bank Stock retches 2( 51, Reduced Annuities, 931, and New
Three-and-a-Half per Cents. 1003.
In the Foreign Bands, business is still dull; Spanish Active
Stock is more buoyant at 19 to hut Portuguese New Bonds
are at 27k. Belgian Bonds realiSe 11)4 and I)utt•h Two-and-a
Half per cents, 53k. Columbian are worth 26k, and Meexican,

Shares not much variation has occurred from the prices of
yesterday

BRITISH FUNDS.

3 per Cent. Cons.
Ditto for Acc
Reduced Anus 93-1
31 per Ct -
31 per Ct. lOl
New al per Ct 100.1

Bank Stock 2(151
India •litto 2632
India Bonds 57 pm.
Exchequer Bilis 56 pm.
Long Anus.. 15 5 16

LONDON AND BIRMINGHAM RAILWAY.

The general half yearly meeting of the proprietors of this
important undertaking was held at Dee's Royal Hot el, in Bir-
mingham, on Wednesday, February 21st. The meeting was
very numerously attended, and included many of the most in-
fluential proprietors of the company. George Carr Glyn, Esq.,
was called to the chair; and the following report of the di-
rectors was then read :

" Birmingham, February 21st, 1838.
" The directors, referring to their last report, expressed a
confident expectation, founded on their reports of their engi-
neers, that a father portion of the railway, from Box Moor to
Tring, would be open in October last, and that by the month of
January so much more of it would be completed as would leave
an interval of only 36 miles between the stations at Denbigh
Hall rind Rugby ; this expectation would, of course, be under-
stood by the proprietors as contingent o❑ the works not being
retarded by causes which it was not In the power of the engi-
neer to control. ,

" The railway was opened to Tring in the month of October,
as the directors anticipated, hut a winter of unusual severity
and duration, by retarding the remaining works, made the far-
ther opening in January impracticable, and still occasions de-
lay. A very few weeks, however, after the breaking up of the
frost, will suffice to complete the road between Tring and Den-
bigh Hall, and between Birmingham and Rugby, and the pro-
prietors may rely on the earliest day being appointed for the
next partial opening which the directors can venture to name
when the works shall have been resumed. The engineer con-
tinues to express his conviction, that the entire completion of
the railway may be expected in the autumn of the year, and
the directors have decided, as the course which, in their opinion,
Will be most. satisfactory to the proprietors, to annex for their
perusal his detailed and very able reports relative to the unexe-
ruled works of the engineering department. The difficulties to
which Mr. Stephenson refers, as haiing prevented the comple-
tion of a portion of. the works at the exact periods stipulated,
cannot fail to impress the proprietors with the idea that an in-
creased expenditure has been rendered unavoidable. Such cer-
tainly has been the fact, but the directors are gratified in being
able to state that this increase will not materially affect the re-
sults hitherto contemplated, and that the existing capital of the
company will suffice to put the whole railway in full operation
for the passenger traffic from end to end. Any addition to the
capital which may he eventually required, roust arise out of the
further preparations which will probably be necessary for an
increase scale of business in the goods department.
" In anticipation of the next opening, the directors have
made arrangements for the booking and conveyance of passen-
gers and parcels for the whole distance between London and
Birmingham. Messrs. Horne and Chaplin, the coach proprie-
tors, have contracted to provide the requisite means for carry-
ing the railway passengers and their luggage on the turnpike
road between the two stations, as the trains may successively
arrive, at the charge and subject to the regutations of the com-
pany. Passengers will thus have the benefit of railway for 77
miles of the distance between London and Birmingham, and
of greatly reduced prices for the whole 112 miles, with a-saving
of one-third of the time.
" The line of the railway betw,st-ti London and Tring has been
found too distant from the Holyhead road to hold out sufficient
inducements to coach proprietors to quit their accustomed track
for the chance of a comparatively small saving in time ; thecer-
taintv, also,'that a few we,ke would make a complete alteration
in the passenger traffic Ott all the toads parallel with the rail-
way. ba:• effectually checked the establi,hment of new lines-of
communication for coaches from Tring to the north. Hence it
has happened, that, from the time when the season for excur-
sion had passed, and the curiosity of the public had been
Partially gratified, the railway travelling was limited to the
purposes and accommodation of the immediate district; and
the directors, having thus hart the means' of ascertaining
practically the effect of the ordinary passenger traffic on that
portion of the railway, are enabled to state with reference to
the estimates which they have laid before the proprietors, that
the actual traffic bas exceeded the amount upon which they had
calculated.

"The directors have no desire to attach undue importance to
an isolated case of this natuce : hot they consider it so far of
value, that it tends to establish the fairness Of their calcilations,
and affords encouragement to the proprietors as respects the
future prospects of the undertaking. Between the 20th of July
last anti the 'l4th of February, a period of thirty weeks; 162,216
passengers had been conveyed by the railway„ without au ac•
cident to any individual passenger.
"The directors considering it of more importance that pas-
sengers should be able to rely ou a certain and safe conveyance
to and from the stations where the trains stop, than that they
should in the first instance travel at the highest attainable speed,
have made it their chief aim in the regulation of the trains to
ensure a uniform precision of movement on the railway. In this
endeavour they have, been only seconded by their contractor for
locomotive power, Mr: Bury, and a degree of punctuality in the
arriva;s and departures has for some time past been attained
at all the stations, which considering the unavoidable imper-
fections of a road so recently formed, and the many difficulties
to be surmounted in every new undertaking, the directors could
scarcely have anticipated, and 'which, they may add, has not
been accomplished upon any other railway.
"The directors can-now look with contiaence to the extended
operations which they are about to enter upon, and are fully
convinced, by the successful experience of the working of their
system on a limited scale,, that it is even store applicable to a
longer line. The arrangements fur the carriage of goods, when
the oompany shall he in a condition. to undertake it, have occu-
pied much of the attention of the directors. Aware of the ad-
vantages of combining experience with system in the manage-
ment of a business so extensive as the future goods traffic of the
London and Birmingham Railway, the directors have much
satisfaction in announcing that they have secured the valuable
services of Mr. Baxendale, of the well known firm of Pickford
and Co. for the conduct of Ibis department, under an agree-
ment which is to take effect from the opening of the railway for
this branch of business.

" The directors are in negociation with the post-master-ge-
neral for the conveyance of the mails, but the necessary ar-
rangements are not finally settled. Desirous as the directors
are to afford to the. Post-office all reasonable accommodation
not inconsistent with the interests of the.companv, they claim
no more in return than a fair remuneration for the use of the
railway.
" The directors request the confirmation by the proprietors
of an agreement which has been previously entered into with
the A vies bury and Triug railway company, in virtue of which
this company undertake to rent tnat railway at £2,000 per
annum, being at the rate of five per cent. upon the estimated
outlay, for five years certain from the date when it shall he
opened. The proprietors looking to the importance of the
traffic of the vale orAylesbury, and to the communication which
this branch line will open with OxtUrd and other places, can
have no hesitation in adopting an arrangement which is fully
in accordance with the suggestions of a former meeting.
" The inhabitants of the town of Banbury, have resolved at a
general meeting, to make a new road to join the railway at
Wee,;on by the shortest practicable line, on condition that a
first class station should be established at Weedon, the direc-.
tors have given their assent to the proposition.
"By the statement of accounts now to be laid before the
proprietors, it will appear that
" The Receipts to the 31st Dec. wele £1229,136 8 7
" The Disbursements 3,981.828 12 3

" That the balance of cash in the Com-
pany's hands at that date was £247,307 16 4

" And that the amount applicable to the
expenditure of the Company
was 625,456 1 7
"The directors, since their last report, have removed the
London office from Cornhill to the Euston Station, and made
such arrangements as appeared calculated to prevent any delay
or inconvenience in the transfer of shares. 'By this change the
respective departments lathe London establishment are brought
More directly in comnionioation .with each other.
" The directors have to announce four vacancies in the board,
cause.' by the resignation of Mr. Hardman Earle. Mr. Pem._
son, Mr. Rojas, and Mr..Warre; and that they 11,11,0 not
thought it necessary to avail themselves of the powers under
the act of filling up these vacancies.
The report wk.;.s received with very general satisfaction.
The CH tumaNt then announced the resignation of•four di-
rectors, but only two were nominated in their stead, Mr.
Richard Wilson and Mr. Edward Wilson.

._ _ ____.. _....,........ ...-- - -
The accounts having been read, (a brief abstract of which
appeals in the report.) JOSEPH STUNGE, Esq., brought forward
the motion he had given notice of, by circular and otherwise,
as to the propriety of suspending Sunday travelling On the
railway from the time of the opening of the Birmingham era!
till the general meeting in 1639. He enforced the expendiency
of this by a variety of arguments and statements, which he had
collected from various sources.. _ .

Mr. LI A DFIELD. seconded the motion in a speech of some
1en..7111.
Mr. fluct.nswormi opposed the resolution, and moved an
amendment, to the elf,ro. that the business of the railway shouldbe suj,ended on-Sundays, except on occasions where the public
convenience required travelling ; that the subject, however,
should be left altogether to the decision of toe directors; and
that those gentlemen, on this point;should take the public good
as the ground of their decision. .. .

Air. AIITH (of Liverpool) speoni!eil the amendment.

A hon.!' discussion then followed, in which Messr's. parson,,
Bees, Garto-ti, (of Manchvster.) and Cozlan, (of Liverpool, )
opposed the aniendinent, and Messrs. Boulton, Henshaw, and
others supported the original resolution.
A division then took place, when the following was the de_