The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-10-08 00:00:00

CHESTER AND BIRKENHEAD RAILWAY.

The half-yearly general meeting of the proprietors in the
Chester and Birkenhead Railway Company was held yester-
day, in the Clarendon-rooms, South John-street. The chair-
man of the directors, WILLIAM DixoN, Esq., presided.
There was a full attendance of proprietors.
The CHAIRMAN having opened the meeting,
Mr. MALLABY, law-clerk, read the report of the directors
for the past year, of which the following is a copy :
REPORT of the Directors of the Chester and Birkenhead
Railway Company, to the General Half-yearly Meet-
ing of the Shareholders, on 7th October, 1841.

Since the last meeting of the proprietors, many circum-
stances have arisen which render it imperative on the part
of the directors, to lay before the proprietors on the present
occasion, an ample statement of their proceedings, and more
detailed accounts of the company's transactions than have
hitherto been either practicable or expedient.
In the arrangement of the accounts, they have adopted the
30th day of June, and the 31st day of December, in each
Year, as the periods to which the accounts of the company
Will, in future, be made up, as being better calculated to
equalize the results of each half-year's working of the line,
than any other division of the year that could be fixed upon.
The accounts to be laid before this meeting commence
with the opening of the line on the 23d September, 1840,
And close with the 30th June, 1841, a period of rather more
than nine months. The various items of which they consist
will be read to the meeting in detail. The following abstract
Will sheer the gross receipts, expenditure, and nett proceeds
during that period.
The total amount received for the carriage of 191,402 pas.
sengers, and for the carriage of parcels and a small quantity
of merchandise, from 23d September, 1840, to 30th June,
1841, is..
For casual passengers, per Monks' Ferry

15,342 5 11

Expended during the same period
in the working of the line and
Monks' Ferry.
Interest on loans £2876 8 4
Deduct interest received 30 0 0 _

Surplus on traffic account to 30th June £3,314 19 8
As three months have elapsed since the period to which
the preceding statement refers, and as the proprietors may
be desirous cf knowing the actual state of the funds of the
company at a later period, the'directors have caused an ad-
ditional statement to be prepared, and laid before the meeting,
which will shew the entire receipts and expenditure of the
company, from the 30th June, to the 30th September last.
The amount received for the carriage of 111,811 passeners.
June
to for the carriage of parcels, &c., from the 30th of
to the 30th September is
The amount expended, and paid in
the same space of time is
The amount expended, but not yet
paid, less materials &c. on hand is 107 15 0

3314 19 8

3422 14 8

Leaving a surplus, on three months, of .£6658 11 9
The expenditure, though great in proportion to the receipts,
does not arise from an extravagant expenditure in the work-
ing of the line, but from a variety of causes which the direc-
tors will endeavour to explain. The following comparison
between the expense incurred in working this line and that
of other railways, which has been prepared and laid before
the directors by the company's chief engineer, Mr. John
Dixon, proves that many lines of railway whose expenditure
in proportion to their gross receipts appear much less per
cent., is actually greater if viewed in the light of a charge
for the actual performance of work:
Mr. Dixon states that " the average rate of fare received
by the London and Birmingham Railway, as appears from ,
their last half-year's report, is 2d. per passenger per mile.
" The Birmingham and Gloucester is stated to be ad.
" The York and North Midland, as far as I can ascertain
from their report, about 3d.
" The Manchester, Bolton, and Bury, about 2d.
" I cannot obtain the necessary information respecting the
Liverpool and Manchester, nor the Grand J unction, rail ways,
but it is a matter of public notoriety that their fares are (if a
little) not much lower than those lines before mentioned,
therefore, if instead of carrying passengers on our line during
the last twelve months at an average rate of fare not exceeding
lid. per passenger per mile, we had obtained the same re-
muneration as the London and Birmingham Railway, viz.,
24d. per passenger per mile, our receipts (provided we had
had the same traffic that we have had) would have increased
£15,906, making our gross income £39,769, without being
obliged to incur any additional expense, as it costs nearly the
same sum to convey a passenger along a railway, whether he
pays 1 4d., or 24d. per mile."
It thus appears that one cause of the excessive expenditure,
in proportion to the receipts on the Chester and Birken-
head line, arises from the extreme lowness of the fares. Under
present circumstances nothing more can be done to obviate
this evil than what the directors have already accomplished.
There is one heavy item of expenditure to which the Chester
and Birkenhead railway is at present liable, which no other
line in England is subject to, that is the expense incurred in
carrying the passengers from Liverpool to the terminus in
Grange-lane, and from thence to Liverpool.
Besides the interest of money expended in the purchase of
Monk's Ferry, which terry is devoted almost exclusively to
the conveyance of railway passengers, and the cost and dete-
rioration of the boats, the enormous sum of £2BOO per annum
has been paid for wages, coal, and other expenses in working
the ferry and in the hire of omnibuses. The directors wish
to draw the attention of the proprietors to this matter, be-
muse they consider it a subject for grave consideration, whe-
ther such an incubus upon the income of the railway (borne
down as it is by low fares) should be suffered to exist.
The directors had indulged a hope that a portion of this
evil would have been obviated by the construction of a tun-
nel from the station at Grange-lane to the Monks' Ferry,
and they were induced to believe that the commissioners of
Birkenhead would readily give the company their permission
to break the surface of one of their streets, for the purpose
of commencing the tunnel, the directors therefore purchased
the land necessary for this purpose, and opened a negotiation
with the commissioners of Birkenhead on the subject, never
doubting but that their proposal would be acceded to ; but, to
their surprise and regret, their propositions, which were fair
and liberal in the extreme, and calculated to have pros et'

beneficial to all parties, Were met on the part of the coin.-
raissioners, by demands of so irrelevant and extraordinary a
nature, as compelled the directors to abandon the negotiation
they had commenced, and, with it, their hopes of being able
to construct a tunnel, until a time should arrive when a more
rational view of the matter would be taken by the Birken-
head commissioners, and when the funds of the company
Would be in a state more equal to so great an undertaking
than they are at the present moment.
The maintenance of the railway, which hitherto has been
borne by the contractors in performance of their several con-
tracts, is now about to fall upon the funds of the company.
The directors have therefore caused a survey to be made of
the whole line by their engineer, and they have also availed
themselves of the opinion and great practical experience of
George Stephenson, Esq., relative to the present state of the
line, and from the high character given of the complete order
and stability of all parts of the works, the directors hope they
will be able to contract for the maintenance of the way on
favourable terms.
It is not the intention of the directors to propose a dividend
out of the surplus on the traffic account at present. They
are aware that, should the proprietors insist upon it, the act
of incorporation gives them a right to enforce the division of
that surplus, but the directors feel assured that a careful in-
!ipection of the accounts will convince each proprietor of the
inexpediency of any dividend being made until the time of
next meeting, when the present surplus along with the pro-
fits which may accrue during the present half year will be
available. The directors hope that the trifling delay will be
the last sacrifice the proprietors will be called upon to make
towards the future well being of the undertaking.
The strong opinion expressed by the proprietors at the
last meeting, relative to the management of their ferry pro-
perty, together with the large capital which the company has
invested in the ferries, and the hitherto unprofitable nature
of that investment, have made them a subject of deep interest
to the directors : they have carried into effect the wishes of
the proprietors by placing the management of them in the
hands of members selected from the board of directors to the
exclusion of all parties not elected by, and therefore not re-
sponsible to, the proprietors, and having found that the rate
charged to persons contracting for ferryage by the year was
so low that it would not pay the expenditure which it
caused ; that the system of contracts opened a wide door
to fraud, and deprived the board of all check upon the
management of the funds derived from the ferries,
the directors resolved to decline entering into any further
contracts with the public, and to put up check gates, each
person passing through to pay his ferry fare, which being
only two pence ought not to be complained of. This altera-
tion, although it has proved obnoxious to a few respectable
individuals, will not affect the great mass of the passengers ;
and it appears to the directors the only effectual mode they
could adopt that would enable them to discharge their duty
to the public, with a due regard to the interests of the pro-
prietors.
The directors have obtained from Mr. Price a renewal of
his previous offer of the sale of his ferry right in perpetuity,
and which offer they have formally accepted. It has there-
fore become necessary to make application to parliament for
permission to make such addition to the capital of the com-
pany as will enable the company to pay Mr. Price, and dis-
charge other liabilities which press upon the establishment.
The directors have instructed the law clerk to take the usual
steps for having this matter effected, in the mode agreed
upon at the last meeting of the proprietors.
The directors have devoted a large portion of their attention
to the details of the several departments of the establishment,
with a view to the effecting a diminution in the expenditure
wherever that could be done, without prejudice to the efficient
working of the line----the savings yet made are trifling; a propo-
sal has, however, been made to the board by one of the sub-
committees for permission to place the whole. responsibility of
the establishment (under the directors) upon the chief engineer
Mr. Dixon, and to dispense with the services of a paid trea-
surer. It was urged that, by the adoption of this plan, a
more vigorous, efficient, and economical system of manage-
ment would be introduced, a considerable expense avoided,
and the evils attending a divided responsibility got rid of.
This proposition was the subject of discussion at several
meetings of the board ordinary and special; the considera-
tion of the subject was postponed till the 23d October. Since
this decision took place the resignation of the treasurer has
forced the matter again on the directors, who will give it their
serious consideration.
Since the last meeting of the proprietors, the postmaster-
general has ordered the London mail for Dublin to be for-
,warded by the Crewe and Birkenhead railways
this arrangement, ,though to the packet
ruogvhedlikaelbyooton station off Birkenhead ;
be an unprofitable one to the company, has
to those who travel between London and Dublin, the journey
having been more rapidly performed than it could have been
done by any other route, and with much less inconvenience
to the travelle:. The directors have made it a point to ar-
range the arrivals and departures of their several 'trains, so
as to harmonize with ,the arrangements made by the Grand
Junction Company on the Chester and Crewe line, and be_
lieving as they do thatit iS the interest of both companies to
act in perfect harmony With each other, they will at all times
endeavour to co-operate with the Grand Junction Company
as far as in their power.
It is with feelings of gratitude and thankfulness that the di-
rectors are enabled to inform the proprietors that, although
the passenger traffic has increased, till it has on the average
of the last three months reached to 1,240 persons per day,
no accident has occurred either to passengers, contactors,
or workmen on the line, nor has there been any injury sus-
tained by the engines or carriages from any collision, although
many of the persons employed as assistants were inexperi-
enced hands, the arrangements in many instances imperfect,
and the rate of travelling on the line equal on the average to
any line in the kingdom.
In conclusion, the directors consider that they are justifi-
abre even in the midst of the many difficulties which still ex-
ist, in congratulating the proprietors that so much has been
accomplished, and that the prospects for the future are so en-
couraging. ThFy feel the most perfect assurance that the ele-
ments of prosperity exist abundantly in this undertaking,
and_that firmness and zeal in the management, coupled with
,the-support and confidence of the proprietors, will ere long
enable them to surmount all difficulties, and bring the affairs
of the company to a prosperous issue.
WILLIAM DIXON.
- Mr. MALLABY then said he was prepared to make a com •
munication at the request of the directors, which was that
negociations had to a certain extent been resumed upon the
subject of the ferries ; but they took place at so late a hour
yesterday, that they could not properly be incorporated in
report just read. 'They were, however, still under the con-
sideration of the directors. (Hear, bear.)