The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-11-21 00:00:00

MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS

IN THE BIRKENHEAD, LANCASHIRE, AND
CHESHIRE JUNCTION RAILWAY COMPANY,

YESTERDAY.

A few days ago, a circular was issued to the shareholders
of the above company, stating that at a special meeting
of the company, to be held at the offices in Birkenhead,
on Saturday next, the 25th instant, the following pro-
posals would be submitted :

"That the existing 45,000 Cheshire Junction shares of £3l
each should be forfeited. That in consideration of the ..elO
paid on the £3l shares, and of the loss that may be sustained
by the Chester and Birkenhead shareholders, by reason of the
postponement of the works, it shall be understood and agreed
that 255. per share has been paid on such share. That one new
share shall be allotted to the holder of every £3l share upon
which .'lO has been paid ; that every holder of a .e3l share
upon which £lO has been paid, who may decline to accept such
new share, shall be paid in money 255. per share, and cease to
have any further interest in the concern; that the residue of
such new shares not taken up by the holders of .£3l shares,
shall be divided rateably amongst the holders of Chester and
Birkenhead shares of the nominal value of 10s. and £22 ;
that interest at the rate of five per cent. per annum be paid to
the Chester and Birkenhead shareholders, until the Cheshire
Junction line is opened ; that application be made to Parlia-
ment for power to revise the capital as above proposed, to
limit the works from Warrington or Moore to Birkenhead and
Chester,—and to make such arrangements with other compa-
nies as may be determined upon."

It appeared to many parties that these were most ex-
traordinary propositions ; and the same has been the
opinion of the shareholders, as shewn at a meeting held
yesterday, called almost extempore, in South Castle-st.
After the chair had been taken by Mr. WILLS, the meet-
ing was addressed by Mr. GODBER, of Chester, who de-
tailed the result of several interviews. It was urged by
several speakers as reasonable enough, that in the first
instance the 45,000 original shares should be forfeited, or
rather cancelled, regard being had to a reconstruction of
the total capital, upon a scale proportioned to the limit
of the reduced views of the company, and existing inte-
rests being fairly recognised. But that the shareholders,
who have paid £lO per share already, should be asked to
take a £7 share, of which only £1 ss. was to be consi-
dered as paid, or, in the event of their refusing such share,
that they should only receive £1 55., as the condition of
their retiring from the undertaking, appeared to the meet-
ing as a demand upon them which ought not to be sub-
mitted to. And this feeling was made stronger when it
was shown that these £7 shares would only rank as one-
fourth of a £27 10s. share in the Birkenhead and Chester
Company, with which the Cheshire Junction is amalga-
mated, and whose shares at present market price are only
worth about £l3 10s. It was asked at the meeting what
had become of the £lO per share paid, and what portion
of the works had been proceeded with ; and the result of
the information given was, that nothing had been ex-
pended except upon the works which were likely to be
carried on, under the limited scheme, namely, the line to
Kekewick,—and that there must be in hand a consider-
able sum over what would pay £1 ss. per shat e. The
company, however, wished to retain a further portion of
the line, never expected to be carried out, or to pay any
revenue, for what purpose the shareholders present seemed
unable to comprehend.
It was argued that a much more fair arrangement might
be come to—something like that proposed in a pamphlet
by Mr. Wills, by which, the capital being reduced, and a
portion of the line abandoned, it would require only £3
per share, in addition to the £lO paid, to complete it.
This view of the subject was ably advocated by Mr. God-
ber of Chester, who was willing even to submit to a rea-
sonable loss upon the £lO paid. After a desultory con-
versation from which it was elicited that on the arrang-
ment proposed being carried out, the line was already,
with the Birkenhead and Chester line, under offer of sale
to the London and North Western, the meeting came to
the unanimous determination that the scheme proposed to
the shareholders should be resisted.

The following resolution, moved by Mr. HAYLOCK,
seconded by Mr. GODBER, of Chester, and carried
unanimously, embodies the final course to be adopted :

" That in the event of the details given by the Directors on
Saturday next not being satisfactory, this meeting pledges itself
to support a motion for the adjournment of the meeting, and
the appointment of a committee consisting of an equal uumber
of Chester and Birkenhead and Cheshire Junction shareholders,
to investigate the accounts and report as to the equity of the
proposed financial change."

HURRICANE IN THE CHINA SEAS.