The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1845-10-28 00:00:00

THE LONDON TIMES AND THE RAILWAYS.

Leading journals, as well as individuals, sometimes
let their zeal outrun both their discretion and common
sense. An exemplification of this is to be found in the
course pursued within the past week by the London
Times, in his denouncement of the railway mania. Not
content with adopting the calculation of last month's
Bankers' Circular,—perbaps a fair one enough,—that
the large sum of £38,000,000 will be required during the
next three years for the completion of railways, already
in proeress, or for which acts have been obtained, in
Great Britain and Ireland, with nearly £14,000,000 addi-
tional as the amount which they are empowered to raise
under their borrowing clauses, he gravely adopts, as a
bugbear to frighten the community, the calculation con-
tained in the last number of the same paper, that the
capital intended to be raised for the r lilways up to this
time projected, amounts to £400,000,000. The very pro-
jectors themselves never dream that parliament will sanc-
tion a fourth of the schemes involving this amount.
The Times, however, or an admiring correspondent and,
fellow-alarmist, is not content with flying at the mush-
rooms springing up on every side, to be crushed by the
feet of the legislature—if half of them ever get so far above
ground as to tempt such a fate,—hut must have a fling at
the completed and paying companies. With a despera-
tion unworthy of so:powerful an organ, he flies even at the
vast property under the control of the railway king itself.
After describing the mode in which that enterprising gen-
tleman has built up his empire, by the purchase of tribu-
tary or connecting lines at prices which he thinks exorbi-
tant, but which Mr. Hudson's foresight told him would
prove remunerative to the purchaser, he sums up, for the
purposes of his argument, the present premiums upon the
capital of the lines themselves, which we give, as they
may be interesting to some of our readers :

The York and North Midland—
Original shares .£5O at 64 to 67 pm.
Ditto, halves 25 at 30 to 33
Ditto, Scarborough 25 at 19 to 21
Selby ••••••• 20 at 43 to 45
Ditto, extension —ll paid at 2.5 to 27
Midland Counties 100 at 72 to 75
Ditto, new, paid 6 at 19 to 20
Newcastle and Darlington 25 at 41 to 43
New Brandling 15 at 41 to 43
Newcastle and Berwick 5 at 15 pm.
Great North of England 100 at 120 pm."
Upon the above statement, the letter-writer of the
Times remarks :

" I ask, after making these wretched sacrifices of money in such
purchases as the above, can it be possible that these railways are
intrinsically worth these enormous premiums? They were only
worth the low values in their original names—uothing has occurred
to make them more valuable, but amalgamation with good names
has created a fictitious value, which will find its level When the
railway fever abates, and investers begin to inquire, not what new
shares a e to be issued worth a high premium. but what interest are
they to receive for their money, and where is the interest to come
from to compensate for the enormous premiums paid on shares.
Then will come the crash, and on whom will it fall ? "
To all this flippant stuff the only answer which needs
to be given is, that the lines completed already pay, in
the shape of dividends, interest upon their present prices
fully equal to the current interest to oe haul from other
investments ; and that these incomplete are guaranteed
an interest, corresponding to their price, es soon as they
are opened and become links in the chain and feeders of
the oriOnal line. :Such puerilities, as this attack upon
the Stability of a property of undoubted Nalue , go far to
render the best-intentioned warnings given to the public,
by the organ in which they appear, valueless, because
disregarded.