The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-11-05 00:00:00

GRAND JUNCTION RAILWAY.

On Friday a quarterly meeting of the Grand Junction
Railway Company was held, at the Cotton Sales'-rooms,
for the F urpose of hearing a statement of the progress of
affairs during the past three months, and of declaring a
dividend. John Moss, Esq., presided.
The CHAIRMAN opened the business of the day with a
long address, explanatory of the state and prospects of
the undertaking. He expressed a hope that the Shrop-
shire gentlemen would adopt moderate counsels ; and
said that all the needful measures were being taken by
the Grand Junction Board for bringing before Parliament
the Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton, and also the Shrews-
hut y and Stafford lines. He thought the course adopted
by the London and Birmingham Board in this affair had
not been such as they had a right to expect ; but, as they
had publicly, lately, shown on what they ground that
opinion, he should say no more now. He desired, how-
ever, to take this opportunity of
.disclaiming, for himself
and his colleagues, all intention to make any personal
charges against the chairman or any member of the
board. An injustice was done to them if any part of
their public statement was construed into an attack or in-
sinuation of any kind on any gentleman individually ; if
he were to add to it, it would only be to express the great
regret that the Shrewsbury party should have been, under
all the circumstances of the case, enabled to boast, at their
recent public meeting, that they had among the holders of
shares in their competing line the most influential of the
London and Birmingham Directors. (Hear, hear.) Un-
happily there had been, recently, a difference of opinion
between the London and Birmingham and Grand Junc-
tion Boards on other subjects, a full explanation of which
he did not deem it expedient at present to go into. He

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' agreement made between th'e two boards, in July last, was
no longer in existence; that it was adhered to until the
`London and Birmingham Directors had persisted in their
refusal to refer the matters in difference to the arbitra-
tion it provided, namely, to three of the shareholders
not being directors of the company. In the present posi-
tion of affairs, the course of the Grand Junction Board
would be defensive only. He could hardly believe that
parliament would allow new lines to be made running
parallel and close to theirs, practice having gone to prole
that the public cannot be gainers by such a plan. He
thought, that, if any railway in the kingdom could be
considered safe, theirs was-that railway ; and, in proof of
the sincerity of these opinions, he had, very lately, con-
siderably increased his interest in the concern. (Hear!,
hear.) Their receipts were most satisfactory. They bad
lowered their fares, and given greater accommodation to
the public—(applause)—by adding second-class coaches
to first-class trains and by giving a third-class, with
covered carriage, at Id. per mile. (Applause.) The
Chairman concluded by moving that a dividend of £2106
for the three months should be paid. He said this would
leave a very handsome surplus, and he expected to have
a very flattering statement for the shareholders at Christ-
mas.
Mr. ROBERTSON GLADSTONE Deputy-chairman, ge
-conded the motion, which was unanimously adopted.
Mr. U. POTTS, of Chester, remarked. that, althouga
disputes had arisen between the respective companies'
which must be unfortunate for all parties, he had no doubt
whatever that the consideration given by the Grand Junc-
tion Company to the measure in dispute was given upon
mature judgment.
Mr. MOZLEY said, that the chairman had thought pro-
per to address the proprietors on a variety of points which
were eminently important. The Grand Junction Cool-
pang held, at a cheap rate, a very large and extended line;
and if, taking into consideration that what had been done
three or four years ago in the infancy of railways could
not be effected now, and if they were content to try what
they had got, and to extend their line in every portion;
if they reduced their fares and paid constant attention to
the wishes of the public ; if, in fact, they anticipated the
wants of the public, he felt quite confident they need not
fear opposition from either the north or the south, and
that there was in the Grand Junction Company that back-
bone which would carry them through to the line. (Hear,
hear.) With respect to the difference with the London
and Birmingham Board, he thought he might say PIP-
Hely what had been said privately, that on a careful viesv
of several of the documents, there was no uestion of
doubt that an agreement had been made forqthe mutual
benefit of both parties, and that, if arbitration was to take
place at all, it should have taken place at the rery identi-
cal point at which the parties bad arrived. (Hear, hear.)
He was quite convinced that it was for the interest of the
companies to cement a strong alliance, and that, by mu-
tual good working and understanding, and also by shorten-.
ing the distance between London and Liverprol, they
should render'every class and description of opposition a
nullity. Applause. He considered, as a man of business,
that the differences between the two companies must end
in a serious loss to both. He spoke boldly and plainly,
with the view of showing, that, if the directors of either
board were self-willed, or Wany portion of either were
deeply interested in other concerns,—(hear, bear !)--he
carried the flag to rout them from their hold. (Loud
cheers.) He prayed them to consider that there were
very large interests at stake, interests of the last import-
ance ; that, upon the faith of men of honesty and good
judgment, widows and orphans had invested their pro-
perty in the concern ; and that anything like direct oppo-
sition between the two companies could only end in the
destruction of the means of this defenceless class of per-
sons. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. RUTSON asked what foundation there was for say-
ing the directors of the London and Birmingham Com-
panies were shareholders in the Shrewsbury line ?
Mr. SWIFT said he had heard it mentioned at a meet-
ing in Wolverhampton.

Mr. RUTSON asked how the chairman considered the
agreement of July at an end ?

The CHAIRMAN replied, that, when the Birmingham
Company declined to refer the matter in dispute, they
were informed that the agreement was.at an end. There
was not any railway property in the kingdom which was
not injured by the differences between the Grand Junction
and Birmingham Boards. He was sorry he could not see
how it was possible to make any agreement with the Bir-
nainzham Board more binding than the last.
Mr. MOZLEY here entered into some explanation as to
the position of the London and Birmingham Directors
with regard to the Shrewsbury line and their alleged in-
terest in that undertaking.
The explanation was considered somewhat satisfactory.
The CHAIRMAN observed, that since they had written
to the London and Birmingham Board, to state that their
agreement wes at an end, no answer had been returned to
their communication.

Mr. HARDMAN EARLE stated, that plans had been
prepared and notices lodged for the purpose of making a
railway from Crewe to Stoke by the Grand Junction
Company ; and that other parties would take up the line,
and make it to Stafford, so that the Potteries would have
as Rood a railway communication as could be wished.

The meeting separated at a quarter to three o'clock.

APPLICATIONS FOR SHARES.

The Mining .Tournal of Saturday contains the following
exposure of a system which has been discovered in the
applications of certain parties for shares in the various
railway projects now before the public. A plan, says our
contemporary, which has of late become general, is that of
writing in false names, with addresses to Liverpool,
Birmingham, Bristol, Plymouth, or any other town, for
shares to be allotted, without any particular address
being given ; and in many instances shares are appro-
priated, on the assumption that Mr. Tomkins, of Liver-
pool, or M r. Brown, of Bristol, must be highly-respectable
men, as they deem it unnecessary to give any other than
a general address. Let us see how far this assumption is
correct. Mr. Tomkins or Mr. Brown communicates
with the Post-office at Liverpool or Bristol, and direct
that any letters addressed to them shall be forwarded to
their private address in London—say, Star-alley, or Five's-
court, St. Giles's—and thus the allocation letter comes
back to London. This is one case.—Now proceed we to
another. A letter of application of the Rev. —, of
Balham Hill, is addressed to a company. An agent is
appointed to ascertain the respectability of the party, and,
on enquiry of the postmen of the district, is informed that
the letters addressed to the Reverend gentleman are to
be forwarded to Cottage, Wandsworth-road. The
party making the enquiry proceeds to the place named,
and finds that Cottage is a cigar shop, and the
proprietor is the Rev. —.
It must be understood that we speak alone of cases
coming under our own knowledge. Again, a letter apply-
ing for shares is said to come from " A. 8.," of a cer-
tain street in "A. B." is known as a highly
respectable man, and the shares are appropriated, but
the letter never reaches his bands—indeed, he is ignorant
of any application in his name, and, moreover, the ad-
dress is incorrect. The letter, however, is secured
by the party who has thus forged the name, by
being taken from the postman. Another case is that
of letters being addressed to certain parties, and the
address being altered by means of a chemical pro-
cess, and another substituted—thus avoiding the
responsibility incurred of signing the deed, while
the premium on the shares is secured. A further one,
and that of the most vital importance, as connected with
our commercial relations, and the Post-office authorities,
is, that applications for shares are made, and the letters in
reply, in too many instances, are, by an understanding
beta een certain parties, placed in other quarters than
those for whom they are designed.
We have said sufficient to put those interested in the
formation of companies on their guard ' • and we have good
grounds for stating, as relates to the' latter case, that a
representation will be made to her Majesty's Postmaster-
General.