The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-08-15 00:00:00

LONDON AND NORTH-WESTERN RAILWAY.

The half-yearly general meeting of the proprietors of
the London and North-Western Railway Company was
held at twelve o'clock on Friday, at the Euston Hotel,
London, to receive the director's report upon the general
purposes of the undertaking. It was also stated in the
notices that a proposition would be made to consolidate
into stock such of the £2O shares of the late London and
Birmingham Railway, and £4O shares of the late Grand
Junction Railway as have been paid up in full.
The attendance of proprietors from all parts of the
country was very considerable, upwards of 300 being
present, among whom were many from Liverpool.—Mr.
G. C. Glyn commenced his address to the proprietors by
stating that it had been found impossible to present the
accounts until that morning, as promised at the last meet-
ing, owing to the difficulty of collecting the details. Had
they distributed the accounts, the calling of the meeting
must have been delayed until at least the end:of the pre-
sent month, a delay for which he was extremely unwilling.
to be responsible. His reason for wishing to meet the•
proprietors as early as possible, was to put an end to that
depreciation of stock which had been going on for some-
time, by a plain unvarnished statement of the real posi-
tion of the company. He could not conceive why their
stock should hold its present price. Take it as a mere
seven per cent stock, thepresent price was decidedly below
its real value. (Hear.) It had, however, been depreci-
ated in the public estimation by a variety of reports, which
had been systematically levelled against the company, but
which were utterly unfounded. It was impossible to con-
ceal that, owing to the state of the mercantile world, the
receipts had undergone a considerable check ; yet, he vim!
happy to say, they would show no falling off in the Pas*
half-year. They had not, however, increased ; and it
would be recollected that the whole of their policy Pre"
ceeded upon the idea of an increase. Under these circin"
stances, it was;with great reluctance the directors were
obliged to call upon the proprietors to experience a further
reduction in the dividend. The dividend would be X-3
10s. ; and, in declaring it at that amount, the directors
believed they were following a course which would
the
best for the eventual prosperity of the company. On ,tue
other hand, there had been a saving of between £l2,un"
and £13,000 in the working charges, although about fifty
miles of working line had been added to the line.---The
'Chairman referred to the dispute with the engine-drivet's•
He stated that they had received such assistance from tnet
north and elsewhere that there would not be the slightes
difficulty in carrying on the service without danger tote
public safety ; and he hoped that the proprietors wont:
support their executive in resisting attempts at dictat.to
by subordinate servants as to whom they should enlPlor'
(Cheers.)
The report was then reads and unanimously adopted'
After a number of questions had been asked by differ:
proprietors, to all of which satisfactory answers
turned,
report be
It was then moved by the chairman that the repo
printed and circulated ; after which several questions „.7.,
put, respecting the capital account, by Mr. Duncufte,
and by other proprietors as to the Trent Valley, th Itenr:t.
deen and the Caledonian lines, all of which were aniv' the
The Chairman stated that if anything was done with
were re
Aberdeen Company it would be a mere working arrant"
ment.
Chait*-
In reply to Mr. T. Roberts, of Manchester, the , Ind
man stated that the works for the East and Wes; a
Docks line were being made, and that he regarded n g•-•.t
most important link in connection with the comPagouly
was an independent company, and this company w
subscribers to it.
The report was then unanimously passed. at
The Chairman proposed the resolution of a cn In'"
..ropor
the rate of £3 10s. per .£lOO share, and so on 1 P
tioTnhfuorditrdeonthdewrilishabrees,pawyhabicil;
uwpaosirthaV2rnatehusilayniera,d:r.