TEL EGRAPH TO INDIA-TRAM-RAILWAY OF GREAT BRITAIN, ETC. 423 530.-TELEGRAPH TO INDIA. The enterprise is leased to the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance (Limited). Dividends at the rate of 3 per cent. per annum were declared. The report presented on 5th February, 1869, gave the details of a provisional agreement entered into for leasing the land line in Egypt to the proposed British-Indian Submarine. According to arrangements entered into on the 5th, and approved on the 22nd February, this property has been transferred to the British Indian Submarine Telegraph Company in consideration of 37,500. in fully paid-up shares of 101. each. The Telegraph to India Company passed into liquidation, and the final meeting was held on 5th October, 1870. DIRECTORS: Chairman-Sir R. MACDONALD STEPHENSON, 72, Lancaster Gate, Hyde Park, W. Philip Patten Blyth, Esq. (late of Mau- The Hon. James Byng, Shipbourne Lodge, William Dent, Esq. (late of the Hon. East India Company's Civil Service, Bengal). Admiral Sir W. H. Hall, K.C. B. (Director of the Peninsular and Oriental Company). John Farley Leith, Esq. (late of Calcutta), 79, Gloucester Terrace, Hyde Park, W. OFFICERS.-Sec., William Mayo; Auditor, J. A. Franklin; Engs., Sir Charles T. Bright and Latimer Clark; Solicitors, Messrs. Freshfields; Bankers, The London and County Bank, 21, Lombard Street, E.C. Offices-62, Moorgate Street, E.C. 531.-TRAM-RAILWAY OF GREAT BRITAIN. Capital, 500,0007. in shares of 10. each. First issue, 10,000 shares (with power to increase). This company propose, by properly constructed tramways or roadrails, to bring into direct communication with the existing railway systems outlying towns and districts, and for the purpose of constructing such tram-railways this company has been formed. The cost per mile of a tram-railway on the company's systems will average about 2,000. By Mr. Page's invention steep gradients may be surmounted, thus obviating what has hitherto been one of the principal difficulties in the formation of cheap railways. Mr. Hawarth's system is remarkably well adapted for horse-power in street traffic. The company will construct its own lines, work them, and draw annual profits therefrom, or sell or lease them when made either to railway or other companies or firms, the rent thus derived forming a revenue without risk or trouble. They will also grant licenses for the construction and use of lines under their several patents, and this also will be a large source of safe income. DIRECTORS: Major S. Yorke Martin, Thornville, Ryde, George Dawes, Esq. (Messrs. W. H. and Francis Logan, Esq., Cliffeside, Bourne- John T. Sprague, Esq., Old Park and Secretary, J. W. Marshall. Offices-9B, New Broad Street, City, E.C. 532.-WEST INDIA AND PANAMA TELEGRAPH. Incorporated under "The Companies' Acts, 1862 and 1867." Capital, 650,000% in 65,000 shares of 101. each. Formed for the purpose of extending telegraphic communication throughout the West India Colonies, and at the same time, of torming the central link of the telegraphic communications of Brazil, Peru, Chili, Buenos Ayres, and the other States of South America, with London, New York, and the whole of the continents of Europe and North America. DIRECTORS: Chairman-Rear Admiral Sir JOHN C. DALRYMPLE HAY, Bart., M.P. Neil Bannatyne, Esq. (late of Messrs. Quintin Hogg, Esq. (Messrs. Bosanquet, Alexander Macgregor, Esq., Director of Wm. Langton, Esq., Liverpool. OFFICERS.-Sec., Wm. Walsh; Eng., Sir Charles Bright; Solicitors, Mackenzie Trinder, and Co., 1, Crown Court, Old Broad Street, E.C. Offices-50, Old Broad Street, E.C. ADDENDA. BEDFORD AND NORTHAMPTON. NEW CAPITAL-In December, 1870, the sum of 200,000l. in preferred shares was offered to the public at 927 10s. per cent, yielding interest of 51. 8s. per cent. per annum, the payments being as follow: £10 on each certificate subscribed, payable on application. Also in January, 1871, the sum of 150,000l. was issued in deferred shares, being the balance of 20,000 of which 5,000 had been appropriated to and taken up by applicants for the preferred shares. Price of issue, 821. 103. per certificate of 1007., equal to 81. 58. per share, with interest at 5 per cent. per annum (yielding to the investor 61. 35. per cent. on the price of subscription, after deducting allowances) during construction, and for five years after the opening of the railway, pending the declaration within that period by the Midland, of the option to amalgamate with or lease the line, at 5 per cent. The due and punctual payment of the interest is absolutely secured for the whole of the above-mentioned period by the investment in consols, now standing in the names of trustees, of the amount necessary to pay the same. The price, 821. 10s. for each certificate of 10 shares (equal to 1007. stock), payment being accepted as follows:£10 on each certificate subscribed, payable on application. By special agreements, incorporated in the Acts of Parliament, the Midland is to maintain, manage, stock, and work the Bedford and Northampton, and to pay over 50 per cent, of the divisible receipts, such receipts being taken in the accounts between the two companies at the minimum of 307. per mile per week, which, on the twenty miles of the railway, gives minimum guaranteed receipts to the Bedford and Northampton of 15.6001. per annum. The Midland take over the line on its completion, when the guarantee comes into effect; the contractors are under engagement to finish the line by the 31st of August, 1871, and they will pay interest on the shares until the line is so taken over, at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum on the full 100%. per certificate. CAMBRIAN. SCHEME OF ARRANGEMENT.-At a special meeting, held at Crewe on 30th November, 1870, the following scheme of arrangement in respect to the Inland Section was unanimously adopted: 1. All mortgages to be converted into 5 per cent. debenture stock, with same priorities as to interest, which is to commence from 1st July, 1870. 2. Debenture stock to be given for arrears of interest on debentures up to 30th June, 1870, of the same denomination as the capital in respect of which the stock was given, to carry interest from the first July next. CAMBRIAN-LONDON, BRIGHTON, AND SOUTH COAST. 425 3. The Llanidloes and Machynlleth preference stecks to receive their dividends each half-year as from 1st July, 1870. 4. Preference stock to be given for arrears of interest on Llanidloes and Machynlleth preference stocks up to 30th June, 1870, of the same denomination and priorities as the capital in respect of which the arrears had accrued, to carry interest from 1st July next. 5. Certificates of indebtedness to be converted into debenture stock, to carry interest from 1st July, 1870, at 5 per cent., and the holders thereof to have the same rights and remedies for the recovery of such interest as they would have had for the recovery of the moneys due upon such certificates. 6. Debenture stock to be given for arrears of interest on such certificates up to 30th June, 1870, similar to that mentioned in clause 5, and having the same right and remedies, to carry interest from the 1st July next. 7. The balance remaining to credit of revenue account, after deducting the sum of 33,6251., as mentioned in clause 9, to be retained as a guarantee fund for the due payment of such interest until the same shall have been duly paid for four consecutive half-years, and subject thereto to sink into the general revenue of the company. 8. Any surplus of net revenue of Autumn half-year to be carried forward to credit of Spring half-year, until the latter shall for two consecutive years be sufficient to meet all fixed charges affecting Inland Section. 9. To apply 33,6251., being the amount found to be the depreciation of the rolling stock, and being part of 45,7117. now in the hands of the company on revenue account, in renewal of the rolling stock. NOTE.-The above sum of 33,6251, was found by the arbitrators to be the amount of depreciation of rolling stock omitted to be provided for out of revenue in former years. 10. The company to have power to create and issue such debenture and other stocks as may be necessary to carry scheme into effect. 11. Nothing in scheme to prejudice or affect the coast section, or the rights of the holders of the mortgages or debenture stock for 47,300l. and 100,0007., authorised by the Act of 1868, or the rights of holders of rent-charges granted to landowners, or the order of Vice-Chancellor James. 12. The scheme to be altered or modified by the court in any way in which the court on the application for its confirmation may think fit. LONDON. BRIGHTON, AND SOUTH COAST. REVENUE. This account for the half-year ending 31st December, 1870, exhibited a balance of income over expenditure of 368,9957., to which add 4,3281. from last halfyear, making a total of 373,323. Payment of interest on debentures, &c., required 112,8077. The preference interest, including 29,635., arrears unpaid the preceding half-year, amounted to 207,0427., so that a balance of 53,4741. remained, out of which a dividend of 15s. per cent. for the half-year, amounting to 51,2987., left a balance of 2,1761. All expenditure on account of the New Cross accident was now at an end, the total cost to the company having been 74,0107. Of this 28,9077, had fallen upon the year 1870, so that, apart from this exceptional cause, the dividend upon the ordinary stock would have been at the rate of 248. per cent. The agreements with neighbouring companies continued to work satisfactorily. That with the South Western for the division of joint Portsmouth traffic had just been revised for ten years, from the 1st of January, 1870, and the result of the arbitration had given the Brighton 37 per cent., instead of 33 per cent., as formerly, of the joint traffic. CAPITAL The amount expended during the half-year had been 63,5091., while the estimate of remaining expenditure was reduced to 218,160., of which 69,1607, consisted of 4 per cent. preference stock, reserved for the purchase of the Petworth and Midhurst, leaving a cash liability of 149,000., including 16,0001. for new locomotive workshops at Brighton. The compensation for the purchase of the company's electric telegraph property had been settled with the government authorities at 100,000l., so that the assets remaining on capital account, exclusive of any portion of the 1,000,0007. of ordinary stock authorised by the Act of 1868, or other unissued share capital, consisted of unexpired available debenture power 136,8577., electric telegraph purchasemoney 100,000l., and surplus lands estimated at 101,0327-total, 837,8891. The only new work proposed for the ensuing session was a short railway at Deptford, for which the bill as deposited in Parliament would be submitted to the meeting. This line was intended to connect the company's Deptford branch with the Royal Victualling Yard and new foreign cattle market, which promised to bring a considerable accession of traffic. The projected line was only 11 chains in length, and the estimated cost only 8,350. The capital assets were more than sufficient to meet any capital liabilities known or in prospect, without any further issue of ordinary stock, a result which might be considered satisfactory when it was recollected that three and a half years ago the capital liabilities exceeded 3,000,000l. The conversion of terminable debentures into 44 per cent. perpetual debenture stock continued to make progress, a further amount of 133,3201, having been converted during the half-year. The respective amounts now stood-debenture stock, 2,423,8747; terminable debentures, 2,162,6021. Partly from this cause, and partly from improved credit of the company, the total amount of interest on the debenture debt was less by 3,4107. than in the corresponding period of 1869. MANCHESTER, SHEFFIELD, AND LINCOLNSHIRE. REVENUE. This account to 31st December, 1870, presented a balance, including 3,6791. from previous half-year, of 262,0957. The preference charges amounted to 112.253., the South Yorkshire interest and dividends to 79,1737., leaving a balance of 69,9677., out of which a dividend at the rate of 21. 10s. per cent. per annum left 3,6401. to the current half-year. The Grimsby Docks showed a registered tonnage of £42,029, against 508,195 in the same period of 1869, showing an increase of 83,827 tons. dues, wharfage, &c., amounted to 8,8€67., against 8,116, showing an increase of 560L The quantity of coal shipped had been 160,621 tons in the past half-year, against 155.621 tons in the same half-year of 1869, showing an increase of 5,000 tons. The tratlic, exclusive of joint line receipts, amounted to 543,277, and for the corresponding period of 1869 to 527,5677., showing an increase of 15,7101. The working expenses amounted to 288,1447., against 234,8537., showing a net increase of 3,2917. The Coal Rates from South Yorkshire to London.-For some time past coal to London has been carried from the Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, and Leicestershire coalfields at differential rates of 1s. 4d. per ton, on all qualities alike, below the rates from South Yorkshire. The rates via Askern Junction (north of Doncaster) and via Nottingham Junction (south of Doncaster), over the Great Northern line, have in each case teen less per mile than those charged via Doncaster upon South Yorkshire coal. The result has been that, whilst the quantity of coal sent to London by railway has increased from 1,436,917 tons in 1862 to 3,758,089 tons in 1870, the quantity of coal sent from the South Yorkshire district, over the Great Northern, hes actually decreased in the same period. And whereas South Yorkshire supplied by all routes in 1862-3 one-sixth of all the railway-borne coal sent to London, in 1870 it has only been able to supply onesixteenth. The gradual exclusion of South Yorkshire coal of second and lower qualities from the London market, owing to the bounty given by the differential rate of 1s. 4d. per ton to the Midland coalfield, has long been a source of the deepest anxiety to your directors, and constant efforts have been made to induce the Great Norther to adjust their coal rates upon a more equitable basis, but without success. It will be borne in mind that an increase of the rates receivable by the Midland company would remedy the evil. Neither your directors nor the South Yorkshire coalowners desire or have attempted to reduce the profits of the railway shareholders in any way. It was at a comparatively recent date that the directors discovered the cause of this indisposition on the part of the Great Northern to do what obviously should have been a matter of mutual interest. It appeared that a general traffic agreement be tween the Midland and the Great Northern had for some time existed, under which the latter company was, as the Midland contended, bound for a period of five years, and, after that, subject to five years' notice, to preserve a differential rate of is d per ton in favour of the Midland coalfields as against those of South Yorkshire. In 1868 the Great Northern, who evidently at that time did not put the same interpretation upon the agreement as that entertained by the Midland, requested your directors to modify the charges for coal for the London market coming from the South Yorkshire field, with a view to the equalisation of the rates for London coal traffic, and your directors at once consented. Subsequently, however, the Great Northern board discovered that they were bound to go to arbitration should any change of rate made by them be objected to by the Midland, who apparently had secured the power of so far regulating the coal rates to London. The questions between the Great Northern and Midland were accordingly referred to Sir John Karslake. As this company was not informed of the fact of there being such an agreement at the time it was inade, and as they were not parties to, nor bound by it in any sense, they were not represented before the arbitrator. The result of the arbitration was unfavourable to the views of the Great Northern, the agreement having no doubt been treated as a whole, and the arbitrator having given a decision without special regard to the simple question of fair and just proportion of rates affecting the interests of the South Yorkshire coalfield. MANCHESTER, SHEFFIELD, AND LINCOLNSHIRE. 427 As both the Great Northern and Midland have refused to favour your directors with the perusal of the evidence adduced, they are unable to form any judgment as to the sufficiency or fairness of the case made out. On the promulgation of the award, a strong resolution appealing for aid and assistance in the preservation of their trade was forwarded by the South Yorkshire coalowners to your directors. About the same time, also, the Great Northern Board invited a conference at King's Cross, which took place on the 29th September last. At that conference the Great Northern directors were informed that whilst your directors would give every assistance to the Great Northern in any effort to preserve a London market for the South Yorkshire coalfield, they could not interfere in any dispute between the Midland and Great Northern, who had made an agreement without the slightest regard for the interests of the Manchester Sheffield and Lincolnshire; and that if the Great Northern were honourably bound to preserve the differential rate of 18. 4d. per ton, your directors could be no party to any measure which would void the engagement. The Great Northern directors, however, stated that they were at full liberty, under the agree ment, to receive coal from the South Yorkshire district at Retford, charging the Retford rate, which was less than the Doncaster rate, and thereby to reduce the differential rate to London. On this assurance, your directors commenced delivering coal at Retford, and the coalowners of South Yorkshire also reduced their prices for secondclass coal, with a view to placing it on an equality with second-class coal from the Midland district. Hereupon the Midland reduced their rates, with a view to still preserve the full difference of 1s. 4d., and they contended, as your directors are informed, that the delivery of the coal at Retford involved a breach of the agreement, and was contrary to the award of Sir John Karslake. Competition appearing to be imminent, your directors, on the 4th November last, unanimously passed the following resolu tion:-"That this Board, whilst deeming it their duty to support the South Yorkshire coalowners in resisting an exceptional differential rate of 18.4d. per ton upon all qualities of coal alike, in favour of the Derbyshire and against the South Yorkshire coalfield, earnestly advise them and the Great Northern and Midland to leave the question of the proportionate rates for Midland and South Yorkshire coal to somo practical umpire, the Sheffield and South Yorkshire being represented by an arbitrator, and the question being discussed and settled upon its own separate merits." This minute was transmitted to and acknowledged by the Great Northern and Midland. The Great Northern have informed your directors that on their own behalf they proposed to the Midland a re-reference to Sir John Karslake, upon the special point of the Retford delivery, or a general reference to some other arbitrator. Mr. H. S. Thompson, the chairman of the General Association, and chairman of the North Eastern, also offered his mediation, for which your board tendered him their thanks. The chairmen of the London and North Western and Great Western also urged upon the Midland board the desirability of mediation, and the Marquis of Salisbury, chairman of the Great Eastern, proposed that a conference of the chairmen of the Midland, Great Northern, London and North Western, North Eastern, Great Western, and Manchester Sheffield and Lincolnshire should be held, with a view to an amicable arrangement. Further, the chairman of your company, at the request of the board, addressed the chairman of the Midland, urging a reference of the whole subject to some arbitrator of high standing. Your board deplore to have to report that all these attempts at a fair and friendly solution of the question have been hitherto taken in vain. The subject of the great loss of revenue resulting from differential rates of needless amount on coal has so often been brought before the shareholders, that your directors need only repeat that it is essential that this company should obtain some permanent guarantee for the free passage of its mineral traffic to London. Whether that guarantee be obtained by the concession of running powers, and the power to fix rates, or through the medium of a new line of railway shortening the distance between Lincoln and Cambridge, as proposed by the South Yorkshire coalowners, will be matter for grave deliberation. CAPITAL. This account to 31st December, 1870, showed that 13,011,7677. had been received, and 12,782,8147. expended, leaving a balance of 228,9531. The directors at the half-yearly meeting on 25th January, obtained the sanction of the proprietors to the expenditure of 58,0007. for land and works, and of 28,9001. for additional rolling stock. This includes the purchase of additional land at Lincoln and about four acres of land at Sheffield for providing increased siding accommodation. It also includes the cost of the Darnall curve, which the directors deemed it expedient to construct for the relief of the traffic at the Sheffield station. They propose also to construct 40 new engines at the company's works at Gorton during the next two years, to provide for the additional traffic consequent upon the completion and opening of the Liverpool and other new lines. |