THE SOURCE OF THE PANIC TRAC EE BY 
 FACTS; ITS EVILS, AND REMEDY. 
 
 s - 
 
 RAILWAYS 
 
 AS THEY REALLY ARE: 
 
 FACTS FDR THE SERIOUS CONS [DERATION 
 
 BATWAY PROPRIETORS. 
 
 THE DOVER, OR SOUTH-EASTERN COMPANY. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 SHERWOOD, GILBERT, AND PIPER, 
 
 PATERNOSTER IlOYV. 
 
 1847. 
 
SOURCE OE THE PANIC TRACED BY EACTS, 
 
 HINTS TO MEMBERS. DEPUTATIONS, DIRECTORS, AND RAIL- 
 RELIEVING TIIE PRESENT EMERGENCY. 
 
 Tiie most opulent man, the wealthiest Company, and the 
 richest nation, have all alike limits to their resources, and 
 are similarly subject to certain immutable laws, which, when¬ 
 ever transgressed, bring certain inevitable results. Thus wc 
 have experience to prove, that the building of a Fonthill 
 Abbey will reduce a Beckford; that a few unbusincss-like 
 advances can stop a Liverpool Banking Company; and wc 
 have but first to look around ns, and secondly to examine 
 Railway accounts, to be convinced that an extravagant, and 
 useless expenditure has reduced the wealthiest and most enter¬ 
 prising nation of modern times, to a depth of distress and 
 anguish hitherto unparalleled. The generous, the brave, the 
 patient, the hard-working, and the oncc-rich England; the 
 frugal, the calculating, and the persevering Scotland; the 
 imaginati.'j and genius-producing Ireland, are alike involved 
 in ruin. The peculiarities and weak points of each country 
 have been considered, and all have been equally cajoled. 
 The loss of a few hundred thousands will reduce the most 
 opulent man, the abstraction of a million or two will expose 
 the tricks of most directors, and the loss of 385 , 868 , 142 /. on 
 the convertible securities of the country, has at length com¬ 
 pelled John Bull to look to his real friends, whose advice he 
 has too long despised. The attitude of Great Britain at the 
 
present time is similar to that of a country bumpkin, who has 
 been bamboozled at a village fair out of his last shilling; and 
 the trick which has been played the nation by a set of ad¬ 
 venturers, is not less unprincipled, or more clever, than that 
 practised by the man of the pea and thimble, or he of the gaily 
 decorated booth, who politely invites the public to try theirluck; 
 each has a few accomplices, each allow their dupe to win a little 
 by way of leading him on, and each has the same disregard 
 for the misery he inflicts. What to such adventurers is 
 a country’s ruin, provided they gain ? Great Britain is now 
 at that stage which the countryman finds himself when he 
 has lost all his money, and is informed that if he tries his 
 luck again, he will win all back, and that he can stake his 
 watch, his coat, or any other convertible property he may 
 have at hand. So now, certain gentlemen with smart attire 
 step forward and suggest the increase of paper money, and a 
 variety of means by which John can extend his credit, but 
 which, if adopted, must only add to the devoted dupe’s losses, 
 for he loses that which can only be regained (if John is 
 honest) by extra labour. The Railway potentates are the 
 knowing gentlemen, the Railway investers and lenders are 
 the noodles, and the Government may be considered the 
 police. If the dupes continue to think that they have been 
 fairly cheated, and are content, why then the police cannot 
 interfere; but if they do what John the countryman docs, 
 when he finds that it was all trickery, they will commence, 
 first, with a remonstrance, and if that does not answer, then 
 with a good big stick, and if that does not bring resto¬ 
 ration, why then hand them over to the police, with the re¬ 
 quest that'they will not only strip them of their ill-begotten 
 booty, bat also put them in the stocks, as a lasting example 
 to those of swindling propensities. When John Bull really 
 takes things into his own hand, he does it well, and let him 
 look back a little, aud see the journals of the House of 
 Commons, and let him there read how he served a certain 
 Mr. Aislabie, a Mr. Cragg, a Mr. Robert Knight, and a host 
 of other speculating gamesters. 
 
 The works and efforts of men have ever been limited, and 
 nothing is certain or infinite but that which has been es¬ 
 tablished by the All-wise and Supreme. Wealth of all 
 things is capricious, and a towering and unscrupulous am¬ 
 bition has ever been doomed to have a fall. But a few 
 years since, and this country, in the midst of plenty, boasted 
 
7 
 
 of her wealth and enterprise ; two years have sufficed to bring 
 her into a degree of poverty before unknown. From the 
 time those bulwarks of integrity, that parent stock from 
 whence spring the head that commands, and the heart that 
 leads alike the soldier and the sailor—the country gentleman 
 —and those supporters of our commercial glory and credit— 
 the banker, the merchant, and the tradesman, were led into 
 error by falsified accounts, and wrongly founded data, or 
 were seduced by the hollow promises of the adventurous 
 speculator, the prosperity of the country began to sink. 
 
 As, to be hated, needs but to be seen ; 
 
 In the years 1844 and 1845, bribery and deception had 
 worked their way, the haunts of commerce and industry had 
 become the arena of gamblers and scrip-dealers, the voice of 
 the honourable and prudent had been lost mid the noisy 
 din of tlie gamester. ® The llailtvay party had raised itself 
 by falsehood, has hitherto sustained itself by a constant 
 course of deception, and must soon fall in despair, carrying 
 with it the execration of the just. The country gentleman 
 has long parted with his cash. Already has the perverted 
 merchant given his substance, and daily are the hard earn¬ 
 ings of the industrious, hitherto prized equally with honour 
 and life, passing from them to regild the newly-purchased 
 hall of the director, or is being sunk in the erection of 
 mounds and the digging of tunnels, which are but evidences 
 of folly. The convertible wealth of the country lias already 
 sunk, under tlie government of Railway potentates, more 
 than half a million a day for two years. In 1S44, Sir 
 Robert Peel told the' Railway party their folly and then- 
 end : in return they gave him abuse, sullied his name, and 
 perverted his plans. In 1845, the Railway potentates and 
 their followers were allowed to revel in their designs: they 
 told you, Grant us power, and we will give you wealth ! 
 Ye gave them power: remember, in return for your money, 
 they gave you scrip. In 1846, their king exclaimed, Pur¬ 
 chase shares, and pay me calls: you did so, and your tens 
 of thousands have dwindled, your thousands have become 
 
 use heaped 
 
 Times paper for exposing the 
 
hundreds, and your hundreds units; the differences have 
 vanished in adding to the estate of adventurers, or is sunk 
 in the high road to your own ruin. In the late Session, the 
 kind and gentle remonstrances of a Russell were met with 
 a request that you would exert every influence with your 
 respective members to intimidate the Government; that 
 you would, in fact, give power not to the responsible 
 advisers of the established constitutional and hereditary 
 Sovereign of the realm, but that you would insist that a 
 linendraper, an innkeeper, or an unsuccessful merchant who 
 had set themselves up, should have absolute dominion of appro¬ 
 priating your wealth, and infringing the law. We are told, 
 “ that for the iniquity of a nation there are many princes.” 
 Consider the tribute you have paid, and examine if an 
 ambitious conqueror was ever more exacting. 
 
 Under the shallow pretence of having your wealth increased, 
 money has been paid without limit, to men of whom little is 
 known, for the purpose of being expended on works of which 
 ninety-nine out of a hundred of the proprietors are totally 
 ignorant, and which is accounted for in accounts made up 
 with no other view but that of mystifying the expenditure. 
 Why, there are thousands of advertisements in the Times 
 paper every year, offering ten pounds for the loan of 
 twenty' for a few weeks, and no doubt the cunning ones 
 find it a profitable game to play; as long as they have dupes 
 they can deceive, and entrap under the guise of an ex¬ 
 orbitant profit. But those who are in the pay of the Rail¬ 
 way potentates (and they are not few), or are in the hope 
 of still profiting by the ignorant and confiding, will tell y’ou 
 that England is not poor, and that it is only' confidence 
 and paper money ad libitum, that she wants. As well may 
 they tell you that Mr. Beckford was as rich after he had 
 expended 500,0004 on Fonthill Abbey', and the fall of the 
 tower had reduced the immense pile to ruins. In the place 
 of 500 , 0004 , which might at the will of the owner have 
 been converted into land, horses, carriages, or other pur- 
 chaseable articles, or carried about from place to place, he 
 had a heap of ruins, the refuse timber and stone of which 
 alone could be reconverted into money, and which of 
 course would only' fetch in one neighbourhood a pi'ice 
 commensurate to the limited demand. So those who have 
 rashly squandered their money on Railway works now find 
 themselves at the mercy of a demand which every day’s 
 
experience makes more contracted, and a thorough know¬ 
 ledge of the real state of Bailway Companies would wholly 
 desti'03’. But lest people should say, surely Great Britain 
 is able to hear a greater expenditure than that involved in 
 the carrying out of Railway schemes, we will examine the 
 losses arising cither directly' or indirectly from that source. 
 The Shares of the London and North-Western Com¬ 
 pany sold in 1845, at a price, the excess of which £ 
 
 over that of October 1S47, amounted to. 21,606,235 
 
 The Great Western Shares have depreciated. 7,790,000 
 
 The Midland Counties, do. 14,229,739 
 
 The York, Newcastle and Berwick, do. G,5S2,S00 
 
 The York and North Midland, do. 4,649,500 
 
 The Eastern Counties and the Northern 
 
 and Eastern do. 4,242,0S2 
 
 The London and South-Western do. 2,628,246 
 
 The Lancashire and Yorkshire, do. 7,069,798 
 
 The London, Brighton and South Coast do. 3,870,503 
 
 The South-Eastern do. 5,912,510 
 
 Total depreciation in the ten leading railway companies-.— 
 
 since 1845, that being the period at which, in the 
 words of the member for Sunderland, they were 
 handed from the speculator to the investor (not in¬ 
 cluding the calls since paid up). 78,581,413 
 
 Many of the new shares of the above companies are 
 now selling for less with 15?. and 20?. paid up, than 
 
 ^ in 1845 with 2 1. paid; the depreciation is. 21,373,325 
 
 The twenty new guaranteed lines, such as the Ox¬ 
 ford, Worcester and Wolverhampton, the Bucking¬ 
 hamshire, the Chester and Holyhead, &c., arc soil¬ 
 ing now with 16,840,604?. paid up, for less than 
 in 1S45 with 2.^ paid, the depreciation is equal lo 16,840,604 
 The smaller English and Scottish companies, which 
 number 69, according to this day’s share list, have 
 
 depreciated... 35,200,300 
 
 The 17 Irish lines have depreciated .. 5 100 000 
 
 The losses in England by the depreciation in foreign 
 shares, the companies of which number 40, lias 
 
 bccn . 2,500,000 
 
 The honest have lost by the 1,200 abortive schemes 
 in 1844 and 1845 . 6,300,000 
 
 Total loss to the Railway proprietors in two years .. 165,895,642 
 
 4 The correctness of these sums may be easily tested by referring to the share- 
 lists of 1S15, and comparing them with those of the present time. 
 
10 
 
 Brought forward . . £165,895,642 
 Depreciation to our merchants (in consequence of tho 
 absorption of money in Railways and the consequent 
 poverty of individuals) on their usual colonial im¬ 
 ports . 11,000,000 
 
 Depreciation in the funds (consequent on people con¬ 
 fidently selling to invest in Railroads and tho 
 necessities of our merchants) about 16/. 13.?. 4c7. 
 
 per cent., or one-sixth . 133,315,000 
 
 Depreciation in the value of Exchequer Bills, India 
 Stock, Indian Bonds, and all other convertible stock 
 invested in by bankers and merchants. 66,65 7,500 
 
 Total depreciation in the usual convertible securities 
 
 of the country . 376,868,142 
 
 We have here clearly seen that the country has virtually 
 lost in two years, on a small section of property (for wc speak 
 not here of land and house property), to tile extent of 
 376,868,1427. It should be observed, that while the funds 
 have depreciated 167. 13s. id. per cent. Railway shares have 
 fallen on the average above cent, per cent. A gentleman in¬ 
 vesting 10,0007. in the funds in 1845, and now selling out, 
 would lose 1,6007 .; the same sum invested in London and 
 North-Western shares would have depreciated 5,5007, or to 
 give an adequate idea of an indiscriminate investment in 
 shares, an actual instance need be only mentioned—between 
 S,0007. and 9,0007. invested in 1845, by one of the mer¬ 
 chants who lately failed, was sold by his creditors in 
 the past week for 60?.* In fact, thousands and thousands who 
 had 10,0007. in 1845, are not now worth 1,5007. Tens of 
 thousands who in 1845 were worth 1007, 2007, 5007, and 
 10007, are not now worth anything, and is not this poverty? 
 
 All the misery of the present day was foretold in the year 
 1845, when one paper boldly pointed out the consequences 
 of the then mad career. Consider who then was the friend, 
 and ask, Can he be less so now? Should the evil from which 
 all the misery has arisen be at once stopped, or should it be 
 fostered and encouraged. Would it be desirable by injurious 
 measures to extend the evil even deeper than at present ? Will 
 you allow those mountebanks, who are truckling in turn to 
 each interest, renewing their broken promises, and spreading 
 
11 
 
 tlieir false arguments, again to send their agents into every 
 corner of Great Britain, and despoil the old and young 
 of every parish of the few hundreds they or their ancestors 
 have accumulated, under the specious pretence of increasing 
 their incomes? Can that security be good where agents, 
 bankers, brokers, and solicitors, are paid commissions at 
 the rate of a hundred for a thousand for all the money they can 
 obtain, or when bonds are given for thousands, and sold 
 for hundreds?” No; this is merely an extension of that bribery 
 by which the llailway Companies have obtained through the 
 country their accursed influence. If a company wanted 
 land, treble the value was the sum given for it. Did they 
 want agents, the most influential were selected, and enormous 
 was the price paid. When an Act of Parliament was applied 
 for, unheard of were the fees to counsel. Why was all this ? 
 Because the whole system was bribery. Shall these things 
 exist ? Shall corruption and Us companion, poverty, be ex¬ 
 tended to -every country village ? The expenditure of 
 52 , 000 , 000 /. a year on unprofitable works, must inevitably 
 bring England, were she ton times as rich as she is, into 
 difficulties and embarrassment, and the present practices 
 would contaminate any country, were she fifty times as moral 
 as our own. Two courses arc now open to the country : 
 if one is selected, the funds will become a guarantee for the 
 Railways ; deceit and corruption will again run riot, and a few 
 years reign of a Railway monarch will suffice to entail one uni¬ 
 versal and irreparable bankruptcy ; but if, on the other hand, 
 honour and justice are to prevail, place your trust in those 
 statesmen wlto, by years of toil and by deeds uninterested, 
 have proved that not their own enrichment, but their country’s 
 good, is their sole end, aim, and thought. 
 
 Let the balances of deceit no longer exist in the land ; 
 reflect on the corrections we are receiving. That hand which 
 deprived us for a season of one small portion of our daily 
 sustenance might have taken all—that icill which lately struct!, 
 our South-eastern coast with a flight of harmless "insects 
 might have scut the locust or the canker-worm. Drive out, 
 then, that frenzy of avarice which has deranged our under- 
 
standings, and made gold our god; banish those strange and 
 sad hallucinations, those unhallowed impulses, those demons 
 of covetousness, that have for a time led captive the national 
 heart, and destroyed its reason, ere that scourge which is 
 making such rapid strides to our shores, deals its destruction 
 on the people. Let the present calamity be received with 
 thankfulness, and let it restore to us fair and sober dealing. 
 We have but a gentle correction in poverty and panic, let 
 us profit by the warning, and with calm reflection correct the 
 evils we have been led into, and in being a wiser and better 
 nation hope to avert a severer judgment. 
 
OBSERVATIONS ON THE SOUTH-EASTERN 
 RAILWAY COMPANY. 
 
 Ip facts appear startling to those who have not yet held shares, 
 or if the first burst of truth is unpalatable to the confiding and 
 still hopeful shareholder, lie must be reminded that all he has 
 as yet heard, and, with one exception, read, emanated from 
 directors, or the pen of the hired and interested. The Govern¬ 
 ment, during the last few years, has done much to arrive at 
 the truth; hut as all information had to come through the 
 hands of the directories, we cannot, on consideration, wonder 
 at the deceptions which have been practised even on the 
 representatives of her Majesty. What prudent man could 
 have imagined, that tens of thousands would have handed 
 their money to those of whom they knew nothing, to be 
 scattered as the waters of the ocean, or the dust of the streets ? 
 
 On turning to the list of directors,* it will be found that the 
 six first alone subscribed their names to the railway contracts 
 of the speculating years of 1S44 and 1845, in no less a sum 
 than 4,664,735/., or a sum averaging 778,000 1. each ; and if the 
 share lists of 1845 are consulted, it will be seen that the scrip 
 sold at 9/. 10s., with a deposit of 27. 10s. We have no evidence 
 of what the Directors sold ; and must either congratulate the 
 South-Eastern proprietory on having six directors who, in 
 1845, were worth 800,000/. and 900,000/. each, with 
 unbounded confidence in their branches (or, to use Rail¬ 
 way phraseology, their calves), or we must feel pity for the 
 shareholders who purchased, and not only lost by so doing in 
 two years rather more than 3,000,000/., hut, in addition, find 
 their Company in a position which, if they make inquiry in 
 well-informed circles, is anything but satisfactory. Let us 
 see what some have gained, and what others have iost: The 
 31,500 shares issued in 1845 f (merely taking that one batch) 
 have depreciated from 7/. premium, with 21. 10s. paid to 9/. dis¬ 
 count with 15/. paid; J the allottees, therefore, of these 
 31,500 shares paid 7S,750/., and sold for 299,250/., or at an 
 
 
14 
 
 immediate profit of 220,5001 .; the purchasers who paid the 
 299,2507. have since had to pay calls amounting to 127.10s. per 
 share, or, in the whole, 393,7507.; and that sum, added to the 
 purchase-money, makes a total of 693,0007. And now the 
 shares are only worth the allottee’s profit, or 22 0,5007. Now, 
 when we find that the total depreciation in the South-Eastern 
 shares has in two years amounted to 5,912,510/.,* can we 
 wonder at distress and misery, as well as panic and distrust ? 
 
 On referring to Mr. M'Gregor’s evidence before the Com¬ 
 mittee of the House of Commons, on the Sth July 1846, 
 questions 2561 and 2563, we findf that the original estimate 
 of the line from Croydon to Eeigate, and from Reigate to 
 Dover, was 1,S50,0007. We find,"by the return made to the 
 Committee on Railway Acts Enactments, and by question 
 2574,i that the outlay on the same portion, up to July 1846, 
 had been little short "of double the estimate, or 3,500,0007.; 
 and what the additions have been since it is impossible to say 
 from the accounts submitted to the Proprietors. 
 
 When we turn our attention to the powers of raising money, 
 it will be seen that the sum of S,907,043/.§ is the amount 
 granted, from which must be deducted 244,5047., a sum 
 represented, though not received, j| this leaves 8,662,5397. 
 The sum authorized by the seven last acts amount to 
 3,797,9007., to be expended on new extensions, branches, and 
 enlargements. Now, if the last account is referred to, 
 6,39S,2167. is the total expenditure, of which only 316,0427. 
 has been appropriated to the new works, it would therefore 
 appear that 1,217,5257. of the money sanctioned for new 
 works has been expended on the main lines. 
 
 If the accounts of the past fe\v years be deeply considered, 
 it will be found that the items of jjarliainentary expenses, 
 engineering, and surveys, in the last three years alone, have 
 reached the sum of 675,2777.: that the total expenditure on 
 land is entered as having been 1,021,8007.; that the works, 
 rails, and switches stand in the capital account at 2,931,2027.; 
 that the additions to the capital, on account of the items of 
 locomotives and carriages, in the last three years only , has been 
 360,090: in fact, there is not an item in the half-yearly 
 additions to capital but should be deeply considered by' the 
 
15 
 
 shareholders, with a view of judging whether there can be any 
 profit derived from the working of the line, and whether, 
 to use the words of the chairman, the “ great experiment ” has 
 not failed. It will be well for the Proprietors to consider the 
 real object of the Directors in making branches, as well as the 
 reasons for some of the amalgamations and purchases. No 
 reasonable man of business can see the enormous additions to 
 capital which are made every half-year, and the slight pro¬ 
 gress made in new works, without being convinced, that, 
 instead of profit, there is a loss of some 200,0001. a year. 
 
 This is written with no ill will to any Company. The 
 writer has lost nothing by Railway speculations; his only 
 object being to stop the ruin of families, and the havoc which 
 is daily made by the bitterness of disappointment and poverty. 
 
 The roLEOwiNG are the Directors, and tiie Sums for 
 
 WHICH THEY SIGNED AS SUBSCRIBERS, IN 1844 AND 1845 :- 
 
 in 1814 ami 1815. 
 
 James MacGregor, Chairman, a subscriber to nine schemes 
 
 in 1844, and to four in 1S45* . .£763,095 
 
 Henry Lewes Smale, a proctor, 601,7601. in 1844, and 
 
 227,1401. in 1845. S2S.900 
 
 C. W. Tyndale, 5S7,7S01. in 1S44, and 203,1351. 
 
 in 1845 . 790,915 
 
 Robert Browne, 577,2601. in 1S44, and 192,3751. 
 
 in 1845 . 769,635 
 
 Benjn. Harding, 574,7601. in 1844, and 191,7601, in 1S45 766,520 
 AV. Henri Thomas, 624,3201. in 1844, and 121,3501. 
 in 1845 . 745,670 
 
 Carry forward . . £4,664,735 
 
16 
 
 Brought forward . . £4,664,735 
 
 Robert Tassel], 1 S3,270/. in 1845 . 183,270 
 
 Viscount Torriugton, 109,350/. in 1845 . 109,350 
 
 John Blagdon, 40,000/. in 1S44, and 25,1701. in 1S45 .. 65,170 
 
 W. Fielden, 17,500/. in 1844, and 11,905/. in 1845 _ 29,405 
 
 M. L. Pritchard, 2,500/. in 1844, and 21,100/. in 1S45.. 23,600 
 
 Alexander Randall, 5,000/. in 1S45. 5,000 
 
 £5,080,530 
 
 If the shares averaged 20/. each, the scrip allotted to these 
 Directors would have numbered 254,020, and if sold at 11. 
 premium (the price in 1845), the net profit would have 
 amounted to 1,878,132/., and the clear loss to the purchasers 
 (including the sums since paid up and taking the present 
 price) would have been 3,048,312/. 
 
 The Purchases and Engagements of the South-Eastern 
 Company. 
 
 The South Eastern Railway Company has not subscribed 
 towards the capital of any other Company; but has con¬ 
 tracted the following engagements:— 
 
 1. In 1839, the Company purchased one moiety of that 
 part of the London and Brighton Railway, which lies be¬ 
 tween Croydon and Redhill, with the right to pass over the 
 other moiety without payment of toll, for 340,000/. 
 
 2. Under an Act passed 27th June 1843, the Company 
 purchased the Folkstone harbour for 18,000/. 
 
 3. Under an Act passed 4(h July 1S43, the Company pur¬ 
 chased the share of the Bricklayers’ Arms branch and station, 
 possessed by the London and Croydon Company, for 82,877/., 
 and so became the sole proprietor of that branch and station. 
 
 4. Under an Act passed 10th February 1S44, the Company 
 took a lease for fourteen years of the Canterbury and Whit- 
 stable Railway, at a rent of 1,200/. for the first year, to he 
 increased by 300/. per annum, until it amounts to 3,000/., 
 which is to continue the rent to the end of the term. 
 
 5. Under an Act passed 10th September 1S44, they have 
 taken a lease of the London and Greenwich Railway for 999 
 years, at a rent of 36,000/. for the first year, to he increased 
 by 1,000/. per annum until it amounts to 45,000/. per annum. 
 
 6. Under an Act passed 16th May 1846, they have pur¬ 
 chased the Gravesend and Rochester Canal and Railway, 
 for 310,000/. 
 
 7. Under an Act passed 16th July 1846, they have agreed 
 
to take a lease of the Reading, Guilford and Reigate Rail¬ 
 way in perpetuity, at a rent amounting to 4 J per cent, on the 
 cost of the line, assumed at 000,000/., with an equal division 
 of profits, and which has since been commuted for 5h per 
 cent., without such division. 
 
 8. And under an Act passed 10th August 184G, they con¬ 
 tributed 101,662/. to the construction of the joint station at 
 London Bridge. 
 
 The South-Eastern Railway Company have two London 
 stations,—one at London Bridge, constructed at the joint 
 expense of the South-Eastern, Brighton, and Croydon Com¬ 
 panies; 3 and the other at the Bricklayers’ Arms; and, 
 as lessee of the Greenwich line, 3 miles and G furlongs, 
 they receive toll from the Brighton Company for the use 
 of the If mile, which is jointly used; they are entire owners 
 of the Bricklayers’ Arms branch, 1J mile; they pay toll for 
 the use of the old Croydon line, about SJ- miles (now amal¬ 
 gamated with the .Brighton Company); they arc joint-owners 
 of the Railway (101 miles) between Croydon and Rcdhill; 
 they are entire owners of the 07 miles between Reigate and 
 Dover; of the 5-miles branch to Tonbridge Wells; of the 
 10-milcs branch to Maidstone; of the 29 7 J- miles between 
 Ashford and Ramsgate ; of the 81-miles branch to Deal; of 
 the 31-miles branch to Ramsgate and Margate; they are 
 lessees of the 6 miles and 4 furlongs between Canterbury and 
 Whitstablc, and of the 7 miles between Gravesend and 
 Rochester. These lines are all opened, and the receipts 
 therefore are for traffic running over 162 miles. 
 
 They have in progress of construction a line from Green¬ 
 wich to Gravesend, 22 miles 1 furlong; a line from Ton- 
 bridge Wells to Hastings, 2!) miles 6 furlongs ; a branch to 
 Rye, 5 miles 6 furlongs; a branch to Rye Harbour, 1 mile 
 0 furlongs; and a line from Ashford to Hastings, 29 miles 7 
 furlongs. They have also in progress of construction, the 
 Reading, Guilford and Reigate line, which is leased, and is 
 46 miles 4 furlongs ; and during the last Session, a junction 
 between the Greenwich line and the Bricklayers’ Arms 
 branch was granted, being three-quarters of a mile in length. 
 The lines sanctioned, therefore, extend to 134 miles. 
 
18 
 
 The Powers granted by Parliament, the Shares and 
 Loans, and the Bills promoted. 
 
 By twenty-two Acts of Parliament, the first of which passed 
 in 1836, the Company has received power to raise a capital of 
 6,620,033/., and to borrow 2,287,0101., or to expend, in the 
 whole, 8,907,0131.; that is :— 
 
 
 Capital. 
 
 
 Total. 
 
 Bv Original Act of Incorporation, G Vm. 4, 
 
 ‘ c. 75, 183G . 
 
 £ 
 
 1,-100,000 
 
 t-nnno 
 
 1,850,000 
 
 „ Act for Additional Capital, 5 Viet. c. 3, 
 1S42 . 
 
 S00.000 
 
 2GG,G00 
 
 1,000,000 
 
 „ London Bridge Station Act, 3 & 4 Viet. 
 
 90,000 
 
 .mono 
 
 loo.nnn 
 
 ” D 0 °" r d ?l-f^™ 3 i“ d 1 W3 nn ” U . S . 
 
 200,000 
 
 GG,G00 
 
 2GG,G00 
 
 „ Maidstone Branch Act, G and 7 Viet, 
 c. 52—1843 . 
 
 
 
 110 inn 
 
 „ Bricklayers’ Arms Branch and Station 
 
 133,333 
 
 -1-1,-111 
 
 177 777 
 
 '' r BranchTct, 1 7'vict'rr.' IS-lSIllA? 
 
 -100,000 
 
 133,000 
 
 533,000 
 
 „ Folkstone Branch ami Harbour, 7 Viet. 
 
 c. GO—1844 . 
 
 200,000 
 
 GG,000 
 
 2GG,000 
 
 „ Tonbridge Veils Branch Act, S and 0 
 
 180,000 
 
 GO,000 
 
 910,000 
 
 „ Widening Greenwich Railway Act. S 
 and 9 Viet. c. 1SG—1815. 
 
 112,100 
 
 17 -Wifi 
 
 190,2GG 
 
 ” 5 vTct te 197-{s« B T d .\ Art .’. S ” dn 
 
 1S7,000 
 
 02,300 
 
 249,300 
 
 ' the Brighton, Lewes, and Hayings 
 Railway Company. Powers to exe¬ 
 cute transferred to South-Eastern ^ 
 
 
 
 
 „ TolSj^ 
 
 010,000 
 
 213^300 
 
 833,300 
 
 „ Rve and R^e’Harbour Branch Act, 
 
 9 Viet. c. 55-1S4G. 
 
 20,000 
 
 0,GOO 
 
 20,GOO 
 
 „ Ashford Station Enlargement Act, 
 
 500,000 
 
 200,000 
 
 7GG,000 
 
 ..The Greenwich Raiiwai’ Extension 
 Act to Woolwich and Gravesend, 
 9 and 10 Viet. c. 305—IS 1G. 
 
 1,000,000 
 
 333 000 
 
 1,333,000 
 
 enlargng London Station Act,' 10 and 
 
 150 000 
 
 50 000 
 
 200.000 
 
 „ Act for connecting the Greenwich* Line 
 with the^Bricklayers’ Anns Branch, 
 
 55,000 
 
 IS,300 
 
 73,300 
 
 Total. 
 
 G,020,033 
 
 
 8,907,013 
 
19 
 
 By these Acts the Company is empowered to convert the 
 greater part of the loans at maturity into capital, and thereby 
 finally to create a capital stock of 8,633,7431. 
 
 The capital has been created by 252,500 whole shares, 
 varying in value from 251. to 501., and amounting, if fully 
 paid up, to S,191,0001.; but if 95,000 shares, of 301. each, 
 were divided into thirds, the number of transferable shares 
 would amount to 442,5001. On these shares, 5,400,9001. has 
 been paid, and 2,545,5951. remains to be received. When 
 fully paid up, the Company will have received from them 
 7,946,4951., or 244,5041. less than the capital they represent, 
 a loss to that extent having been sustained on the shares first 
 issued, in consequence of the forfeitures which, when sold, 
 in many instances, did not realize the amounts due upon 
 them.* 
 
 The shares stand thus :— 
 
 pany, would be, on the average, 311. 9s. oil., or a sum equal 
 to 7,946,4951.1- 
 
 No nominal addition has been made to the capital of the 
 Company as compensation or bonus, or under any other 
 denomination ; but the holders of shares of less value than 
 501. receive equal dividends per share with the holders of 501. 
 shares, which arrangement appears to have been made under 
 the authority of 5 Viet. c. 3. s. 5.1 The elfcet of the various 
 issues has been, that a proprietor who holds all the shares to 
 which he has successively become entitled, holds the entirety 
 
20 
 
 at the average of 31/. 9s. 5cI. per share, and that will be the ; 
 actual cost of each share. 
 
 The borrowing transactions have amounted to 2,053,7717.; ’ 
 1,388,444/. has been obtained on mortgage; and GG5,333/. 
 on loan, notes, by sums varying from 500/. to 1,000/., and at 
 rates of interest varying from 3.1 to 5 per cent* There was ; 
 no special provision in the Acts of the Company to authorize 
 the issue of loan notes; but those which have been issued, : 
 are legalized by the 7 and 8 Viet. e. So, by which Act the 
 future issue of such securities has been entirely prohibited. 
 
 Loans to the amount of 555,G50/. have been paid off, and 
 converted into capital by the issue of shares, and the re¬ 
 mainder is to be paid off between July' 1847 and January , 
 1853, as the periods cf the several securities expire by calls j 
 on the shares not paid up. These securities amount to i 
 1,537,727/., being 1,007,8GSZ. less than the amount remain- ; 
 ing unpaid on the shares created; and as a power remains 
 under the present Acts to issue additional shares to the 1 
 amount of 647,743/., it appears that 1,G55,G11/. is at . 
 present available to the South-Eastern Railway Company, 
 and will, the Directors state, be actually required for the 
 works in progress.! 
 
 The following bills have been read a third time in the 
 House of Lords, and may be proceeded with in the Session 
 of 1848 as privileged bills, and passed without opposition :— 
 
 1st. A bill for the North Kent line; that is, to enable 
 the South-Eastern Railway Company to make a railway 
 from the South-Eastern, Gravesend and Rochester Railway 
 at Strood, to join the South-Eastern, Canterbury, Ramsgate, 
 and Margate Railway, at Chiiham, in the county of Kent, . 
 with branches to Sheerness and Faversham Creek, and to ! 
 raise 724,500/. by shares, and 241,500/. by loan. | 
 
 2nd. A bill for the Mid Kent and Direct Tonbridge ] 
 line; that is, to enable the South-Eastern Railway Company 
 to make a railway- from the North Kent line of the South ) 
 Eastern Railway at Lewisham to Tonbridge, with branches 1 
 to Dartford, Maidstone, and Paddock Wood, and to raise ! 
 1,1.30,000/. by capital, and 376,000/. by loan. ! 
 
 3rd. A bill for the Maidstone and Chart line ; that is, to > 
 enable the South-Eastern Railway Company to make a rail- j 
 
 * Report of I 
 
 ers of Railways, 1G-1. t Ibid. 
 
The South-Eastern Revenue Receipts and Expenditure for 
 ten months, ending the 31 st January 1845 :— 
 
 Receipts from passengers, 167,701/.; from cattle ami 
 
 goods, 23,0001. ° Total*.£190,700 
 
 Working expensesf. 79,80G 
 
 Taxes, C G™301°.t Duty, 8,97H.§' ' ' Total”!'.’. 15,201 
 
 Interest on Roans|| . 83,433 
 
 Toll payable to Croydon Company 16,9441. ) 19 I04 
 
 Ditto Greenwich, do. 2,180/.$"” 
 
 Expenditure exceeds receipts by 
 
 15,677 
 
 £206,378 
 
 From this year the London and Greenwich and the Can¬ 
 terbury and iVhitstable receipts are thrown together, and the 
 detailed Revenue Receipts appear hereafter at page 28. The 
 Gravesend and Rochester arc also added, after August 1S46, 
 see page 31. 
 
 The prices at which the Shares have sold 
 
 1839, Jan. 91. paid, 
 July, 12/. „ 
 
 1840, Jan. 15 1 . „ 
 
 July, 23/. „ 
 
 1841, Jan. 281. ., 
 
 Juiv, 33/. ', 
 
 1842, Jan. 43/. „ 
 
 July, 50/. „ 
 
 1S43, Jan. 50/. „ 
 
 July, 50/. „ 
 
 1844, Jan. .501. .. 
 
 July, 331,1. „ 
 
 1845, Jan. 33 it. „ 
 
 July, 331,1. „ 
 
 1846, Jan. 33-11.,, 
 
 July, 33'J1 „ 
 
 1847, Jan. 331/. „ 
 
 April 331. 9.,. 5,/., 
 July, 331. 9s. 5-1. 
 Oct. 331. 9«. 5,1 
 
 * Return made to Select Committee on Railway Acts Enactments, and 
 lished in Appendix, to Report and Evidence, -19(1. 
 
 + Ibid.495. | Ibid. 497. $ Ibid. 5SD. II Ibid. 491. Ti See Accor 
 
24 
 
 The 56,000 shares, on which 33/. 6s. Sr/, had been paid, 
 sold in July 1S4.5, for 4SI., and in October 1S47 at 
 23 1. each. The depreciation, therefore, is 25 1. a 
 
 share, or.£1,400,000 
 
 The 28,000 shares issued as 32Z. shares, have depre¬ 
 ciated since -Julv 1845. from 19/. with SZ. paid, to 
 14/. with 20/. paid. The difference is 17/. a sl.are, or 476,000 
 The 42,000 shares issued as 331. 6s. S>K shares have 
 depreciated from 17/. with 7/. paid in July 1S4.5, to 
 10/. with 17/. paid. The difference is 17/. a share, or 714,000 
 
 The 31,500 shares issued as 30/. shares, have depre¬ 
 ciated from 9.hi. with 2.1/. paid, to 17/. with 15/. 
 
 paid. The difference is 15/. a share, or .. 472,510 
 
 The 285,000 shares have depreciated from 9il. with 
 -hi. paid to 3-}/. to 6}/. paid. The difference is 10/. 
 
 a share, or . 2,850,000 
 
 The total depreciation amounts, in two years (leaving -- 
 
 out the additional payments) to .. £5,912,510 
 
 Shares, on which 3,025,250/. had been paid in 1845, sold 
 at 6,894,500/. The same shaves, with 5,311,750/. paid, are 
 selling in 1847 at 3,246,753/. 
 
 If 3,205,250/. sold at 6,894,500/., 5,311,750/. should sell 
 at 11,323,500/., instead of which the value is 3,246,750/. 
 The depreciation, therefore, if the additional payments are 
 included, amounts to 8,076,752/. These are the deprecia¬ 
 tions which have taken place in the last two years; and, in 
 considering these depreciations, we should not lose sight of 
 the extraordinary way in which the capital was raised pre¬ 
 viously to 1845. The following were the discounts at which 
 the capital has been raised, and, if considered, must at once 
 open the eyes of the wise to the real position of the 
 Company. 
 
 28,000 shares 
 28,000 ., 
 
 28,00u „ 
 
 42,000 ., 
 
 31,000 ;, 
 
 £7,875,000 £2,768.464 
 
 .2,708,404 
 
 , 50/. each, 1,400,000/. less disccunts£234,464 
 50/. „ 1,400,000/. ., do. 700,000 
 
 50/. „ 1,400,000/. „ do. 504,000 
 
 50/. „ 2.100,000/. ., do. 700,000 
 
 50/. ,, 1,575,000/. ., do. 630,000 
 
 Less discounts 
 
fifths of the proprietors present at a general meeting, might think fit. 
 The result was that the Company issued 2S,000 new shares of 2 51 . 
 each, entitled to the same , dividends as the original shares of 50/.; 
 one such 25/. share being allotted to each holder of a 50/. share. 
 There appears to bo no injustice in this arrangement, inasmuch as 
 any additional advantage conferred on the 25/. share was at the 
 expense of the 50/. share, which was the property of the same 
 person. A similar system was pursued under subsequent Acts, bv 
 the creation, at different times, of new shares of 32/., 33/. 6s Sr/, and 
 30/., with similar privileges. The interests of the public appear to 
 have been not materially affected by these transactions, provided 
 that in any future calculation of profits, with a view cither to a 
 revision of fares, or to the sale of the Railway, under the provisions 
 of 7 & S Vic. c. S5, the different shares are reckoned at the amounts 
 at which they arc respectively issued, and not as 50/. shares, as they 
 have sometimes been erroneously termed in Share Lists.” 
 
 The effect of the various issues has been, that a proprietor 
 who has held all the shares to which he successively became 
 entitled (if there be such a person), now holds the entirety 
 at an average price of 31/. 9s. 5 d. per share ; and that is the 
 actual cost of each share, and will be the basis on which the 
 calculation for the purposes of revision, after 10/. per cent 
 per annum shall have been paid, will be founded. The 
 object of the Liverpool gentlemen (who are extremely learned 
 in Railway matters), in purchasing up these shares, must have 
 been the hope of adding the fictitious depreciation on the 
 second and subseauent issues. 
 
The Canterbury and Whitstable Railway. 
 
 This line requires but little notice, having been constructed 
 as a mineral line, or, more properly, for the purpose of sup¬ 
 plying Canterbury with coal. It is six miles in length, and 
 was completed in 1830, at an expense of 95,000/. The 
 receipts have averaged about 3300/. a year.® The line is 
 leased from January 1844 for fourteen years, at 1200/. for the 
 first year, 1400/. for the second year, 1600/. for the third year, ■ 
 1900/. for the fourth year, 2200/. for the fifth year, 2500/. for 
 the sixth year, 2800/. for the seventh year, and 3000/. for the 
 remaining seven years. The South-Eastern Company have 
 the option of purchasing the line at the end of the term, at 
 105,000/. The shares were never quoted. 
 
 London and Greenwich Railway. 
 
 The bill sanctioning this Railway was passed in May 1S33, 
 and the whole line was opened in Dec. 1836. The length is 
 3f miles, and the cost per mile has reached 266,322/., and 
 the total sum expended, including the interest paid on bonds 
 and preferential shares, amounts to 1,019,600/.* Of this sum, 
 760,000/. has been raised by shares, and 259,600/. by loan. 
 The line, as regards investment, has been a complete failure, 
 as the prices of the shares will show. The rent now paid by 
 the South-Eastern Company is at the rate of about 31 per 
 cent, on the outlay, being 36,000/. for the first year, and an 
 increase of 1,000/. per annum, until it reaches 45,000/., at 
 which sum it continues to the end of the term. The rent is 
 to be applied, 1st,—To the payment of the interest on the 
 debt, which requires 11,650/.; 2ndly,—To the payment of 
 the dividends, at the rate of 5 per cent, on the preferential 
 shares, which will require 11,136/.; and the balance remains 
 applicable to the dividends of the original shares, being at the 
 rate of 1/. 10s. per cent, per annum. 
 
 * Apppendix to the Report of the Select Committee on Railways (printed in 
 1844), p. 4. t Ibid. p. 14. 
 
27 
 
 At the last half-yearly meeting previous to the lease taking 
 
 effect, the revenue receipts amounted to £27,661 
 
 The working expenses to... £15,651 
 
 The interest on loans and preferential shares to... 11,793 
 
 - 27,390 
 
 Leaving for dividend. £271 
 
 The following arc the prices at, which the Shares have sold: 
 
 1839, Jan. 20?. paid, ] 
 
 1840, .Tan'.’20?. ” 
 
 July, 20?. ., 
 
 1841, Jan. 207. „ 
 
 July, 207. „ 
 
 1S42, Jan. 207. „ 
 
 July, 12J7. „ 
 
 1843, July, 12iJ7. „ 
 
 1844, July, 12;/;/. ., 
 
 1845, July, 127?. ., 
 
 1S46, Julv, 12J7. „ 
 
 1847, July, 12J7. „ 
 
 The shares have reached in pri 
 fallen to 37. 17s. 6(7. 
 
 177. or 37. discount. 
 
 137. „ 77. 
 97. „ 117. 
 S7. „ 127. 
 
 77. „ 137. 
 67. „ 63?. 
 4;J7.„ 87. 
 
 Ul. „ 1«7. 
 
 107. „ 2J7. 
 
 S7. „ 4j7. 
 
 277. 10s. each, and have 
 
 The Gravesend and Rochester Railway. 
 
 Tuis line was formerly a canal, and the total outlay has been 
 382,9377., the stun given for it by the South-Eastern Com¬ 
 pany amounted to 310,0007. 
 
 The line commences at Milton near Gravesend, and ter¬ 
 minates near Rochester, is seven miles in length, and was 
 opened throughout in February 1845, having been con¬ 
 structed by the Canal Company. The expense of working 
 has always exceeded the receipts. 
 
 The Reading, Guilford, and Reigate Railway. 
 The Railway bearing this name is to be forty-six miles; to 
 commence at Reading, and pass through Guilford to Rei¬ 
 gate. The capital authorized amounts to 800,0007., and the 
 loan to 266,6667., being a total of 1,066,6607.: 157,7667. has 
 been paid up, and 39,1217. expended. 
 
28 
 
 The revenue receipts and expenditure of the South-Eastern 
 Company, for the half-year ending 31st July 1845 :— 
 
 Total revenue receipts, including rent and fees . . £160,402 
 
 Working expenses, and maintenance of way . £53,561 
 Kates and Taxes, 5,994/. Duty, 3,904/. . . 9,898 
 
 Kent duty, and Taxes of Greenwich Line, 
 
 18,512/.—3,300/.—5,170/. .... 26,982 
 
 Toll to Croydon Company .... 7,339 
 
 Kent for Canterbury and Wliitstable Line . . 1,150 
 
 Balance . . £20,255 
 
 About sufficient to pay los. per cent., or at the rate of 30.?. 
 per cent, per annum : and, notwithstanding the smallness of 
 that sum, the following items were added to the capital during 
 the half-year:— 
 
 Parliamentary expenses.£41147 
 
 Engineering ......... 2,797 
 
 Surveying and Valuation ....... 12,681 
 
 Land and Compensation. 94,47-1 
 
 Works. 128,304 
 
 Kail, Sleepers, &c. 39,990 
 
 Ballast, and maintenance of way.1,084 
 
 Architectural superintendence.1,638 
 
 Direction .349 
 
 Secretary's salary, office, and incidental expenses . . 1,678 
 
 Stamps on loans ........ 50 
 
 Solicitor for genera! business.157 
 
 Pavillion hotel.4,058 
 
 Bricklayers* Arms Branch ...... 102,877 
 
 Joint Station, London Bridge.2,578 
 
 Joint Locomotive Stock ....... 55,016 
 
 Interest account. 37,286 
 
 Surveys 998 
 
 Engines, Carriages, and Waggons . . . .11,170 
 
 Electric Telegraph J.2,725 
 
 Engines, Stores, See. for Greenwich Kaihvay . . . 23,058 
 
 Total addition to capital in the half-year . . £566,669 
 
 Total expenditure up to previous half-year . 3,739,809 
 
 There can be little doubt but that there is a large addition 
 to the above capital which should have been charged against 
 the revenue ; and had it been so charged^ there would have 
 been no sum left for dividends. 
 
29 
 
 Revenue Receipts and Expenditure, and tlie Expenditure on 
 the capital account, during the six months ending 31st 
 January 1846:— 
 
 Total revenue receipts on main line, branches, rent, and 
 
 tolls ...£174,490 
 
 Maintenance of way and working expenses_ £.54,058 
 
 Rent to Greenwich company and compensation.. 18,512 
 
 Rates and taxes, 7,G82Z Duty, 6,631/. 14,313 
 
 Toll to Croydon Company.... 9,997 
 
 Interest on loans . 43,450 
 
 Balance to pay dividend on 3,300,000/. £34,170 
 
 Sufficient to pay 1] per cent., or at the rate of 21 per cent, 
 per annum: the followin'! additions were, however, made to 
 the capital, even to make this dividend :— 
 
 Expended on main line. 
 
 „ on Maidstone branch .., 
 
 „ Canterbury ditto. 
 
 „ Tonbridge Wells ditto, 
 
 „ Minster and Deal ditto 
 
 „ Bricklayers’ Arms ditt 
 
 „ Greenwich branch .. 
 
 „ Whitstable ditto .... 
 
 „ Tulkstonc Harbour .. 
 
 „ Parliamentary expense: 
 
 „ Electric Telegraph .. 
 
 ” Joint station’ ...!?, 
 
 Office and incidental e: 
 
 £12,417 
 
 31,356 
 
 157,286 
 
 369 
 
 13,775 
 
 2.043 
 
 18,825 
 
 601 
 
 3,578 
 
 126 
 
 17.S20 
 
 500 
 
 1,496 
 
 Expended-in half year .£456,324 
 
 Expenditure to 3ist July 1845 .... 4,286,924 
 
 £4,741,248 
 
 Balance in hand .. 3S0,71G 
 
 N.B —All the above sums are taken from the Company’s Ac¬ 
 counts, and can be tested by reference. 
 
Revenue Receipts and Expenditure, and the Additions to 
 Capital Account during the half-year ending the 31st July 
 1846. 
 
 Total revenue receipts, including branches, rent, ami tolls £193,058 
 Working expenses, and maintenance of way .. . . .£62,726 
 
 Rent for Greenwich and Wliitstablc lines . 19,912 
 
 Toll to Croydon Company . 8,222 
 
 Rates and Taxes, 9,4121. Duty, 6,3331. 15,745 
 
 Half-year’s interest on loans being 1,193,2001. \ q „, 
 
 on main line, and 406.0771. on branches.... j ’ 
 
 - 146,586 
 
 Notwithstanding the small sum left for dividend, the 
 accounts are made up in a manner that it is impossible to test 
 their correctness ; the form being wholly different from any 
 before adopted. The addition to the capital, however, during 
 the half-year, is 519,567/.: and the following arc the items 
 
 Slain line and Bricklayers’ Anns Extension.£3,300,433 
 
 Joint station . 101,651 
 
 Folkstone harbour .. 142,850 
 
 Locomotive department. 433,852 
 
 Maidstone brancli . 183,927 
 
 Canterbury and Wbitstable branch . 514,676 
 
 Ashford station and Hastings brand. 59,702 
 
 Minster and Deal branch .. 60,819 
 
 North Kent projected lines . 206,560 
 
 Greenwich brancli . 45,124 
 
 Tonbridge Wells and Hastings . 211,216 
 
 £5,260,815 
 
 N.B.—All the above sums are taken from the Company’s Ac¬ 
 counts, and can be tested by reference. 
 
31 
 
 Revenue Receipts and Expenditure, and the additions to 
 Capital account during the half-year ending the 31st 
 January 1847 :— 
 
 Total Revenue receipts, including rent and tolls. £236,404 
 
 Working expenses, and maintenance of way . .£61,197 
 Rent to Greenwich and Whitstaljle branches .. 19,879 
 
 Tull for use of old Croydon line . 13,021 
 
 Kates and Taxes, 9,6077. Duty, 8,4187. 1S,025 
 
 Half-year’s interest on Loan-. 38.898 
 
 - 150,999 
 
 £85,405 
 
 The following additions were made to the Capital during 
 the half-year, amounting to 627,5957.:— 
 
 Parliamentary expenses... 
 
 Surveys and valuations. 
 
 Land and compensation . 
 
 Works . 
 
 Rails... 
 
 Ironwork, chairs, Tvc ... 
 
 Maintenance of way. 
 
 Advertisements. 
 
 Cuke. 
 
 Favillion hotel .. 
 
 Stations. 
 
 General disbursements, and incidental expenses .... 
 
 Electric Telegraph. 
 
 Gravesend and Rochester Railway and Canal purelia 
 
 Polkstone harbour .. 
 
 Dover works. 
 
 Whitstablc Railway. 
 
 £627,595 
 
 Expenditure to 31st July, 1846. 5,260,815 
 
 £5,SSS,410 
 
 N.B.—All the above sums are taken from the Company's Ac¬ 
 counts, and can be tested by reference. 
 
 C29,630 
 
 13,110 
 
 7,982 
 
 106,817 
 
 107,861 
 
 794 
 
 3,933 
 
 7,261 
 
 399 
 
 157 
 
 2,417 
 
 25,113 
 
 16,983 
 
 6.09S 
 
 2,767 
 
 279,000 
 
 155 
 
 11,142 
 
 6,967 
 
Revenue Receipts and Expenditure, and the additions to the 
 Capital account during the half-year ending 31st July 
 1847:— 
 
 Total revenue receipts .£217,S74 
 
 Working expenses, maintenance of nay, rent, toll, and 
 
 Interest on loans . 3S,S9S 
 
 148,677 
 
 £(19,197 
 
 The following additions were added to the Capital, amount¬ 
 ing to 509,S0GZ. 
 
 Parliamentary expenses ... £73,628 
 
 Engineering . 14,931 
 
 Surveys... 397 
 
 Land_-. 111,671 
 
 Works . 174,182 
 
 Ecnoino. 185 
 
 Rails . 13,321 
 
 Advertisements. 2,820 
 
 Coke... —-1,04 S 
 
 Locomotives . 29,727 
 
 Stations..... 17,346 
 
 General disbursements, including ollice expenses. 3,685 
 
 Electric telegraph. 4,336 
 
 Harbour works. 9,021 
 
 Dover works... 4,382 
 
 Goods department . 2,049 
 
 Interest. 3S,9S1 
 
 Expenditure in the half-year ending July 31, 1S47.... 509,SOG 
 
 Expenditure to January 31, 1S47 . 5,888,410 
 
 £6,398,216 
 
 J7.B.—All the above sums are taken from the Company’s Ac¬ 
 counts, and can be tested by reference. 
 
■which 327. have to be paid have already had 167. paid up on them, 
 and there is a call made upon them payable on the 3rd of August, 
 of 47. more. 
 
 2591. Is the proprietor of that share paid a dividend equal to 507., 
 and is he charged interest for the amount not paid up, or how do you 
 settle it ? Having paid up only ] 67., how will he stand with refe¬ 
 rence to the dividend, compared with a man who has paid up 507. ? 
 He having paid 167. has paid only half the 327. share, which, when 
 all paid up, will put his share on a level with the preceding shares, 
 and he will, therefore, receive a half dividend, which is the pro¬ 
 portion which 167. hears to the whole amount that can be called for, 
 viz., 327. 
 
 2592. Is there the same rule with respect to the others ?—Yes, 
 the money that remains to be called up upon the shares upon which 
 327. is to be paid, and upon which 337. 6s. S d. is to be paid, is ap¬ 
 propriated to pay off the loan notes and mortgages, which constitute 
 the debt of the Company. 
 
 2593. (Chairman.; So that a portion of the capital raised lias 
 been for the purpose, not of constructing new works, but of paying 
 the debts ?—Of paying for works which have been constructed. 
 
 2594. (Hr. Hume.) As to the remaining throe issues of shares 
 of 307. each, how much has been paid up?—Those shares were issued 
 under certain resolutions at a meeting of the proprietors under the 
 
41 
 
 cost will be till the whole is completed. This Tonbridge Wells 
 branch will exceed in expense the average of the main line? It is a 
 most difficult work. The Minster and Deal branch is on a dead level 
 all the way. The only great expense upon it will be an iron swing 
 bridge across the river Stour. Then we have a beautiful line from 
 Ashford to Canterbury: there are some parts of it very cheap,—some 
 very dear. We had to alter the course of the river Stour; wc had 
 to cross it about a dozen times. The Maidstone branch is not very 
 
 2627. Has the traffic upon the branches answered the expecta¬ 
 tions, and the previous estimates ?—The traffic, as far as regards the 
 number of passengers that go over them, has been highly satis¬ 
 factory ; but the receipts, at our low fares, have been small. 
 
 262S. (Mr. Hume.) Do you keep an account of the proceeds from 
 goods and fares of each of those branches, separately from the main 
 line, and shall you ho able to show bow far they are profitable or 
 losing ?—It would be impossible to do that. Our Railway is very 
 peculiar in its construction. To reach Maidstone we go twenty 
 miles round, over three sides of a parallelogram. To reach Canter¬ 
 bury, three sides of a second parallelogram. It is twenty miles 
 further than the common road. Our fares are pitched upon the 
 principle of reducing them as nearly as we can in proportion to a 
 straight line fare. 
 
 2629. (Chairman.) Upon what principle have you been governed 
 in regulating your charge according to the distances upon those lines? 
 We have approximated as nearly as we could to the principle of 
 charging the geographical distance; but I look upon the whole 
 system of our management at present as an experiment: it is a great 
 experiment. 
 
 2630. Will you state what harbours you have purchased or 
 invested capital in ?—We purchased, under the sanction of Parlia¬ 
 ment, Folkstone harbour. 
 
 2631. (Mr. Hume.) In bolding that harbour, are you concerned 
 in the steamers that go from there to France ?—As an individual, I 
 am concerned in them. The South-Eastern Railway Company has 
 no interest in them whatever; but there is a good deal of identity 
 in the shareholders, and the direction is the same. 
 
 2632. (Mr. S. Herbert.) Of whom did you buy the harbour ?— 
 Of the Government; the Exchequer Bill commissioners. 
 
 2633. (Chairman.) What was the cost of it ?—I forget the exact 
 figures. 
 
 2634. In what way is the Company remunerated for their outlay 
 upon the harbour ?—There is a tonnage-rate charged upon vessels 
 coming there, and so on. 
 
 2635. Has it been to the Company a losing concern ?—As regards 
 the return upon that specific expenditure, doubtless it lias been, but 
 
42 
 
 t is a great port now for communication with the continent • 
 40,000 people passed at Folkestone, to and from Boulogne, within 
 twelve months. 
 
 2636. What other harbours have you ?—We are lessees of the 
 Canterbury and Whitstable line, to which is attached the harbour 
 of Whitstable. 
 
 2637. Who had the right of letting to you the harbour of Whit¬ 
 stable?— The harbour of Whitstable was the property of the 
 Canterbury and Whitstable Company. 
 
 2638. Did the Act vest any right over the port in the Canterbury 
 and Whitstable Company ?—I have no doubt it did ; my remem¬ 
 brance is this, that some individuals had commenced making a 
 harbour at Whitstable, and had failed to complete it, and that the 
 Canterbury and Whitstable Railway Company took it up, and made 
 it better than it was, and we have made it still better. 
 
 2639. Have you anything to do with Rye harbour?—Wo have 
 had the pleasure of paying 10,000?. to the Lords Commissioners of 
 the Admiralty, to enable them to improve it. We have not touched 
 it with our Railway yet. 
 
 2640. Is it expected that Rye harbour will be of any con¬ 
 siderable advantage to the company ?—It will be of some advantage; 
 through it passengers and commerce will reach the Railway, and 
 there may be some traffic from Rye to the continent. 
 
 2641. (Mr. S. Herbert.) To what port?—St. Valerie-sur- 
 Somme. 
 
 2642. (Chairman.) Have you amalgamated with any lines before 
 this year?—I think not. 
 
 2643. Have you leased any other lines ?—We have leased the 
 Greenwich Railway, and the Canterbury and Whitstable, no other. 
 
 2644. Have you subscribed to other lines as a company?—Not to 
 my knowledge; I believe not. We have an engagement with regard to 
 a Railway which has received the sanction of Parliament this session, 
 which we have engaged to support. We have engaged to lease the 
 Railway to be constructed from Reading to Reigate, at 4J- per cent, 
 per annum, after it is completed. 
 
 2645. Have that company got their Act?—I think they arc only 
 waiting for the Royal Assent. 
 
 2646. Supposing them to obtain their Act, you are under an 
 engagement to lease it, guaranteeing them 4J per cent. ?—Yes ; 
 giving them half the profit beyond the 4| per cent, in addition. 
 
 2647. You have done that for the purpose of getting the traffic 
 from Cheltenham and Gloucester, and all that district towards 
 Dover, without its going through London ?—Yes. 
 
 2648. You have made, from time to time, different reductions in 
 your fares and charges; will you state the periods, and what the 
 reductions were ?—There has only been one reduction made since I