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themselves ^. ' ^¦ ¦ a^nrtnm 13.1858/1 T...
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RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE. The movement which...
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A flax put forward by Mr, Thomas Wngley,...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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General Trade Report. London, Friday Eve...
^ ns had its business r ather seriously interrupted ^ tKyal visit ; but things have now fallen into their nSurafcourse , and all is activity again . On Saturday , a f 3 l average business was done ; on Tuesday the ave-, a | 7 was considerably exceeded ; and yesterday proved oni of the best markets of the whole year . Buyers were numerous , and they purchased largely ; all their operations being conducted with extraordinary ^ confidence . All departments participated in the activity . New styles in fancy goods are in request ; also the better kinds of trouserings . . Cloths for over-coats have been extensively ordered , and double-backed shepherds and woollen cords are in great demand .
Halifax is distinguished for a corresponding degree of improvement ; Piece goods are in steady demand , and the inquiry for the heavier descriptions is progressing each market-day . Prices are exceedingly firm , and they have advanced rather more than in proportion to the rise in wools and yarns . Wools and yarns , too , re ^ - mairi firm , and spinners insist upon higher rates . The carpet trade is very good . At Bradford there is equal activity , and a little tendency to a further improvement in business , which is all in favour of manufacturers . All the factories are fully occupied , and the demand is large enough to prevent accumulations of stock . Bright-haired wools retain the high prices of last week , with no prospect whatever of reaction . The raw material , indeed , is now nearly as
high in price as it was just before the recent commercial panic . This circumstance causes the existing terms to be regarded with some degree of distrust ; but , so far as we can ascertain , the price is the natural consequence of the relation between supply and demand . We see no reliable indications of a renewal of those extensive speculative operations by which it was contemplated to place the stocks of the raw material at the disposal of a few capitalists , to sell at their own terms to the rest of the trade . Those operations resulted in disaster , the recollections of which are still very lively in this district . The worsted trade is perfectly sound , and we do not participate in the apprehensions of any serious reaction . Xight fancy goods are bought extensively , and lastings , serge de berries , serges , and some other descriptions , are in good active demand . Employment is general * and the working classes are well off . ' . ¦
At Rochdale the wool market has been quiet , several manufacturers holding back from purchasing , under an impression that its value will fall . The staplers , oh the contrary , say the present condition of the Bradford trade will prevent a decline , and we agree with them . The production of flannel is generally active ; and it might be increased if lower terms would be accepted . In the blue trade a slight advance has been conceded . In the white flannel branch it has been greater and more readily obtained . The demand for unions is large , and Bonie difficulty is experienced «« Keeping pace with it . Macclesfieldeek
The silk trade in , L , Coventry , Manchester , Biiddleton , Spitalfields , and elsewhere , is generally active . All the great dye works , which produce t > c Dest colours , are in full operation . A good deal of the demand is caused by foreign orders ; but the home trade is brisk for winter goods . At Coventry there is a dispute between the masters and the riband weavers . The hosiery trade , both at Leicester and Nottingham , continues moderately active , considering the high price of wool , but the manufacturers are , upon the whole , almost fully employed . Fancy hosiery , now that the season is nearly over , is less inquired for . Shipping orders are a little upon the increase for Australia . . Tho lace trade retains the activity which has been already described , especially in plain nets , the demand for which enlarges every week , although higher terms . arc required . Yarns are dearer . Several spinners have issued lists at an advance .
The Glasgow cotton market is lively ; while goods and yarns are freely moving off at higher prices ' , especially for yarns . The iron trade is not so good . Prices have declined about O . d . por ton , through tho continued absence of foreign orders of any importance , and the weakness of certain parties against whom numerous prompts have matured during tho week . The , linen trade of Dundee is decidedly firmer this week than last . Holders , though they possess large stocks of some descriptions of cloth , refuse sale ? unless at higher prices than have been previously attuinablo . This disposition Is caused by the lato advance in tho price of flax , and to the cortainty that , owing to tho failure of crops abroad , there can bo no considerable renotion In the value of tho raw matorial .
Tho Irish linen trado is in much tho snmo state as last week . Stocks aro low , and tho manufacturers are as yot unable to overtake the demand . Prices , howovor , have not changed ; but they aro firm both for broad and power-loom linens , * and nil tho several variotios of thorn . , » Jl ! J }^ fcftff »^ Bl ] tlse ^ supplying a largo homo demand of all sorts of ware ; and , simultaneously , thoro Is an improvement in the demand from tho United Statoa and Australia . Tho iron districts of Staffordshire mo much more notlvo than they have bepn , and it ia now olenr that the turning point has been passed from tUo lato extended pertoa of depression , Purchasers of goods for Amorion Hftvo offorod contracts at present pricos for delivery in
the spring ; but the makers have felt strong enough to decline the terms . This fact is a clear proof that confidence is felt in the prospects of the future and in the remunerative , character of the trade for the next six months . A large business is being done for the East Indies-r-numerous orders are in from Australia and some from Africa . The South American trade is also improving . This description applies also to Birmingham and Sheffield . ' Kidderminster is suffering from the unexpected failure of Messrs . Pardoe , Hooman , and Co ., in the carpet trade—an event perfectly unforeseen , and which has caused great depression— -only temporarily we hope .
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^ . ' ^¦ ¦ a ^ nrtnm 13 . 1858 / 1 T H E X E A P E R . 979 ^ a ** « ,,, T , ™ , mR 13 . 1858 / 1 THE XEAPEB . 979
Railway Intelligence. The Movement Which...
RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE . The movement which ha 3 taken place on the part of railway directors with the view to put an end to the obvious causes which have destroyed public confidence in railway property and which have perilled the public interest in these lines of intercommunication , apart from the ruin inflicted on shareholders , has not yet had any perceptible effect on the price of shares in the Stock Exchange . We do not , however , attach much importance to this circumstance . The Stock Exchange gentry have the matter pretty much in their own hands , and by their peculiar system of business they can play at battledore and shuttlecock , ad libitum , with the prices of shares sr » as to suit their own interest , and of course
against the interest of the bond fide seller and borui fide investor . There has been some inconsiderable fluctuations in the prices of the shares of the leading lines during the week , but nothing worth any special remark . Of course , public attention , as far as railways are concerned , is concentrated on the proceedings and progress of the " Railway Congress . " The members have had general meetings , but they do not appear to have yet accomplished a settlement of the various important questions at issue , or to have done more than to approximate to certain conditions , which are to form the bases of general systematical cooperation . It appears that the first of the meetings -was attended by the representatives of only eight companies ; the last—last week—by eighteen ,
and written approvals from nine more . The meetings , as far as they have gone , have resulted in . this , that as far as regards the 1 st and 2 nd resolutions ( we published them in full in our last number ) , the companies who give in their adhesion bind themselves to resort to . arbitration in case of dispute as to rates and fares to be charged for traffic in which they are jointly interested . Twenty-three companies have agreed to this important resolution . The third resolution , relative to equal fares , was unopposed . The fourth resolution —• very important if honestly carried out—as it consents to have the voluntary agreements made binding by law , was also adopted without dissent . So far , then , the railway congress has done well , but it has only cleared away a untouched
small portion of the difficulties , leaving some of the worst evils of the existing system- If railway property is to be placed on a secure basis , if public confidence in it as a permanent and safe investment is to be re-established , a great deal more must be done than tho whole of what the railway congress purposes to do . The root of the existing mischief is twofold . First , with reference to Parliamentary routine and legislation , this includes all tho expensive farce of standing orders , committees , & c . ; and next the directorial boards . A large and increasing number of persons are beginning to doubt the value and necessity of boards of directors at all . They see that , next to Parliament , the main source of jobbing , competition , and lavish expenditure , is . to be found in these boards of directors . Thore is a good deal of truth in this , but it is not all truth . Those who desire
to do away with boards of directors , and to have only paid managers at high stiponds and under heavy responsibilities , do not also desire to vest tho oxolusivo control of * all' the arrangements in one pair of hands . They wish to have a committee of shareholders to advise and suggest , and , if necessary , to control . But what is this practically but a board of directors under another name ? It is notorious , howovor , that boards of directors arc shams , as fur as concerns conjoint , powers and action . Thoso who personally know tho working of tho syfltom know that among directors , howovor numerous tho board , ono or two carry tho sway ; that tho romnindor aro moro machines to record the dooislona of othors , " guinoa-pigs , " as thoy aro fncotiously tormod , in roferenoo to tUo ordinary scale of payment for attendance . Wo cannot holp smiling at tho want of information
"TlIWJTlayo ^ r'ififoiie ' rhny oyino press on tno suujoct or tho existing railway difficulties . Wo find respectable journals treating tho question as if it wore a novelty , as if it had suddunJv boon dragged to light after having boon lilddon carefully from public gnKO . Why , all that has occurred has boon foreshadowed without intermission by tho journals devoted to tula particular iutqrost . Turn to the railway papers ton yoars ago , turn ospeulally to the liaihoau Gasattv , nncl thoro will bo found , every
circumstance portrayed that now excites editorial wonder , and every result predicted that has since com * to pass . In the columns of that railway organ unvarnished denunciations of bribery in Lords and Commons will be found—names in many instances being given—endless exposures of jobbery among directors , contractors , and engineers , dishonest compacts between lawyers and promoters of sham and bond J ide schemes—in short , everything laid bare , . with the inevitable result to shareholders and to the railways themselves clearly defined . But these warnings and exposures were wholly without effect . Take up Herapatlt any week for the last half-dozen years , and in its columns will be found the very suggestions now brought forward as the proper remedies for perpetrated mischief , which , had they been attended to at the time , would have saved thousands of families from pecuniary loss , and have spared the Railway Congress , and Parlia ment the necessitv for interference at all . ^
A Flax Put Forward By Mr, Thomas Wngley,...
A flax put forward by Mr , Thomas Wngley , of Bury , Lancashire , for the government and working of railways so as to render it impossible for the capital account to be tampered with , has deservedly attracted favourable notice . He would hare in each case two sets of officers , one of whom should hold the property of the line as trustees while the others should work it as tenants . It would be vain , however , to hope for any recognition of the advantages of the scheme from boards of directors , although they might easily carry it out by a simple division of their functions . Shareholders must act if they wish anything done , and there is little encouragement to believe that anything will overcome their apathy . The prospect , nevertheless , is that a general adoption of the proposal would , at once lead to an improvement in the market value of every description of railwav ¦ security .
The Oxford , Worcester , ajtd WoI / perhamptox Railway . — On Monday Mr . A . C . Sherriff , the general manager ; Mr . Wilson , engineer ; and Mr . Hurry , another officer of the line , were engaged from an early hour in . the morning in experimenting between Round Oak and Brettel-lane stations , with a view to ascertain the difficulties that a guard would experie rice in stopping 1 a train of seventeen carriages and a van , in the event of their breaking 1 away from others at the former station , and running down the incline towards Brettel- lane . Mb . DEjrisojf , M . P ., amd Mr . Maxevs . —At the last meeting of the Great Northern , Railway Company , Mr . Josiah Wilson mentioned a report that on a certain occasion Mr . Edmund Denison , Mi P ., threatened "to Jock Mr ; MaJins out of the board-room . " Mr . Malins has now forwarded a correspondence to show that sucb : was not the case . This correspondence includes a letter
from Mr . Wilson stating that the allegation reached him merely in a conversation among a little knot of shareholders , and also one from Mr . Denison , affirming that nothing of the kind took place . Mr . Denison " perfectly remembers" there was a difference of opinion , and that a v " animated" discussion was the consequence , but adds , that he " never dreamt for one moment of treating Mr . Malins otherwise than ae a gentleman entitled to the usual courtesies of good society . " Mr . Denison doe 3 not enter into any detail as to hia ideas of the extent to which an " animated" discussion may be carried in conformity -with , tho <• usual courtesies , " & c . Judging from his style at public meetings of the shareholders , a mild oath may at least be included , together with an intimation tc any ono who may calmly presume to dissent from his views , that he ( Mr . Denison ) " was not afraid of bia bluster . "
Captain Hdish . —It is stated on good authority that Captain Huish , from the most honourable motive-, has resigned the important post of manager of the Lons don and North-Western Company , which he has occupied many years , and that the board have now under consideration the appointment of his successor , who ia not yet determined upon . This HABirsTEAD Railway . —The schemo to connect tho Northern Railway with tho London and North-Western Railways , will , wo fear , bo seriously impeded by tho fall of a tuianol which was , being constructed . Fortunately , ho lives wore lost , but the accident will , it is said , cost 20 . Q 0 OI .
This Birkeniiea © , Lancashire , and Cheshire Junction Railway . —At a meeting of the directors of this company , hold at Birkonhead , on Saturday , on the motion of Mr . Tithorington ( tho late chairman ) , Mr . E . G . Salisbury , M . P ., was unanimously elected chairman of the company . Caledonian Railway CoairANY .-w-On Tuesday tho half-yearly meeting of tUo shareholders of the Caledonian Railway Company was hold in tho Merchants' Hall , Glasgow , William Johnstono , Esq ., chairman of the
company , presiding . The chairman said tho traffic of . ft . P rost fM W-yffffl V ftcl follon off fionBidnrahl . y It-ia in tended immediately to procoed to tho formation of the ltutUorglen and Dalmarnook Branch and tho Port Car-Halo Branch , for which Acts of Parliament were got last sossion , and the promoters of tho Biggar mid Broughton Branch , will immediately also malco ¦ tliuir linos , so from those fgodora or outlets an increased trnfUo is oxpoctod , Tho chairman then uutorori into « history of tho struggle botweon tho Caledonian and North British . Tho first resvlutloi ) , aiwruvijuff M the report , ana
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 18, 1858, page 27, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_18091858/page/27/
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