IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) V. ^ /, J A % 1.0 I.I 11.25 1^ |50 ""'— ^ 1^ 821 IIIII25 2.2 2.0 1.8 lA IIIIII.6 -c*l %%. o 7 >>> •/^ Photographic Sciences uij^njiauuii 23 WiST MAIN STREET WEBSTER. N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 '-signifia "A SUIVRE", la symbols V signifia "PIN". Laa cartaa, planchas. tableaux, ate, pauvant dtra filmte A daa taux da rMuction diffirants. Lorsqua la document aat trop grand pour itra raproduit an un saul cliche, it est film^ A partir da I'angia sup4riaur gauche, de gauche h droita. at da haut 9n baa, 9n pranant la nombre d'Imagas nteessaira. Laa diagrammes suivants iiluatrant la m^thoda. 1 2 3 4 5 6 S^T-^T ff til OF IriF, TO THE ^ABE Tins City Oounoil of London having crdered their Raiway Comiuittee to investigate the af- fitirs and management of the London and Fort Stanley Railway, we the Pirectors of the Kail- way hoartily concurred in their resolution, and placed before the Oommittd? ?<.ich documents and evidence as they required, presuming that the position occupied by the Comraitto in con- nexion with the standing of the Municipal Council of the city of London, was a guarantee that the iavestigation would be conducted im- partially and with an exact and diligent alten- tion to all thecircumatauoes. The report of the Railway Oorpn^Ut^epub- lished by order of the Municipal Orouucil of Loudon is, however, of such a character that we deam it necmsary in vindication ot our manage- ment to address you on the aevvral clauses of the report, and would request you in the peru- sal of th? repor< of the Railway Committee, to bear in mind that it is based upon statements we bad no opportunity of rebutting, and that in con- sequence, the statements are presumptions in- stead of facts. The directors beg to state that exertions have been made at different times to collect the amounts due on slock, the last resort, that of compulsion by law, is the only course which we hard not fully resorted to; many of the original subscriptions to stocks are entirely worthless; the president informed the Rail- way Committee that the stock collectable was between £1000 and £2000. The re ference to our giving notes to Ryno and Wellstead in payment of our stock " in ex. pectation of an inquiry into the afiairs of the Company" is mer» assertion, and not at all war- ranted by circumstanoes. On the 11th March the Directors who have giv6n thei^otes in payment of stock, finding that Messrs. Ryno and Wellslead had not been paidproportionably with the other contractors, felt bound to relieve them by the only means in their power ; that of pay- ing them the amount they were due the Com- pany for stock. In avoiding intor^t on stock, this Company have only followed the plan of tii» Great Western Railway. . The Directors have since the formation ot the Company been liable, individually, to t{ie banks, fbr from three to seven thousand pdffids and whilst bearing this individual responsibility, which they might be called upon to pay at ary time ; do not consider they are at all ^enayrable for not paying the instnlmentis on th?^^>ck as called in. T! e Directors having rnised money on their private leaponsibility lo a larger amount than could be collected from the private stock, nega- tives the assertion of the Committee "that with a view to securing through him the car con tract for Ryno & Wfllateuil. In July. 1856 (not 185.5 08 in the report of the Railway Corarailtee) the Company had on hand twenty-five tliousand pound.? in Debentures of the City of London, which at. tliat time were quite unsaleable ; a portion of these were given to Messrs. Pierson, Case A Co. at 25 per cent, discount. Mr. Leonard then contended that an amount should be granted to Ryno & Wellstead as they had not received any money on their contract for five months; the amount due them .it this time was £5,965 besides an amount due on turn tablet^ (not £2,915 15s. us entered on the Minute Book,) the sura making up the amount nothaving baeu posted in the ledger, as will be seen by reference to the statement annexed. We assert that no intimidation or threats of any kind were used by Mr. Leonard to obtain these Debentures. Had the Railway Committee published in the Appendix to their Report the amount due to Ryno k Wellstead on their contracts and ac- couBts for repairs, together with the amount due to Mr. Leonard ior land purchased from him in April, 1856, by the Company, amounting to £3,096, the prejudice which has been raised on certain points, we believe would have been obviated. While on the subject of the Report, in connexion with Mi. Leonard, we beg to state that of the 10 shares subscribed by Mr. Leonard, (60) were taken for the purpose of enabling the Company to organize on the day advertised ! thus saving three months' time — the mtentton being that on the recepticn of the stock books from St. Thomas and Pt. Stanley, the 50 shares should be transferroi^. from Mr. Leonard's name to the subscribers at St. Thomas and Port Stan- ley. The contracts for cars and turntables were closed in December. 1 866. (See Appen- dix A.) The arguments used in the Report to connect Mr. Leonard and Ryno & Wellstead, we feel may be safely lefl to your consideration in connexion with the facts we now place befoi e you. The opening of the tenders for cars by Mr. Bowman we believe was caused by his consider- ing it to be his duty, as the tenders were adver- tised for to be addressed to the Mechanical Su- perintendent — Mr. Bowman being informed that it was the order of the Directors that all tenders for the future should be opened in their presence, their wisbfs iiave Deen complied with. We are The office I'omroy & A gentlemen, citation oftl 'serve the ii iconseuted to I In selecti vacancy at t jof Mr. Bark iofthe Rail jstockbolderi pouc whose ,T)e of greate rs that all tenders 1 in their presence, ed with. We are % The office of Auditors now tilled by Messrs. I'omroy & Adams was not sought for by these gentlemen, and it was only by the urgent soli citation of the Boarde, and we believ, a desire to serve the mterests of the fompany, that they consented to act. I In selecting Mr. Charles Hope to f^U the vacancy at the Board caused by the resignation jof Mr. Barker, we Lad in view the best interests jof the Railway, and consider that among the {Stockholders open to uB for choice, we can find pouc whose ability, position, and inflaence conld ,t)e of greater service to the Oompafly. Our liaving paid the Contractors nearly $2560 T(t»o 'houaand five hundred dollars) afler receiv- ing Mr. Bowman's report on the malconatruction of the read, was caused by Mr. Barnard assuring jus on the '22nd September, 18S6, as appears by ithe minutes, that he bad not accepted the work complained of, and tSat he did not intend to do 80. Relyiag ou Mr. Bamar^s assurance we paid the two thousand five hundred dollars on the i September estimate, in full confidence that the engineer was watching the construction accord- ing to contract. That losses have occurred iu the construction of tho railway, chiefly owing to ciicumstances beyond our control, we cannot doubt ; the arbi- tration with the Contractors, arising from the conduct of our late Engineer, is indeed evidence of the fact; but that these losses are attributable to neglect on our part, we cannot admit Since the commencement of this Company our ener- gies have b"3n devoted to its service, and a great sacrifice of time and labor has been made on our part to promote its interests. ^ Mr. Barker's statement, that the Company tost ^ filly thousand pounds by the mismanagement of •the Board, Contractors, and Officers, is a mere a^-sertion, incaj/able of proof. And if such were the .fact, Mr. Barker is as culpable as any member of the Board, as he never made any eOort to remedy a state of things so disastrous to the Company. We regret to add, that the reports which have been circulated prejudicial to the Company, are chiefly to be attributed to the mis-statements 'm&de through the public press .and other chan- nels by that gentleman. The present management of the Road was .introduced for the purpose of saving the sum .of seven hundred and thirty-five pounds an- nually. Our experience thus far has satisfied of the Executive L^a that the staff now employed is sufiBcient consulted by Mr. r approval of hit iie turn tables to lathis letting £ no, was explained to e President who for the proper working of the Railway, and although the traffic has inci'eased considerably we find ihat the reduced staiT is efficient and able to perform the requirements. We are fully impressed with the recessity of econo- my in the working of. a short line of railway, ling stock and turntables, has been entirely .lis- interosted, acd governed solely by a dcHiro for the iu^orest of the railwiiy. I also fully concur with the atatenient of tJie Directors as to tho propriety of Mr. Leonard's conduct with respect to the contracts of tho par- ties with whom he is interested iu business, and I have no doubt those contracts were given and have been carried out iu good tailh for tho bene- fit of the Railway Company, who are now largely indebted to Mr. Leonard instead of l>i« being in arrear for Stock. I have always considered Mr. Leonard as one of the most useful and practical memborsof the Beard, andfelr, therefore, unwilling to part with him, when he proposed to retire, and I cannot but express my full ooiif' V ice in the honor atd uprightness of bis public conduct. I cannot agree with Mr. Barker that Lossea to such a large amount have been sustained Ijjr raisnanagement of the Directors ; — on the con- trary I assert that the Directors have devoted their energies to the best ,^f their ability, and that the losses that have occurred hava .iriHen {torn circumstances beyond their control. That the London and Port Stanley Railwtiy will ultimately pay well, is now beyond doubt ; and even under present circumstancea, I feel caaured that the benefits derived by the city and surrounding country has far exceeded any inconvenience that have been felt in raising the moans for its constniction. The business of the road Is constantly in- creasing, and its utility becoming more and more manifest, and it is to be regretted that it has been found necessary to raise an outcry and feeling which may have a temporary tendency to prejudice the public mind and retard its pro- gress, but from which I have no doubt it will rise in renewed strength and confidence. L. LAWRASON, President, L. A a. P 3.R. Co. London, 25th July, 1857. The following atatementa. A, B & C, shew in what proporlion the several Contractora were paid, evidencing that Wellateaa and Byno had NO preference over the other Contraotors -but the reverse , APPBNDia: A. TUB liONUOl AND POBT STAWI.KY RAILHOAH CO. UB,, Iff ACOOUfTT WITH WBJ.I.STKAH AIil> BTNO. Balance Amount Amuuut due Ry no ft IWO. of paid on WeUstcad K»tiiiiat«. Etitiiitaie. at end of each month. ■ ■■♦^-' £. s. d. &'. ». d. £. s. d. ^ Jau. KHtiinato 1447 17 8 1085 18 4 3 B Marcli do. 1078 8 B S«8 15 10 87B !■« April (Jo. Ma,T do. 2692 8 3407 18 r>40 IS 7 4017 10 7 June 'do. Ut » i 41D9 11 July do. 17(>4 ir, 7 OO&H 10 „ do. Meclia- a:oal do. )t> !H 1(1 .n nnt> t n.-WO 14 ft * Balance due, January 1, £6513 88. lOd. £1385 7s. 8d. due Messrs. Ryno A Wo)tate«d ©»cUi- siveofinternst, Tiondon, O.W., July, 1867 -♦•< APPENDIX B. TUB LOMUON AND PORT 8TANLET BAILHOAB IN AOCOUNT WITH MESSES. CRAIG & CAMPBBU,. Balance 1858. Monthly Monthly Payments. due end of Estimates. oachmouth £. .1*. d. *. s. d. £. 8. d. Aug., July Kstim. nxi in 300 833 16 Sept., Aug. do. 1157 I 3 1772 5 218 11 3 Oct., Sept. do. Nov., Bill recelvo- 142fi It 800 845 6 3 able for Stock •288 l 4 f>67 11 Deo. 15, Final Est 2187 1 10 .'1041. 2 1857. Feb.2, For Freight due Cimpany 40 3004 5 Fob. 26, Cash paid „ Stations Fit 2327 H 7 070 14 a tings n« 5 10 733 J imp 2, (lo. fi!) ;? fl| UK) 703 3 6 6330 1 5' 5627 17 11 6627 17 ll| 702 3 el £7«-i 3j. fid. *otaI balance? due Messrs Oraig fr exclusive of interest. London, O.W., July, 1S.57. Co., APPENDIX O. THH U)MI>0.>l AND POUT St'A.NLEr RAII.UO.VJ) CO., IH ACCOUNT WITH MESSRS. PBAHSON, CASE, & CO, Cash 1 HM Monthly Amount Due Coii- E.'