The Life of Sir Rowland Hill and the

1843-61 CHAIRMAN OF THE BRIGHTON RAILWAY. I?
viewed my appointment with considerable alarm,
expecting that I should urge, if not a penny rate, at
least some sweeping reduction of fares, to the ruin of
the Company's finances. It will suffice to say that we
became sincere, accordant, and earnest coadjutors, and
formed a friendship which continued warm and unbroken
to the day of his death, some five-and-twenty
years afterwards.
The rigorous examination immediately set on foot
showed the existence of practices now too well known
in railway management, whereby the appearance of
prosperity is maintained amidst progress
towards real
insolvency. Dividends had been paid when there
were in fact no profits to divide, and meantime the
resources of the Company were being drained and
narrowed, by waste, mismanagement, and inattention
to public convenience. Distrust and dissatisfaction
had gone so far that the value of the shares, originally
^50, had fallen to ^35. The directors soon saw that
for the first half-year, at least, no dividend could justly
be made ;
but, of course, they were not without anxiety
as to the result of such an announcement on the price
of shares. To our gratification, it was so well received
by the public that the price almost immediately began
to rise ; and I may add that purchasers had no reason
to regret their outlay.
After having continued some time in the direction,
I had the satisfaction to find myself, on the motion
of the late Mr. Pascoe Grenfell, M.P., unanimously
appointed Chairman of the Company, and from this
time I gave my undivided attention to its affairs. Fully
convinced of its great capabilities, and having great
the truth must be
reliance in my coadjutors, and (if
told) in myself, I had invested in its shares all own property, and a considerable sum of
my
money
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