The fight among the shareholders of the Great Eastern Railway
has come off, but the result has not yet been decided. The majority of the Board have determined not to allow an inquiry into their affairs, but to trust entirely to their proxies. They consider that an inquiry would " produce a detrimental effect upon the interests of the company," would " entail useless and vexatious interference with the duties of the Board," and is besides unneces- sary, and they therefore "feel bound to give effect to the confidence reposed in them." They intend in fact to vote down inquiry, and the polling will have ended before these words reach our readers. As the directors are backed by the friends who elected them, and their officers' friends, and their contractors' friends, and all who detest a fuss, and all who think it safest not to fish in dirty water, they will probably win by sheer force of numbers, but there is one bitter drop in their cup of satisfaction. Captain Jervis is vice- chairman for three years, and can if he likes compel them to explain that over-issue of debentures which they now declare that they will not even investigate.
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