The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

shares at a premium of 80 percent, Considering the respec tive asking prices for the shares that week had been 721/2 and 180 this would have m eant a bonus to Sir Hugh's shareholders of about 40 percent on the market value of their stock.51 W hen this offer was also rejected, Allan endorsed the sale of the boats for $99,500. These then com m enced a devastating summer of opposition to the Richelieu Company. In addition to seeing the value of its shares drop to 145, the latter firm was unable to pay any dividend after that season's operations.5 2 Confident that he would now be treated as a serious suitor, Allan made yet another proposal in the new year. In this round of negotiations Allan suggested that the value of the Canadian Navigation stock be set at $450,000 in Richelieu Company stock. Ultimately this meant that one Canadian Navigation share was valued at just over 78 percent of a Richelieu Company share, or about 63 per cent more than the former had been offered for just a week before negotiations began. 5 3 Despite the fact that this was a less advantageous offer than the one Allan had made that summer, it was accepted. Beyond the value of the stock a few minor details re mained to be ironed out. No part of either firm's amended act of incorporation perm itted a merger by such means. Consequently in order to protect the directors from the possible wrath of angry shareholders, bills giving their ac tions the retrospective approbation of Parliament were quickly secured. In the process the enlarged Richelieu Company was granted a new corporate title, the Richelieu and Ontario Navigation Company, and all the shareholders, new and old, were granted a 25 percent stock bonus . 54 The move mollified the Richelieu Company's old shareholders who had missed their dividend, and brought the value of the new shareholders' holdings almost up to par. The success of Allan's manoeuvrings is best judged in the light of his subsequent manipulation of the Richelieu and Ontario Navigation Company's board. In spite of the fact that the annual meeting had passed, Sir Hugh was ap pointed to the board of directors. That summer his brother Andrew joined him. Another Canadian Navigation Com pany director, Robert Anderson, just failed to secure ap pointm ent at the same time. He and yet another ex director would be elected to the board after an extended battle the following year which gave Sir Hugh control of four of the nine board seats.5 5 By mid 1876 he would suc ceed as President of the new firm.56 W hen Allan was ousted by a stockholders' revolt in 1882, those same four m en constituted the majority of a seven-man board. Just as in the Canadian Navigation Company this quartet had never personally controlled the majority of shares, so had the case been with the Richelieu and Ontario. Still, it 1862 AMS 1862 IM P O R T A N TA R R A N G E M E N T . Canadian Inland Steam Navigation Com pany's R O Y A L THROUGH LINE. FOR DARLINGTON, PORT H O P E , COBOURG, K IN G ST O N , BRO CK VILLE, P r e s c o t t , M O N O g d e n s b u r g h AN D T R E A L THE ONLY LINE WITHOUT TRANS-SHIPMENT. The Following First-Class Upper Cabin Steamers C O MPO SE T H IS L IN E , V IZ .; ` K IN G S T O N , Capt. H a m ilto n . P A SS P O R T , " H arb ottle. M AGN ET, " T. H ow ard . B A N S H E E Capt. Sw ales. E M P R E SS , " Cam eron. C H A M PIO N , " K elley. T hey w ere built expressly for L ake and River Navigation; COMMODIOUS. STA U N CH , and in every respect W E L L FOUND- w ith every requirement for SA F E T Y , and Fitted and Furnished with every Modern C O N V E N IE N C E AND COMFORT. O N E O F T H E SE ST E A M E R S W IL L L E A V E The CUSTOM HOUSE W HARF Foot of Yonge Street, EV E R T AFTERNOON, (Sundays excepted,) a t T W O O 'C L O C K . , . P M . FO R T H E ABOVE AND INT E R M E DIA T E PORTS, A R RIV IN G AT MONTREAL EARLY TH E FOLLOWING AFTERNOON. IN A D VA N CE O F A N Y O T H E R L I N E AND D IR E C T W IT H O UT T RA N S-SH IPM E N T makin g Direct Connections w ith the various St eamboat a nd Railroad Companies to the following places, viz; ROCHESTER, PETERBOROUGH, BAY OF QUINTE, CAPE V INCENT, OTTAWA, BOSTON via Ogdensburgh, QUEBEC, PORTLAND, BOSTON via W hite M ountains, &c, &c. &c. A L SO , WILL LEAVE TORONTO FOR HAM ILTON DAILY, AT 8.30, A.M , T U E S D A Y S E X C E PT E D . T his line affords a most desirable c o n ve y a n c e Com fort a b le. P l e a s a n t ful Scenery of the L A K E O F T H E T H OU SAN D ISL A N D S by the North Channel [ th e most picturesque a n d a lt h e R A P ID S OF T H E S T . L A W R E N C E BY D A YL IG HT As the Steamers leave late in the day, the B US I N E S S M A N will reach his destination with as little loss o f time as by Railway " T- D. S H IPM A N, A g e n t B L A C K B U R N S CIT Y ST E A M P R ESS, YON G E ST R E E T , TOR ONTO. BROADSHEET Broadsheets or posters like this were to be found in taverns, hotels and around the waterfront from Buffalo to Quebec. (Metropolitan Toronto Library) would take the determined opposition of virtually all the other shareholders and several years of sub-normal profits to effect such a revolution.5 7 SUMMARY The formation o f a joint stock corporation to purchase m ost of the vessels of John Hamilton's Royal Mail Line was 12