§ MR. BAXTERasked the President of the Board of Trade, If, notwithstanding the circular of August 1877, and the Act of Parliament of June 1878, there are still 42,729 railway carriages running in the passenger service without brakes which comply with the conditions laid down by the Board of Trade; if 2,706 of these carriages have actually been fitted with brakes not approved of or emphatically condemned since June 1878; and if, in order to avert the necessity of legislative interfere for the public safety, the Board of Trade will issue another circular asking for full information as to the intentions of the directors of the various Companies in respect to providing all the passenger vehicles with self-acting continuous brakes answering the requirements of the Department?
§ MR. CHAMBERLAINSir, although the figures given by my right hon. Friend do not quite agree with those in the possession of the Board of Trade, yet I believe that they fairly represent the present state of affairs in reference to continuous brakes. I have already given instructions for the issue of a Circular to the Railway Companies of the nature suggested by my right hon. Friend.