§ The EARL of CLARENDONmoved the Third Reading of this Bill, which, he stated, was only the framework of subsequent legislation with respect to railways. The present Bill did little more than transfer to a new department the powers possessed by the Board of Trade. He hoped Parliament would never give any public department the power to put a veto upon projected schemes, or to prevent the investment of capital in railway undertakings.
LORD ELLENBOROUGHhad hoped that the new department created by the Bill would have possessed greater powers than were at present exorcised by the Board of Trade; but such did not appear to be the case. He was sorry the Bill had come before Parliament in the absence of his noble Friend the late President of the Board of Trade (the Earl of Dalhousie). If the matter had remained in the hands of his noble Friend, or in the hands of his noble Friend now the President of that Board (the Earl of Clarendon), he should have had much greater confidence in their decisions than in those of the proposed Board, and so, he believed, would the public. The President of the proposed Board ought to have had a more influential voice in the proceedings of the Board than it was contemplated to give him. Altogether, he regretted that the present Bill had been brought forward, but he did not wish to divide the House against it.
§ Bill read 3a. and passed.