HL Deb 24 July 1855 vol 139 cc1325-30

Order of the Day for taking into Consideration Standing Order No. 176, in order to its being dispensed with, read.

THE EARL OF HARDWICKE moved, in pursuance of notice, that, in consequence of the proceedings upon the Fibre Company's Bill having been suspended, by reason of the introduction of a general measure upon limited liability, and as there was now little prospect of such measure passing in the present Session, it was expedient that the said Bill be allowed to be read a second time. He could assure their Lordships that he had no personal interest in the objects of the Company, and his sole motive for moving in the matter was a consideration of the public interests. The Bill in reference to which he was about to urge their Lordships had passed through the Commons, and was sent up to them so far back as the 10th of May last, only, however, to have its further progress opposed; first, through the interposition of the Standing Orders; and next, by the announcement of the Government, that the general measure as to limited liability, then about to be introduced, would render the passing of this Bill superfluous. Now, before proceeding to argue against the enforcement of the Standing Orders in the present instance, he would lay before their Lordships some facts illustrative of the increasing demand for paper, and the great deficiency existing of the raw material necessary for its manufacture, a deficiency which it was the object of this Company to supply. It was well known to their Lordships that the supply of paper had fallen off as the desire for its use had extended; and that the result had been an enormous increase in the price, and a falling off in the revenue in consequence of the diminution in the manufacture. The attention of men of science had been directed to the subject, and rewards had been offered for such improvements in the manufacture as would increase the supply of the raw material. The machines, however, for reducing that raw material to pulp were very expensive, and required a great deal of capital. As was very well known, the war with Russia had considerably interfered with the importation of hemp and flax, which mainly contributed the raw material for the manufacture of paper. Hence the Fibre Company had adopted a process of reducing to a pulp various fibrous substances out of which paper could be manufactured; and the plan having been, tested was found to be most efficient for its purpose. Indeed, he himself had already shown to their Lordships a copy of The Times newspaper, printed on paper made of pulp manufactured according to the process of this Company, and the specimen had been pronounced to be a very favourable one. Now, to show the increasing demand for paper existing in the present day, as compared with former years, he might mention that on the average of the five years ending 1834, which was prior to the reduction of the duty, 70,998,131 lb. of paper were manufactured in Great Britain every year; while during the average of the five years ending 1853 that quantity had increased to 151,234,175 yearly; and in 1853 the production was 177,633,000lbs., being 23,000,000lbs. or 10,000 tons more than in the preceding year; that, moreover, in consequence of the increased price of the article, and the increased demand for it, the amount paid for paper in 1855 exceeded that for 1853 by a million sterling. The price also of the raw material had been continually increasing; for, taking the two years, 1852 and 1854, he found that while in the first year the price of first-rate rags was only 26s. the cwt., in 1854 it was 34s. the cwt. Nor was that increase in the price of the raw material confined to England; on the contrary, the pressure was felt equally throughout all the European markets. The statistics of the consumption of paper by The Times newspaper might interest their Lordships. The Times published 60,000 copies of their paper daily. The weight of the paper upon which these were printed was nine tons per day, and if the copies were piled up in a flat surface they would make a column fifty feet in height. The Russian war had, however, cut off the great source of supply of the raw material from England; for during the three years—1851, 1852, and 1853—the quantity of hemp imported into this country from Russia was 172,759 tons, while that from other countries was about 21,000 tons. But in consequence of the war the price, which previously had been about 35l. per ton, was now nearly double that, while the actual deficiency in the amount of the raw material was 119,118 tons. He would, therefore, ask their Lordships to consent to the supersedence of the Standing Order which requires that three-fourths of the capital of a Company should be paid up before obtaining permission to trade, in order that they might proceed to read the Bill a second time, and thus, through the agency of the Fibre Company, make good a great deficiency. The fact was, as it was quite possible to demonstrate, that Standing Order had been long dead, and he thought their Lordships ought to proceed forthwith to bury it, for it was a Standing Order that stood in the way of much useful and necessary legislation. It had its origin so far back as the year 1824, and no doubt at that time it was wisely adopted for the protection of bonâ fide and sound speculations, as opposed to the many wild and extravagant schemes then afloat. In process of time, however, the order was very much modified, and almost every year some exception was made to its application. And to prove to their Lordships how greatly they were in the habit of deviating from the order, he would remind them that according to its strict injunctions they ought in every case to refer each private Bill to a Select Committee, after having read it a first time; whereas they never did so until after the Bill was read a second time. But, again, he could show that this Standing Order was in direct contradiction of the law of the land. The Standing Order declared that no Bill should be read a second time until it was satisfactorily proved that three-fourths of the capital had been paid into the Bank of England in the name of trustees. Now, what said the law of the land? He held in his hand the Act for the Registration and Incorporation of Joint-stock Companies, and that Act ordered, that in all cases there should be a provisional registration of a Company, as the foundation on which it was to proceed, before coming to Parliament for a Bill, and under that provisional registration a Company was to be allowed to act for a period not exceeding twelve months, and with a capital not exceeding 10s. per cent. Now the Standing Order was in direct contradiction to the Act of Parliament, for it especially declared that no less than three-fourths of the capital of a Company should be paid up before their Bill was read a second time. The provision in the Company's Clauses Consolidation Act, that capital should only be called up in small instalments was also inconsistent with this Standing Order. Another obstacle to the Bill was the Resolution of their Lordships that no private Bill should be read a second time after the 10th of July; but when in May he (the Earl of Hardwicke) introduced this Bill, on the 10th of May he was told by the Government that they were anxious to pass the Limited Liability Bill as soon as possible, and that then, as limited liability would be the law of the land, all difficulty with regard to the present Bill would be done away with. This statement induced him not to proceed with the present Bill; but the Limited Liability Bill had not yet passed—it had only gone into Committee pro formâ—and as far as he could see, there was no chance of that measure becoming law this Session. In conclusion, he believed that the rejection of this Bill would be a cruel injustice on the Company, which had expended a considerable sum of money in laying down the groundwork of their future plans, and at the same time prove a disappointment to the public, who desired cheap paper.

Moved, That the said Standing Order be dispensed with on the said Bill.

LORD REDESDALE

opposed the Motion of his noble Friend, and defended the standing order, which, he said, had not become obsolete, but had not been put into practice of late years, because the Bills which had come under its provisions had not sought to obtain a limitation of liability. Their Lordships had never been accustomed to grant a limitation of liability to private trading Companies, and there was no reason why an exception should be made in the present case. Their Lordships were now asked to rescind an order altogether without substituting anything in its place, with the view of admitting a Company that would be subject to no restrictions securing that a single shilling of honest capital should be paid up. This Company had no claim whatever to any such exceptional advantage. It was all very well to say that this Bill, being unopposed, should be referred to a Committee; but it must be remembered that the general measure on Limited Liability was not likely to be carried through by the Government this Session on account of the difficulty of obtaining a concurrence of opinion as to the conditions to be imposed on trading Companies. Another reason why their Lordships should not suspend their standing order in this case was, that the very objectionable practice of privately canvassing individual Peers to support a particular measure had been adopted by the promoters of this Bill. This system had been pursued more than once before in the present Session, with the view of inducing Members of that House to prejudge questions relating to private Bills before they had heard the arguments on both sides; and it was therefore high time that their Lordships should discountenance such an irregular proceeding. On these grounds the suspension of the standing orders in this instance would be very unwise, particularly at that late period of the Session, and it was to be hoped that their Lordships would decidedly refuse to comply with such a request.

THE MARQUESS OF CLANRICARDE

had no personal interest in the undertaking to which this Bill related, and was not acquainted with any one who had a share in it; he had, however, certainly been canvassed on the subject, but only so far as the placing in his hand a printed statement of the objects of the Company; and a consideration of the case had convinced him that he ought to support the present Motion. The standing order in question was first passed in 1824, and it was monstrous to say that it was applicable to the altered circumstances of the present time.

EARL GRANVILLE

admitted that he had recommended the postponement of the Bill until the Government measure on Limited Liability should have been brought before them. The Government had no intention of abandoning their Bill, although he was certainly not able to promise that it would be passed during the present Session. He thought that if a standing order was a bad one it ought to be repealed, but so long as they kept it on their books they ought to enforce it, unless good cause was shown to the contrary. On this ground he should certainly join the noble Lord the Chairman of Committees in opposing its suspension on the present occasion.

THE EARL OF HARDWICKE

briefly replied.

THE EARL OF DERBY

said, if his noble Friend pressed his Motion to a division he should feel bound to vote with him, for he thought that the Company had been very hardly dealt with. They were not responsible for the delay that had taken place; they had brought forward their measure in time, and had withdrawn it on account of the expectations held out by the Government as to the measure for Limited Liability. So early as February he (the Earl of Derby) had pressed upon the Government the importance of at once settling the question, or of allowing to particular Companies exemption from the law. Still the measure in question had been delayed so long that it had not yet passed through Committee in the other House, and their Lordships had arrived at a period of the Session at which they were not disposed to entertain any new measure not of a most urgent character. He was in favour of a measure for Limited Liability, but was not prepared to deal with it without an opportunity for full consideration. Therefore he was not disposed to induce their Lordships at this period of the Session to dispense with the rule he had referred to. Under those circumstances he should feel that the parties in this case were entitled to exemption from the general law. Still, after the strong expression of opinion on the part of the noble Lord (Lord Redesdale), the Chairman of Committees, probably his noble Friend would not divide.

Resolved in the Negative.

Back to