SECOND READING. (Hansard, 23 August 1889)

§ EARL CADOGAN

My Lords, the object of the Bill to which I now ask your Lordships to give a Second Reading is to encourage commerce and industry in Ireland. When the Government came into Office in 1886 they lost no time in initiating their policy of 226 doing all that lay in their power to promote commerce and industry in Ireland. They appointed a Royal Commission, which in its first Report dealt with the question of arterial drainage, and in its second Report with fisheries and railways. The proceedings of this Committee were followed by the introduction in 1888 of three Bills for the drainage of the Bann, the Barrow, and the Shannon. Unfortunately, from circumstances and influences which we were unable to control, we were unable to proceed with those Bills in that year. In May of the present year the Chief Secretary again introduced four Bills to deal with arterial drainage, one dealing with the River Bann, another with the Barrow, another with the Shannon, and another with the Suck, and at the same time he introduced a Bill to facilitate the promotion of Light Railways and to assist the means of railway communication in Ireland. Unfortunately, it has been found necessary, for reasons to which I will not now allude, to drop all the Bills connected with the question of drainage, and the only Bill which will be presented for consideration by this House is that of which I now have the honour to move the Second Reading, namely—a Bill to facilitate the promotion of Light Railways. Under the Tramways Act of 1883, upon which the present Bill is founded, Light Railways were promoted on the presentment of the Grand Jury by baronial guarantee out of the county cess or a fixed dividend not exceeding 5 percent on the entire paid-up capital, the Treasury guaranteeing the repayment of a sum not exceeding half the amount so paid, and not exceeding 2 per cent of the paid-up capital. Payments under that Act 227 of 1883 were limited to a total sum of £40,000 per annum, and out of that £40,000 £22,000 has been already dealt with, leaving an annual unappropriated sum, the interest of which is £18,000 a year. The present Bill alters the provisions of the Tramways Act in one respect especially, namely, that it provides a direct guarantee between the State and the promoters of the railway, whereas under the Tramways Act the guarantee was indirect. The Bill provides that either by a free grant or loan, or both, or by a lump sum, or by an annual payment, the Treasury is empowered to assist in the promotion of Light Railways. The scope of the Bill is limited to the poorer districts in which it is found absolutely necessary that State aid should be granted. Your Lordships will find in the second clause of the Bill that the Lord Lieutenant by an Order in Council is to declare that certain districts being in an impoverished state are unable to provide adequate communication themselves, and therefore the aid of the State is to be called in, and an Order in Council will then be made for that purpose. The Bill applies not only to Railway Companies constructing Light Railways as additions to existing lines, but also authorises assistance to be given to promoters who may promote Light Railways to be constructed and carried out and maintained by Railway Companies. Thirdly, it provides assistance in the case of ordinary promoters who wish to establish lines such as those to which I have alluded. The Treasury are empowered under the Bill to make an agreement with the promoters for the construction, maintenance, and working of the line upon such terms and conditions as the Treasury shall think fit. My Lords, with reference to the policy of granting State aid to undertakings such as these, perhaps your Lords-hips will allow me to read one paragraph at the end of the Second Report of the Royal Commission. They say:— We have felt it our duty to recommend that the State should undertake far larger responsibilities in connection with public works in Ireland than would he considered proper in other parts of the United Kingdom; but oar investigations have convinced us that private capital will not at the present time he forthcoming for the execution of such undertakings without the help of the State, and that unless this be given it cannot he expected that 228 the works we propose, all of which are of importance, will be executed. That, I think, justifies the demand which will be made upon the taxpayers of the country to assist the Irish railways to the extent to which I have adverted. The total amount which may be so given is limited to a capital sum of £600,000, which at 3 per cent would give an annual sum of £18,000. But I may remind your Lordships that this £18,000 a year is in addition to the unappropriated residue which I have just now stated to your Lordships of the money which was authorised under the Act of 1883. It is not contended that these Light Railways will, or are likely to be, remunerative; but where that is not the case, Her Majesty's Government feel that it is especially desirable that State aid should be called in. In the West of Ireland, and in what are known as the congested districts of Ireland, there is a poor population along the shore engaged in the collection of seaweed which is valuable as manure; they cultivate their small holdings, and to a certain extent engage in the pursuits of fishery, but they do this entirely cut off from the rest of the world; and the Government feel, and I think your Lordships will feel, that any measure which will facilitate communication between those districts and places where the people can find a proper market for the fruits of their industry is one which is deserving of support. The details of the measure, being largely financial, may perhaps be considered as belonging to what is known as a Money Bill, and therefore I will not trouble your Lordships with them. This Bill, as I have said, met with a certain amount of delay and opposition, but that opposition has not been of a character to induce the Government to forbear from pressing it upon the attention of Parliament On the contrary, it is agreeable to remember that Members representing Ireland in the other House of Parliament were nearly unanimous in favour of the proposals contained in the Bill. Whatever differences of opinion may exist on this subject, and whatever may be the Government under which the Irish people may in future have to live, it is evident that no Government can afford to ignore the necessity of encouraging commerce and industry in Ireland, and of doing all in their power to assist materially 229 with money those who are in poorer circumstances than we are in England. For myself, and I believe I may also speak for my Colleagues, I hope that this measure will be considered as only an instalment of the policy of encouraging the enterprise and promoting the material prosperity of the people of Ireland, and will be the means of restoring peace and happiness to the inhabitants of that country. My Lords, I beg to move the Second Reading of the Bill.