§ MR. W. PATTENsaid, he had been directed to make an inquiry of the Vice President of the Board of Trade with respect to the very important question of the amalgamation of existing Railway Companies. The Railway Committee of which he was a Member experienced great difficulty in the cases of amalgamation which came before them. He was induced to ask the question which he was about to put to the right hon. Gentleman, not only for the purpose of enlightening the Railway Committees, but also the public at large, because it was one which involved circumstances of a very serious nature. He wished, then, to know whether the Government intended taking any measure this Session with the view of settling the different amalgamation Bills now before Parliament. The Committee had directed him to put the question before they proceeded any further with the subject. One or two plans had been submitted for the settlement of the question; but he thought he might state that the opinion of the Committees was, that a question of such vast importance to the country would be much more satisfactorily determined upon by the Government, and if not by them, at least by some Select Committee to be appointed by the House. He therefore wished to ask 780 the Government whether they intended taking any step in the matter?
§ SIR G. CLERKsaid, that how far and under what circumstances the amalgamation of existing railways should be permitted, had been fully considered by the Railway Department of the Board of Trade last year; whose last Report was exclusively upon the subject of the amalgamation of railways, entering fully into the subject, and laying down general rules under which they thought amalgamations might be permitted. It was impossible for him to say that under no circumstances was it expedient for two or more railways to amalgamate; because there was no doubt that great advantage would arise from having the traffic on lines in the same direction under one general control. Great public inconvenience might arise from amalgamation of parallel lines, because that deprived the public of the benefit of competition. These principles were laid down in the Report of the Board of Trade last Session; and it also showed how they were to be applied to the schemes then in agitation; but the House judged differently, and allowed the amalgamations. It was not in the power of the Government or the Board of Trade to state more fully the principles upon which amalgamations should be conducted; but they must be applied according to the particular circumstances of each case. He thought it would be expedient that the question of all amalgamations should be referred to one Committee, and that the lines amalgamating should not be placed in different groups. They were generally not opposed, and the Committees directing their attention principally to those Bills which were opposed, did not attend to these amalgamating lines. The Committee which sat in 1839, and of which the hon. Member for Liskeard was Chairman, and that of 1842, over which his right hon. Friend the Secretary for the Colonics presided, had entered on this question, and directed attention to the inconvenience of allowing these Bills to pass as matters of course. He did not think, however, that any rule could be laid down beyond that mentioned in the Report of the Board of Trade, unless the expedient of referring all these Bills to one Committee was adopted.