RAILWAY BILLS.—RESOLUTIONS. (Hansard, 26 April 1864)

§ MR. RICHARD HODGSON
said, he rose to move that certain clauses relative to companies entering into traffic agreements, and to companies owning or working railways and steamboats, be referred to the general Committee on Railway and Canal Bills, with an Instruction to the Committee that they Report to the House their opinion whether the said Clauses, with such Amendments as may be proposed by the Committee, may with advantage be inserted in all Bills con- 1622 taining powers to companies to "enter into traffic agreements" or to "work railways and steamboats" respectively. His object was to secure—first, due publicity to all traffic agreements between these companies; and secondly, that where those agreements seemed to create any monopoly, other railway companies and other persons affected thereby might have an opportunity of entering into similar agreements. A Committee on private business sat during the last Session, and a Bill was introduced by the right hon. Gentleman the President of the Board of Trade, which contained some clauses of the nature to which his Resolution pointed; but they fell short of his object. He proposed to go a little further, and not only to give notoriety to these agreements, but to enable parties affected by them to appear before the Board of Trade and state their objections, and also to enable others to enter into similar agreements. He proposed that the clauses should be referred to the general Committee upon Canal and Railway Bills, which was composed of the Chairmen of those Committees which had to consider the different Railway Bills. These Committees would be enabled to insert in the different Bills such clauses as would at once protect the public and prevent any one company from having a monopoly as against another. To show to the House what these traffic agreements were, he might mention that there was at present a Bill before Parliament to give increased facilities for making agreements between railway companies and steamboat companies, by which the London and North-Western Company took powers to make agreements with eight railway companies in Ireland and with two steamboat companies for the division and conduct of traffic. It was unsafe to give such powers without due deliberation. The first of his clauses was one relative to companies entering into traffic arrangements. It provided that the powers to enter into traffic arrangements under the Act should be subject to certain regulations. Of these the first regulation was that traffic arrangements should be made by written agreement, and that notice, in a form approved by the Board of Trade, should be given by advertisement; the second was, that such agreement should not have any operation till approved of by the Board of Trade; the third, that the agreement should be printed at the expense of the parties thereto, and deposited 1623 with the Board of Trade; the fourth, that such agreement should be open to inspection; the fifth, provided that a competitive company should be entitled to the benefits of an agreement made with a competitor; and the sixth stipulated that, in case of a dispute as to whether a particular route was competitive, the same should be decided by the Board of Trade, and fixed the penalty for non-compliance with the Board of Trade's decision at £100 a day. The second of the two clauses was one relative to companies owning or working railways and steamboats, and regulated fares and charges for passengers carried by land and sea. The hon. Gentleman concluded by moving that Clause 1 be referred to the general Committee on Railway and Canal Bills.

§ MR. MILNER GIBSON
said, he thought it rather an unusual course to refer these clauses to the consideration of the general Committee on Railway and Canal Bills. It would certainly be better in matters of the kind that a Bill should be brought in containing the various clauses it was thought desirable to introduce in certain clauses of private Bills; but, although that was also the opinion of his hon. Friend the Chairman of Ways and Means, he did not wish to object to the course taken by his hon. Friend. Three or four of the Regulations were inserted in the Railway Clauses Bill, which passed last Session, and there was no objection to refer the whole of them to a body so well qualified to consider the subject, as the general Committee on Railway and Canal Bills.

§ SIR JAMES FERGUSSON
said, he hoped it would be understood that in assenting to this course being adopted, the House did not express any opinion as to the clauses themselves.