§ MAJOR DICKSONsaid, he wished to ask the President of the Board of Trade, Whether his attention has been called to a report of the embarrassment of the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway Company, and to inquire if he has taken any measures to secure the public against the inconvenience of any interruption in the working of those lines?
SIR STAFFORD NORTHCOTESir, I can hardly say that my attention has been officially directed to the position of the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway Company; but through the usual sources of information my attention has been called to the affairs of that important line, which was in a very peculiar position; that, in point of fact, a receiver had been appointed by the Court of Chancery, and that at this moment the affairs of the Company were in the hands of the receiver. As regards the interests of the 1903 shareholders and debenture-holders, I do not know that I have anything particular to say. But my intention has been drawn to the question as to how far the interests of the public may probably be affected by the position in which that Company at present stands, and by the danger which exists of the probability of the stoppage of the traffic. The agent of the Company called upon me the other day for the purpose of inviting my attention to certain clauses proposed to be inserted in a Bill now before the House of Lords. The effect of those clauses is to enable the Company to raise by preferential shares a sum of money sufficient to cover the amount now owing by them in respect to land which they had just purchased. It is an extremely important question, in so far that there is a large quantity of land which the Company have purchased, and for which they agreed to pay £700,000. If the landowners could not get the purchase money they might, undoubtedly, exercise their rights and take possession of the land. And, as that land happens to be in a position material to the whole undertaking, and is chiefly connected with the Metropolitan Extension line, such a step might considerably inconvenience the public, and prejudice the interests of the shareholders and debenture-holders who are connected with other portions of the line. The Company, through their agent, asked the Board of Trade whether they thought it desirable that these clauses should be inserted? The object of the clauses was to give the Company power to raise the money necessary to enable them to carry on their works with advantage to the public and to the shareholders generally. They represented that the Court of Chancery, after defraying the working expenses of the railway, would be probably bound to apply the surplus to the discharge of the purchase money of the land referred to, and if that were so it would take the whole surplus income for years to come, leaving nothing for the shareholders. The Board of Trade was of opinion—in which I myself, of course, shared—that if such an arrangement as that proposed by the new clauses could be effected, it would be a good and desirable one. I expressed my opinion to the agent to that effect. But I am informed that some objections have been raised in the House of Lords against the introduction of such clauses. I do not know the nature of those objections, and therefore am un- 1904 able to pronounce any opinion upon them; but as regards the question of the interests of the public, whatever arrangement may be made in the matter, there is little doubt but that the traffic will be continued, and the public need not apprehend any stoppage of the line.