MR. HUGHESsaid, he wished to ask the Vice President of the Board of Trade, Whether it is the fact that the Board of Trade has reported against the granting of a Royal Charter of Incorporation to "The Society of Engineers;" and, if so, on what grounds has the Board of Trade so reported?
§ MR. STEPHEN CAVEsaid, the Board of Trade had not reported against the granting of a Charter, but—
That it was not expedient that the Society of Engineers should be incorporated by a Charter granted by Her Majesty under a designation so closely resembling that of the Institution of Civil Engineers.He believed that there had been of late years, at any rate, no instance of a Royal Charter having been granted to more than one institution associated for the same objects in the same town, under names closely resembling each other. It was indeed manifest that such a practice would be highly inconvenient, and might lead to great confusion and misapprehension. He ought, perhaps, to add that this system of giving Royal Charters to private associations had long been felt to be extremely questionable, and that one of the objects of the Companies Act of 1862 was to substitute a general law for an exceptional privilege.