§ MR. SELWIN-IBBETSONsaid, he would beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade, If his attention has been called to the increased number of Railway Accidents during the last few months, arising from the enormous traffic now carried on by the principal lines? He divided accidents on railways into two classes—those which arose from circumstances in some measure under control, and those which occurred in defiance of reasonable supervision. At present it happened that when a fatal railway accident occurred it excited public attention but for a few days, a jury inquired into the circumstances which led to the deaths, sometimes their deliberations ended with a simple verdict, and at the most one or two of the company's servants were committed on a charge of manslaughter. He maintained, however, that accidents were, in most cases, the fault of the system and not of the servants; the lines were gorged with traffic to such an extent that the delay of a minute, in some instances, would lead to the most deplorable results. He had noticed more than four-and-twenty accidents had occurred during the last four months, nineteen of which were collisions of trains, and eight of these had been marked by gross carelessness. But, as the House would, perhaps, prefer the statistics of a Government Department to these collected by an individual, he gave a digest of the Board of Trade Returns of Accidents during the last four years. From these, it appeared that the collisions far exceeded accidents of other descriptions, and that the percentage of personal injuries was larger in the case of collisions. During 1864, 88 accidents of all kinds occurred; 59 of them were collisions, and 29 other accidents. The passengers killed and injured in the collisions numbered 642, and in the other accidents 142. In 1865, there were 112 accidents, of which 69 were collisions, and 43 others; the killed and injured in consequence of the collisions numbered 838, and in the other cases 267. In 1866, there were 75 accidents, 53 collisions, and 22 from other causes; the killed and injured in the one case were 498, and in the other 114. In 1867, which was the last year dealt with by the Returns as yet, 106 accidents occurred, 65 through 738 collisions, and 41 from other causes; the killed and injured in the one case were 571, and in the other 221. These were remarkable facts; they showed that collisions were not only more frequent than all other kinds of accidents put together, but that they were also more fruitful of personal injury. The four years showed a total of 246 collisions, as against 135 other accidents; the killed and injured from the collisions numbered 2,549, and from accidents through other causes 744, giving a proportion of 10¼ persons injured by each collision against 5½ by each accident from other causes. He trusted the Government would study these statistics, and see what could be done to remedy the defects in our railway system, of which they were the result. In conclusion, he asked whether it is the intention of the Government to do anything with a view to regulate such traffic, so as to give greater security to passengers; and, if not, whether they would grant a Select Committee to inquire as to the best method of regulating such traffic, either by the establishment of a separate line for the conveyance of goods, or by a compulsory system of telegraphic signals?