§ SIR GEORGE JENKINSONasked the President of the Local Government Board, Whether, in consideration of the constantly increasing expenses which are thrown on to separate parishes by the partial and piecemeal extinction of Turnpike Trusts, and seeing also that the maintenance of all roads is rapidly becoming a charge on real property only, involving a very large additional amount of local taxation on the ratepayers, Her Majesty's Government intend, in accordance with the repeated recommendations of the Select Committee on the Turnpike Continuance Act, to provide by legislative enactment, during this Session, for the more general and simultaneous extinction of all remaining Trusts, and for the future maintenance, on a comprehensive and equitable basis, of all Turnpike and other Roads of which the Trusts have been or may hereafter be abolished; and, whether they intend to rectify the evils necessarily resulting from the Highway Acts of 1862 and 1864 being only permissive and optional, by making those Acts compulsory?
§ MR. SCLATER-BOOTHIn reply to my hon. Friend's first Question, I cannot hold out any hope that the Government will be able to introduce a Bill on the subject this Session. As my hon. Friend well knows, it is in the power of counties to mitigate the hardships thus inflicted on parishes by adopting the provisions of the Highway District Act, and it might seem a simple matter to introduce a Bill to make that Act compulsory; but, to do so, would possibly prejudice the future consideration of the other matters referred to in his Question, and I wish, therefore, to take further time before giving a final answer on this point.