LEAVE. FIRST READING. (Hansard, 11 July 1884)

§ SIR JOSEPH PEASE
said, this Bill seemed to him to be one of a very extraordinary character; and he believed it to be his duty to call the attention of the House to the nature of its provisions. The Motion now before the House was that the Standing Orders should be suspended. One of the Standing Orders which it was proposed to suspend was one which provided that no Railway Bill should be brought before the House for a second reading, until the shareholders had been consulted. The Bill proposed to raise £1,500,000 in debentures for the Hull and Barnsley Railway Company. The powers of the Company, under their original Act, were to raise £1,000,000 of debentures and £3,000,000 of ordinary shaves. In 1882, they received further powers to raise £2,400,000 share capital and £800,000 in debentures; and in 1883, to raise £600,000 in ordinary shares and £200,000 in debentures. They now came for power to raise an additional sum of £1,500,000 in debentures, in regard to which, as far as he could make out, the present holders of ordinary shares had had no notice given to them, nor been consulted at all as a matter of fact. Thus the shareholders, who had already invested upwards of £3,000,000 in ordinary shares, were to have a further sum of £1,500,000 in debentures put in front of them, provided they consented to it at a meeting which had not yet been held. Now, if the Standing Orders of the House were intended to serve any useful purpose at all, it was to prevent irregularities like this. They had been carefully considered and framed in order to protect the interests of all parties concerned. He knew he might be told that he was connected with a Railway Company with 817 which the Hull and Barnsley Railway was intended to compete. That was quite true, and he had no objection to the statement being made. But he contended that, if Parliament, in its wisdom, was to grant competing powers to a new Company, it was bound to treat the old Companies with even-handed justice, and to see that Standing Orders which were made to apply to one Company also applied to others. He did not intend to oppose the Motion before the House to bring in a Bill; but the principle involved in it was a very important principle, and upon the second reading of the Bill he should certainly move that the measure be referred to a Select Committee, in order that there might be a full investigation into the reasons for it. He dare say that the reasons were quite right and proper for this large amount of debentures to be placed over the heads of the ordinary shareholders. He presumed they were not to come in before the existing debenture holders, but only before the ordinary shares, after the construction of the line.

§ SIR ARTHUR OTWAY
I quite agree with what has been said by my hon. Friend the Member for South Durham (Sir Joseph Pease) as to the principle of suspending the Standing Orders of the House. No doubt, these are very admirable Standing Orders, adopted after full and careful consideration, and they ought not to be lightly set aside, except in some very special case, their object being to establish regularity in our proceedings. Therefore, the matter simply resolves itself into this, whether, in this particular case there are exceptional circumstances which justify the suspension of the Standing Orders? The shape in which the matter has been presented to me is very simple indeed. This Company, who have, no doubt, been in misfortune from the very commencement, have raised a large sum of money—a very largo sum of money indeed—but they have, owing to accidents which have taken place such as under-estimating the value of the land they were required to take and from various other reasons, exhausted the whole of their capital, amounting to several millions sterling, and they have not been able to place any of their preference capital. It may be said that this is not a matter which affects the 818 Standing Orders of this House. But there is something altogether beyond the exhaustion of the capital; and it is upon that special ground I am about to mention, that I feel myself authorized to support the application now made to the House, in doing which I may say I have the full concurrence of the Earl of Redesdale, the Chairman of Committees in "another place," who, if the House of Commons consents, will raise no objection on the part of the House of Lords. That special ground is this. As I have said, the resources of this Company have been entirely expended, and they have been compelled to give notice to the contractors that no further payment will be made on account of the works. The contractors have consequently given notice to the Company that the works will be suspended, and 2,000 men were discharged by them on Saturday last, the 5th, notices having also been issued to from 3,000 to 4,000 more, that they will be discharged on Saturday the 12th. Now, it is no light matter to throw from 5,000 to 6,000 persons out of employment in the district in which these works are being carried on. On the other hand, if the powers now sought to be obtained are given by Parliament, the Company are advised, and have reason to believe, that one result will be the placing of the debentures, which, as I have stated, cannot be placed at present, in which case the works will be pushed forward as rapidly as possible, and the line, I am informed, would be made ready for traffic by the 31st of next December. If that is not done, there will be a further loss upon the works which is calculated to amount to £20,000. It is under these circumstances, although I am very much disinclined to lend any sanction whatever to the suspension of the Standing Orders of the House, as a general rule, that I ask the House to assent to the proposition now made to them. I should not have done so, had it not been for a certified statement that a very large number of men will be thrown out of work by Monday next, if this Bill is not allowed to pass, and also for the information I have received that there will be no difficulty in raising the debentures. I am further informed that the other debentureholders do not object, and that the measure will in no way damnify either the ordinary shareholders, 819 or the holders of preference stock. Under these circumstances, I hope the House will assent to the Motion. I may mention to my hon. Friend that the application is not altogether without precedent; but that a Bill of a similar nature was passed some years ago, in connection with the East London Railway Company. Therefore, I think the House would do well to assent to the suspension of the Standing Orders, and I trust that my hon. Friend will not think it necessary to oppose the Motion.

§ MR. NORWOOD
said, that representing, as he did, with his hon. Colleague (Mr. C. H. Wilson), the large and important port of Hull, which was deeply interested in the matter, he rose to confirm every word that the hon. Gentleman the Chairman of Ways and Means had stated—that it would be a most serious calamity to Hull if the large works, now going on there, were suspended; and they must inevitably be suspended, if this Bill were not allowed to pass. The docks which were in course of construction at Hull by this Company were now very nearly completed, and were expected to be opened in the course of the year; but the fortunes of the Company would be greatly endangered if the powers now asked for were not granted. He believed that 2,000 men were paid off at the works on Saturday last, and that 4,000 more would be paid off from the docks and railway in the course of a few days. That, however, was not all the mischief; because an immense number of small shopkeepers and of persons engaged in providing for the wants and necessities of this mass of labourers and navvies would be placed in a position of great distress. He believed that no financial interest connected with the Company would be damnified by the proposal now before the House, and he would venture very strongly indeed to beg his hon. Friend the Member for South Durham (Sir Joseph Pease) not to persist in his threatened opposition to the second reading of the Bill. He believed there was no objection to the Bill being referred to a Select Committee, in order that a proper investigation might be made into the allegations contained in the Bill. On the part of the town which he represented, and the important interests involved, he thought it was 820 only right and just that these powers should be conceded.