§ MR. SINCLAIR (Falkirk, &c.)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether, before the Second Reading of the Provisional Order Bills (Railway Rates), he will lay upon the Table a Comparative Statement of existing actual rates and proposed maximum rates for certain typical articles carried between selected centres of trade, to enable the House to judge of the probable effect of the rates proposed by the Board of Trade?
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE (Sir M. HICKS BEACH, Bristol, W.)In consequence of representations made to me by a deputation on behalf of certain traders, a Return has been ordered of actual rates from a number of selected stations and in respect to a number of selected articles. This Return is in course of preparation, and will, I hope, be ready before the Joint Committee, to which I trust that the Bills will be referred, sits. I do not, however, think that the Second Reading of the Bills can usefully be deferred until the Return is circulated.