§ MR. T. M. HEALYI beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade 685 whether his Department have considered the desirability of prescribing a standard gauge for electric trams in future Acts, so as to enable towns to be electrically connected in this country, as in America, without break of gauge.
§ * MR. GERALD BALFOURThe Board of Trade are fully aware of the importance of a uniform gauge, and when opportunity offers press their views on the subject upon promoters. I think it would be a mistake, however, to insist on the adoption of the standard gauge as an absolutely invariable rule; in hilly districts and in towns with very narrow streets it is sometimes desirable to adopt a gauge less than the usual 4 feet 8½ inches.