§ SIR JOSEPH DIMSDALE (London)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been called to the pending Bill for incorporating a company, under the name of the Metropolitan Pneumatic Despatch Company, for the purpose of laying pipes for pneumatic despatch under the streets of the county of London; and whether, having regard to the fact that a Royal Commission has under consideration the state of London streets and the best mode of preventing the congestion of traffic, he will oppose the grant of further powers of breaking up the streets and impeding traffic to a private company until that Commission has reported.
§ MR. BENN (Devonport)May I at the same time ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, having regard to the number of pipes and wires already occupying the subsoil of the principal London thoroughfares, and the interference with traffic arising from the breaking up of streets, the Government will oppose new and extensive powers of using the subsoil being granted to a private company such as 1528 that proposed to be constituted by the Pneumatic Despatch Company's Bill; and whether any communication on the subject of the Bill has taken place between the Government and the London County Council as the main drainage authority, the owner of an extensive system of London tramways, and the central representative authority of the Metropolis.
§ THE POSTMASTER-GENERAL (Lord STANLEY,Westhoughton) Lancashire,As this affects my Department, perhaps I may be allowed to reply. I have received representations from the London County Council and the Corporation of the City of London with reference to the Bill; those bodies point out the great inconvenience which will result to the inhabitants of London from so extensive an interference with the streets of the Metropolis as that contemplated by the proposed company. I share this view, and I am unable to see that any advantage for the postal service could be derived from the creation of a system of pneumatic despatch which would counterbalance the grave evils arising from the construction and maintenance of a new and extensive system of underground tubes. I therefore view with disfavour the proposals of the Bill, and am strongly of opinion that no such measure should be proceeded with until the Royal Commission which is considering the question of London traffic has made its Report. I am acting entirely in harmony with the City Corporation and the London County Council in this matter.