HL Deb 14 July 1870 vol 203 cc232-3

Order of the Day for the House to be put into Committee, read.

LORD REDESDALE

said, he had given Notice of an Amendment which he proposed to move on the Report, extending the term of the concession to be granted to promoters to a period not exceeding 63 years, at the end of which term the tramway was to be given up in a good condition to the local authority. The information at present possessed upon the subject of tramways did not warrant the conclusion that they would be an unquestionable success; indeed, the Report which had been made to the War Department upon the subject of road-traction engines showed that conveyances of that kind would very soon come into general use. The Report to which he referred stated that an omnibus was now being constructed with india-rubber wheels, to carry 65 passengers, and could be easily adapted, both in size and power, to carry a whole company of infantry, and run over the road at from six to ten miles an hour, at a cost of wear and tear, including depreciation of plant, of 2d. per ton per mile. This would be a great competitor with the tramways, and the promoters of such schemes should bear in mind what a formidable rival was likely to come into competition with them.

THE EARL OF KIMBERLEY

said, he was not prepared to offer any opinion on that part of the Report to the War Department to which the noble Lord had referred; but he thought that the fact that a large number of persons were willing to invest their money in tramway schemes, and were anxious to carry them out, was sufficient justification for granting them Parliamentary powers.

House in Committee.

New clauses added, one authorizing the Board of Trade to issue a Provisional Order, under certain circumstances, authorizing the construction of a tramway where the local authority refuse their consent; the other authorizing the promoters of any tramway, which shall have been opened for traffic for a period of six months, to sell their undertaking to any person, corporation, or company, or to the local authority of the district.

Further Amendments made.

The Report of the Amendments to be received on Tuesday next; and Bill to be printed as amended. (No. 204.)