§ THE EARL OF MALMESBURYcalled the attention of Her Majesty's Government to the unsatisfactory manner in which the Act for regulating Traffic in the Metropolis, 30th and 31st of Victoria, is enforced, in consequence of not sufficiently extending the special limits authorized by the said Act. His Notice had more especial reference to the discipline of the street traffic of London so far as it affected the footways and the comfort of foot passengers. In 1867 the Government of Lord Derby passed a Bill to regulate the traffic of the streets of London, which had increased so enormously as to render it necessary to introduce a Bill conferring on the police the powers necessary to regulate it. Since that time, no doubt, the 1517 traffic of foot passengers had been diminished by the construction of underground railways; but it would always be very great; and there were some localities in which the traffic—especially as regarded the safety of foot passengers—would always require regulation, and he hoped the Government would insist upon the more complete enforcement of the Act of 1867. That Act contained provisions for the suppression of several causes of inconvenience to pedestrians. Among other sections was one which made it illegal to unload coals from waggons between the hours of 10 in the morning and 6 in the evening, or to unload casks by means of a rope or chain across the footways; but this section did not apply to a thoroughfare till such thoroughfare was brought within the "special limits" by the Secretary of State and the Commissioners of Police. No doubt it was intended at the time of the passing of the Act that the whole of London should not be at once brought under it; but that, commencing with the largest thoroughfares, the authorities should gradually increase the number of streets to which the limitation should apply until all the streets were brought under the Act. He knew that that was the course which the late Sir Richard Mayne had proposed to adopt; but it had not been adhered to. Restricting himself entirely to the nuisances to which pedestrians were exposed, he considered that one of the greatest was the unloading of coals from waggons, which went on at all hours of the day when the streets were fullest of people. This occurrence was most common in those districts which were not so directly under the observation of the Commissioners. It was a very common and great nuisance in winter, because almost everybody, partly from carelessness and partly from overlooking the fact, that in summer coals could be purchased at 20 to 30 per cent cheaper than in winter, waited until they were reminded by cold weather, when they hastened to lay in their supply when they were higher in price, and the streets filled with mud and slush. The consequence was, that in the latter end of November and the beginning of December, when the severe weather set in, coals were being unloaded in all directions. During all hours of the daylight last winter, and the winter before, this was the case. He (the Earl 1518 of Malmesbury) walked out on two occasions in the month of December through South Audley Street, Portman Square, Gloucester Place, Park Street, Manchester Square, Duke Street, and down to Oxford Street. While taking that walk he was driven from one side of the street to the other no fewer than 15 times. No sooner had he crossed from one side where coals were being unloaded than he came upon the same operation at the other side. The pavement was covered with coals, the vault was open, the cart was backed up to the footway, and in some cases the horses were not even "doubled up" but extended in line across the roadway. The weather was wet, the streets were at their worst, and the inconvenience to women and children obliged to walk through those streets must have been very great. The Act gave powers, which, if carried into effect, would be sufficient for the purpose, and he hoped Her Majesty's Government would give some attention to the subject.
THE EARL OF MORLEYsaid, the Act which the noble Earl had alluded contained a number of heterogeneous provisions; but there could be no question that it had been very beneficial in respect of the management of the traffic in the streets of the metropolis. The list of streets brought within its provisions was a very long one, and contained most of the great thoroughfares of the metropolis. The Act, as the noble Earl had stated, contained a special provision regarding the unloading of coals; but the proposition gave rise to considerable opposition when the measure was before Parliament. One ground of opposition to it was that put forward by the coal merchants, who said that if it were adopted their horses would be useless to them during many hours of the day. Of course it was desirable in carrying out an arrangement of this kind that care should be taken to avoid as much as possible anything that could give occasion for irritation. When the Act was passed it was proposed to include Park Lane and Piccadilly within its operation; but the Vestry of St. George's, Hanover Square, objected. It was proposed also to include Blackman Street, and other thoroughfares in the Borough, but a Vestry on that side of the water objected. All those streets had since been included. There were difficulties in the way of extending 1519 the "special limits" in the way the noble Earl suggested; but during the past year six new streets had been included within the special limits. The Commissioner of Police, in selecting such roads, had made it his business to ascertain through which thoroughfares the great business of the metropolis passed, and to these the special limits were confined. If the noble Earl thought there were other streets which should be included, the Commissioner would be ready to consider them; but for his own part—though he quite sympathized with the noble Earl—he believed there was not sufficient inconvenience in the streets mentioned by the noble Earl to justify their being placed under the Act. Of course, streets would be added to the list from time to time; but the universal application of the powers of the Act would require serious consideration.
§ THE EARL OF MALMESBURYobserved that the streets he had referred to were certainly principal streets with a large passenger traffic from the north and south of London. As to a class interest, such as that of the coal merchants objecting, it must be expected that some class interest would be opposed to every improvement. If the horses were occupied in the morning they could not be used in the day—it came to the same thing in the end; but the coal merchants did not like it because they were not used to it.