RAILWAY COMPANIES.—RESOLUTION. (Hansard, 8 May 1874)

§ LORD REDESDALE
called the attention of the House to applications which are now frequently made to Parliament by Railway Companies for power to construct short lines for the development or improvement of lands, mines, or manufactories, the immediate object and direct effect of such lines being to enhance the value of particular private properties. In his capacity of Chairman of Committees, such cases constantly came under his notice. His views were expressed in this Resolution, which he would ask their Lordships to adopt—

§ THE EARL OF DUNMORE
, on the part of the Government, said, they, of course, concurred with his noble Friend the Chairman of Committees, in thinking that powers which would be refused to individuals on their own application should not be obtained by them through the intervention of Companies; but he desired to ask his noble Friend what would be the effect of the Resolution if adopted? If the object was to prevent Companies from taking lands for private advantage only, there should be an express direction to Select Committees to carry it into effect; but if it meant more, it should be expressed in definite language. But the Select Committees on Railway Bills had at present very ample powers, and he thought his noble Friend ought to submit his Resolution in the shape of a Standing Order before he asked their Lordships to adopt it.

§ THE DUKE OF CLEVELAND
was of opinion that the practice against which the Resolution of the noble Lord the Chairman of Committees was directed was one to be very much condemned. The power to take lands was always granted to Companies, but never to private individuals; and it was not desirable to enable private individuals to do through Companies what they could not obtain the power to do themselves. He should support the Resolution of the noble Chairman of Committees.

THE EARL OF AIRLIE
said, the Resolution was drawn up in very ambiguous terms—it might mean very much, or it might mean very little. Individual benefit might be alleged in the case of some of the most useful Railways, and rival Companies might set up individuals to oppose, under the terms of the Resolution, a line which would confer a great public benefit. A public advantage was not to be measured by the length of a line, 1905 or the acreage required for its construction. As to public benefit from these lines, surely it was an advantage to London, and to the iron, cotton, woollen, and other manufactures, that fresh coalfields should be opened. It was also for the public advantage that large supplies of coal should be rendered available for the foreign markets. He hoped that the House would look carefully at the matter before they adopted the Resolution of the noble Lord.

§ EARL GRANVILLE
concurred in what had just been said by the noble Earl in opposition to the Resolution. If the Select Committees did their duty properly, he did not sec any necessity for a Resolution or Standing Order to embody a principle in which all their Lordships were agreed with his noble Friend the Chairman of Committees. No doubt his noble Friend had given full Notice of his intention to propose this Resolution; but there seemed to be some misunderstanding on the subject; therefore, if his noble Friend wished to have the matter more fully considered, he would recommend him to bring forward his proposal in another form.

§ THE DUKE OF RICHMOND
entirely agreed in the Resolution of his noble Friend (Lord Redesdale) as an abstract proposition; but he would ask their Lordships what effect this Resolution, if adopted, would have? In his opinion, the question was one for the Select Committee which inquired into each particular Bill. If he were Chairman of a Select Committee on a railway, the mere expression of an opinion would have no effect whatever upon him. The question was for the Committee. If the line asked for was shown to be for the benefit of any particular individual, and not for the benefit of the public, no Committee would grant to the promoters of such a line powers to take the land of persons who did not want the line. An abstract Resolution of this kind would have no effect whatever; and it would be very difficult to draft it into a Standing Order. He concluded, therefore, that it would be unwise for their Lordships to deal with the subject at all, unless it could be put into some substantial form.

EARL GREY
said, that Parliament ought not to over-ride individual rights for the sake of private advantage; and this was a grievance against which the Resolution was directed. He thought 1906 that if the House came to any Resolution on a subject of public importance, it would be the duty of the Select Committee to frame their proceedings so that they should be in accordance with the general rule so laid down.

§ LORD CARLINGFORD
thought that this short discussion had at least shown this—that questions as to public and private interests were so nice, and varied so much in the individual cases, that they could not be concluded by any general rule, and that it was eminently a question for the decision of each Committee, and was not to be regulated by a Standing Order or Resolution of the House. He agreed with the suggestions which had fallen from the noble Duke.

THE MARQUESS OF BATH
agreed with the noble Lord as to the difficulty of drawing a line between public and private interests. It might well be that in some of these lines, while there was much private benefit, there might be much public advantage also, and it must be the business of the Committee in each case to decide how far the proposition was brought forward for private advantage only, or would secure a public benefit. No doubt, most of the lines referred to would be for the public advantage by the cheapening the production of coal and minerals; but public grounds might very easily be put forward as a pretext for forwarding purely private interests. He thought the noble Earl (the Earl of Airlic) was wrong ill supposing that it would be for the interest of railway companies to put up individuals to oppose short lines under the Resolution now proposed.

§ LORD REDESDALE
, in withdrawing the Motion, said, he had some satisfaction in this—that almost every noble Lord seemed to agree in the principle which he desired to carry out, and he thought that it would not be easy to word a Resolution in a more clear manner than he had done. He should, however, not divide the House upon a matter upon which they seemed to desire further information.