LORD COLVILLE OF CULROSSsaid, that two years ago, on the Motion of a noble Earl (Earl de la Warr), a Royal Commission was appointed to inquire into the causes of railway accidents, and 1096 perhaps, considering the magnitude of the inquiry, we must not be astonished that the Commission had not yet reported. It appeared, however, very desirable that the Commissioners should, with as little delay as possible, give the public the benefit of their opinions on the subject of continuous brakes. In the month of June last several of the leading railway companies, at great expense and inconvenience, conducted for the Commission a series of experiments which extended over a week. On that occasion 10 or 11 forms of brakes were submitted to the tests that were applied; but, up to this time, not a single word had been published by the Railway Accidents Commission as to the results of the experiments. No doubt a continuous brake was a valuable appliance for the prevention of railway accidents, and some companies had adopted it to a certain extent; but it could hardly be expected that pending the issue of the Report of the Royal Commission the companies would go to the very considerable expense of applying continuous brakes to all their rolling-stock. The Great Northern Railway Company were trying Smith's vacuum brake; but the application of it cost £50 in the case of an engine and £15 for every vehicle, and, therefore, the adoption of the brake for every engine and carriage would involve a very serious outlay. He was under the impression that it would be very desirable that a uniform brake should be adopted by all railway companies in the United Kingdom. Every day "through" carriages were run from London to Inverness and Aberdeen, passing over the systems of four or five different companies, and if one adopted Smith's vacuum brake, another Westinghouse's, and a third the chain brake, great confusion would arise in the management of through trains. He thought he had stated enough to justify him in putting the Question of which he had given Notice; and he would, therefore, ask the noble Earl sitting behind him (the Earl of Aberdeen), as the present Chairman of the Railway Commission, Whether, with reference to the experiments upon various descriptions of continuous brakes provided for them by a number of the leading railway companies in June, 1875, the Royal Commissioners upon railway accidents intend to recommend any particular 1097 brake for adoption by the Railway Companies of the United Kingdom?
LORD HOUGHTONdesired to ask the noble Chairman of the Royal Commission, Whether there was any prospect of the conclusion of the important labours of the Commission, by which the railway interest might be seriously affected? Before the appointment of the Commission many serious accidents had occurred, and it was hoped that the Commission might be able to make suggestions by which a recurrence of such accidents might be prevented. The public and the railway world had anxiously waited for such counsel and advice as the Commission might be able to give; but two years had elapsed without the satisfaction of that anxiety. Doubts were expressed at the time as to the utility of appointing a Commission at all, and whether any practical good would come of it, and those doubts seemed to derive some confirmation from the long delay which had occurred in the making of a Report; which delay suggested that the Commission had had great difficulty in coming to any conclusion, and that, after all, the question of preventing railway accidents must remain much as it stood before the appointment of the Commission.
§ THE EARL OF ABERDEENI should have been glad to give an answer to the Question of the noble Lord near me, were it not for the obvious consideration that since it is the business of a Royal Commission to present the results of their investigations in the form of a humble Report to the Queen, it would be not only premature, but irregular, if any statement were made in your Lordships' House for the purpose of disclosing any portion of the probable contents of that Report. As to the experiments to which my noble Friend has referred, they were of an extensive character, the necessary materials and appliances being provided by an association of the leading railway companies in a very liberal and complete manner. The Commissioners, on their part, were enabled to secure the valuable services of two eminent engineers, assisted by a detachment of Sappers, under the command of officers of the Royal Engineers; so that everything had been conducted in the most accurate and reliable manner. The trials were public, they were witnessed by a very large 1098 number of gentlemen professionally connected with railways, and the general experiments were witnessed by the representatives of the Press, and appeared at the time in the newspapers. I am not aware that any statement or intimation was made by the Commissioners to the effect that those experiments were made for the purpose of enabling them to pronounce an opinion as to which of the various brakes was per se the best. In answer to the noble Lord opposite (Lord Houghton), I may add that, though every effort will be made to complete the Report, it is impossible to fix the exact date when it will be presented; the magnitude of the subject to which both the noble Lords have alluded making it necessary that the whole matter should be gone into with completeness.
§ EARL COWPERsaid, the remarks of noble Lords impressed him with the advantage of leaving, as much as possible, the adoption of inventions and appliances for the prevention of railway accidents to the Railway Companies themselves. He thought if it had not been for the appointment of the Commission, it appeared probable that some effective form of brake would have been adopted before this by the Railway Companies. As it was, they were waiting for the Commission, fearful lest they should incur great expense and then find that they had all to do over again. He felt strongly that the great thing was to make railway directors feel that they were responsible for the safety of the public, and to leave them to adopt the best plans for preventing accidents. A great stimulus to railway directors to provide for the safety of passengers lay in the fact that they were liable to very heavy damages in the event of an accident.
§ EARL DE LA WARRdesired to say, in answer to the noble Lord opposite (Lord Houghton), that some excuse must be made for the non-production of the Report of the Commission, for when it had almost come to the close of its labours in the taking of evidence, and was about to prepare the Report, the noble Chairman (the Duke of Buckingham) was appointed to a high office in India, and this led to very considerable delay; for the noble Chairman, in order to complete as far as possible the draft Report, took it with him to Port Saïd; and not 1099 only took the Report, but also took the Secretary, so that the Commission was for two or three months not only without its Report, but also without its Secretary.