HIGHWAYS BILL—(No. 177.) (Hansard, 1 August 1878)

§ VISCOUNT CRANBROOK

, in moving that the Bill be now read the second 857 time, stated that the main point almost of the Bill was that whereas, when Highway Boards existed, the district rates were only applied now to the salaries of the officers and disturnpiked roads, it was proposed that they should be applied to the maintenance of all the roads — that there should not be separate parochial rates for parochial roads, but that the district rates should be applied to the whole district with one exception. There was never any proper audit provided for under the Highway Act. The Poor Law auditor under this Bill would have power to examine the highway accounts. The highway authorities, in case they put the roads under Highway Boards, were counselled by the Bill to make the districts coterminous with sanitary districts. If the Highway Boards neglected their duty, the Local Government Board could interfere. There were two Acts existing— the 24 & 25, and 28 & 29 Vict.—with respect to locomotives on the roads, and in this Bill there was some provision for altering the conditions mentioned in those Acts, especially in regard to the use of a flag and the size of the locomotive. It provided that the locomotive should be so constructed as to consume its own smoke. That provision was not compulsory with regard to the consumption of all the smoke, as that was practically impossible. There was power for the local authorities to make bye-laws restricting the locomotives to a certain number of hours in which they could be employed on the roads, and he thought it would be a very advantageous thing to know the hours during which the locomotives would not be on the roads, for many horses were much disturbed by them. The Bill did not lay down any great principle, but rather contained a number of Amendments, to which he would invite their Lordships' attention in Committee.