Drafting Amendments agreed to. (Hansard, 16 December 1902)

§ LORD BALFOUR OF BURLEIGH
moved to insert a new sub-Section in Clause 43 (payment of dividends till discharge of compensation). He said that the object of the Amendment was to meet the case of the Kent Company, the proprietors of which had the right, if the maximum dividend was not paid in any year, to have the arrears made up in subsequent years. The Amendment provided that the proprietors should not receive more than ten per cent, on the capital between the appointed day and the date of satisfaction. That period of time would, he hoped, be a short one, but it had been suggested, to remove all possibility of dispute, that this proviso should be inserted, and he believed it was a matter of agreement.

§ LORD COLERIDGE
proposed to amend Section 3 in order to provide that a director of a me ropolitan water company or a shareholder being himself beneficially interested in the share or shares standing in his name shall, until the compensation payable to the company is determined, be disqualified from being appointed or being a member of the Water Board. He said it seemed to him that the persons who were to enter into this contract should be without beneficial interest in it on one side or the other. This principle was carried through all their legislation. For instance, a licensing justice who might hold only one share in a brewery company at the other side of England was disqualified from acting as a licensing justice. Surely, it was only right, therefore, that no member of the Water Board should be a shareholder in any one of the companies which were to be purchased. They might be honest persons enough, but they could not be held to bo indifferent to the interests of the Water Companies of which they were shareholders. By only disqualifying a director, the Clause held out an encouragement to large shareholders to come forward for election on the Board. The Amendment would not affect trustees, and he hoped the noble Lord in charge of the Bill would accept it.

§ LORD BALFOUR OF BURLEIGH
said he agreed generally that it was not right that people on public boards should deal with matters in which they had a private interest. The Section disqualified a director, and the noble Lord sought to disqualify the shareholders also. That Amendment was unnecessary, because sub-Section (c) of Section 2 provided that a shareholder in any company should not vote at any meeting of the Board on any question in which such company was interested. He could not think it was necessary, in the case of a shareholder who might hold only a single share, to disqualify him from a seat on the Board. That would be carrying a sound principle much too far. The provision in the Bill went as far as was reasonable in the matter.

§ EARL CARRINGTON
called attention to the fact that there was no provision in the Bill for the retirement of a Joint Committee, and moved that the election of the members of Joint Committees be triennial. Unless some Amendment of this kind were inserted, the members would, he imagined, be elected for life.

§ LORD BALFOUR OF BURLEIGH
said the Joint Committee would only have the one function of electing a member to the Water Board. After it had done that, there would be no object in keeping the Joint Committee alive.

§ EARL CARRINGTON
submitted that as the Schedule at present stood the Joint Committee, when once elected, remained in office. No provision whatever was made for retirement.

§ LORD BALFOUR OF BURLEIGH
said it was intended to deal with this matter by regulation prepared by the Local Government Board. It was distinctly intended that the Joint Committees should have a terminable period of existence. He would not pledge himself that it would be three years—it might be convenient that they should be elected for three and a half or four years—but their tenure of office would be for a limited period.

§ EARL CARRINGTON
said he gladly accepted the noble Lord's assurance that power was taken by the Local Government Board to regulate this matter. But would the noble Lord insert the words "and term of office" after the word "constitution" in the Section which provided that the Local Government Board might make regulations as to the constitution of the Water Board? That would make the matter perfectly clear.

§ LORD BALFOUR OF BURLEIGH
said he was anxious to meet the noble Lord as far as possible, and, although he was doubtful as to the necessity of the suggested Amendment, he would accept it on condition that the noble Lord would not think the Amendment was not adhered to by the Government in another place.

§ LORD WELBY
inquired what the effect would be of the Amendment moved by the noble Lord on Report inserting, in Clause 9, page 7, line 8, after ''agreement.' the words "made in accordance with the provisions of Section 2 of this Act."

§ LORD BALFOUR OF BURLEIGH
said that Clause 9 provided that the compensation to the New River Company for the transfer of their undertaking should be discharged wholly in water stock, and should, in default of agreement, be determined by arbitration. Section 2 directed that any agreement for the transfer of the undertaking of the Company should require confirmation by the Court of Arbitration. The object of the Amendment was to make it clear that this would apply to an agreement under the firstnamed Section, so that there would be no dispute as to the necessity for confirmation.