MOTOR-CARS IN HYDE PARK. (Hansard, 3 July 1905)

THE EARL OF ROSSLYN,
who had given notice to ask His Majesty's Government "(1) at whose suggestion, by what authority, or by whose initiative Hyde Park has been closed to motors and electric cars? (2) on what grounds the order has been issued? (3) whether the order is aimed at any particular section of society, and, if not, whether electric carriages may not again be allowed by His Majesty's Government to enter the park during the hours at present forbidden to them, said:" My Lords, I would not trouble your Lordships by making any observations on this question had it not been that I desire, with your Lordships' permission, to withdraw the words "at whose suggestion" and "by whose initiative" in the first paragraph of my Question. It has come to my knowledge, since I put this notice upon the Paper, that the prohibition of motor-cars between certain hours in Hyde Park has been hastened, if not actuated, by some annoyance to the greatest lady in the land; and I think, therefore, your Lordships will agree with me that I should not have asked this Question in that sense, for there is nowhere where we respect Her Majesty more than in this House, and regret that any annoyance has been caused to her.
Be the story right or wrong, I at least feel entitled to ask the representative of the Office of Works upon what authority the park has been closed to motor 724 and electric cars. I have before me the Public Parks Act of 1872, paragraph 9 of which says distinctly that any rule made in pursuance of this Act shall be forthwith laid before the Houses of Parliament, if Parliament be sitting, or, if not, then within three weeks after the beginning of the then next ensuing session of Parliament, and if any such rule shall be disapproved of by either House of Parliament within one month after it has been laid on the Table, such parts as shall be disapproved shall not be sanctioned. This Order has not been laid before Parliament. I have looked through the schedule, and I see a provision in paragraph 6 that no person shall ride or drive on any road which may be declared unfit for use owing to repairs or for any other special reason; but, again, it has to be referred, by paragraph 9, to the Houses of Parliament.
I understand that a reply to the Question has been given in another place to the effect that the smoke, smell, noise, and dirt emanating from motor-cars are the reasons why they have been prohibited. Assuming that there is some strength in that argument as applied to petrol cars, it surely cannot be suggested that carriages and broughams propelled by electricity give out either smoke or smell, or create any noise. There is no carriage in the world quieter and better fitted to be allowed in the park than an electric brougham. I would ask His Majesty's Government, therefore, whether they cannot see their way to vary the order, and allow electrically - propelled carriages to enter the park during the hours at which they are now prohibited; and I at the same time ask under what authority the park has been arbitrarily closed to motors and electric cars.

THE FIRST COMMISSIONER OF WORKS (Lord WINDSOR)
My Lords, I have first of all to thank the noble Earl for having postponed this Question from last week owing to my inability to be in the House then to answer it. The noble Earl has asked me three specific Questions, and I think it would be convenient that I should answer them as they appear on I the Paper. In reply to the first Question 725 I have to say that it is by my suggestion, authority, and initiative that the regulation referred to has been issued. In the second Question the noble Earl asks on what grounds the order has been issued. My Answer is that great inconvenience was found by those using Hyde Park for various purposes in consequence of the noise, dust, danger, and smell of motor cars in considerable number, and in the interests of the large majority of persons using the park it was thought desirable to impose certain restrictions on motor-cars in the most crowded hours of summer afternoons. I confess I do not understand the beginning of the third Question. I had hoped that the noble Earl would have given some indication in the course of his remarks, as to what he meant by asking whether the order is aimed at any particular section of society. I do not know whether it has anything humorous at the bottom of it; but, owing no doubt to my stupidity, I am unable to discover the joke. I must say I regret that I do not see my way to alter the rule as it now stands or to differentiate between electric and other motor carriages.
I now come to the question as to the rule under which this authority has been exercised. The rule under which this authority is exercised is Rule No. 1 of the rules which were framed under the Parks Regulation Act of 1872, and dated April 28th, 1904. The rule provides that— Cycles, whether mechanically propelled or otherwise, and carriages and cars propelled or drawn by mechanical means shall only be admitted under such regulations as may from time to time be framed by the Commissioners of His Majesty's Office of Works. That rule was laid upon the Table of both Houses of Parliament, and under that rule the regulations in question have been framed. I may, perhaps, remind the House that many other regulations are made under this rule—regulations, for instance, concerning bathing in the Serpentine, or going upon the ice when the Serpentine is frozen over. There are all sorts of different occasions when regulations have to be specially made under the rule. I may also remind the House that a case was taken into the Courts the other day in order to get a 726 decision upon this very point, as to the legality of the regulations under the rule. The magistrate allowed a case to be stated for the Higher Court, and the Lord Chief Justice, with two other Judges concurring, gave judgment that the proceeding was absolutely legal.
I would only add one or two words upon the general question. I have seen it suggested that this regulation was simply the beginning of a series of persecutions of motor-cars on the part of the Office of Works, and that it might be followed by more serious restrictions in various other parts of the Metropolis. All that I can say is that even if the Prime Minister and my colleagues allowed me to act in so unreasonable a way, which I am quite sure they would not, nothing is more ludicrously far from my own intention. The reason for the regulation is a perfectly simple one. It is that certain roads in Hyde Park are greatly frequented by large numbers of persons for riding, driving, walking, and general enjoyment during certain months in the middle of the season, and, as I have said, the general inconvenience resulting to what I think may most unquestionably be called the very large majority of the people using the parks from the number of motor-cars and other mechanically-drawn carriages passing up and down, was found to be so great that it was necessary, within the limited hours when the park was most frequented, to exclude those vehicles by regulation.
The crux of the matter lies in the question whether discrimination can properly be made between different kinds of motors. I readily admit that hardship under such a regulation is felt by those who may have disposed of their horses and carriages, and who only have an electric brougham; but the difficulty of discrimination is greater than at first sight appears. I have gone into this question very carefully. I have consulted the Chief Commissioner of Police, and am bound to say that I am unable to convince myself that it is proper to put upon the police and park-keepers the responsibility of a discrimination which, although I am told it might very easily be made in nine cases out of ten, in the tenth case would lead to considerable difficulty. That is really 727 the reason for making the regulation. So far as I personally am concerned, I take the keenest interest in motors, and hope to see them developed as rapidly as possible in this country and put to their best possible uses; but to make the suggestion, as an hon. Member of the other House did in a letter to the papers, that the motor industry in Coventry was likely to be seriously imperilled because for three hours of the day, during three months in the year, electric carriages were excluded from two or I three roads in Hyde Park, seems to me one lacking so much in sense of proportion as hardly to be taken seriously. I can only say that this whole question has been fully considered, and I emphatically repeat that the regulation, for which I solely am responsible, has been passed in the interests of the large majority of persons using the park, and if Parliament or the public in general think I have been wrong, it is I, and I alone, who am to blame.

§ THE MARQUESS OF RIPON
My Lords, I quite agree with the noble Lord who has just sat down that there has been a great deal of exaggeration on this subject, and I am quite sure that the noble Lord has done his best to meet a difficulty which I admit to exist, but I must say I do not see why it should be impossible to draw a distinction between electric motors and other motors. They are really easy to distinguish. The noble Lord says that in nine cases out of ten it can be done, but it cannot be done in the tenth case. I am not quite sure about that. But, even if that is so, if he can reduce the number of motors in the park by nine-tenths during the hours in question he will have done a good deal to remove the difficulty. Electric broughams do not go much faster, if faster at all, than ordinary broughams drawn by fast horses; they make no smell; they are peculiarly easily managed, and I do not see why they should not be admitted although petrol motors may be excluded. I hope the noble Lord will reconsider that matter. There are people who have only an electric car, and it is hard upon them that they should be excluded from the use of the park at a time when I venture to submit their presence would do no harm to anybody.

LORD VIVIAN
My Lords, I desire to express regret at the Answer which has been given by the noble Lord the First Commissioner of Works. The explanation of the issuing of the regulation in question is that motor-cars make a noise and create a smell, and the reason for excluding electric broughams is that it is impossible to distinguish between a petrol motor and an electric motor. I think everyone will agree that the ordinary policeman can easily tell the difference, and there is a strong feeling that a great injustice has been done to electric car owners. I do not speak from any personal feeling in this matter, for I must almost apologise for possessing a petrol car. I hope the noble Lord the First Commissioner of Works will see his way at some future date to withdraw the order so far as electric cars are concerned.