My Lords read the letter of Mr. Lefevre to Sir George Clerk, dated the 2nd instant, in which it is proposed that provision should be made for the appointment of two secretaries to the Railway Department of this Board, and of an Assistant Inspector, and the reply of the 5th instant, in which it is stated the approval of these arrangements by the Lords of the Treasury. My Lords are of opinion that they are not competent, without the aid of time and experience, to lay down definite and sufficient rules for the future practice of the Railway Department of this Board; but they have decided upon the following general instructions (subject, of course, to reconsideration hereafter, if in any particulars they should be found inapplicable or inconvenient) with respect to— 1. The constitution of a Board for the purpose of transacting railway business. 2. The preparation of minutes and reports. 3. The provisions to be made for obtaining adequate and early information. 1. My Lords are of opinion that, for the adequate and satisfactory discharge of the duties which, as is now proposed, will devolve upon this committee, it is desirable that a distinct Board should be constituted in the department for the despatch of railway business, and that such business shall be settled by written minutes, in the same manner as the ordinary business of this committee. The President, or Vice-President of the committee, will act as the head of the Board, and the remaining members of it will act as his advisers in all its transactions, and subject to his controlling authority. The ordinary members of the Board will be, besides the inspectorgeneral, and, in his absence, the assistant inspector, the superintendent and the joint secretaries. 2. Every minute of the Board upon a railway scheme, and every report upon a railway bill, to have the signatures of, First, the President or Vice-President of this committee; and, Secondly, three members of the Board, one of whom at least to be an engineering officer of the department. As respects minutes upon railway schemes, to be made before the bills for giving effect to them are framed, my Lords direct that whenever the department has formed an intention to prepare such a minute, whether upon the application of parties or otherwise, notice shall be given of that intention in the Gazette, for the information of those whom it may concern. G My Lords direct that in such notice shall be stated, as nearly as may be, the points into which inquiry is to be made, in connexion with the proposed line of railway. No such minute, unless of a preliminary or provisional nature, shall be signed until six weeks after such notice. Every such minute shall be published forthwith in the Gazette; and every such minute shall be laid on the table of both Houses of Parliament, fourteen days after the opening of the Session. Reports to Parliament on railway bills, shall be made within fourteen days, if there shall have been previous report on the schemes embodied in them respectively; and at all events within six weeks at the furthest from the receipt of any such bill. 3. As regards the measures to be taken for obtaining early and regular information respecting railway bills, and railway projects, before they have assumed the form of bills. Adverting to the resolutions already adopted by the House of Commons on the 19th July, and to those which it is the intention of the Vice-President to propose for adoption in the House of Lords, and also to the provisions contained in the Joint-stock Companies Registration and Regulation Bill (m), which, if that bill shall become law, will ensure the deposit in a public office, under the superintendence of this department, of all documents made public by the promoters of any such joint-stock undertaking, as may be formed subsequently to the passing of the act,―my Lords are of opinion that there will be adequate security for their being duly apprised, from time to time, of the origin and progress of future railway projects, up to the periods of the presentation of the bills. To make similar provision for their subsequent stages, before the passing of the acts of incorporation, my Lords will cause to be addressed to all the Parliamentary Agents, the circular hereto annexed (n). notice of Parliament," with a view to the examination of these bills by the Board, and to the resolution adopted by the House, "That, in the case of railway bills, a copy of every bill annexed to a petition be deposited in the office of the Board of Trade, on or before the day of presentation of the petition to the House," I am directed by the Lords of the Committee of Privy Council for Trade, to call your attention to the course of proceedings with regard to railway bills entrusted As regards railway projects already announced to the public, during the present year, and now in existence, but not having assumed the form of law, my Lords direct a list to be prepared of these, and the circular letter hereto annexed, to be addressed to the solicitors or other leading promoters of them. Having thus shewn the constitution of the Railway Department of the Board of Trade during the Session of 1845, to your charge, which will become necessary, in order to give effect to the proposed supervision of the Board of Trade over such bills during their progress through Parliament. My Lords will be desirous of exercising this supervision with the least possible interference with the ordinary progress of Parliamentary business; and with this view, they conceive that the most convenient course will be to require that the information necessary to enable them to form a judgment on the bill, at its different stages, should be furnished to them by the agents, at the same times as such information is required to be lodged at the Private Bill Office, by the Standing Orders of the House. Accordingly, my Lords think fit to propose, in regard to railway bills 1. That a copy of such filled-up bill, as proposed to be submitted to the committee, as is deposited, in compliance with the 136th Standing Order, in the Private Bill Office, at or before the time of giving notice to the committee, be at the same time deposited in the office of the Railway Department of the Board of Trade. 2. That a printed copy of every bill, as amended in committee, except in cases wherein the committee shall report the amendments to be merely verbal or literal, be deposited by the agent for the bill, at the office of the Railway Department of the Board of Trade, three clear days at least be fore the consideration of the Report. 3. That in the case of railway bills, where it is intended to bring up any clause, or to propose any amendment in the Report, or the consideration of the Report, or on the third reading of any bill, notice shall be given thereof, and a copy of such clause or amendment deposited in the office of the Railway Department of the Board of Trade, on the day previous to such Report, or consideration of the Report, or third reading. 4. That in the case of railway bills, where amendments made by the House of Lords to any bill sent up to them are to be taken into consideration, a copy of the same be deposited by the agent for the bill, in the office of the Railway Department of the Board of Trade, on the day previous to the same being proposed to be taken into consideration. In fixing the same periods for the deposit of information regarding railway bills in the Railway Department of the Board of Trade, as is required by the Standing Orders of the House, in regard to the deposit of similar information in the Private Bill Office, my Lords wish, however, to call your attention to the desirableness of furnishing, in all cases, copies of railway bills, and information respecting them, at the earliest periods when it may be found practicable. I am, &c. it now remains to be stated, that, after the Board had reported to Parliament upon all the schemes brought before them during that Session (o), it was deemed desirable to make some alterations in the mode of conducting the business of the railway department; and, on the 10th July, 1845, the following minutes were agreed to:— At the Council Chamber, Whitehall. By the Right Honourable the Lords of the Committee of Privy Council, appointed for the consideration of all matters relating to Trade and Foreign Plantations. My Lords read and considered the minute of the Lords of the Committee of Privy Council for Trade, dated the 6th August, 1844, relative to the constitution and mode of proceedings of the railway department. Having adverted to the various important changes which have been effected by the House of Commons, during the present session, in the constitution and proceedings of the select committees appointed to consider the provisions of railway bills; and considering that this altered state of circumstances appears to render it unnecessary that the railway department should continue, in pursuance of the recommendation of the select committee on railways of 1844, to submit to Parliament reports on the comparative merits of railway schemes, my Lords are of opinion, that it is desirable to make certain alterations, in the form of the railway department, and in the rules for conducting railway business. 1. My Lords are of opinion that the distinct board constituted by the minute of 6th August, 1844, should be discontinued, and that all railway business should thereafter be transacted by the Lords of the Committee of Privy Council for Trade, in the same manner as the ordinary business of this committee. 2. All such railway business, however, shall be transacted by proceedings distinct from the ordinary business of the committee. The despatch of railway business shall be conducted by separate written minutes, and the directions and decisions of the Lords of the com (0) Mr. Laing states, in his evidence given before the Select Committee on Railway Bills, (2nd Report), that, for the Session 1845, plans and projects were deposited at the Board of Trade, by the promoters of 248 distinct projects. Upwards of 700 plans were deposited previously to the Session 1846. mittee, shall be carried into effect by the several officers of the railway department. 3. Reports will not hereafter be prepared for Parliament, conveying the opinion of the Lords of this committee, on the merits of any railway project, or on the comparative merits of competing schemes. 4. But in order that my Lords, with a view to guarding the public interest, may have at all times an accurate knowledge of the objects of the various railway schemes, and of the extent of the powers which the promoters desire to obtain, my Lords direct that the proper steps should be taken for submitting to the two Houses of Parliament (p), the necessity of adopting resolutions requiring the promoters of the various schemes, to deposit, as heretofore, at the Board of Trade, a copy of the plans, sections, &c. (2) It would also be expedient that they should be required to deposit, concurrently with their plans and sections, a sketch of the proposed lines, on an ordnance map of England, or on a scale equal to such ordnance map (r), and also a written statement, containing a description of the railway, its course, its advantages, its proposed fares and charges, and the principal provisions of the bill which they intend to introduce (s). It would further be desirable, that the promoters should deposit, as heretofore, with the Board of Trade, a copy of the bill, as well as of such amendments as may be made during its progress (†). 5. If, upon examination of any railway bill, it should seem expedient to the Lords of this committee, to draw the attention of Parliament to its provisions, or to circumstances connected with it, my Lords, after the commencement of the session, and from time to time, as they may see fit, will direct a report to be prepared accordingly. Such report shall have reference to the following subjects:1st. All questions of public safety. 2nd. All departures from the ordinary usage of railway legislation, where such usage has been sufficiently established. (p) By referring to the Standing Orders, it will be seen that these recommendations have been attended to by the Legislature. (9) See Lords' Standing Ord., No. 227, sect. 1, ante, 42; and Commons' Standing Ord., No. 23 a, ante, 54. (r) See Lords' Standing Ord., No. 227, sect. 1, ante, 42; and Commons' Standing Ord., No. 23 a, ante, 54. (s) See Commons' Standing Ord., No. 102 a, ante, 68. (t) See Lords' Standing Ord., No. 227, sect. 2, ante, 42; Id. 234, sect. 4, ante, 49; and Commons' Standing Ord., No. 39, ante, 57. |