ence of Works 8. Superintend- works, on the side of roads adjoining a railway, to prevent horses from being frightened: (Sects. 63, 64.) after opening. Entry on adjoin ing lands to The Board of Trade are also enabled, in certain specified cases, repair accidents, to authorize companies to take possession of lands adjoining to &c. 5 & 6 Vict. c. 55, s. 14. Revival of com. pulsory powers in respect of additional lands. Sect. 15. Railway carriages. railways. Thus, the Board may empower a company, in case of an accident or slip happening, or being apprehended, to any cutting, embankment, or other work, to enter upon lands adjoining the railway, to repair or prevent the accident, and to do any necessary works. In cases of necessity, the company may enter and execute the works, without previous sanction, the company taking care, within 48 hours after such an entry, to report to the Board the nature of the accident, and the works necessary. But these powers cease, if the Board, after considering the report, certify that they are not necessary for the public safety; and no land may be taken permanently for such works, without a certificate from the Board of Trade. So, in cases where the compulsory powers of purchasing and taking lands have expired, if the Board of Trade certify that the public safety requires additional land to be taken," for the purpose of giving increased width to the embankments, and inclination to the slopes of railways, or for making approaches to bridges or archways, or for doing such works for the repair or prevention of accidents as are hereinbefore described," the compulsory powers of taking land, which may be contained in the act of the company, revive, so far as regards the portions of land mentioned in the certificate. It may be added here, that the Board of Trade have power under the Regulation of Railways Act, 1868, s. 20, to exempt railway companies from the obligation to provide smoking carriages; and that by sect. 22 of the same act, it is for the Board of Trade to approve the means of communication between passengers and the servants of the companies which are required to be provided under that section. 9. Bye-laws. 9. Authority of the Board of Trade to sanction Bye-laws. The jurisdiction of the Board of Trade over bye-laws depends chiefly upon certain enactments contained in 3 & 4 Vict. c. 97, which, after reciting that companies were or might be authorized to make bye-laws, and impose penalties "upon persons other than servants of the company," and after providing for bye-laws made before the passing of that act (A.D. 1840), enacts as to future bye-laws, that no "such" bye-law, order, rule or regulation annulling any existing bye-law, shall have any force, until two months after a copy of such bye-law shall have been laid before the Board, unless the Board shall before such period signify their approbation thereof. The Board are also authorized, at any time either before or after any bye-law, &c. laid before them shall have come into operation, to notify to the company their disallowance thereof, aud, in certain cases, the time at which it shall cease to be in force; and no bye-law, &c. so disallowed has any force (3 & 4 Vict. c. 97, s. 9) (h). It was afterwards provided by the Companies Clauses Act, 1845, 8 & 9 Vict. c. 16, ss. 124, 125, that companies might make bye-laws " for regulating the conduct of the servants of the company," and impose reasonable penalties for the breach of them; and by the Railways Clauses Act, 1845, 8 & 9 Vict. c. 20, ss. 108, 109, that companies might, "subject to the provisions of" 3 & 4 Vict. c. 97, make byelaws "for better enforcing the observance of all regulations made (inter alia) generally for regulating the travelling upon or using and working the railway." It may be collected from the foregoing enactments (although they are not very clearly expressed), that the power to make bye-laws, upon persons other than officers and servants, is still in theory preserved to railway companies, as it existed before the statute, subject Disallowance of bye-laws. 3 & 4 Vict. c. 97, s. 9. servants. to the control of the Board of Trade. But it seems that the Board Bye-laws as to of Trade have no jurisdiction over bye-laws regulating the conduct of the servants of the company. The words of the 108th and 109th sections of the Railway Clauses Act are no doubt wide, and grammatically include the servants of the company; but the 109th section must be taken to incorporate the 8th section of 3 & 4 Vict. c. 97, and that latter section by the use of the word "such" must be taken expressly to exclude the servants of the company from its general operation. The Companies Clauses Act does not seem to affect the legal point. By sect. 124, bye-laws as to servants are not to be repugnant to the provisions of the "special act," and as the Railways Clauses Act must be taken to be part of each special railway act, it is the Railways Clauses Act, not the Companies Clauses Act, which governs the question. And since the Railways Clauses Act leaves bye-laws as to servants unaffected, the companies may make such bye-laws under either act, as they think proper. The Board of Trade have framed three model codes of bye-laws for English, Scotch and Irish railways respectively, to which all the companies have assented. The three codes are very nearly alike, (h) Some special acts of early date contained provisions requiring the approval of bye-laws by justices, but these provisions Bye-laws for travelling. regulating 9. Bye-laws. Explosives. the only important differeuce being that the Irish code contains a bye-law against gambling which is not to be found either in the English or Scotch code. Companies coming into existence after the model codes were formed, may frame bye-laws of their own; but as they have no force unless sanctioned by the Board of Trade, that Board has practically the power of compelling these companies also to adopt the model codes. The English code is set out at length in a subsequent chapter (i). The Board of Trade also sanctions bye-laws regulating the carriage of gunpowder and other explosive substances, under the Explosives Act, 1875, 38 Vict. c. 17, s. 32 (k). 10. Asto Proseci 10. Authority of the Board of Trade to originate Prosecutions, and tions and Legal Proceedings. If railway companies contravene statutes, Board of Trade to certify the same to the AttorneyGeneral, who shall proceed against them. 7 & 8 Vict. c. 85, s. 17. 21 days' notice to company. Sect. 18. Limitation. other Legal Proceedings. The Board of Trade were authorized by a statute passed in 1840 (l) to take certain steps to compel railway companies to comply with the provisions contained in their special acts of Parliament; but that statute was superseded in 1844 by a more extensive measure. Whenever it appears to the Board of Trade that any of the provisions of the special acts, or of any general act relating to railways, have not been complied with by a company, or its officers, or that a company has acted or is acting in a manner unauthorized by statute relating to the railway, or in excess of the powers of such acts, and it also appears to the Board that it would be for the public advantage that the company shall be restrained from so acting, the Board "shall certify the same" to the Attorney-General; and thereupon the Attorney-General "shall," in case the default consist of noncompliance with the acts, proceed to recover penalties or forfeitures, or otherwise to enforce the due performance of the acts. In case the default consist in the commission of some act auauthorized by law, the proceeding must be to obtain an injunction to restrain the company from acting in such illegal manner, or to give such other relief as the nature of the case may require. But it is provided, first, that no certificate be given until 21 days after the Board has given notice to the company of their intention to give it; secondly, that no legal proceedings be commenced, except upon certificate, and within one year after offence committed. (i) See post. Chap. XII., Sect. 16, "Regu lations as to Bye-laws." It must be borne in mind that in theory it is the companies, and not the Board of Trade, who have the power of making bye-laws. (k) See Chap. XVI., Sect. 5, post. The Attorney-General is bound to act on receiving the certificate of the Board of Trade (m), and the Court will not inquire into the reasons for which the certificate was given (n). The Board of Trade may also, upon a certificate of the Board alleging a violation of sect. 2 of the Railway and Canal Traffic Act, 1854 (0)—or, of sect. 16 of the Regulation of Railways Act, 1868 (p), Application to Railway and -or, of any part of the Regulation of Railways Act, 1873 (q), appoint R. R. Act, 1873. any person," whether personally aggrieved or not, to apply to the Railway and Canal Traffic Commission for redress (). Chambers of Agriculture, and similar associations, have no locus standi before the Railway and Canal Traffic Commission, without previously obtaining a certificate from the Board that they are in the opinion. of the Board proper bodies to complain (s). No member of the public may apply for a through rate without having previously complained to and obtained a hearing from the Board (t); and the Board has a general, but rather vague power, of entertaining complaints by any person, or by any borough council, or similarly representative body, that a railway company is charging him an unfair or unreasonable rate of charge, or is in any other respect treating him in an oppressive or unreasonable manner, whereupon the Board, if they think there is reasonable ground for the complaint, may call upon the company for an explanation, and endeavour to settle amicably the differences which have arisen (u). A particular power, given by the 3rd section of the Railway and Canal Traffic Act, 1854, of procuring the Attorney-General to take proceedings under that act, although not extinguished, would seem to be rendered unnecessary by the Regulation of Railways Act, 1873. 11. Returns as to Tolls, Accounts and Traffic, Accidents, 11. Returns. By an act passed in 1840 (x), the Board of Trade may direct every Returns of tolls. railway company to deliver a table of all tolls, rates and charges, (m) Attorney-General v. Great Northern R. Co., 29 L. J., Ch. 794. (n) Attorney-General v. Oxford and Wolverhampton R. Co., 2 W. R. 330. (0) 17 & 18 Vict. c. 31, vol. II. The 2nd section prescribes the giving due facilities for traffic and forbids undue preference. (p) 31 & 32 Vict. c. 119, vol. II. The 16th section, par. 2 of which is repealed by the Act of 1888, but partially repeated (see p. 627, post) by s. 28 of that Act, forbids undue preference in cases where railway companies work steam vessels. (g) 36 & 37 Vict. c. 48, vol. II. See especially sects. 11, 14, 17, 18 and 20. (r) Regulation of Railways Act, 1873, 36 & 37 Vict. c. 48, s. 6; Railway and Canal Traffic Act, 1888, 51 & 52 Vict. c. 25, s. 1. Under (s) Act of 1888, s. 7, sub-s. (b). (t) Act of 1888, ss. 25, 31. (x) 3 & 4 Vict. c. 97, s. 3, vol. II. 11. Returns. Cotton statistics. Accounts. Acts of 1868, 1871, and 1888. Returns of accidents. from time to time levied on each class of passengers, and on cattle and goods conveyed by the railway (c); such returns to be required, in like manner, from all the companies, unless the Board specially exempt any of them. But these returns have never been required by the Board of Trade, so that no public department is in possession of general information as to the amounts of actual tolls, rates, and charges, and the differences between maximum and actual tolls, &c. Such differences for any time being are ascertainable only by a comparison of the tables published by the companies under the provisions of two recent statutes (y), with the clauses of the special act affecting that part of the line on which they are charged. A return of maximum rates and charges for passengers, animals, and goods, which the railway companies of the United Kingdom are authorized to make, was presented to the House of Commons in 1881. By 31 & 32 Vict. c. 33, railway companies are required to furnish to the Board of Trade monthly returns as to the amount of cotton forwarded by them. By the Regulation of Railways Act, 1868, s. 4, every railway company must forward to the Board of Trade a copy of its halfyearly statement of accounts. And by the Regulation of Railways Act, 1871, s. 9, every railway company must forward to the Board annual returns of their capital, traffic and working expenditure. In each case the Board may alter, with the consent of a company, the comprehensive forms set forth in the schedules to the respective statutes (2); and the Railway and Canal Traffic Act, 1888, 51 & 52 Vict. c. 25, enacts, by s. 32, that the returns under s. 9 of the Act of 1871, shall" include such statements as the Board of Trade may from time to time prescribe," altering the forms referred to in that section "in such manner as they think expedient." Returns of accidents, which had been previously required by the R. R. Act, 1871. act of 1840, and a subsequent act of 1842 (5 & 6 Vict. c. 56) amending it, are now entirely governed by the Regulation of Railways Act, 1871 (34 & 35 Vict. c. 78). That statute (sect. 6) prescribes that the railway companies concerned must furnish to the Board of Trade notice of any of the following accidents : (1) Any accident attended with loss of life or personal injury: (2) Any collision with a passenger train : (3) Any passenger train, or part of it, leaving the rails : (4) Generally, any accident likely to cause loss of life or personal injury," and which may be specified in that behalf by any (a) 3 & 4 Vict. c. 97, s. 3, vol. II. goods, 36 & 37 Vict. c. 48, s. 14, vol. II. (=) See Chap. II., Sect. 11, ante. |