The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-11-17 00:00:00

PRIVATE BILL LEGISLATION.

The month of November is always a busy one
in the preparation of measures for the coming
session of Parliament authorising the execution
of works of private enterprise. The daily papers
contain long columns of advertisements in small
type, technically known as Parliamentary notices
setting forth the intention of promoters of private
sch ems to apply to the Legislature for pow]: to
carry thorn out, and according to the number of
bids deposited at the Board of Trade by the
e /ening of the 30,h November an estimate nn y
sometimes be formed of the condition of the
commerce of the country. If there are many
bills it is assumed that the nation is prospering
and has plenty of spare capital to invest ; if the
time is one in depression in trade, the hills are
few, and there is but little moving. It has, how-
ever, occurred on more than one occasion that
the depositing of a large number of hills has
proved nothing more than that a period of in-
flation exists, and their being lodged at the
Board of Trade has been the precursor of a dis-
astrous collapse.
There are many who can carry their recollec-
tion hack to the year 1845, when Sir Robert
Peel was in power, and but for the Irish famine
the Queen reigned over a happy, contented and
prosperous people. The railway system was
then in its infancy and its development was
seized upon by thousands as a short cut to for-
tune. The 30th November, 1845, fell on a Sun-
d.y and the week preceding it has been des-
cribed as one of the most hurried and desperate
in the annals of raiiway history. it was the
last day on which plans for new schemes could be
lodged at the Board of frade, and specifications
for the amazing number of 788 new railway
schems were actually deposited. A large estab-
lishment of clerks was in attendance to register
the deposits, but towards midnight the deliveries
b :came so rapid that they were unable to keep
pace with the work. The entrance hall, accord-
ing to a chronicler of the scene, became very
inconveniently crowded and a general fear pre-
vailed that the formalities would not be gone
through before twelve o'clock; this however was
allayed by the assurance that admittance into
the hall before that hour would be sufficient to
warrant the reception of the documents. Arrivals
in hot haste from various parts of the country
took place until; the last moment, and even
after !he door was shut two or three parties
sought to project their plans into the building
but had them thrown back into the street. Such
is the description given of the incidents of Ad-
vent Sunday, 1845. We all know how the rueh
to Whitehall ended and how some months after-
wards a crash took place whieh shivered to pieces
the bubble schemes by scores and hundreds.
Twenty years afterwards there was again a large
number of bills deposited at the Board of Trade.
On the 30th November, 1865, as many as 595
schemes were deposited and again it was argued
that this was a sign of na'ional prosperity. Once
more the result belied the promise, and the fin-
ancial panic of 1866 scattered to the winds the
hopes which had been founded on such a slender
basis.

Amid the flood of oratory which has been
poured forth during the recess some hints have
been given of the necessity for a reform in the
existing system of private bill legislation which
has often been recognised as being entirely die-
ti.ict from party politics. Anything more cum-
b:ous and expensive than that in force at present
could scarcely be devised by the ingenuity of
man. It falls with speci,il severity upon little
commonities which, when they want an Improve-
ment Bill, or a Water Bill, or anything of the
sort, have to invoke the sanction of the Im-
perial Parliament and often at a considerable ex-
pense. The sanction of the Legislature is of
course essential but the wisdom of the Great
Council of the Nation ought to be equal to de-
viaing a plan whereby such sanction might be
obtained in a comparativly inexpensive manner.
I; has beenitruly enough said that Parliament
can pick up a pin or rend an oak. It requires
as many stages to pass a gas Bill for the small
town of Sligo as for a measure to disestablish
a State Church, or to create an Indian Empire.
To the ordinary intellect it does not seem clear
why such cumbrous and !complex forms should
be required to attain so small and simple an
object. An opposed private bill in Parliament,
owing to the expense of bringing witnesses from
a distance and maintaining them sometimes for
weeks at Westminster, frequently makes a
serious addition to the local burdens of a small
community. It has been suggested that a system
should be adopted stmething like that for the
trial of election petitions, and that instead of
going to Westminster, competent tribunals
s'iould be despatched from London to the local-
ities interested in private legislation. The
ilea is an oldone but year after year passes with-
out anything being attempted in that direction.
We have been told that there is a time for all
things ; so, living in hope, we must assume that
the time for carrying out a desirable and much-
needed reform will yet be at hand.