The Sun.
London, England, 1837-08-29 00:00:00

TURNPIKE ROADS (IRELAND.) I

Ordered, by the House of Commons, to be Printed, 6th
July, 1837.
REPORT.
The Select Committee, appointed to inquire into the Mo-
nopoly enjoyed by persons in Ireland, on certain Roads
there ; how far the said Monopoly is consistent with
Law, the Convenience of Travellers, and the Revenue
of the Post-office ; also, into the best mode of removing
the said Monopoly, keeping in view the Rights of Pri-
vate Parties (if any) ; and to whom a petition from
Limerick was referred ; and who were empowered to re-
post their Observations, together with the Minutes of
the Evidence taken before them, to the House :—Have
considered the Matters to them referred, and agreed to

the following Report :
It appears manifest, from documentary evidence and
ample Reports* relating to the Turnpike Roads between
Dublin and Kilcullen, Naas and Limerick, Dublin and
Ashbournc, and between Cork and Kilworth Mountain,
that tolls, of an unusual character, are exigible on these
Roads.
It appears to your Committee, that the convenience of
travellers has been impeded, and the intercourse of the
public greatly interfered with, by the monopoly so effectu-
ally established by Messrs Bourne and Taylor between
Limerick and Dublin : and that complaints have been made
for many years past of the injurious and oppressive effects
of the tolls allowed to be levied upon these reads.
The origin of the evil complained of, as regards the Naas
and Limerick road, was an Act of the Irish Parliament,
passed in the year 1793, inflicting a penalty of ss. on each
horse attached to carriages plying for hire, under certain con-
ditions therein specified.
In the Petition presented by Messrs. Anderson and
Bourne to the Irish Parliament in 1793, they ask for the
same rate of tolls only as are payable " on the northern and
other roads at that time."
The following is a copy of that Petition, as taken from
the Journals of the Irish House of Commons :
" 20TH JUNE, 1793.—A Petition of John Anderson, of the
city of Cork, merchant, and William Bourne, of the city of
Dublin, gent., was presented to the House, and road, setting
forth, That in the year 1791 the Petitioners contracted to con-
vey his Majesty's Mails by coaches between Dublin and Lime-
rick. That, from the extreme bad condition of the road be-
tween Naas and Limerick, they have been compelled to lend
upwards of 2,0001. to hare some of it made passable, a large
part of which sum they have not a probability to ever receive.
That, to avoid part of one stage, the Mail- Coach has been,
and is, obliged to go near three miles about ; and that if a ge-
neral and effectual repair does not precede the winter, they
conceive the public must be deprived of the benefit of the
Mail-Coach Establishment, and that the Petitioners must sus-
tain great loss. That the present line of road is in general nar-
row, hilly, and circuitous; that, in several instances, a consi-
derable reduction of distance might be effected by making a
New Road between one town and another, and by taking off
angles, by which most, if not all, the hills would be avoided.
That the Petitioners believe the sum of 27,000/. would be re-
quisite to make the necessary and proposed improvements,
which sum the Petitioners, involved as they are, and seeing
no other prospect of being extricated, would lend to such per-
sons as might be appointed, on being properly secured, or
would advance, anti, under the penalty of 20,0001., covenant
within four years, to make such New Roads as upon survey
should be deemed necessary, and repair and put into complete
order such Old Road as should be continued of the line, and
would keep the entire line of road from Naas to Mar) borough
and Ballyroan, and from Maryborough to Limerick, in perfect
repair for thirty years, upon having the tolls made equal to
those on part of the Northern and other Roads, and assigned
to the Petitioners for the term of their agreement ; and there-
fore praying that a Bill may be brought in for the said
purpose."
The Petition was referred to the consideration of a Com-
mittee, who reported, by the Hon. Mr. Perry, resolutions
as follow : . .

Resolved, That it appears to this Committee that the
Petitioners have fully proved the allegations of their peti-
tion. Resolved, That it is the opinion of this Committee
that the Petitioners deserve the aid of Palrian-lent. And
thereupon it was ordered, that the Bill be brought in by the
Hon. Mr. Perry and 11r. Solicitor-General.
This Act, founded on the foregoing Petition, granted a
lease of the roads and tolls for thirty years from that date,
on certain conditions therein specified, as to upholding the
roads. . _

In this Act a power was given to levy a penalty of ss.
a horse on every coach on the roads from Dublin to Lime-
rick, protided the passengers therein exceeded nine in
number, being similar to an enactment obtained br i fluen
tiai persons near Limerick to protect the monopoly of car-
rying passengers to Dublin by the canal, against the com-
petition of a long coach or omnibus, introduced even in
these days to carry sixteen or eight een passengers at a cheap
rate.

In terms of the Petition on which the Act was framed
granting the lease of the tolls from Naas to Limerick, the
pa; men's to be made were to be the same as those on the
Northern and other roads. No fire shilling penalty ever
did apply to the Northern Roads, nor was it ever attempted
to apply the additional 4d. to the,e reads ; therefore it would
appear that the protection to the public held out in the Pc-
tet on of Messrs. Anderson and Bourne lied been infringed
for their benefit and to the disadvantage of the public.
In 1798 a Bill was brought into the Irish house of Com-
mons for making and repairing the road from Dublin to Kil-
eullen Bridge, and to the 21st milestone westward of the
said bridge. It was presented as a Public Bill by Mr. \Volfe.
The Original Title was,
" To explain and reduce into one Act the several laws
for making and repairing the Turnpike Road leading from
the city of Dublin to Kilcullen Bridge, in the county of
Kildare, and to the 21st Milestone westward of the said
Bridge ;" and to this the public may be supposed to have
assented.
The progress of the Bill was as follows :
Read first time 23d July, 1798.
Read second time and committed, 27th July.
Order to receive clauses, 30:h July.
In Committee, ib.
Reported with amendments, 31st July.
Read third time, '2sth August.
Amended at the table, and title altered, 25th August.
Passed,
Sent to Lords, Pa.
Agreed to by ditto, 30th August.
Thus it will be seen that in the original title of this Bill,
and which fairly may be held to be the only true and proper
one, no mention whatever is made of the extension of the
period covenanted for by the Act of 1793.
The said Bill was read a second time and committed,
without any mention whatever of said extension.
The Committee was then empowered to receive certain
clauses, which clauses contained the prolongation of the
Act of 1793 for 20 years longer, making the term 50 in
place of 30 years, while 25 years of the 30 years' Act bad
yet to run. The power given was,
" To receive a clause or clauses for prolonging the dura-
tion of the Act for repairing the Limerick Road to the
same period with the said Bill ; also a clause or clauses for
the further improvement of the road, from the bounds of
the county of Cork at Kilworth Mountain, to the city of
Cork."
At the Third Reading of the Bill, the original title was
changed into the following New Title :
" To explain and reduce into one Act the several laws
for making and repairing the Turnpike Road leading from
the city of Dublin to Kilcullen Bridge, in the county of
Kildare, and to the 21st milestone westward of the said
Bridge ; and for prolonging the duration of the Act for
repairing the Road from Naas to Limerick ; and for the
further improvement of the Road from Kilworth Mountain
to the city of Cork."
Which title now heads the Act.
These suspicions facts tend to prove that the prolongation
and extraordinary pains and penalties of the Act could not
have been known to the large body of the people to be
affected by it.
The Act in 1798 was passed during the rebellion in Ire-
land, without any amelioration or diminution of the heavy
tolls or enormous and inoperative penalties authorized by
the then existing Act, or any benefit conferred on the public
in consideration of the many advantages derived by the
lessees from the extension of their monopoly from 30 to 50
years, of which your Committee has been made cognizant
by the evidence taken before them or before previous Com-
mittees.
In 1810 the extraordinary Act alluded to, which em-
powered the exaction of a penalty of .ss. a horse for even
one passenger, in addition to nine (being the whole number
of passengers thereby allowed to be carried outside and
inside inclusive), or the penalty of 40s. daily at each gate,
amounting, as it would do, to 601. sterling daily, payable at
the 15 gates, which at one time were between the cities of
Dublin and Limerick, was repealed.
In 1811 a Bill was passed at the instigation of the
Messrs. Taylor, re-enacting the penalty of ss. per horse,
which had been repealed the year before ; and in the very
same Session another Act was passed, again repealing the
penalty of ss. per horse, and substituting the penalty of
4d. per horse additional toll on horses drawing carriages for
hire, on the pretext that the repeal of all penalty would
act injuriously on the funds of the road. It should be hero
observed that the penalties above referred to were never
exacted on horses drawing post-chaises for hire ; they were
and are confined to stage and mail-coaches, whereby the
lessees, who are stage proprietors and mail contractors, have
maintained, and do maintain, a monopoly of the carriage
of passengers by one Coach and one Mail between the
great cities of Dublin and Limerick, to the exclusion of all
competition.
It appears to your Committee a gratuitous and unfoun-
ded allegation, that repealing the ss. penalty had acted in-
* Especial attention should be given to the whole of the
very complete and valuable Report made by a Select Com-
mittee in 1832, of which Mr. More O'Ferrall was Chairman.