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Proceedings

of Committees on Opposed Bills.

When opposed Bill may be treated

as unopposed.

or the Bill relating to such Provisional Order, is referred, and it shall be competent to the Referees on Private Bills to admit the Petitioners, being the owners, lessees, or occupiers of any house, shop, or warehouse having its access materially dependent on such street or road, and making the aforesaid allegations, to be heard against the Bill, if they think fit.

136. In all cases of opposed Private Bills, in which no parties shall have appeared on the Petitions against such Bills, or having appeared shall have withdrawn their opposition before the evidence of the Promoters shall have been commenced, the Committees on such Bills shall forthwith refer them back, with a statement of the facts, if not Railway or Canal Bills, to the Committee of Selection, and if Railway and Canal Bills, to the General Committee on Railway and Canal Bills, who shall deal with them as Unopposed Bills.

Proceedings of Committees on Bills.

Copies of filled-up

Bill to be laid

before each Member.

Local Member not to vote.

Names of Members to be entered on Minutes.

Committee on Bill

not to inquire

into certain Standing Orders.

Committee may

proof of compliance with Standing

PROCEEDINGS OF, AND IN RELATION TO, COMMITTEES ON BILLS, WHETHER
OPPOSED OR UNOPPOSED.

137. At the first Meeting of the Committee, Copies of the Bill, as proposed to be submitted to them, and signed by the Agent, shall be laid by him before each Member of the Committee.

138. No Member, locally or otherwise interested, of a Committee on any Unopposed Private Bill shall have a Vote on any question that may arise, but every such Member shall be entitled to attend and take part in the proceedings of the Committee.

139. THE Names of the Members attending each Committee shall be entered by the Clerk on the Minutes of the Committee; and if any Division shall take place in the Committee, the Clerk shall take down the Names of Members voting in any such Division, distinguishing on which side of the question they respectively vote, and such Lists shall be given in with the Report to The House.

140. No Committee shall have power to examine into the compliance or non-compliance with such Standing Orders as are directed to be proved before the Examiner of Petitions for Private Bills, unless by special order

of The House.

141. THE Committee on any Private Bill may admit Affidavits in proof of admit Affidavits in the compliance with such Standing Orders of the House as are directed to be proved before them, or may require further evidence; and such Affidavits shall be sworn, if in England or in Ireland, before a Justice of the Peace, or a Commissioner for Oaths, and if in Scotland, before any Sheriff Depute or his substitute, or a Justice of the Peace.

Orders.

Proof of Consents.

Rights of Petitioners.

Clause compelling payment of Subscriptions.

142. THE Committee may admit proof of the Consents of Parties concerned in interest in any Private Bill, by Affidavits sworn as aforesaid, or by the Certificate in writing of such Parties, whose Signatures to such Certificate shall be proved by one or more Witnesses, unless the Committee shall require further Evidence.

143. A PETITIONER against a Bill originating in the House of Lords who has discussed clauses in that House shall not on that account be precluded from opposing the Preamble of the Bill in this House.

144. In all Bills presented to The House for carrying on any Work by means of a Company, Commissioners or Trustees, provision shall be made for compelling Persons who have subscribed any Money towards carrying any such work into execution to make payment of the Sums severally subscribed by them.

145. WHERE

145. WHERE the level of any Road shall be altered in making any Public Work, the ascent of any Main Road shall not be more than One foot in 30 feet, and of any other public Carriage Road not more than One foot in 20 feet; and a good and sufficient Fence, of Four feet high at the least, shall be made on each side of every Bridge which shall be erected.

Proceedings of Committees on Bills.

Level of Roads.

145a. In the case of any Bill relating to a Railway, Tramway, Canal, Tolls, &c. Dock, Harbour, Navigation, Pier, or Port, seeking powers to levy tolls, rates, or duties in excess of those already authorised for that undertaking, or usually authorised in previous years for like undertakings, the Bill shall not be reported by the Committee until a Report from the Board of Trade on the powers so sought has been laid before the Committee; and the Committee shall report specially to the House in what manner the recommendations or observations in the Report of the Board of Trade, and also in what manner the Clauses of the Bill relating to the powers so sought, have been dealt with by the Committee.

man.

146. EVERY Plan and Book of Reference thereto, which shall be produced Plan, &c. to be in evidence before the Committee upon any Private Bill (whether the same signed by Chairshall have been previously lodged in the Private Bill Office or not), shall be signed by the Chairman of such Committee, with his Name at length; and he shall also mark with the Initials of his Name every Alteration of such Plan and Book of Reference, which shall be agreed upon by the said Committee; and every such Plan and Book of Reference shall thereafter be deposited in the Private Bill Office.

147. THE Chairman of the Committee shall sign, with his Name at length, Committee Bill a printed Copy of the Bill (to be called the Committee Bill), on which the and Clauses to be Amendments are to be fairly written; and also sign, with the Initials of his signed by ChairName, the several Clauses added in the Committee.

man.

148. THE Chairman of the Committee shall report to The House, that the Chairman to reallegations of the Bill have been examined; and whether the Parties concerned port on allegations of Bill, &c. have given their Consent (where such Consent is required by the Standing Orders) to the satisfaction of the Committee.

149. THE Chairman of the Committee shall report the Bill to The House, Chairman to report whether the Committee shall or shall not have agreed to the Preamble, or Bill in all cases. gone through the several Clauses, or any of them; or where the Parties shall have acquainted the Committee that it is not their intention to proceed with the Bill; and when any alteration shall have been made in the Preamble of the Bill, such alteration, together with the ground of making it, shall be specially stated in the Report.

150. WHENEVER a recommendation shall have been made in a Report on Recommendation a Private Bill from a Department of the Government referred to the Com- from Government Departments. mittee, the Committee shall notice such recommendation in their Report, and shall state their reasons for dissenting, should such recommendation not be agreed to.

Provisional

151. WHENEVER The House shall order that any Bill for confirming a Proceedings on Provisional Order, or a Provisional Certificate be referred to the Committee Bills for confirming of Selection with respect to any Order or Certificate to be confirmed thereby, Orders, &c. the Proceedings of the Select Committee to which the Bill is referred, and of the Referees, shall be conducted in like manner as in the case of Private Bills, and shall be subject to the same Rules and Orders of The House so far as they are applicable, except those which relate to the payment of fees by the Promoters of such Provisional Order or Certificate.

152. THE Minutes of the Committee on every Private Bill shall be brought Minutes of Comup and laid on the Table of the House, with the Report of the Bill.

F 4

153. IN

mittee.

Proceedings

of Committees on Bills.

Restrictions as to
Mortgage.

Limiting ascent of Roads where Level is altered.

Level Crossings.

Acquisition of

by Railway Companies.

Railway, Tramroad, Tramway, and Subway Bills.

153. In the case of a Railway or Tramway Bill, a Company shall not be authorized to raise, by Loan or Mortgage, a larger sum than One-third of their capital; or until Fifty per cent. on the whole of the capital shall have been paid up, to raise any Money, by Loan or Mortgage, unless the Committee on the Bill shall report that such restrictions or either of them ought not to be enforced, with the reasons on which their opinion is founded.

154. WHERE the level of any road shall be altered in making any Railway, the ascent of any Turnpike Road, or of any Road in Ireland, so defined in the Railway Clauses Consolidation Act, 1845, shall not be more than One foot in 30 feet, and of any other public carriage-road not more than One foot in 20 feet, unless a Report thereupon from some Officer of the Board of Trade shall be laid before the Committee on the Bill, and unless the Committee, after considering such Report, and hearing the Officer if the Committee think fit, if they shall disagree with the said Report, shall recommend steeper ascents, with the reasons and facts upon which their opinion is founded: Also, a good and sufficient Fence, of Four feet high at the least, shall be made on each side of every Bridge which shall be erected.

155. No Railway whereon carriages are moved by mechanical power shall be authorized to be made across any Railway, Tramway, Tramroad, or public carriage-road on the level, unless a Report thereupon from some Officer of the Board of Trade shall be laid before the Committee on the Bill, and unless the Committee, after considering such Report, and hearing the Officer, if the Committee think fit, if they shall disagree with the said Report, shall recommend such level crossing, with the reasons and facts upon which their opinion is founded; and in every Clause authorizing a level crossing the number of lines of rails authorized to be made at such crossing shall be specified.

156. No Railway Company shall be authorized to construct or enlarge, Canals, Docks, &c., purchase, or take on lease, or otherwise appropriate any Canal, Dock, Pier, Harbour, or Ferry, or to acquire and use any Steam-vessels for the conveyance of goods and passengers, or to apply any portion of their capital or revenue to other objects, distinct from the Undertaking of a Railway Company, unless the Committee on the Bill report that such a restriction ought not to be enforced, with the reasons and facts upon which their opinion is founded.

Reports of Public
Departments.

Generating stations.

Limit of time for

157. EVERY Committee on a Railway Bill shall report specially to The House,

Whether any Report from any Public Department in regard to the Bill, or the objects thereof, has been referred by The House to the Committee; and, if so, in what manner the several recommendations contained in such Report have been dealt with by the Committee :

Whether it be intended that the Railway shall cross on a level any Railway, Tramway, Tramroad, or Highway:

And any other circumstances which, in the opinion of the Committee, it is desirable that The House should be informed of.

157a. In the case of any Bill relating to the generation of electricity for supply to persons or bodies other than the Promoters, the Bill shall not be reported by the Committee until a Report from the Board of Trade and His Majesty's Office of Works on the powers sought has been laid before the Committee; and the Committee shall report specially to The House in what manner the recommendations or observations in the Report of the Board of Trade and His Majesty's Office of Works, and also in what manner the clauses of the Bill relating to the powers sought, have been dealt with by the Committee.

158. In every Railway Bill, Tramway Bill, and Subway Bill, whereby completion of line. the construction of any new line of Railway, Tramway, or Subway is authorized, or the time for completing any line already authorized is

extended,

extended, promoted by an existing Railway Company, Tramway Company, or Subway Company, which is possessed of a Railway, Tramway or Subway already opened for public traffic, and which has, during the year last past, paid dividends on its ordinary share capital, and which does not propose raise under the Bill a capital greater than its existing authorized capital, there shall be inserted a Clause to the following effect, viz. :

to

(A.) If the Company fail within the period limited by this Act to complete the Railway or Tramway authorized to be made by this Act, the Company shall be liable to a Penalty of 50l. a day for every day after the expiration of the period so limited until the said Railway, Tramway, or Subway is completed and opened for public traffic, or until the sum received in respect of such penalty shall amount to five per cent. on the estimated cos of the Works; and the said penalty may be applied for by any landowner or other person claiming to be compensated or interested in accordance with the provisions of the next following section of this Act, and in the same manner as the penalty provided in the 3rd section of the Act 17 & 18 Vict. c. 31, known as "The Railway and Canal Traffic Act, 1854," and every sum of Money recovered by way of such penalty as aforesaid shall be paid under the warrant or order of such Court or Judge as is specified in the said 3rd section of the Act 17 & 18 Vict. c. 31, to an account opened or to be opened in the name and with the privity of the Paymaster General for and on behalf of the Supreme Court in England [the King's Remembrancer of the Court of Exchequer in Scotland, or the Accountant General of the Supreme Court in Ireland (according as the Railway, Tramway, or Subway is situate in England, Scotland, or Ireland,)] in the bank named in such order, and shall not be paid thereout except as hereinafter provided; but no penalty shall accrue in respect of any time during which it shall appear, by a certificate to be obtained from the Board of Trade, that the Company was prevented from completing or opening such line by unforeseen accident or circumstances beyond their control: Provided, That the want of sufficient funds shall not be held to be a circumstance beyond their control.

Proceedings of Committees on Bills.

Railway, Tramway, or Subway Deposits.

158a. In every Railway Bill, Tramway Bill, or Subway Bill whereby the Deposit to be construction of any new line is authorized, or the time for completing any security for impounded as line already authorized is extended; if such Bill be promoted by an existing completion of the Railway Company, Tramway Company, or Subway Company which is not Line. possessed of a Railway, Tramway, or Subway already opened for public traffic, or which has not during the year last past paid dividends on its ordinary share capital; or by an existing Railway Company, Tramway Company, or Subway Company, when the capital to be raised under the Bill is greater than the existing authorized capital of the Company, or by persons not already incorporated, a Clause to the following effect shall be inserted, viz. :—

(B.) Whereas, pursuant to the Standing Orders of both Houses of Parliament, and to "The Parliamentary Deposits Act, 1846," a sum of £ being five per cent. upon the amount of the Estimate in respect of the Railway or Tramway, authorized by this Act, has been deposited with the Court, that is to say, the Paymaster General for and on behalf of the Supreme Court in England [or the Court of Exchequer in Scotland, or the Accountant General of the Supreme Court in Ireland, as the case may be]; [or Exchequer Bills, Stocks, or Funds to the amount of £

have been deposited or transferred pursuant to the said Act, as the case may be], in respect of the application to Parliament for this Act (which Suin, Exchequer Bills, Stocks, or Funds, as the case may be, is or are in this Act referred to as "the Deposit Fund"): Be it enacted, That notwithstanding anything contained in the said recited Act, the Deposit Fund shall not be paid or transferred to or on the application of the person or persons. or the majority of the persons, named in the warrant or order issued in pursuance of the said Act, or the survivors or survivor of them (which persons, survivors, or survivor, are or is in this Act referred to as the

"depositors ")

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Proceedings

of Committees on Bills.

"depositors") unless the Company shall, previously to the expiration of the period limited by this Act for completion of the Railway [Tramway or Subway] hereby authorized to be made [or the time for completing which is hereby extended], open the said Railway [Tramway or Subway] for public traffic [or, if a passenger Railway, for the public conveyance of passengers], and if the Company shall make default in so opening the said Railway [Tramway or Subway] the Deposit Fund shall be applicable, and shall be applied as provided by the next following Section. And to such Clause the Committee may, if they think fit, add a proviso to the following effect :--Provided, That, if within such period as aforesaid the Company open any portion of the said Railway [Tramway or Subway] for public traffic [or, if à passenger Railway, for the public conveyance of passengers], then on production of a certificate of the Board of Trade, specifying the length of the portion of the said Railway [Tramway or Subway] opened as aforesaid, and the portion of the deposit fund which bears to the whole of the deposit fund the same proportion as the length of the said Railway [Tramway or Subway] so opened bears to the entire length of the said Railway [Tramway or Subway] hereby authorized, the High Court shall, on the application of the depositors, order the said portion of the deposit fund so specified in such certificate as aforesaid to be paid or transferred to them, or as they shall direct; and the certificate of the Board of Trade shall, if signed by the Secretary, or by an Assistant Secretary of the said Board, be sufficient evidence of the facts therein certified; and it shall not be necessary to produce any certificate of this Act having passed, anything in the recited Act to the contrary notwithstanding.

In every Railway Bill, Tramway Bill, or Subway Bill, whereby the construction of any new line of Railway, Tramway, or Subway is authorized, or the time for completing any line already authorized is extended, a Clause to the following effect shall be inserted :

(C.) If the Company do not, previously to the expiration of the period limited by this Act for the completion of the Railway [Tramway or Subway] hereby authorized to be made (or the time for completion which is hereby extended) complete the said Railway [Tramway or Subway] and open it for public traffic [or, if a passenger Railway, for the public conveyance of passengers], then and in every such case the deposit fund, or so much thereof as shall not have been paid to the depositors, or any sum of money recovered by way of penalty as aforesaid, shall be applicable, and, after due notice in the "London Gazette" [or "Edinburgh" or "Dublin Gazette," as the case may require], shall be applied towards compensating any landowners or other persons whose property may have been interfered with, or otherwise rendered less valuable, by the commencement, construction, or abandonment of the said Railway [Tramway or Subway], or any portion thereof, or who may have been subjected to injury or loss in consequence of the compulsory powers of taking property conferred upon the Company by this Act, [and also (in the case of a Tramway) in compensating all road authorities for the expense incurred by them in taking up any Tramway, or materials connected therewith, placed by the Company in or on any road vested in or maintainable by such road authorities respectively, and in making good all damage caused to such roads by the construction or abandonment of such Tramway], and shall be distributed in satisfaction of such compensation as aforesaid, in such manner and in such proportions as to the Court may seem fit; and if no such compensation shall be payable, or if a portion of the deposit fund (or of the sum or sums of money recovered by way of penalty as aforesaid) shall have been found sufficient to satisfy all just claims in respect of such compensation, then the Deposit Fund (or the sum or sums of money recovered by way of penalty as aforesaid), or such portion thereof as may not be required as aforesaid, shall, if a receiver has been appointed, or the Company is insolvent and has been ordered to be wound up, or the undertaking [in the case of a penalty the Railway or Railways in respect of which the penalty has been incurred or any part thereof], has been abandoned, be paid or transferred to such receiver, or to the liquidator or liquidators of the Company, or be applied, in the discretion of the Court, as part of the assets of the Company for the

benefit

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