Mr Marshall Stevens: I am one of a number of Members who have come to this Parliament not for the purpose of making a profession of politics or with any desire for offices of profit, but in answer to the call for business men: I bring an experience in transport of more than fifty years upon the railways, the docks, and the oversea transport of this and other countries. My experience has not been unproductive. It...
Mr Marshall Stevens: Did not the Railway Commission decline to carry out the recommendations of the Committee to which my right hon. Friend has referred?
Mr Marshall Stevens: The statement of the Leader of the House has relieved anxiety to a very great extent, and, as regards any further relief, I am quite prepared to leave the matter to the Committee upstairs. I am quite sure the House has no idea as to the extent of the responsibility which they are placing upon the Ministry. The Minister, with a stroke of the pen, might take the whole of the wool trade away...
Mr Marshall Stevens: I was trying to keep myself to that. In each of these cases there will be an expenditure necessary on behalf of the Minister, and I am sorry that you, Sir, should have thought I was trying to get beyond that. The expenditure must be, and will be, made by the Minister. I have only named two or three matters, because I do not wish to delay the House; but the trade of this country could be...
Mr Marshall Stevens: Does the hon. Gentleman know that there are stores in this country filled with nitrate of soda, and that as a consequence large quantities of wool, for which the stores could be used, could be stored there if the nitrate was sold to the farmers?
Mr Marshall Stevens: The Port of London Authority is a statutory railway company.
Mr Marshall Stevens: I think I can remove the misunderstanding of my hon. Friend the Member for St. Helens on the question raised in regard to the Manchester Ship Canal. The Manchester Ship Canal is a port and harbour, the third in the Kingdom. It is also a statutory railway company. Hence the necessity for its being named in this Clause In the same way, I believe, the Port of London Authority— the first port...
Mr Marshall Stevens: The Home Secretary has given a statement which is contradictory. He said that this did not affect the interests referred to and later on he said that those interests had advantages which could be taken away from them by the Minister if this Bill proceeds, and they have no appeal unless they could appeal to the Railway and Canal Commission under this scheme.
Mr Marshall Stevens: I beg to second the Motion.
Mr Marshall Stevens: I am in favour of tramways being included in the Bill. It is quite possible that the Government would care to approach the local authorities to agree with them to include municipal tramways in the Bill, as I think they ought to be included. In regard to the working of the tramways by municipal authorities, and those owned by a company, the difficulty in nearly every case is the failure of the...
Mr Marshall Stevens: I beg to move, in Sub-section (1, b), to leave out the words "take possession," and to insert instead thereof the words "undertake direction." This is an Amendment brought forward at the suggestion of the Leader of the House, that some better phrase should be found than "take possession" in regard to the undertaking which is provided for under this Clause. The words "take possession" are in...
Mr Marshall Stevens: I rise again because I think there is some misunderstanding. The suggestion for this Amendment came from the Leader of the House. He said he knew there was a misunderstanding in the country, and he would be very glad if any hon. Member could suggest words which would be more acceptable. The Some Secretary was not present at the time, but I would remind him that the Leader of the House said he...
Mr Marshall Stevens: I beg to second the Amendment. In doing so I want to supplement the remarks of the hon. Member for Liverpool. Let the House remember how this-Bill originated. As far as I can understand it came out of the resolution of the Trade Union Congress last year, namely: That in view of the national advantages arising from the working of the railway services under State control, this Congress again...
Mr Marshall Stevens: I want to give them credit for it from their point of view, and the more they applaud me the stronger is my case. We have been met from the outset by the Government in what appears to me, as a new Member and a business man, to be a deplorable way.
Mr Marshall Stevens: Promise after promise has been made to individual Members and groups on matters which should have been considered here. The last Amendment with which we have dealt was only proposed at the instigation of the Leader of the House, who suggested that such an Amendment should be made.
Mr Marshall Stevens: I beg to second the Amendment.
Mr Marshall Stevens: The seriousness of the matter is not, I feel sure, fully understood. An arrangement was come to yesterday. The Minister-designate said that one-half of the docks have gone from beneath his grasp. But the other half are in his possession, and he could use them all without intending in any shape or form to do anything more than he thinks is his duty, to the great disadvantage of the docks which...
Mr Marshall Stevens: I have, on the Paper, an Amendment, in Sub-section (2), to leave out the words "Subject as aforesaid." In a similar way to the last Amendment, this is a matter of very great importance to traders. In reply to what the Noble Lord (Major Earl Winterton) said, anything I am saying on this Bill is from the point of view of the traders and not of any particular interest. I will not go on with the...
Mr Marshall Stevens: I beg to second the Amendment.
Mr Marshall Stevens: I would like to ask whether it would be fair or correct to take the period before the War for undertakings that have not yet been taken possession of, because there are cases in which they are quite different undertakings today compared with what they were before the War. Some of the smaller railways, for instance, have doubled their mileage. I only want to put the matter to the...