CANALS. 87 



The Act of 1888 was a further important step in the direction of freeing 



Thfl Railwav and '-^^ canals from danger of domination by the railways 



1 T ffl H f ^^'^ maintaining them as genuine competitors. It 



Canal Traffic Act (^j-g^^ted a Railway and Canal Commission to super- 



of 1888. 5g(jg j-j-jg Commission established by the Act of 1873. 



The constitution of this permanent Commission is laid down in sections 2, 



3, and 4 of the Act of 1888, which read as follows : — 



"2. On the expiration of the provisions of the Regulation of Railways Act, 

 1873, with respect to the Commissioners therein mentioned, there shall be 

 established a new Commission, styled the Railway and Canal Commission (in 

 this Act referred to as the Commissioners), and consisting of two appointed 

 and three ex-officio Commissioners; and such Commission shall be a court of 

 record, and have an official seal, which shall be judicially noticed. The Com- 

 missioners may act notwithstanding any vacancy in their body. 



" 3. — (i.) The two appointed Commissioners may be appointed by Her 

 Majesty at any time after the passing of this Act, and from time to time as 

 vacancies occur. 



(2.) They shall be appointed on the recommendation of the President 

 of the Board of Trade, and one of them shall be of experience in railway 

 business. 



(3.) Section five of the Regulation of Railways Act, 1873. shall apply 

 to each appointed Commissioner. 



(4.) There shall be paid to each appointed Commissioner such salary 

 not exceeding three thousand pounds a year as the President of the 

 Board of Trade may. with the concurrence of the Treasury, determine. 



(5.) It shall be lawful for the Lord Chancellor, if he think fit, to remove 



for inability or misbehaviour any appointed Commissioner. 



"4. — (i.) Of the three ex-Officio Commissioners of the Railway and Canal 



Commission, one shall be nominated for England, one for Scotland, and one 



for Ireland ; and an ex-Officio Commissioner shall not be required to attend 



out of the part of the United Kingdom for which he is nominated. 



(2.) The ex-Officio Commissioner ineach case shall be such judge of a 

 superior court as — 



{a.) in England the Lord Chancellor; and 

 (b.) in Scotland the Lord President of Court of Session ; and 

 {c.) in Ireland the Lord Chancellor of Ireland ; 

 may from time to time by writing under his hand assign, and such 

 assignment shall be made for a period of not less than five years. 



{3.) For Ihe purpose of the attendance of the ex-officio Commissioners, 

 regulations shall be made from time to time by the Lord Chancellor, the 

 Lord President of the Court of Session, and the Lord Chancellor of Ire- 

 land respectively, in communication with the ex officio Commissioners for 

 England, Scotland, or Ireland, as the case may be, as to the arrange- 

 ments for securing their attendance, as to the times and place of sitting 

 in each case, and otherwise for the convenient and speedy hearing thereof." 



Other sections of interest in this important Act are section 31, which 

 provides that on the application of anyone interested in through traffic the 

 Commissioners can order through rates and decide whether any through 

 rate is just and reasonable ; section 39 (3), which provides : — 



" When the canal of a canal company, or any part thereof, is intended to 

 be stopped for more than two days, the company shall report to the Board of 

 Trade, stating ihe time during which such stoppage is intended to last, and 



