SUNDRY MATTERS 387 



ceeded in forcing up the price of that commodity to 48s. per 

 quarter for a week or two, and some of our British farmers 

 reaped a little advantage from the higher price, but the corner 

 was made in the early summer, when few farmers had any 

 wheat left to sell, and prices soon fell to an even lower level 

 than they had stood at in 1897. 



The development of motor traffic was the subject of several 

 debates between 1896 and 1910, and strong animadversions 

 were made on the damage caused by motors and the dis- 

 courtesy shown by their drivers, while the extra cost of main- 

 taining the roads necessitated by this new form of traffic has 

 frequently been a legitimate ground of complaint. The 

 question of trespass and the damage or annoyance caused 

 by trespassers has, ever since 1894, been periodically raised, 

 and although, as a result of the passing of several resolutions, 

 Mr. Courthope, M.P., drafted and introduced a Bill in 1907 

 to amend the Larceny Act of 1867, with a view to amending 

 the law of trespass, no opportunity has yet occurred of making 

 any progress with it. Members representing urban con- 

 stituencies, ignoring the damage caused by trespassers, are 

 always on the alert to prevent the Bill from passing. 



Measures like the Threshing Machines Bill, 1874 ; the 

 Steam Engines Bills, in 1890 and 1895 ; Lights on Vehicles 

 Bills, in 1896, 1901, and 1907 ; Locomotives on Roads Bills, 

 in 1874, 1877, 1896, and 1897 ; Chaff Cutting Machines Act, 

 1897 ; Boilers Registration Bill, 1900 ; Poisons and Pharmacy 

 Bills, in 1907 and 1908 ; Workmen's Compensation Acts of 

 1897 and 1900* ; Daylight Saving Bill, 1909 ; Dogs Bills, in 

 1900, 1902, 1905, 1906, and the Act of 1906, debated in 1908, 

 all received due attention in the years mentioned. Injury by 

 Birds was considered in 1897 and 1905, while in 1914 the 

 Council sent Mr. Rouse Orlebar as a witness to the Depart- 

 mental Committee appointed by the Home Office on the 

 Wild Birds Protection Acts. Abolition of Private Slaughter 

 Houses, in 1899 and 1907 ; the Provision of Weighbridges 



* A resolution in favour of extending the" provisions of the Act of 

 1897 to agricultural labourers was carried unanimously in December, 

 1899. 



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