during the last session (1845), and that may be again introduced in the present session, or that were already provisionally registered, or the subscription contract for which was already or partly executed on the 29th of July, 1846. With respect to all such bills, a sum equal to one-twentieth of the amount subscribed must be deposited as before provided. (H. C. 39 a.)

3. The last proceeding requisite before the presentation of the petition is the printing (at the expense of the promoters of the bill), and delivery at the Vote Office (for the use of members) of copies of the subscription contracts, with the names of the subscribers arranged alphabetically, and the amount of deposit respectively paid up by each such subscriber; or, where a declaration and estimate of the probable amount of rates are substituted in lieu of a subscription contract, copies of such declaration or of such declaration and estimate, must be so printed and delivered. (H. C. 35.)

On or before the day of the presentation of such petition, a copy of every bill annexed to a petition must be deposited in the office of the Railway Department of the Board of Trade. (H. C. 39.)

On the day of the presentation of the petition, a copy of every bill annexed to such petition, and the agent's declaration must be deposited in the Private Bill Office, such bill and declaration being open to the inspection of all parties. (H. C. 128.)

[If parties desire to present a petition for a bill after the latest day prescribed, a petition must be presented to the House praying for special permission, and stating the peculiar circumstances under which such leave is requested. This petition is referred to the Standing Order Committee, and if their report be favourable, the prayer of the petition is granted, and the petition for the bill is allowed to be presented.]

Committee on Petitions.

The sub-committee on petitions for private bills has to inquire into and report upon the adherence to or departure from the Standing Orders. It consists of a portion of the "select committee on petitions for private bills," which is appointed at the commencement of each session, consisting of forty-two members, of whom three form a quorum. (H. C. 1.) That select committee have leave to divide themselves into sub-committees and to make regulations for the transaction of business; and to one of these sub-committees, each railway bill, or each class of such bills is referred. The sub-committee has no power to adjudicate or express any opinion. It has jurisdiction only to report to the House whether the Standing Orders have or have not been complied with, and if not, in what respects they have been departed from.

Seven clear days must elapse between that on

which the petition for any bill relating to England shall be presented, and the day on which the sub-committee shall sit thereon; and ten clear days in case such bill relate to Scotland or Ireland. (H. C. 104.)

All petitions for private bills, (with their annexed bills and agent's delarations), and all petitions for additional provision in private bills (with the proposed clauses annexed) are referred to the committee on petitions. (H. C. 103.)

Seven clear days' notice in writing must be given by the agent for the bill to the clerks in the Private Bill Office, of the meeting of the sub-committee on a petition for a private bill; and one clear day's notice of the meeting of the sub-committee on a petition for additional provision. No such notices must, however, be given before the petition has been presented to the House. (H. C. 129.)

Time for Delivering Notices.

All notices required to be given in the Private Bill Office of the House of Commons must be delivered in the said office before 6 o'clock in the evening of any day on which the House shall sit and before 2 o'clock on any day on which the House shall not sit. After any day on which the House shall have adjourned, no notice shall be given for the first day on which it shall again sit. (H. C. 147.)

The first meeting of the sub-committee must not be postponed unless one clear day's notice has been given to the clerks in the Private Bill Office. (H. C. 130.)

Before one of these sub-committees, the compliance with certain Standing Orders has (as already stated) to be proved, and any parties may appear and be heard, by themselves, their agents and witnesses, upon any petition referred to the committee, complaining of a non-compliance with the Standing Orders. This permission is granted, however, provided that the matter complained of be specifically stated in the petition, and that the party affected by the non-compliance with the Standing Orders be cognisant of and consent to the presentation of that petition. Such petition must moreover be presented three clear days before the first meeting of the sub-committee. (H. C. 9.)

It is an occasional practice of the House, however, to allow a departure from this Order, as to the time for the presentation of opposing petitions; but there must be a special application to the House before such petitions (when not presented "three clear days before the day appointed for the first meeting of the committee") can be entertained by the select committee on petitions for private bills. The following extracts from the votes and proceedings of the House (during the present session,) show the form used and the

manner in which permission is granted under peculiar circumstances to parties to be heard on petition, notwithstanding their non-compliance with the Standing Orders in this respect.

Ayrshire and Galloway Railway,-Petition of Messrs. Hunt [presented 2nd February] read:-Instruction to the select committee on petitions for private bills to entertain the said petition, notwithstanding the same was not presented three clear days before the day appointed for the first meeting of the committee.

London, Newbury, and Bath Direct Railway,-Petition of owners and occupiers of lands on the line [presented 2nd February] read :-Instruction to the select committee on petitions for private bills to entertain the said petition, notwithstanding the same was not presented three clear days before the day appointed for the first meeting of the committee.

(Petitions against any bill must be signed by the petitioners unless they are absent from the country, when their solicitors may sign for them ; and the petition of any corporate body must be sealed with its common seal.)

Opposing petitions, as well as all petitions relating to private bills must also have the name or short title of the bill written at the beginning thereof, besides stating whether they be for or against the bill, or relating to the non-compliance with the Standing Orders. Frequent neglect of these directions occurred, and early in this session (Feb. 13, 1846), the attention of the House was