THE NEW ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT.
Belfast, 6th November 1855.
Sin—In my last letter I spoke of the necessity of transferring dime 'functions of Parliament which are really administrative to a department of State.
Our whole system of private and local legislation is based on the fact, that many things have to be done for which powers do not exist in our ordinary system of administration and judicature : so that Parliament, which is su- preme, has to step in and confer the necessary powers. No doubt, it is sometimes necessary for Parliament to interfere with the ordinary course of administration and judicature ; especially in the case of bills of indemnity, and bills to modify the terms of trusteeship. These, by the terms of the case, transcend the powers of the courts of law; and to give power to the Execu- tive to interfere in them, would constitute a despotism. They must be re- served for the decision of Parliament alone : for it is only the assembly Which makes the laws that can sanction a temporary departure from the law in order to serve the ends of justice. This function of Parliament is not properly administrative, but judicial.
But the greater part by far of the private and local business of Parliament is purely administrative, and may be safely transferred to the Executive. It is not proposed, of course, to invest any department of State with full le- gislative authority in its department. The same acts of Parliament which confer their powers will define the manner in which those powers are to be exercised. The principle on which we ought to act, therefore, is this. The power of making laws, and of suspending or modifying their operation in particular cases, cannot be trusted out of the hands of Parliament ; but when it is possible to make one law that will provide for many cases, Parliament ought to make that law, and let the Executive administer it.
We have a precedent for this in the Enclosure Commission. Great part of the work of partitioning and enclosing the English commons was done in the early part of the present century by local acts, in which, I believe, there was much jobbing and disregard of the rights of the peasantry. Now this function has been transferred from Parliamentary Committees to the En- closure Commissioners; by which arrangement, the work is better done, and the time of Parliament is saved. When we thus have a general act for the enclosure of commons, and Commissioners appointed by the act to carry it into effect, there is certainly nothing to prevent a series of general acts for the construction of public works and other similar purposes, and the appoint- ment of Commissioners to execute those acts ; instead of the present clumsy device of an act of Parliament whenever a public work is to be made.
Private and local bills fall chiefly under two heads,—those sought by com- panies, and those sought by municipal corporations.
Acts of Parliament are sought by companies for two purposes,—to obtain corporate powers, including the limited liability of the shareholders; and to make compulsory purchases of private property. The principle of permitting companies to constitute themselves has been recognized by the Limited Lia- bility Act of last session ; and the principle of authorizing compulsory pur- chase has been so often recognized in private and local acts, that there ought to be no objection to recognizing it once for all in a public one. I propose, then, that every company intending to make a railway or other public work shall constitute itself under the Limited Liability Act, and then apply to the proper department of State for the necessary power of com- pulsory purchase. Let the company prove—first, that the intention of exe- cuting the proposed work is bona fide ; second, that the capital for the work is forthcoming ; third, that the work will be a public benefit ; fourth, that provision is made for compensation where private rights are interfered with ; fifth, that no public rights, such as roadways or drainage, shall be injuriously affected. On judicial proof given of these allegations, let the necessary powers be conferred on the company, not as a favour but as a right. It would of course be a necessary part of the plan, to provide for the re- lations between different railway companies by a general act, instead of a number of special ones. Besides the general advantage of transferring administrative business from overworked and unpaid Parliamentary Committees to a properly-organized and sufficiently-paid department of State, this plan would afford some im-
portant collateral advantages. The decisions of the department being judi- cial, there would be little opportunity for interested opposition to useful pro-
jects; and the necessary evidence on provincial schemes might be obtained by a commissioner and secretary at the nearest town, instead of the present absurd plan of bringing witnesses to London to show how tourists may be carried from Dublin to Killarney. It may be said that so great a facility of making new railways would be ruinous to the shareholders. The fact is, however, that the relations of rail- way companies to each other, and those between shareholders and directors, require a complete reform of another kind than that I am now speaking it.
If it be objected that Parliament cannot constitutionally delegate so im- portant a power as that of authorizing compulsory purchase to the Execu-
tive, I reply, that this power is not an attribute of the Legislature alone ; the authorities of every county have it for the purpose of making roads. A precedent, moreover, exists for endowing an administrative department with a power identical in principle with that of compulsory purchase. By virtue of the Irish Drainage Act, if the proprietors of two thirds of the land capable of benefit by any extensive drainage assent to the proposal, the ob- jection of the remaining third may be overruled: the drainage is executed by the Board of Works, and the necessary funds are advanced by the Treasury, to be repaid in yearly instalments by those who reap the benefit. This act has been in force for seven or eight years, and has done much good to Ireland. Some of your readers may think an Irish precedent of no great value for Britain. I should agree with them if the case were a political one. But the principles of the Irish Drainage Act, so far as applicable to the present subject, are of universal importance. They are that water seeks its level—a law that was in force before man lived to learn it ; and that minorities ought not to be permitted to obstruct —a principle which is not the result but the basis of legislation. The subject of Bills sought by Municipal Corporations opens up the entire question of the relation of the municipalities to the central authority. I therefore reserve it for a future letter.
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