§ MR. J. E. ELLIS (Nottingham, Rushcliffe)asked Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Whether his attention has been called to a letter dated the 20th of October, 1887, signed "Denis Godley," on behalf of the Irish Land Commission, in which the statement was made that the Commission had found it needful to inform the solicitor of a landlord that promissory notes taken by him from tenants for payment of rent, after completion of purchase of the holdings, "must be cancelled, before any order for payment can be made;" whether any other instances of such a practice have come to the notice of the Commission; and, whether he is satisfied every precaution is taken by the Treasury to prevent the advance of public moneys to persons thus attempting to evade one of the conditions under which they obtain it?
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (Mr. GOSCHEN) (St. George's, Hanover Square)I am informed by the Irish Land Commission that this is the only instance of the practice to which the hon. Member refers which has come under their notice; and that, as he is aware, they declined to sanction it as irregular, and required the promissory notes in question to be lodged with them to be cancelled before they could permit any advance to be made. The action of the Commissioners in this case is, of course, what they would take in other similar cases if any came before them, and is, I think, perfectly satisfactory.