§ MR. SEALE-HAYNE (Devon, Ashburton)I beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board how many Sanitary Authorities have provided allotment grounds under "The Allotments Act, 1887," and the total acreage of such grounds?
§ * MR. RITCHIEI have not the information necessary to enable me to give a statement as to the number of Sanitary Authorities that have provided allotment grounds under the Allotments Act, 1887, and the total acreage of such grounds. If, however, it be the object of the hon. Member to ascertain the effects of the Act, I may say that such a 499 statement would be entirely misleading. The object of the Statute was to provide a means for securing the provision of allotments where there was a failure by voluntary agreement to obtain such provision. Those who are interested in this question must be well aware that, since the passing of the Act, the cases where such provision has been made voluntarily are very numerous.
In answer to a farther question by Mr. SEALE-HAYNE,
§ * MR. RITCHIE saidIt is hoped that by voluntary arrangements sufficient provision will be made for allotments to render it unnecessary to apply the compulsory powers.