§ MR. C. S. READasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, If his attention has been called to the disturbance of the Tithe Commutation by the recent attempt to impose extra tithe upon Market Gardens; and if he will take steps to confine this extra tithe to Hop Grounds only?
MR. BRUCE,in reply, said, his attention had been drawn to this subject. He rather gathered that the hon. Gentleman supposed that the Government had the power of directing how the law should be administered under the Tithe Commutation Act. That was not so. The law stood in precisely the same position with respect to hop-gardens, orchards, and market-gardens, which were mentioned in the same sections and in the same terms. No change could be made in the subject referred to without a change in the law, which could not be introduced without very careful previous inquiry.