§ Mr. ARTHUR ARNOLDasked the Secretary to the Treasury, Whether the recent sale of the reversionary interest of the Land Revenue in the Claremont Estate to Sir Henry Ponsonby has not caused a permanent addition to that revenue of nearly £3,000 a year; and, whether, in view of such advantage, the Office of Woods and Forests will be prepared to receive and to report with equal 267 favour upon similar offers for the purchase of all saleable lands in charge of that Department?
§ MR. COURTNEYSir, this is a very argumentative Question; but I will endeavour to answer it in a short compass. My hon. Friend asks whether the sale of the reversion of Claremont has not caused a permanent addition of nearly£3,000 a-year to the Land Revenue. My answer is, No. There has been an immediate increase of revenue at the cost of a reduction on the amount which would hereafter have been receivable if the present lease had been allowed to run out. The rest of the Question thus proceeds on an imaginary advantage; but I may add that even if the Crown farms were now to be sold, the proceeds could not, under the existing law, be invested permanently otherwise than in real property. It is impossible to sell them and invest the money in any other way except temporarily.