§ DR. CLARK (Caithness)asked the Lord Advocate, If it is the intention of the Government to appoint valuers and assessors to assist the Crofters' Commission; if he will lay a Return upon the Table, giving the number of applications to the Court, and the number of decisions made up till 1st March; and, when the first annual Report of the Commission will be presented to Parliament?
§ THE LORD ADVOCATE (Mr. J. H. A. MACDONALD) (Edinburgh and St. Andrew's Universities), in reply, said, the Government had no power to appoint valuers and assessors to assist the Crofters' Commission. This power was, by Section 20 of the Crofters' Act, vested in the Commissioners themselves. The Commissioners were bound by Section 18 to issue a Report in every year after the first year, and they could not yet say when their first Report would be ready. As regarded the Return asked for by the hon. Member, the Commissioners were of opinion that such a Return would be misleading at the present time, as a very large number of cases were far advanced, although decisions have not yet been given; and the decisions wore in many cases delayed at the request of the parties themselves.