§ MR. AIRD (Paddington, N.)asked the right hon. Baronet the Member for Essex (West or Epping Division), as one of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for England, Whether the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for England, being interested to the extent of one-third of nearly 100 acres of land in Paddington now unutilized, the Trustees of the Paddington Estate being interested as owners of the remaining two-thirds, the Ecclesiastical Commissioners decline to concur in any sale or lease thereof unless they receive the equivalent of one-half of the proceeds; and, whether there is any objection to their joining in a special case for the opinion of the High Court of Justice, with a view to the determination of the respective rights of the parties?
§ SIR HENRY SELWIN-IBBETSON (Essex, Epping)The Question is in a form which is misleading as to the extent of the interest which the Commissioners have in the land referred to. That interest comprises a dormant value, not limited, as implied, to one-third of its proceeds. What would be an equitable apportionment of that dormant value is, according to the 3rd section of the Act of 1875, a matter for voluntary agreement; and the Commissioners have on several occasions offered, and are still willing, to refer this question to arbitration, suggesting as arbitrators the Earl of Selborne, Lord Herschell, or Lord Bramwell. Last year the Commissioners, when there was a prospect of a sale of the property, were prepared to concur in the sale on certain conditions stated by me in this House on 1820 March 15; and should any such sale be in contemplation now they would adhere to that offer.