§ MR. MACLURE (Lancashire, S.E., Stretford)I beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board whether the Mayor, Corporation, and Burgesses of Hanley (Staffordshire) purchased the Queen's Hotel in Hanley out of the public funds and converted it into a town hall and borough buildings; whether they sold the licence for £800; and whether the Local Government Board gave its sanction to this transaction?
§ *MR. RITCHIEI find that application was made to the Treasury by the Town Council of Hanley in 1883 for sanction to a loan under the Municipal Corporations Act for the purchase of premises, including the Queen's Hotel, with a view to its adaptation for a town hall and municipal buildings. The Local Government Board, by desire of the Treasury, directed an inquiry as regards the application by one of their Inspectors, and the necessary loan was sanctioned in December, 1883. I have no information as to whether the licence was sold for £800; but assuming that it was, no sanction on the part of the Board was necessary.