§ MR. KEAY (Elgin and Nairn)I beg to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has now ascertained if there are any precedents for providing by Act of Parliament, as proposed in the Land 212 Purchase Bill, for the issue of Stock to an amount unnamed.
§ MR. GOSCHENThere are several Acts under which authority is given to the State to make loans without any limit being assigned as to the liability incurred. Loans for School buildings under the Education Acts may be instanced. How far these precedents are or are not applicable to the Land Purchase Bill I shall be prepared to argue in Committee.
§ MR. J. ELLIS (Nottingham, Rushcliffe)I beg to ask the Attorney General for Ireland what were the sums respectively realised by the five holdings put up for sale in 1888 in consequence of failure in payment of instalments of purchase money, by the 10 so put up in 1889, and by the 17 in 1890; and whether any, and, if so, what number of holdings were put up for sale by the Land Commission for the same reason between 25th November, 1890, and 7th February, 1891?
§ MR. MADDENThe Land Commissioners report that all the holdings referred to were put up for sale subject to the Statutory Annuities. The sums realised by the five holdings put up for sale in 1888 were as follows:—1, Eliza Coffey, nil; 2, Laurence O'Neill, £120; 3, Laurence O'Neill, £170; 4, Laurence O'Neill, £155; 5, Laurence O'Neill, £110. The sums realised by the 10 so put up in 1889 were as follows:—6, Henry Burgess, £110; 7, Thomas Hahessy, £71; 8, Johanna Navin, nil; 9, Catherine Brien, £105; 10, John Neill, £45; 11, Edmund Delahunty, £100; 12, Andrew E. Johnstone, £100; 13, Johanna M'Mahon, £45; 14, Mary Keenan, £5; 15, Eliza Butler, £6. The sums realised by the 17 holdings so put up in 1890 were as follows:—16, Bridget Dermody, £25; 17, Denis Keefe, £65; 18, Thomas White, £40; 19, James Fitzgerald, nil; 20, Daniel Ahern, nil; 21, James Ahern, nil; 22, Bartholomew Foley, £55; 23, Catherine Cummins, £190; 24, Susan E. Keily, £28; 25, William Walsh, £65; 26, John Kerny, £16; 27, Patrick Dennehy, £24; 28, Bartholomew Dooling, £51; 29, Patrick Brennan, £55; 30, James Lenihan, £72; 31, William Shirley, nil; 32, Richard Taylor, nil. Two holdings were similarly put up for sale between November 25th, 1890, and 213 February 7th, 1891, with the following results:—33, John Brosnan, £56; 34, John Harrington, no bidders at auction, but since offered £150. In the cases numbered 1 and 8 the guarantee deposits were applied in discharge of the arrears of annuity due and by consent of the owners in reduction of the original advances, and the holdings were assigned to the new purchasers subject to annuities on the advances so reduced. In cases numbered 19, 20, 21, 31, and 32, in which there were no biddings, the arrears of annuity were discharged out of the guarantee deposits, and the holdings (as stated in respect of three of them in the annual Report) are in the hands of the Commission pending resale.