§ MR. SUMMERS (Huddersfield)I beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board whether he is aware that the Town Council of Hyde, acting under "The Public Health (Interments) Act, 1879," has applied for the sanction of the Local Government Board for a loan to provide a cemetery in the borough, and that such sanction has been refused on the ground that the Town Council has not agreed to the consecration of part of the cemetery; and whether, inasmuch as the Public Health (Interments) Act leaves the question of the provision of consecrated ground to the discretion of the Sanitary Authority, he can state on what legal authority the requirement of the Local Government Board is based?
§ ٭ THE PRESIDENT OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD (Mr. RITCHIE, Tower Hamlets, St. George's)The Town Council of Hyde have applied to the Local Government Board for sanction to a loan in respect of the provision of a cemetery for the borough. A local inquiry was held by an Inspector of the Board, and it was represented that a large proportion of the ratepayers were members of the Church of England, and that it would be an injustice to them to require them to pay for a cemetery which would not be used for burials according to the rites of the Established Church unless a part of the land was consecrated. The Board were desirous that some arrangement should be adopted by which the reasonable objections of those who protested against sanction to the loan might be met, and the Inspector of the Board again visited the district with the view of conferring with representatives of the Town Council and the clergy. After this conference the Bishop and the clergy of the borough, as I am informed, distinctly pledged themselves that, if a portion of the cemetery were consecrated, the control of that portion should remain with the Town Council, and that any expense arising from the consecration should be borne by the Church people of the borough. I regret to say that this arrangement has not yet been accepted by the Town Council. I 1064 feel strongly that in the face of such protests as I have received it would be inequitable that the ratepayers who are members of the Church of England should be required to defray the expense of providing a cemetery which, on the ground of conscientious objections, will not be used for burials according to the rites of the Established Church, and the Board have not been prepared to make themselves a party to such an arrangement as would have been the case if they had sanctioned the loan. I cannot but hope that on further consideration the Town Council will come to the conclusion that the compromise which has been proposed is a reasonable one, and that the objection which has been urged on behalf of a large proportion of the ratepayers may thus be removed.
§ MR. SUMMERSAm I to understand, then, that the Local Government Board insist on a condition which is not in the Act of Parliament?
§ ٭ MR. RITCHIENo money can be borrowed for these purposes by a Town Council without the sanction of the Local Government Board, who, in considering an application for a loan, have to consider all the circumstances of the case. I do not feel justified in assenting to a course which, in my opinion, is manifestly unjust to a large portion of the population.
§ MR. SUMMERSDo I understand that the Local Government Board insist on foisting into an Act of Parliament a section which is not contained in it?
§ ٭ MR. RITCHIEThe hon. Member is not to infer anything of the kind.