§ MR. PRITCHARD MORGAN (Merthyr Tydfil)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether the Woods and Forests Office is allowing to be removed from Royal mines—namely, the Mool Ispri and Champion Mines, near Dolgelly—machinery and fixtures erected upon such Royal mines; whether there is a clause in the lease entitling the Crown to purchase from the lessees, upon the termination of the lease, all gold machinery at a valuation; and, if so, why such powers of purchase are not exercised with a view to renting or selling it to one of the numerous applicants for a fresh lease; and whether the Crown has power, at Common Law or otherwise, to prevent the removal of fixed machinery (erected solely for the purpose of extracting gold) from these Royal mines; and, if so, whether, in the interests of the State and the industry, they will exercise such power?
§ *SIR J. T. HIBBERTThe machinery and fixtures at the Moel Ispri and Champion Mines have, it is understood, been sold, and will, it is presumed, be removed unless purchased by those to whom a fresh lease of the mines has been offered. There is a clause in the lease giving the Crown the option of purchasing the machinery, but it is not the usual practice of the Commissioners of Woods to exercise this option, and it was not considered expedient to depart from the usual practice in the present instance. The lessees are, therefore, entitled to sell or remove the machinery.