§ MR. YERBURGH (Chester)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether, with the view of affording increased opportunities to Public Bodies and to individuals of acquiring land in small parcels, he will consider the advisability of giving landowners the option of paying Succession Duty in land instead of in money?
§ THE FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY (Mr. W. E. GLADSTONE, Edinburgh, Midlothian)I am afraid that the obstacles in the way of the intentions of the hon. Member, though those intentions are excellent, are quite insurmountable. In the first place, the hon. Member must recollect that the selection of land for the purpose of accommodation for the labouring population requires an adaptation in that land to the places where they live, whereas the people who wanted to pay their Succession Duty in land would, of course, offer land with reference to a totally different set of considerations. There are many other difficulties, but one difficulty is paramount and conclusive—namely, that the taxes which are received by the Government are not received in order to be hoarded or kept together as a fund, but in order to enable the Government to meet the immediate pressing obligations of the country from day to day. Of course, a Government, with land on its hands 1615 and no cash to meet its obligations, would be in an impracticable position.