MR. RAN DELL (Glamorgan, Gower)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether, having regard to the interest of labour, he will be pleased to make provision for the direct representation of the farm labourers on the Royal Commission on Tenure of Land in Wales?
§ MR. W. E. GLADSTONEI would remind the hon. Member that the inquiry by the Welsh Land Commission is not properly or primarily, or otherwise than incidentally, connected with the condition of the labourer. The condition of the labourer has quite recently been 906 made the subject of a separate inquiry. The object of the Commission is to examine and inquire into the conditions and circumstances under which land in Wales and Monmouthshire is held, occupied, and cultivated. It is, in fact, speaking briefly and summarily, a Property Tenancy Commission. Still, I admit that the question of the condition of the labourer is connected with it, and that circumstance has not been overlooked. A Welsh barrister was recently appointed, by the Labour Commission as an Assistant Commissioner to inquire into the condition of the agricultural labourer in Wales. His Report will shortly be in circulation; and thus, I think, provision has been made for bringing the condition of the agricultural labourer in Wales within the purview of a body appointed to deal with such questions.
MAJOR JONES (Carmarthen, &c.)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether, having regard to the preponderating importance of sheep farming in four or more Welsh counties, he will consider the advisability of giving representation to this branch of agriculture on the Welsh Land Commission?
§ MR. KENYON (Denbigh, &c.)May I ask whether the reply which the right hon. Gentleman gave to me the other day does not apply to this question—namely, that the matters are practically under the control of the Commissioners?
§ MR. W. E. GLADSTONEThe question is as to the constitution of the Commission itself, and is not unreasonable. The answer is that we have appointed two practical and experienced Welsh tenant farmers on the Commission, and there is also on it a gentleman conversant with the varied tenure under which sheep-walks in Wales are held and used. Our belief is that the provision we have thus made is adequate.