§ MR. COCHRANE (Ayrshire, N.)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether, having regard to the postponement of the Committee stage of the Financial Clauses of the Government of Ireland Bill, and the consequent impossibility of an early discussion on the subject of the financial relations of England, Scotland, and Ireland, the Government will now consent to the appointment of a Committee to inquire into the financial relations of Scotland to the Imperial Exchequer?
§ MR. W. E. GLADSTONEI am sorry to say that I cannot undertake to promise the appointment of the Committee referred to in the question.
§ MR. BARTLEY (Islington, N.)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury, in view of the fact that the amount that may still be advanced for the purchase of land in Ireland to enable tenants to buy their holdings under "The Purchase of Land (Ireland) Act, 1891," exceeds £33,000,000, whether, if the Government of Ireland Bill becomes law, this amount is to be advanced if applied for; and, if so, on what security, and also out of what funds the money is to be obtained, and whether from taxation or loan from the taxpayers in the United Kingdom, or is it to be limited to taxpayers in Ireland only?
§ MR. W. E. GLADSTONEIt is the intention of the Government that all proceedings under the Land Purchase Act shall go on as before, and that the Homo Rule Bill shall not interfere with them in any way. Full information as to the way in which the intentions will be carried out will be given when the Government move their Amendments, which are necessary for that purpose. The hon. Member seems to think that advances under the Act are made in cash drawn from the taxpayers of the United Kingdom. But there is no question of taxpayers at all unless the Guarantee Fund should fail, and at present there is no reason to believe that that fund will fail.
§ *MR. BARTLEYBut is not the Guarantee Fund now really allocated for other purposes?
§ [No answer was given.]