§ MR. A. L. STANLEY (Cheshire, Eddisbury)I bog to ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether he is aware that twenty-one cottages belonging to the Crown on the Delamere estate, in Cheshire, are leased by the Commissioners of Woods and Forests to a man who sublets them to labourers and others at rents which are more than double the rent he pays for them to the Crown; whether such subletting has been carried on with the knowledge and consent of the Commissioners; and whether immediate steps will be taken to terminate such a state of affairs.
§ MR. JOSEPH A. PEASE (Essex Saffron Walden)Perhaps I may answer this Question. The cottages in question are leased with a farm of 820 acres for a term which expires at Michaelmas, 1908. No specific amount of rent is, paid to the Crown for the cottages apart from the farm, but I understand that the lessee of the farm sublets ten of the cottages to her own labourers at rents of 2s. a week, while the remainder are sublet to other labourers, one at 3s. a week, and the others at 4s. a week. My noble friend the President of the Board of Agriculture does not consider this a satisfactory arrangement, and the matter will be reconsidered on the expiration of the lease.