§ MR. D. A. THOMAS (Merthyr Tydvil)I beg to ask the Prime Minister whether any State inquiry by commission or otherwise was made into the condition and temporalities of the Established Church in Wales, or into the position of the free churches, prior to the introduction of the Welsh Disestablishment Bills of 1894 and 1895; whether the recent appointment of a Royal Commission bears any relation to the proposed early introduction of a measure to terminate the Established Church in Wales; and, if so, what is the change of circumstance that has necessitated an inquiry.
§ THE PRIME MINISTER AND FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY (SIR H. CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN ,) Stirling Burghs896 No inquiry by Royal Commission or otherwise was made into the condition, and temporalities of the Established Church in Wales before the introduction, of the Bills to which my hon. friend refers. That omission was, in my opinion, a somewhat unfortunate one, because, owing to the absence of official information on the questions which have , now been submitted to a Royal Commission, the Government of the day were exposed to a good deal of embarrassment in the framing and conduct of the measure. As I have already more than, once intimated we hope to legislate on this subject, and we are anxious to obtain: the Report of this Commission at an early date as it would be of material assistance.