§ MR. AUSTIN TAYLOR (Liverpool, East Toxteth)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury if he is aware that the Land Tax Commissioners appointed under the Act of 1906 for the Prescot district of the county of Lancaster were summoned to attend a meeting at Prescot on the 11th instant to appoint the collectors for the ensuing year; that 1163 twenty-five gentlemen from Liverpool accordingly attended at the hour named; that on arrival they were informed by the clerk that there was no business to transact; and that two meetings had been held previously in March and April at which the clerk himself and the collectors were appointed, and to which the Land Tax Commissioners in question were never summoned; whether these meetings and the business transacted thereat are valid; and what steps His Majesty's Government intend to take to secure the proper working of the Act of 1906 and the due summoning of the Land Tax Commissioners as prescribed by that Act.
§ MR. RUNCIMANThe incident referred to appears to have been due to some misapprehension on the part of the clerk. I understand that another meeting has now been held at which satisfactory explanations were given and an amicable settlement of the difficulty effected.