§ MR. MORRELL (Oxfordshire, Henley)To ask the President of the Local Government Board whether his attention has been called to the case of David Nicholls, a labourer occupying a cottage, at 5s. a week, near Edenbridge, in Kent, who, after making an application for land under the Small Holdings and Allotments Act, is about to he evicted from his cottage; whether he is aware that the farmer applying for the eviction admitted in cross-examination that David Nicholls had paid his rent regularly and was a decent and respectable man; that no satisfactory reason was given by the farmer for the course which he is taking, and that his action is generally believed to be entirely due to the application made by Nicholls for land under the Small Holdings and Allotments Act, whether he is aware that in the neighbourhood in which the man lives many of the existing cottages are already overcrowded and insanitary, and there are no other cottages available at a rent which labourers can pay, so that eviction is greatly dreaded; and whether the Government proposes to take any action in the Housing Bill, or otherwise, to deal with cases of this kind.
(Answered by Mr. John Burns.) My attention has not been called to this particular case, but as regards the last part of the Question I may say that I hope and believe that the result of the Bill will be that cottages will be provided by local authorities where they are required, and that, consequently, in any such case as that mentioned the tenant will be able to obtain another suitable dwelling.