§ COLONEL MCCALMONT (Antrim, E.)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether his attention has been called to the dissatisfaction that exists in parts of Ireland at the purchasing tenant being prohibited from mortgaging or charging his holding for a 1308 sum not exceeding ten times the amount of the purchase annuity (The Irish Land Act, 1903, Section 54, Sub-section 3); and whether, in any amending Act he may introduce, he will see his way to removing such prohibition.
(Answered by Mr. Birrell.) The subject in question has engaged the attention of the Royal Commission on Congestion, whose Report is about to be circulated, and I understand that the Commissioners have expressed the unanimous opinion that greater stringency, rather than relaxation, is needed in respect of the power of mortgaging holdings which are subject to the payment of land purchase annuities.