§ Mr. CHARLES BATHURSTasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in view of the difference between the proportion of the then current rate payable by an occupier of agricultural land under The Agricultural Rates Act, 1896, and the proportion of the existing rate now payable by him under the Act of 1905, he will, in any re-enactment of the latter, adopt the unanimous recommendation contained in the Second Report of the Royal Commission on Agricultural Depression in 1896 to the effect that agricultural lands should be assessed at one-fourth only of their rateable value?
§ Mr. BURNSI may refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave last Thursday to a somewhat similar question put by the hon. Member for Warwick and Leamington.
§ Mr. CHARLES BATHURSTIn view of the anxiety which prevails among farmers as to the re-enactment of the Agricultural Rates Act, will the right hon. Gentleman make some statement on the matter?
§ Mr. BURNSPerhaps I had better give the answer which I gave on a previous occasion. I will not undertake to promise legislation with a view to extending the operations of the Agricultural Rates Act on the lines indicated.