§ 18. Mr. COWANasked the Secretary for Scotland whether his attention has been called to the fact that only tenants and leaseholders occupying their holdings under tenancies which were in force when the Small Landholders (Scotland) Act of 1911 came into operation are entitled to be declared small landholders or statutory small tenants under the Act; whether he is aware that many such tenants have been, and are being, induced to enter into new leases of dates subsequent to the commencement of the Act, and are thereby permanently disqualified for applying to the Land Court in respect of their present 1689 holdings; and what steps, if any, he proposes to take to ensure to all Scottish small holders the right to apply to the Land Court in order to obtain security of tenure and fair or equitable rents?
Mr. McKINNON WOODThe reply to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. The Board of Agriculture for Scotland have no knowledge of the action referred to in the second part. It is competent to contract out of the Act, but any person has the right to apply for a new holding. The rights mentioned in the last part of the question are already secured to small holders and no further steps are necessary.
§ 25. Mr. J. HOGGEasked how many applications have been made under the Small Landholders (Scotland) Act, 1911, for new holdings and enlargements up to and including 30th June, 1914; and how many of those have not got beyond the stage of application?
Mr. McKINNON WOODUp to and including 30th June, 1914, there have been 5,215 applications for new holdings under the Small Landholders (Scotland) Act, 1911, and 3,784 applications for enlargements, making a total of 8,999. Of these, 1,964 have either been withdrawn or rejected because the applicants were unsuitable or because the land applied for was not available. Of the remainder, about 5,470 have not yet been provided for by any schemes adopted by the Board of Agriculture for Scotland, but all these except 1,364 have been interviewed. The classification of the applications according to counties necessitates a number of figures, and I propose to circulate that table with the Votes.
§ Mr. WILLIAM WATSONIs the right hon. Gentleman aware how many new holdings have been created?