HC Deb 23 February 1916 vol 80 cc684-6
31. Colonel LOCKWOOD

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture whether, in view of the urgency of the substantive proposals made in Part I. of Sir Harry Verney's Commission Report on Land Settlements, an early opportunity will be afforded the House of considering the matter, as the proposals made might call for immediate action?

The PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY to the BOARD of AGRICULTURE (Mr. Acland)

I am unable at the moment to say anything more than that the Report is receiving very careful consideration. The right hon. and gallant Member may rest assured that no time will be lost after a, decision has been taken in the matter in bringing before the House any proposals which require legislative sanction. The matter could also, no doubt, be raised at any of the ordinary opportunities should any hon. Member desire to do so.

Colonel LOCKWOOD

I hope this Report will not be delayed until No. 2 is presented.

Mr. ACLAND

I can assure my right hon. and gallant Friend that that is not being done. We are pressing forward very rapidly. The Report is of very great importance and extreme urgency, and it would be a great pity if we came to wrong conclusions about the action to be taken.

Mr. RAFFAN

Can the right hon. Gentleman give the House any idea when the Commission is likely to complete its labours and when Part II. will be ready? It would be a great convenience if we could have a discussion on the matter as a whole.

Mr. ACLAND

I am afraid I cannot. I have heard nothing from the Committee as to how they are going on. We take the view that the Report they have presented is so urgent that we ought to get on with it as soon as we can.

Sir C. KINLOCH-COOKE

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that this Report recommends an expenditure of over £334,000 for the purpose of placing 300 exsoldiers and sailors upon the land?

Mr. ACLAND

Yes, Sir, and it is because of that that it requires very careful consideration before anything is done.

32. Sir C. KINLOCH-COOKE

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture whether his attention has been called to the recommendations of the Departmental Committee appointed to consider the settlement and employment on the land in England and Wales of discharged sailors and soldiers; and will he explain how it happens that the recommendations suggesting an immediate purchase of land for three pioneer colonies, extending in all to 5,000 acres, should be followed by schemes for three pioneer colonies covering 6,000 acres?

Mr. ACLAND

I am informed that the Committee considered that the three pioneer colonies might be one of 1,000 acres for fruit and market garden holdings and two of 2,000 acres for dairy or mixed holdings, making 5,000 acres in all as the minimum. The estimates of cost of the three colonies in paragraphs 96, 97, and 98 of the Report were based on a fruit and market garden colony of 1,000 acres and two dairy and mixed farm colonies of 2,500 acres. The latter area was taken from an actual case of an estate of that size, and the Committee considered that while 2,000 acres might be sufficient it would be better to have 2,500 acres. But the differences are not really at all material to the main recommendations of the Report.

Sir C. KINLOCH-COOKE

Does the right hon. Gentleman appreciate the fact that if the Committee recommend that these three pioneer colonies should consist of 5,000 acres, it is perfectly absurd to give estimates of pioneer colonies consisting of 6,000 acres?

Mr. ACLAND

I do not think that if the report is read carefully and intelligently that difficulty arises.

Mr. OUTHWAITE

Is the right hon. Gentleman doing everything to see that in the meantime the men get employment from farmers at a decent rate of wage?

Mr. ACLAND

The difficulty is to find any discharged soldiers who want employment on land at all.