§ 53. Sir J. BUTCHERasked the Chief Secretary whether he is aware that in many districts in Southern Ireland there are, and have for a considerable time been, organised strikes against the payment of rent, and that land has been illegally seized and held by marauders, and that, owing to the impossibility of executing the processes of the law, many owners of land, especially the smaller ones, have been reduced to serious financial straits; and whether, in view of these facts, he will accelerate the introduction of a Land Purchase Bill?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLI regret that I do not share what is apparently the hon. and learned Member's view, namely, that the evils to which he refers can be remedied by the introduction into this House of a Land Purchase Bill. As I informed the hon. and Gallant Member for Maidstone on the 9th instant, the question of Land Purchase is at present under consideration and will be a matter for consultation with the Provisional Government.