HC Deb 23 November 1925 vol 188 cc1041-57
Colonel WEDGWOOD

I beg to move, in page 4, line 20, after the word "hereditament," to insert the words including unoccupied land and such ungotten minerals as are not owned in conjunction with the surface. This is an Amendment to Sub-section (8) of Clause 2, which at present reads as follows: Every hereditament in the rating area, whether liable to be rated or not, shall be included in every rate in the rate book. We were told in Committee that the word "hereditament" included unoccupied land and severed minerals, but we were also told that the register of property in the rate book did not include unoccupied land, and that it rarely, if ever, included severed minerals. We desire by this Amendment to ensure that the rate book shall be a genuine, truthful record of the fixed property in the area, whether rated or not. If these words are not inserted, it will mean that those two forms of property will in all probability be left out of the record, and if we assume, as I hope we may, that in some time to come we change our basis of rating and levy some rates, at all events, on unoccupied land and ungotten minerals, then we must obviously desire to have our record of the property, and the owner, stated as fully as possible in the rate book, so that we may know what property is available, even though we may not know what its value is, and even though it is not at the present time assessed for rates.

If hon. Members will refer to Clause 70, which deals with definitions, they will find "hereditament" referred there:— 'Hereditament' means any lands, tenements, hereditaments or property which are or may become liable to any rate in respect of which the valuation list is by this Act made conclusive. There, the definition of "hereditament" includes any property which may become liable to any rate, and, therefore, I think it is clear, apart altogether from previous definitions of the word "hereditament," that these elements of real estate are included in it. But I submit that it would be certainly desirable that we should have this sub-section perfectly clear on the matter, in order that we may get uniformity throughout all the new valuation areas as to the statements required in the rate book.

The SOLICITOR - GENERAL (Sir Thomas Inskip)

The right hon. Gentleman told the House he was informed in Committee that "hereditament" included unoccupied land and severed minerals. I have looked at the record of what was said in the Committee and I think he is in error on that point. What he was told was that "hereditament" would include unoccupied land, but the statement was not made that hereditament would include severed minerals.

Colonel WEDGWOOD

Is it not included in that definition?

The SOLICITOR-GENERAL

In my opinion, the definition in the Bill does not include what I understand the right hon. Gentleman means by ungotten minerals, and it certainly is not intended to include ungotten minerals.

Colonel WEDGWOOD

I remember now the hon. and learned Gentleman told the Committee that ungotten minerals, where they were not severed from the surface, were a hereditament.

The SOLICITOR-GENERAL

It was stated that a hereditament, which included minerals which had not been severed or reserved, would be valued on the footing of everything that was included in the hereditament. "Hereditament" in that sense would include the minerals below the land or house. But the question to-day which the House is asked to consider is whether not only unoccupied land, but what are called ungotten minerals shall be included in the rate book. I am sure the right hon. Gentleman will agree that unoccupied land to-day is included in the rate book.

Colonel WEDGWOOD

Always?

The SOLICITOR-GENERAL

It ought to be and. so far as I know, it always is, unless it is omitted by inadvertence, in the same way that unoccupied houses are included, and for the very good reason that unoccupied land and houses may at any moment require to be rated. At any rate, it is the law that they should be. Certainly under this Bill unoccupied land and houses will be upon the rate book, therefore the substance of this Amendment is the proposal that what are called ungotten minerals shall be included in the rate book. It is an academic question because, even supposing ungotten minerals are included, I do not suppose it will be suggested that they have an annual value or that they can be estimated in any way so as to be the subject of a hypothetical lease. That being so, the question the House is asked to consider is purely an academic one and the right hon. Gentleman is desirous that ungotten minerals should be included in the rate book with a view to the day when the whole of our rating system will be altered. I suppose what he really means is with a view to the day when a Socialist Government is in power. Perhaps I may say again, as Mr. Speaker said a few minutes ago, Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. When the whole rating system is altered then will be the time to make any apposite alterations in Acts of Parliament relating to rating. Until it is so altered, as it may some day be, it does not appear necessary to include ungotten minerals in the rate book. The effect would be simply to litter up the rate book with something so hypothetical, so indefinite, that it would be exceedingly difficult for anyone to know exactly what was to be put into it. It may be said that ungotten minerals have a capital value and people will buy and sell them, but that is not to say that they have any annual value. The fact is that ungotten minerals is a phrase which does not convey any definite idea. Seams of coal are known to stretch for hundreds of miles, across the whole of the land possibly, though in some cases at such a great depth that, practically speaking, the scam might be nonexistent. When does a mineral become an ungotten mineral? Does it become ungotten if a pit is sunk to that seam in any part of its course across Great Britain, or does an ungotten mineral mean a piece of coal that is still in the ground?

Colonel WEDGWOOD indicated assent.

The SOLICITOR - GENERAL

Ungotten minerals are rated effectively as long as they are part of an undertaking which is in actual operation.

Colonel WEDGWOOD

It is based upon output.

The SOLICITOR-GENERAL

There may be certain ways of arriving at the way in which a colliery undertaking should be rated, hut, in substance, ungotten coal to-day is rated, true on a certain basis, when it is deemed to be part of an undertaking which has been created by the sinking of a pit to the coal, and any coal which is properly part of the undertaking, whether it is gotten or ungotten, whether it is still in the seam or has been opened up or is waiting to be opened up, is rated.

Colonel WEDGWOOD

No, it is not rated when it is not opened up.

The SOLICITOR-GENERAL

The right hon. Gentleman is wrong in saying it is not rated when it is not being worked. If you have a colliery to-day in which a pit is sunk to a seam of coal and that colliery is actually working the seam of coal, that colliery is rated upon a certain basis, which has been adopted as the only way in which collieries can be rated, and the whole of the coal, therefore, which is part of that colliery undertaking in truth and in law is deemed to be rated. It is true it is rated upon the results of the undertaking.

Colonel WEDGWOOD

No, on the output.

The SOLICITOR - GENERAL

The output is merely the measure of the way in which the whole of the undertaking is to be rated.

Colonel WEDGWOOD

The hon. and gallant Gentleman knows perfectly well that there need be no profit at all. The rates are levied upon the output.

The SOLICITOR - GENERAL

The right hon. Gentleman is confounding what is rated with the measure of the rate-That is a distinction which anyone familiar with the rating of colliery undertakings will be well aware of. The measure is one thing, the thing that is rated is another. What is rated is the coal ungotten which is part and parcel of the colliery undertaking. The measure of the rating is the output of the colliery. Having regard to the academic nature of the proposal and to the very elusive and unintelligible phrase that is included in the Amendment I hope the House will reject it and think it is unnecessary, and even if the idea was couched in appropriate, language it would serve no useful purpose to insert it in this Clause.

Mr. WEBB

The hon. and learned Gentleman has not quite cleared up an obscurity at any rate in my mind. What is here in question is not any proposal to alter the law of rating or anything of that sort. What we are trying to secure is that all hereditaments which are or may be liable to be rated—it only means when they are unoccupied—should appear in the Rate Book whether at the moment they are liable to pay rates or not. The simplest case, of course, is that of unoccupied land and buildings. Everyone admits that they ought to appear in the Rate Book even though they are empty, because though they are not at the moment liable to pay rates, as they are rateable when they are occupied they must appear in the Rate Book even though for the time being nothing is collected in respect of them. There is no doubt about that, I assume, in the law, but unfortunately there is an inequality in practice and the right hon. Gentleman must know that there are cases in which, perhaps by inadvertence, unoccupied land has been left out of the Rate Book and the purpose of the Amendment, so far as unoccupied land is concerned, is one which I think the Government might consider for the sake of clearness. Nowhere in the Bill, as I understand it, even in the definition Clause any more than in this Clause, is there any instruction given to the rating authority that they are to include unoccupied land and buildings. Would it be altogether objectionable to put in a Clause including unoccupied lands in order to make sure that by inadvertence those hereditaments are not omitted, as they have been sometimes in the past and as I believe they are sometimes at present? I appeal to the hon. and learned Gentleman whether something cannot be done to make that clear also with regard to ungotten minerals. I do not think the Solicitor-General dealt with the point quite candidly. "Ungotten minerals" is a phrase that applies to minerals in the ground which are known to exist, or may be supposed to exist. No one would suggest that a mere hypothetical seam of coal which is supposed to exist should be necessarily brought into the Rate Book. The Solicitor-General has said that the coal that is ungotten, but is, nevertheless, part of the freehold property, whether ii is worked or not, is included in the assessment as part of the value of the freehold. That is clear, I assume, whether the minerals are worked or not. It is clear that as soon as a shaft has been sunk and the colliery enterprise is in existence the coal in the pit, if it is ungotten, is included in the assessable value of that hereditament. What the Solicitor-General has not dealt with is the fact that when that pit is not working, although it may formerly have worked, no rates are paid in respect of that hereditament. Is it or is it not intended that that pit, we will call it a temporarily disused pit— whether or not it will ever be used again must always be obscure—shall still appear on the Rate Book?

The SOLICITOR-GENERAL

The right hon. Gentleman must bear in mind the distinction between something which has paid rates and something which is not on the rate book. A pit which has been sunk so as to make a colliery undertaking, is put into the rate book. It is a hereditament which can be visualised and described, and can be put into the rate book. If it ceases to be worked and has no output, it ceases to pay rates, but it is in the rate book, because it is something that can be grasped and described.

9.0 P.M.

Mr. WEBB

I am thankful to the Solicitor-General. I am proceeding step by step. He has said that the ungotten mineral, that is, the mineral which is not being got and perhaps never will be got, in that hereditament will, nevertheless, be put into the rate book, or, in other words, the hereditament, the freehold, the land in which that mineral exists, will be put into the rate book and will remain in the rate book, even though the colliery is disused. I ask him to go a step further and to consider a neighbouring seam which has not yet begun to be worked, and in which no shaft has been sunk, but which has been severed from the freehold for a price. We want to know whether that is a hereditament or not within the meaning of this Bill. He gave us a good deal of information on other points, but he did not give us an answer on that point. Does that hereditament come within the meaning of this Bill? I am not quite sure whether he is prepared to give an answer, but I think the House is entitled to know whether or not it is included. He said that the ungotten minerals would not be described, but I would remind him that some gentlemen in his own profession will have described these particular ungotten minerals at great length and with great particularity.

The SOLICITOR-GENERAL indicated dissent.

Mr. WEBB

Yes. In the document of sale. These ungotten minerals have been severed from the freehold, and it must be within the knowledge of the Solicitor-General, and probably he has drawn up some of these documents of sale, or he will have seen some of them, which are paid for at a high price. I suggest to him that these ungotten minerals which are severed from the freehold and are sold by the owner of the freehold to someone else in order that presently they may be worked, are in existence, and ought to be included in the rate book, even though under the present arrangement there is no actual liability for rates. These are hereditaments which will presently become liable to rates, and it seems to me, therefore, that they ought to be included. He says that they were sold for a capital price. He must know that they are much more often sold at an annual rental, a dead rent, a fixed rent

I would ask the House to consider the case of coal which is known to exist, and which has been sold by the owner to someone else. Therefore, that mineral is no longer included in the freehold of the surface that remains with the owner, because it is a severed part of the hereditament, and it is described in the document of sale, which gives protection against anyone encroaching upon it. It is known to be there and in respect of it an annual rental is being paid. I want to know, and the House ought to know, whether that severed mineral, described and identified, and the subject of an annual dead rent—which dead rent is not included in the freehold of the surface— is a hereditament liable to be rated. At the present time it is not in the rate book. Is it within the definition of hereditament in this Bill? If not, is it the intention of the Government that that hereditament, that mineral which has been described and identified and has actually been conveyed, and which is being paid for by a dead rent, shall be inserted in the rate book, whether or not, according to the system of collecting the rates on coal mines, any rate ought to be collected in respect of that dead rent?

The SOLICITOR-GENERAL

I am not very hopeful of making my meaning clear. If there is a colliery undertaking that has sunk one pit or six pits—[An HON. MEMBER: "Or no pits!"]—I do not know what is meant by a colliery undertaking that has sunk no pits. That is, clearly, not a colliery undertaking. [HON. MEMBERS: "There are such!"] We are speaking about two different things. By a colliery undertaking I mean an undertaking which has undertaken the process of sinking a shaft and raising coal to the surface to sell. A colliery undertaking constantly leases seams of coal which are in the hands of different owners scattered over different places which come within the ambit or the fringe of its workings. The colliery company constituted, as the right hon. Gentleman has said, agree to pay a dead rent which would be a rental receivable by the owner of the minerals until the time comes when he will be remunerated by the customary method of receiving royalties according to the tonnage of the coal dug out. The position is that the coal has not been reached by the undertaking which has been working, and meanwhile the colliery undertaking is paying a dead rent, or a sleeping rent as it is called, for the coal which has not yet been worked. The whole of the coal area of the undertaking is thus part of the hereditament and it is rated and the measure of the rating, by a convention which has long been followed by rating authorities, is the amount of the coal which is brought out of the undertaking, out of the one pit or the six pits. The colliery company may have half a dozen pits in the area of coal which it has least or only one pit, but in law you have the whole of it rated as a hereditament, though the measure of the rates is the amount of the coal got out of the one pit or out of the six pits.

Mr. WEBB

That is satisfactory so far as it goes, but how about the undertaking that has acquired the coal but has not yet begun to sink the shaft? It may be some years before it does so. What is to happen in the meantime?

The SOLICITOR-GENERAL

The sinking of the shaft is a pure question of convenience and economy in reaching a particular pit or seam. It may be necessary because of cost or because of the distance of the coal from the existing pit.

Mr. WEBB

I am not talking about an existing pit. Suppose you have a colliery company which acquires coal underground and then changes its mind and lets 10 years go by before it sinks a pit, and meanwhile pays a dead rental. Is that or is it not a hereditament?

The SOLICITOR-GENERAL

I have never heard of any colliery company in that position. If I have not made my meaning plain I will try to do so. A colliery company which has not sunk a pit has not, in my opinion, a hereditament for the purpose of rating. As long as it is merely on paper it is not a hereditament, but when the company begins to sink a pit then there is a hereditament to be rated according to the ordinary measure of rating. The hon. Gentleman contemplates a state of things which I do not know to exist. [HON. MEMBERS: "It is frequent"!] I have some knowledge of colliery undertakings, and I do not know of any colliery undertaking which companies acquire, and then let lie by never attempting to work the coal.

Mr. W. ADAMSON

May I point out that the Amendment of my right hon. Friend deals with unoccupied land, and such ungotten minerals as are not owned in conjunction with the surface. What frequently occurs is that a landlord sells the surface and retains the minerals. The object of my right hon. Friend's Amendment is that the minerals should be put in at a valuation.

Lieut.-Colonel WATTS-MORGAN

How many years can a parcel of severed minerals be held by a company who have no intention of working this?

Mr. ADAMSON

The severed minerals mentioned by my right hon. Friend may be held by a mining company, or the landlord sells the surface of the ground and retains the minerals, and retains them for a considerable number of years, and there is no trace of their value in the Register, because it is a value which is not measured by the rate put upon the minerals worked in the vicinity. In many instances we have owners of land selling the land and retaining the minerals, and in all these cases, unless the Amendment of my right hon. Friend is accepted, there is a considerable amount of minerals as to which no record can be traced, and we will lose sight of a considerable amount of mineral value in the country. This is not an isolated case, but it is quite common for the landlord to sell the surface and retain the minerals in his own hands for a considerable number of years.

The SOLICITOR-GENERAL

I did not say that that was not common.

Mr. ADAMSON

If the Solicitor-General admits that, surely it is a reasonable proposition that the value should find a place on the register, and be ready on the day when the minerals are worked by the man who is still owner of it, or it might be sold to a colliery company to work it. Surely it is only right to have that registered as a valuable form of property. You have already admitted unoccupied houses are land on the register, though they are not rated so long as they remain unoccupied. If it is right to put unoccupied houses on land on the register, it is also right to put on the register the value of severed minerals. Where the landlord has sold the site and retained the minerals in his own hand, it is right to put a certain value on the minerals, and that value should be on the register. If not, in many instances we will lose all sight of the considerable amount of wealth in this country.

Mr. MARDY JONES

May I give an illustration on this particular Amendment of how very important it is that these particulars should be inserted? All over the country, wherever minerals are worked, you have the system of dead rents. I will give the Solicitor-General an instance in my own division of a parish in which a certain landlord leased a mineral undertaking to one of the richest colliery owners 60 years ago. That colliery owner had to agree to give £5C0 a year rent for the right to work this mineral whenever he desired in the future. It has happened that it never was convenient or profitable for this particular colliery owner to develop this particular mineral undertaking, with the result that in this particular case the landlord has received £500 a year for the past 60 years as dead rent alone for minerals that have not yet been reached. I would say that that is typical of a, number of similar cases throughout Great Britain and that considerable sums of money in annual value have been held up in this way. In this particular case the farmer who occupies and cultivates the surface of the land over the mineral pays rates on the agricultural value of the land on the surface, and that is the only record which we have of that land in the rate book. The value of the dead rent is entirely ignored and is unrecorded. If this Amendment were carried the record would be correct, but mineral undertakings of this character are held up in Great Britain, and the amount which they represent would add considerably to the total value of the mineral in such cases. I press this point and hope that the Government will consider it. Dead rents are not the only mineral values that go unrated and unrecorded in this way. In addition, considerable sums of money are paid annually out of the working costs of the coal industry, the iron ore industry, and all underground workings, for way-leaves, air-leaves and so on. The surface owner claims, theoretically, the right for the passage of air from his property to another. All these cases should be recorded in accordance with the Amendment. It is a national scandal that this Government neglects to rate these mineral properties as a means of helping to meet the annual expenses of the country.

Mr. SCURR

As I listened to the speech of the right hon. Member for Seaham (Mr. Webb), I noticed that the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health was nodding his head with approval, and that leads me to hope that the Amendment will be accepted.

Sir K. WOOD

What I assented to was the reference to unoccupied land. I do not think there is any question about that.

Mr. SCURR

I came to this Debate with an open mind, intending to find out how I ought to vote. After the lucid explanation given by the right hon. Member for Seaham and by other Members who have a knowledge of the mining industry, I had no doubt as to what my vote should be, if it be given on the merits of the Measure and not according to party ties. Against lucidity on the one side we have had the obscurantism of the Solicitor-General, whose explanation left us more and more in the dark.

Mr. THURTLE

I would like to put the analogy between this case of the severed ungotten minerals and the case of undeveloped real estate. You can have a real estate company owning land and refraining from making use of that land for a number of years, because it believes that at the end of a given period the land will be of enhanced value. You have exactly the same kind of thing operating in the case of a colliery company owning ungotten minerals. As has been stated, you have a company owning the ungotten mineral rights over a certain piece of land and paying a dead rental with respect to those minerals. It may be that the colliery company will decide that it is not profitable to extract the minerals, this year or next year or even five or 10 years hence. The assumption is that the market for coal will be better in five or 10 years, because consumption will have increased and production decreased. That, of course, would mean that in five or 10 years' time coal would fetch a much higher price. The company, therefore, deliberately refrains from extracting the coal from underground. In a case like that the annual dead rental for the value of the ungotten minerals should be recorded on the rate book.

Mr. R. RICHARDSON

What the Solicitor-General has told the House may be all right, but in practice in the Durham coal area things are done differently. There the only minerals rated are those that are worked. We cannot tell to a

million pounds what coal is lying handy. The ungotten minerals are not on the rate book.

Mr. ATTLEE

We are discussing the question of severed minerals, and there was one point in the Solicitor-General's statement about which I was not clear. The only point is as to the measure of value. The annual value is expressed very often in a dead rent. We have there a hereditament with all the qualities which enable us to rate it. We have not even to go to anything hypothetical. There is an annual value, and I cannot see why it should not come into the records.

Question put, "That those words be there inserted in the Bill."

The House divided: Ayes, 125; Noes, 285.

Division No. 388.] AYES. [9.23 p.m.
Adamson, Rt. Hon. W. (Fife, West) Guest, J. (York, Hemsworth) Robinson, W. C. (Yorks, W. R., Elland)
Adamson, W. M. (Staff., Cannock) Guest, Dr. L. Haden (Southwark, N.) Salter, Or. Alfred
Alexander, A. V. (Sheffield, Hillsbro') Hall, F. (York, W. R., Normanton) Scrymgeour, E.
Attlee, Clement Richard Hall, G. H. (Merthyr Tydvil) Scurr, John
Baker, J. (Wolverhamton, Bilston) Hamilton, Sir R. (Orkney & Shetland) Shaw, Rt. Hon. Thomas (Preston)
Baker, Walter Hardle, George D. Shiels, Dr. Drummond
Sarker, G. (Monmouth, Abertillery) Hartshorn, Rt. Hon. Vernon Short, Alfred (Wednesbury)
Barnes, A. Hayday, Arthur Sitch, Charles H.
Barr, J. Hayes, John Henry Smillie, Robert
Batey, Joseph Henderson, Rt. Hon. A. (Burnley) Smith, Ben (Bermondsey, Rotherhithe)
Beckett, John (Gateshead) Henderson, T. (Glasgow) Smith, H. B. Lees (Keighley)
Broad, F. A. Hirst, G. H. Smith, Rennie (Penistone)
Brown, James (Ayr and Bute) Hirst, w. (Bradford, South) Snell, Harry
Buchanan, G. Hore-Belisha, Leslie Spoor, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Charles
Cape, Thomas Hudson, J. H. (Huddersfield) Stephen, Campbell
Charleton, H. C. Jenkins, W. (Glamorgan, Neath) Taylor, R. A.
Clowes, S. John, William (Rhondda, West) Thomson, Trevelyan (Middlesbro, W.)
Cluse, W. S. Jones, Henry Haydn (Merioneth) Thorne, W. (West Ham, Plaistow)
Compton, Joseph Jones, T I. Mardy (Pontypridd) Thurtle, E.
Connolly, M. Kelly, W. T. Townend, A. E.
Cove, W. G. Kennedy, T. Trevelyan, Rt. Hon. C. P.
Cowan, D'. M. (Scottish Universities) Lansbury, George Varley, Frank B.
Crawfurd, Major H. E. Lawson, John James Viant, S. P.
Dalton, Hugh Lee, F. Wallhead, Richard C.
Davies, Evan (Ebbw Vale) Lindley, F. W. Walsh, Rt. Hon. Stephen
Davies, Ellis (Denbigh, Denbigh) Livingstone, A. M. Warne. G. H.
Day, Colonel Harry Lowth, T. Watson, W. M, (Dunfermline)
Dennison, R. Lunn, William Watts-Morgan. Lt. Col. D. (Rhondda)
Duncan, C. Mackinder, W. Webb, Rt. Hon. Sidney
Dunnico, H. Maclean, Nell (Glasgow, Govan) Wedgwood, Rt. Hon. Josiah
Edwards, John H. (Accrington) March, S. Westwood, J.
Fenby, T. D. Montague, Frederick Whiteley, W.
Gibbins, Joseph Morrison, R. C. (Tottenham, N.) Wiggins, William Martin
Gillett, George M. Naylor, T. E. Williams, C. P. (Denbigh, Wrexham)
Gosling, Harry Oliver, George Harold Williams, T. (York, Don Valley)
Graham, D. M. (Lanark, Hamilton) Owen, Major G. Wilson, C. H. (Sheffield, Attercliffe)
Graham, Rt. Hon. Wm. (Edin., Cent.) Palin, John Henry Wilson, R. J. (Jarrow)
Greenall, T. Ponsonby, Arthur Windsor, Walter
Greenwood, A. (Nelson and Colne) Potts, John S. Young, Robert (Lancaster, Newton)
Grenfell, D. R. (Glamorgan) Rees, Sir Beddoe
Griffiths, T. (Monmouth, Pontypool) Richardson, R. (Houghton-le-Spring) TELLERS FOR THE AYES.—
Groves, T. Riley, Ben Mr. Allen Parkinson and Mr.
Grundy, T. W. Ritson, J. Charles Edwards.
NOES.
Acland-Troyte, Lieut.-Colonel Allen, J. Sandeman (L'pool, W. Derby) Baldwin, Rt. Hon. Stanley
Agg-Gardner, Rt. Hon. Sir James T. Applin, Colonel R. V. K. Balfour, George (Hampstead)
Albery, Irving James Apsley, Lord Banks. Reginald Mitchell
Alexander. E. E. (Leyton) Atholl, Duchess of Barclay-Harvey, C. M.
Barnett, Major Sir Richard Foster, Sir Harry S. Malone, Major P. B.
Barnston, Major Sir Harry Foxcroft, Captain C. T. Manningham-Buller, Sir Mervyn
Beamish, Captain T. P. H. Frece, Sir Walter de Margesson, Captain D.
Benn, Sir A. S. (Plymouth, Drake) Gadie, Lieut.-Col. Anthony Meller, R. J.
Bentinck, Lord Kenry Cavendish Ganzoni, Sir John Merriman F. B.
Berry, Sir George Gates, Percy Milne, J. S. Wardlaw-
Betterton, Henry B. Gault, Lieut.-Col. Andrew Hamilton Mitchell, S. (Lanark, Lanark)
Bird, E. R. (Yorks, W. R., Skipton) Gee, Captain R. Mitchell, Sir W. Lane (Streatham)
Bird, Sir R. B. (Wolverhampton, W.) Gibbs, Col. Rt. Hon. George Abraham Monsell, Eyres, Com. Rt. Hon. B. M.
Blades, Sir George Rowland Gilmour, Lt.-Col. Rt. Hon. Sir John Moore, Lieut.-Colonel T. C. R. (Ayr)
Blundell, F. N. Goft, Sir Park Moore, Sir Newton J.
Bourne, Captain Robert Croft Grace, John Moore-Brabazon, Lieut.-Col. J. T. C.
Bowater, Sir T. Vansittart Grant, J. A. Morrison, H. (Wilts, Salisbury)
Bowyer, Capt. G. E. W. Greene, W. P. Crawford Murchison, C. K.
Boyd-Carpenter, Major A. Gretton, Colonel John Neville, R. J.
Brass, Captain W. Grotrian, H. Brent Newman, Sir R. H. S. D. L. (Exeter)
Brassey, Sir Leonard Hall, Lieut. Col. Sir F. (Dulwich) Newton, Sir D. G. C. (Cambridge)
Bridgeman, Rt. Hon. William Clive Hall, Capt. W. D'A (Brecon & Rad.) Nicholson, O. (Westminster)
Briscoe, Richard George Hammersley, S. S. Nield, Rt. Hon. Sir Herbert
Brocklebank, C. E. R. Hanbury, C. Nuttall, Ellis
Brooke, Brigadier-General C. R. I. Hannon, Patrick Joseph Henry Oakley, T.
Broun-Lindsay, Major H. Harland, A. O'Connor, T. J. (Bedford, Luton)
Brown, Col. D. C. (N'th'l'd., Hexham) Harmsworth, Hon. E. C. (Kent) O'Neill, Major Rt. Hon. Hugh
Brown, Brig.- Gen. H. C. (Berks, Newb'y) Harrison, G. J. C. Oman, Sir Charles William C.
Buckingham, Sir H. Hartington, Marquess of Pease, William Edwin
Bull, Rt. Hon. Sir William James Harvey, G. (Lambeth, Kennington) Pennefather, Sir John
Bullock, Captain M. Harvey, Major S. E. (Devon, Totnes) Penny, Frederick George
Burgoyne, Lieut.-Colonel Sir Alan Haslam, Henry C. Percy, Lord Eustace (Hastings)
Burman, J. B. Hawke, John Anthony Perkins, Colonel E. K.
Burton, Colonel H. W. Headlam, Lieut.-Colonel C. M. Perring, William George
Butler, Sir Geoffrey Henderson, Lieut.-Col. V. L. (Bootle) Peto, Basil E. (Devon, Barnstaple)
Butt, Sir Alfred Keneage, Lieut.-Col. Arthur P. Peto, G. (Somerset, Frome)
Cadogan, Major Hon. Edward Henn, sir Sydney H. Pielou, D. P.
Caine, Gordon Hall Hennessy, Major J. R. G. Pilcher, G.
Campbell, E. T. Herbert, Dennis (Hertford, Watford) Pilditch, Sir Philip
Cassels, J. D. Herbert, S. (York, N. R., Scar. & Wh'by) Preston, William
Cautley, Sir Henry S. Hilton, Cecil Price, Major C. W. M.
Cazalet, Captain Victor A. Hoare, Lt.-Col. Rt. Hon. Sir S. J. G. Radford, E. A.
Cecil, Rt. Hon. Sir Evelyn (Aston) Hogg, Rt. Hon. Sir D. (St. Marylebone) Raine, W.
Chadwick, Sir Robert Burton Holbrook, Sir Arthur Richard Rawson, Alfred Cooper
Chamberlain, Rt. Hon. N. (Ladywood) Holland, Sir Arthur Reid, Capt. A. S. C. (Warrington)
Christie, J. A. Homan, C. W. J. Remer, J. R.
Churchman Sir Arthur C. Hope, Capt. A. O. J. (Warw'k, Nun.) Remnant, Sir James
Clarry, Reginald George Hopkins, J. W. W. Rhys, Hon. C. A. U.
Clayton, G. C. Hopkinson, A. (Lancaster, Mossley) Rice, Sir Frederick
Cobb, Sir Cyril Howard, Captain Hon. Donald Roberts, Samuel (Hereford, Hereford)
Cochrane, Commander Hon. A. D. Hudson, Capt. A. U. M. (Hackney, N.) Roberts, E. H. G. (Flint)
Cockerill, Brigadier-General G. K. Hudson, R. S. (Cumberl'nd, Whiteh'n) Ruggles-Brise, Major E. A.
Colfox, Major Wm. Phillips Hume, Sir G. H. Rye, F. G.
Conway, Sir W. Martin Hurd, Percy A. Salmon, Major I.
Cope, Major William Hurst, Gerald B. Samuel, A. M. (Surrey, Farnham)
Couper J. B. Hutchison, G. A. Clark (Midl'n & P'bl's) Samuel, Samuel (W'dtworth, Putnev)
Courtauld Major J. S. Inskip, Sir Thomas Walker H. Sandeman, A. Stewart
Craik, Rt. Hon. Sir Henry Jackson, Lieut.-Colonel Hon. F. S. Sanders, Sir Robert A.
Crook, C. W. Jackson, Sir H. (Wandsworth, Cen'l) Sanderson, Sir Frank
Crocke, J. Smedley (Deritend) Jacob, A. E. Santan, Lord
Crookshank, Cpt. H. (Lindsey, Gainsbro) Jephcott, A. R. Sassoon, Sir Philip Albert Gustave D.
Curtis-Bennett, Sir Henry Kennedy, A. R. (Preston) Savery, S. S.
Curzon, Captain Viscount Kidd, J. (Linlithgow) Shaw, Capt. W. W. (Wilts, Westb'y)
Davidson, J. (Hertl'd, Hemel Hempst'd) King, Captain Henry Douglas Sheffield, Sir Berkeley
Davidson, Major-General Sir J. H. Kinloch Cooke, Sir Clement Shepperson, E. W.
Davies, Dr. Vernon Kinox. Sir Alfred Skelton, A. N.
Davies, Sir Thomas (Cirencester) Lamb, J. Q. Smith, R. W. (Aberd'n & Kinc'dine, C.)
Dean, Arthur Wellesley Lister, Cunliffe-, Rt. Hon. Sir Philip Smith-Carington, Neville W.
Dixey, A. C. Little, Dr. E. Graham Somerville, A. A. (Windsor)
Doyle, Sir N. Grattan Lloyd, Cyril E. (Dudley) Spender Clay, Colonel H.
Drewe, C. Locker-Lampson, G. (Wood Green) Sprot, Sir Alexander
Duckworth, John Locker-Lampson, Com. O.(Handsw'th) Stanley, Hon. O. F. G. (Westm'eland)
Edmondson, Major A. J. Loder, J. de V. Steel, Major Samuel Strang
Elliot, Captain Walter E. Looker, Herbert William Storry Deans, R.
Elveden, Viscount Lord, Walter Greaves- Stott, Lieut.-Colonel W. H.
England, Colonel A. Lougher, L. Stuart, Crichton-, Lord C.
Erskine, Lord (Somerset, Weston-s.-M.) Lucas-Tooth, Sir Hugh Vere Stuart, Hon J. (Moray and Nairn)
Erskine, James Malcolm Monteith Luce, Maj.-Gen. Sir Richard Harman Sueter, Rear-Admiral Murray Fraser
Evans, Captain A. (Cardiff, South) Lynn, Sir Robert J. Sugden, Sir Wilfrid
Everard, W. Lindsay MacAndrew, Charles Glen Sykes, Major-Gen. Sir Frederick H.
Fairfax, Captain J. G. Macdonald, Capt. P. D. (I. of W.) Thompson, Luke (Sunderland)
Falls, Sir Bertram G. McDonnell, Colonel Hon. Angus Thomson, F. C. (Aberdeen, South)
Fanshawe, Commander G. D. Macintyre, Ian Thomson, Rt. Hon. Sir W. Mitchell-
Fermoy, Lord McLean, Major A. Tinne, J. A.
Finburgh, S. Macmillan, Captain H. Tryon, Rt. Hon. George Clement
Fleming, D. P. McNeill, Rt. Hon. Ronald John Vaughan-Morgan, Col. K. P.
Forestier-Walker, Sir L. Macquisten, F. A. Waddington, R.
Forrest, W. Maitland, Sir Arthur D. Steel- Wallace, Captain D. E.
Ward, Lt.-Col. A. L.(Kingston-on-Hull) Wilson, R. R. (Stafford, Lichfield) Wood, Sir H. K. (Woolwich, West)
Warner, Brigadier-General W. W. Winby, Colonel L. P. Woodcock, Colonel H. C.
Waterhouse, Captain Charles Windsor-Clive, Lieut.-Colonel George Yerburgh, Major Robert D. T.
Watson, Rt. Hon. W. (Carlisle) Winterton, Rt. Hon. Earl
Watts, Dr. T. Wise, Sir Fredric TELLERS FOR THE NOES.—
Wells. S. R. Womersley, W. J Captain Hacking and Lord
Wheler, Major Sir Granville C. H. Wood, B. C. (Somerset, Bridgwater) Stanley.
White, Lieut.-Colonel G. Dairymple Wood, E. (Chest'r, Stalyb'dge & Hyde)