§ Mr. SEXTON(by Private Notice) asked the Secretary of State for War whether he was aware that the tenants of 16 houses, the property of his Department, occupied by 103 persons in St. Helens, have been notified by the local county court officials that an Order of the Court secured by his Department for possession, will be executed on Thursday next by forcible eviction, and themselves and their household goods thrown on the streets, there being nowhere else for them to go owing to the doubly congested nature of the neighbourhood; and whether, in view of the fact that the local authorities, in order to meet the circumstances of the case, have so expedited house-building as to guarantee to provide full accommodation for these people in six weeks, he will take the necessary immediate steps to prevent the evictions pending the expiration of that period?
§ The SECRETARY of STATE for WAR (Sir Laming Worthington-Evans)Since the eviction orders were obtained, I have heard from the Town Clerk of St. Helens, offering four houses immediately and 12 more in six or eight weeks, for the accommodation of the people referred to in the question. I have therefore issued instructions for the suspension of the eviction from Thursday to Monday next, and an application to the Court will be made to-morrow to extend the time for the execution of the warrant, so that the present occupants may have an opportunity of going in to the new houses as they become ready.