LORD HARRISMy Lords, I rise to call attention to the injury done last year to the crops of certain occupiers in the Isle of Sheppey, and to ask His Majesty's Government what is preventing the grant of compensation. This is a very real grievance, though I am glad to say it is limited to a small number of people. I should not have made the matter public could I have got an answer to private inquiries, but after waiting three weeks, and knowing that Parliament was going to rise, I have thought it necessary to call attention to the matter in your Lordships' House. This being an agricultural matter I originally addressed the Minister for Agriculture, but as he is not here to-night I presume that the answer to my Question will come from the War Department, and as the injury was done by that Department I think that is quite natural.
The Isle of Sheppey is one of the outworks of our coast defences, and therefore it was quite natural that it should be overrun by armies quite early after mobilisation, and I have no doubt it was necessary to do a good deal of destruction. Whether it was all done with care I should from my own experience doubt. I believe that a great deal of waste occurred in that neighbourhood from the young Engineer officers disregarding the advice of the local experts on the geological character of the land. I believe that work done then has had to be done over again three times, and therefore there has been a great waste of money. But that is not the case which I am bringing before your Lordships.
I have here a list of some ten farmers—I think they are partly yeomen who also occupy land other than their own—whose crops and buildings were destroyed as long 721 ago as August of last year, and my information is that they have not yet received one penny of compensation. The War Department valuer was down there no earlier than December. The War Department allowed it to run until December, and then sent a valuer to meet the occupiers valuer, and they provisionally agreed that payment should be made by way of compensation in April. Subsequently a Commission was appointed, which I suppose again went into the whole matter. At any rate, one of the Commissioners went down and viewed the scene of the destruction, but with no result so far as the occupiers are concerned. The unfairness lies in this, that where the damage did not amount to more than £100 the compensation has been paid, whereas the people who have suffered very much heavier damage have not received, so I am told, one penny up till now.
These are not big people; they are small farmers, and your Lordships can understand the injury they have suffered in their business when I tell you that these amounts run from £73 up to £1,600. In the last case this unfortunate man has been out of £1,600 of his capital for a whole year. I cannot conceive, when the amount of damage was agreed between the War Department valuer and the occupiers' valuer as long ago as the beginning of this year, why there should have been this delay in compensating them. After the £73 claim the next lowest is £185; then they range from £300 to £600, £700, £800 and £1,600. I submit that this is a very real grievance, and that these men have been treated most unfairly. I said before that I should not have made this a public matter if I could have got a satisfactory reply to the private inquiries and remonstrances which I addressed to the Government more than three weeks ago.
§ LORD NEWTONMy Lords, the facts are substantially in accord with the statement made by my noble friend, and it is a matter of great regret to the War Office and to all concerned that there has been this delay in the settlement of these claims. The damage, I understand, took place in the autumn, and consisted largely of the cutting down of valuable trees and much destructive work of that kind. The War Office sent down their valuer in the winter, and, as the noble Lord has explained, admitted local claims up to £100 were 722 disposed of. This gentleman, Mr. Ewing, was at work there for a considerable time, and arrived at a provisional settlement with the claimants. Then it unfortunately happened that delay was caused in consequence of the extraordinary congestion in connection with the pay department of the Eastern Command, and in March of this year, as the noble Lord stated, a Commission was appointed under Mr. Duke, M.P. Here I may, perhaps, be permitted to observe that apparently the appointment of this Commission has resulted in great advantage to all the persons concerned. Up till then I understand the practice was for the War Office to make inquiries, to arrive at a settlement, and to send the claims in to the Treasury. Naturally that was a slow proceeding, because the Treasury, as in duty bound, were forced to investigate and in some cases to contest these claims. Under the Duke Commission I understand that everything now works not only satisfactorily but very rapidly, and the awards which are made by that Commission are final. The claims to which the noble Lord has drawn attention have been referred to the Commission, and I am happy to inform him that the Commission, which was about to adjourn, has postponed its adjournment for the express purpose of considering these claims. Therefore I have every reason to hope that the claims will be settled within a very short time, and that payment will be duly made.