§ Mr. C. BATHURSTasked the Secretary to the Treasury whether the Commissioners of Woods and Forests have the power to dedicate land to the Forest of Dean and elsewhere on Crown property by way of gift for public utility purposes; and, if so, whether they will consider the desirability of such dedication in the case of sites required for public elementary schools and hospitals, especially in districts where the rates are high and the local population poor?
Mr. McKINNON WOODUnder Section 45 of the Crown Lands Act, 1829, the Treasury formerly had power to make free grants of Crown lands for sites for churches, chapels, burial grounds, parsonage houses, and schools, but that Section was repealed by Section 5 of the Crown Lands Act, 1894, and no such power now exists. The Commissioners of Woods, however, have power, with the consent of the Treasury, to make, out of the income of the Land Revenues of the Crown, donations of money for religious or educational 2813W purposes connected with land under their management; or for the purposes of any hospital, infirmary, or cemetery.