§ Mr. BRACEasked the President of the Board of Agriculture, whether he is aware that in connection with a recent case of compulsory redemption of tithe at Dinas Powis, in the parish of St. Andrew's Major, Glamorgan, owners of small leasehold cottages were compelled to redeem the tithe, although the same had always been paid annually by the ground landlord, and that in some of the cases scheduled the redemption money, together with expenses, amounted to 47 years' purchase on the present annual value of the tithe; and whether he will take steps to protect small property owners, many of whom are, as in this case, working men with only a leasehold interest in the land, from actions of this kind?
§ Mr. HERBERT LEWIS (for Mr. Runciman)Under the provisions of the Tithe Acts the Board have no alternative but to collect the sum due for redemption from lessees holding under long leases at ground rents, leaving them to recover from their lessors any share to which they may be entitled. The Board are prepared, on application, to calculate and state the proportions attributable to the lessor and lessee, on the basis of their respective interests in the property, but a lessee's right to recover contribution from his lessor depends on Common Law, and is subject to any contract between them. The amount payable for redemption must, under the Tithe Acts, be calculated upon the commuted amount of the tithe rent charge, and not on its annual value, which varies with the septennial corn averages.