Mr. FRED HALL (Dulwich)asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will say what proportion of the present annual value of the endowments of the Established Church in Wales existing before 1662 is derived from private benefactions?
538W
§ Mr. McKENNAI cannot add anything to the reply which I gave to the hon. Member on the 25th April.
§ Mr. HUNTasked whether any of the endowments of parishes in Shropshire or in other parts of England will be decreased after the passing of the Established Church (Wales) Bill?
§ Mr. McKENNAThe endowments of parishes situated wholly in England will in no way be affected by the Bill. In the case of parishes situated partly in Wales and partly in England, it will be the duty of the Welsh Commissioners as soon as possible after the passing of the Act to determine, with reference to the general wishes of parishioners whether the parish is to be treated as wholly within or without Wales or Monmouthshire. When their decision is made, the parish will, for the purposes of the Act, be treated accordingly. Any parishioner, however, may appeal against the order of the Commissioners to His Majesty in Council.
§ Mr. HUNTasked how much of the £173,000 per annum taken by the Government's Established Church (Wales) Bill out of the endowments of the Welsh Church will be given to the Welsh Museum?
§ Mr. McKENNAThe amount that will be given to the Welsh Museum under the Bill will be one-eighth of what will be left of the Welsh estates now in the possession of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners after paying the expenses of carrying the Act into execution, all of which (except those incurred by county councils in the administration of their schemes) will fall on this property. The value of these estates is £26,700 a year. The payment, therefore, to the museum can hardly reach £3,000 a year.
§ Mr. HUNTasked whether, after the passing of the Established Church (Wales) Bill, the income of any of the Welsh clergymen or curates will in the future be reduced to less than the coal miners' minimum wage of 5s. per day on account of the £173,000 per annum transferred from Welsh endowments to a museum and other secular objects?
§ Mr. McKENNAIt is impossible to form any estimate of the future income of either Welsh clergymen or curates, as so much of the income, both now and hereafter, 539W depends on the generosity of the voluntary subscribers to the Church of England.
§ Mr. ORMSBY-GOREasked whether the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have agreed to hand over sums derived from English sources to the representative body established by the Established Church (Wales) Bill; whether such sums will be handed over as annual grants out of annual revenue or as a capital sum; and, if as a capital sum, whether the representative body will have full control of the money as regards investment and disposal?
§ Mr. McKENNAThe Ecclesiastical Commissioners have intimated to me their intention to hand over to the representative body all the property defined by Part I. of the Third Schedule of the Bill, as well as all the existing charges on the Common Fund. In so far as the property consists of capital grants, it will pass over to the representative body in the form of a capital sum, but the charges on the Common Fund will be transferred as a perpetual annuity. The representative body will, of course, have full control over the capital sum as regards investment, and full control over both as regards disposal, subject, of course, to life interests.
§ Lord ROBERT CECILasked whether, under the provisions of the Established Church (Wales) Bill, it will be for a secular court to decide whether or not a clergyman of the Church in Wales is or is not teaching doctrine or using ritual in accordance with the formularies of the Church?
§ Mr. McKENNAThe answer is in the negative.
§ Mr. ORMSBY-GOREasked whether the doctrines, articles, rules, rites, and discipline laid down in the Book of Common Prayer will be binding upon the Church in Wales after the passing of the Established Church (Wales) Bill and upon all its members, lay and clerical; whether the representative body established by the Established Church (Wales) Bill will have power to alter the Book of Common Prayer with or without the assent of Parliament or Convocation; whether in the event of any alteration being made by the representative body the Church in Wales will still be in full communion with the Established Church; and whether the privileges entitling the clergy of the Church in Wales to promotion to benefices and ecclesiastical 540W offices in England without re-ordination in the event of the Book of Common Prayer being altered by the representative body in Wales?
§ Mr. McKENNAThe answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. The answer to the second part of the question is that the representative body will have power to alter the Book of Common Prayer without the consent of Parliament or Convocation if such a power be conferred on it by the constitution of the Church of Wales. The answer to the third part of the question will depend on the decision of the Established Church and the Welsh Church. The answer to the fourth part of the question is that it will depend on the nature of the alterations.