Mr. DUNDAS WHITEasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture whether, in view of certain information given in the recently published Memorandum on the Recent Development 1889W of German Agriculture, by Mr. T. H. Middleton, C.B., he can make any statement as to the extent to which, before the War, the occupying owners in Germany had mortgaged their lands?
§ Mr. ACLANDFull information on this point is not easy of access in this country at the present time, but Returns relating to Prussia in 1902 show that in the case of about 87 per cent, of the landowners of a large part of Prussia their total indebtedness amounted to about 31 per cent, of the capital value of their land. There is a considerable amount of detailed information in the possession of the Board, all of which is at my hon. Friend's disposal if he will call at the Board's office.