Mr. T. Morrisasked the Secretary for Mines whether, in view of the fact that Form CR. 24, under the Coal (Registration of Ownership) Act, 1937, being Further notes as to completion of forms, 865W was not issued by the Registrar until the 29th November, 1937, three and a-half months after the publication on the 17th August, 1937, of the notice in the "London Gazette," by virtue of which the prescribed period expires in the middle of February, 1938, and that only two and a-half months was left for the preparation and completion of the registration forms, and in view of the wording of Clause 31 of the Coal Bill, he will extend the period within which registration can be effected and the costs thereof defrayed by the Board of Trade for a further period of three months from the middle of February, 1938?
§ Captain CrookshankGeneral notes for guidance in regard to applications for registration and notes as to the completion of the forms were issued by the Registrar on the 17th August, 1937. The further notes, issued on the 29th November, 1937, embody the information which had been given by the Registrar in response to general inquiries, mainly on matters of detail, made during the previous three months. These further notes were issued as a matter of convenience and were not essential for the purposes of applying for registration. A number of applications for registration were made before these notes were issued.
I am unable to anticipate the decision of Parliament on the Coal Bill by making any general extension of the time limit on applications for registration in respect of which costs are payable by the Board of Trade, but the Registrar has my authority to exercise sympathetically his discretion in particular cases.