24 AUGUST 1907, Page 2

In the Lords, Lord Carrington, moving the second reading of

the Small Holdings and Allotments (England) Bill on Monday, proceeded to recapitulate the main objects of the Bill, defended the adoption of the principle of hiring as opposed to ownership, and maintained that landlords' interests were carefully safeguarded. Lord Onslow, while welcoming many provisions in the Bill, objected to the autocratic powers conferred on the President of the Board of Agriculture to override elected authorities, and traced the abandonment of the attempt to create ownership to the influence of land nationalisers, whose doctrines Mr. Churchill had espoused. He also regretted that no additional facilities bad been granted to landowners to create small holdings on their estates, and deprecated the antagonism shown towards the County Councils. The Archbishop of Canterbury assured the Government that the Bill would meet with the most cordial support of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, both the Convoca- tion of Canterbury and the Representative Church Council having reported in its favour. Lord St. Aldwyn in a weighty speech dwelt upon the essentially undemocratic nature of the provisions enabling the Commissioners to override the County Councils. The second reading was then agreed to, after a debate which by its moderation and businesslike spirit furnished a most instructive comment on the Prime Minister's uncalled-for anticipation of partisan and interested treatment.