Mr. Asquith's account of the way in which the Church
property is to be dealt with was as follows. The preliminary atop would be for the Ecclesiastical Commissioners and the Governors of Queen Anne's Bounty to ascertain and declare what portion of the property vested in them was Welsh ecclesiastical property. The whole of that, and all other property which can be described as Welsh Church property, were to be vested in the first instance in the Welsh Commissioners. The next step was that all church plate, furniture, and movable chattels belonging to, or used in, churches should be vested in the Church Representative Body. The Welsh Commissioners were then to transfer to the Church Representative Body (1) the four Cathedrals; (2) all the churches, chapels of ease, and church buildings, of which there are fifteen hundred ; (3) all ecclesiastical residences,—namely, Bishops' palaces, deaneries, and parsonages ; of the last there are eight hundred ; (4) all closed burial-grounds ; (5) all benefactions which date since 1662. Next, the Welsh Commissioners would transfer to every existing incumbent during his incumbency (1) the glebe (there are thirty-eight thousand acres of glebe, with an annual rental of 43,000); (2) the open bnrial-grounds,—at the end of the incumbency these two categories will be vested in the Council of the appropriate borough, district, or parish. Finally, the Commissioners will transfer to the Council of the county where the land is situated, first, the Welsh tithe rent- charge, subject to the payment of the stipend of the existing incumbent; and secondly, the tithe rent-charge of the Welsh Church iseuing out of land situated elsewhere than in Wales.
Previous page
