Mr. John Burns said the Bill was vitiated by two
cardinal defects—the system of grants and doles to land- owners and farmers, and the grant of a million to local authorities. The urban grant was unfair and unnecessary, because the efficient would have to assist the negligent local authorities. The rural grant, again, would be raised from taxes levied mainly on urban areas, because 80 per cent. of the population lived in urban areas, which were often poorer than rural areas. Mr. Burns caused some laughter by abruptly stating that the Government did not propose to oppose the second reading. They would support in Committee what was useful on the administrative side, but they would not move a resolution for either a rural or an urban dole. The closure having been moved and carried, the Bill was read a second time, and on the motion of Mr. Wedgwood was committed to a Committee of the whole House.
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