7 JULY 1923, Page 10

On Tuesday the 'House of Commons, by 260 votes to

187, decided to retain in the Finance Bill the amendment relieving buyers and sellers of land of the obligation of registering their transactions in the Land Valuation Department. Mr. Lloyd George spoke in defence of this meaningless remnant of his famous and futile land taxes of 1909. Mr. Asquith urged that the register would be useful hereafter when the taxes might be re- imposed, while Mr. Chamberlain, strangely enough, suggested that the amendment would somehow enable property owners to exact excessive prices for their land. The Prime Minister brought the debate back to reality by showing that the amendment merely abolished a useless and expensive form.

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