LAND TENURE BILL.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVII, Issue 261, 8 November 1906, Page 5

LAND TENURE BILL.

Strong Opposition Protests.

(Received 6.45 a.m.)

I LONDON, November 7. In the House of Commons Mr. Balfour I moved the adjournment of the House as j o protest against the action of the Gov- i ernment in transforming the Land Tenj ure Bill from an unofficial member's bill j into a Government measure. It was un- , fair, said the Leader of the Opposition, ' that a controversial private bill, which I the House on Friday afternoon read a second time after a merely academic discussion, should, without warning, be converted into a Ministerial measure. Sir H. Campbell-Bannerman justified

the procedure followed, and moved and carried the closure, thus negativing the adjournment by a majority of 226 votes, i Mr. George Wyndham (ex-Secretary for Ireland) declared that the bill was of enormous importance, and was the first step towards legislating for Great Britain on the lines of Irish legislation, or it might be the first step towards land nationalisation. ''The Times" declares that some of the j provisions are very questionable, and that the bill is apparently inspired throughout by the ingenious assumption that the t-nant is always deserving, while the landlord is generally the reverse