Mr Samuel Rosbotham: I wish to give general support to the principle of this Bill because of its national character, and I would like to congratulate the hon. and gallant Member for Bury St. Edmunds (Captain Heilgers) on the very able manner in which he moved its Second Reading. I am very keenly interested in the smallholdings movement and in land settlement, and I contend that the principle of this Bill would...
Mr Samuel Rosbotham: 1. asked the Minister of Labour if his attention has been drawn to the fact that public assistance committees are making deductions from the benefit payments due to unemployed persons on the ground that they are cultivating allotments; and will he issue instructions that this should not be done?
Mr Samuel Rosbotham: 29. asked the Home Secretary whether, with a view to expediting the coming into operation of draft orders giving effect to the wishes of the electors of any particular district, as expressed by a poll, for the Sunday opening of cinemas, he will introduce amending legislation in connection with the Sunday Entertainments Act?
Mr Samuel Rosbotham: Has the hon. Member heard of any objection from Southport?
Mr Samuel Rosbotham: I rise for the purpose of giving my support to the Bill that is now before the House. I am sure that after the clear speech of the Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, speaking as he did for the Government, that the House might very well come to decision to agree to a Second Reading of the Bill, leaving to the Committee the task of amending it where possible. I would like to...
Mr Samuel Rosbotham: 48. asked the Home Secretary if he will consider the advisability of introducing legislation to control greyhound racing tracks, in view of the anxiety that is growing in many districts at the increased applications for the erection of these meeting places?
Mr Samuel Rosbotham: Is the hon. Gentleman aware that in the borough of Southport there is almost a tumult in opposition to the proposal to establish a track there?
Mr Samuel Rosbotham: I rise for the purpose of strongly supporting the recommendations of the hon. and gallant Member for Peebles (Captain A. Ramsay), who has spoken on behalf of the claims of Scotland and the North of England, including Lancashire. We know that in Scotland there are some very important areas where splendid early potatoes are grown, and I would put in a strong plea for the extension of the date...
Mr Samuel Rosbotham: I do not agree with that view. The object of these Orders and of the Government's legislation is to produce at home more English tomatoes of better quality, so that the poorer classes may have the advantage of that better quality. If the course advocated by the hon. Member is pursued, there will never be sufficient English tomatoes to supply the working class. There is also the question of...
Mr Samuel Rosbotham: As a farmer, I welcome this Debate because the unemployment question is getting very serious and to pool our ideas must be of advantage. The large arable farmer is on the verge of ruin, and something will have to be done quickly to save him from disaster. The wheat quota will assist farmers in certain districts, but that is a Measure which acts very slowly. Barley needs attention, and that is...
Mr Samuel Rosbotham: 5. asked the Minister of Labour if he is aware that among the unemployed there are a number of men who have a knowledge of the cultivation of the land; and will he consider the advisability of having a census taken through the Employment Exchanges of those men who are willing to become occupiers of small holdings under a land settlement scheme?
Mr Samuel Rosbotham: 41. asked the Minister of Agriculture if he is aware of the present conditions under which potatoes are sold; and will he consider the setting up of a commission, with a view to preparing a scheme under the Agricultural Marketing Act, for the better regulation and disposal of this product?
Mr Samuel Rosbotham: 36. asked the Minister of Health if he has considered the copies sent to him of the correspondance that has taken place between the American Secretary of State and the Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Netherlands regarding the renovating of inedible white grease for export to other countries for human consumption; and will he, in the interests of the public health, take the necessary steps...
Mr Samuel Rosbotham: 37. asked the Minister of Agriculture what progress is being made with regard to the preparation of a scheme for the marketing of potatoes under the Agricultural Marketing Act; and will he use every endeavour to facilitate the same?
Mr Samuel Rosbotham: 59. asked the Minister of Transport if his attention has been drawn to the dangerous condition of the Red Lion Bridge at Maghull; and, in the interest of public safety, will he take steps to complete the by-pass road now partly constructed as soon as the financial position will permit?
Mr Samuel Rosbotham: 44. asked the Minister of Agriculture the annual cost of administering the Agricultural Wages Act, 1924; and if there was a credit balance from the Vote allowed and, in that event, the amount?
Mr Samuel Rosbotham: It is a pleasure for me to address the Committee under your chairmanship, Captain Crookshank. It is appropriate that you should preside over an agricultural Debate, because the town that you represent has been one of the foremost in the country in providing the world with the finest agricultural machinery. I am sure we are pleased with the tone of the Debate. We welcome the criticism of the...
Mr Samuel Rosbotham: 60. asked the Minister of Transport whether he is aware that, as the result of the action taken by his Department under Section 90 of the Road Traffic Act, the number of char-a-bancs in continuous use in Morecambe and Heysham during the present month is only about 12 as compared with 85 in the corresponding month last year; and if he will reconsider his decision on the matter?
Mr Samuel Rosbotham: Is it not a fact that the extension of the period will enable the English strawberries to be canned, and that they are of better quality than the foreign?
Mr Samuel Rosbotham: I am sure that there is an earnest desire on all sides of the House for legislation of this character, but I cannot vote for the new Clause in its present form. This matter was fully discussed in the Committee and the Government gave a pledge which I feel it is my duty to quote to the House. The Under-Secretary of State said: I assure the Committee that the pledge I give now, and I have the...
