Major Frank Heilgers: First, I should like to assure the hon. Member for East Aberdeen (Mr. Boothby) that Suffolk will be only too glad to produce all the beef and wheat which cannot be produced in his part of the country. Agriculture to-day is as full of confidence in the Minister and in the Ministry of Agriculture as it is lacking in confidence in the future. Nothing that has been said to-day will inspire very...
Major Frank Heilgers: I rise to say, in general, that I desire to give my support to the Amendment; but there is one caveat that I should like to lodge, in regard to cottages. I was brought to my feet by something that was said by my hon. Friend the Member for Bilston (Mr. Hannah). He said that he would like to see old cottages preserved, as well as historical buildings. Delight ful as it is, from the aesthetic...
Major Frank Heilgers: When the Government are giving further consideration to this matter, will they take into consideration the financial disadvantage in which officers posted to the War Office are placed as compared with officers holding similar positions elsewhere?
Major Frank Heilgers: I was unable to get here in time to hear the beginning of this discussion, but I cannot help feeling that it was rather a pity it should have been raised. We have, after all, made the greatest effort ever made so far in agriculture and the production of food in this country. We have at the present, moment the greatest number of acres under the plough that has ever been under the plough. This...
Major Frank Heilgers: I apologise for not being present at the beginning of my Noble Friend's speech, but I was on duty and could not get here before. I am glad to hear that he drew attention to the great work which has been done in this country as regards agriculture, but, nevertheless, the observations he made still leave me rather cold. I do not believe there is a great deal of land still remaining to be...
Major Frank Heilgers: Speakers in this Debate have been talking about the London parks and country within 14 miles of Charing Cross. I admit there is a considerable acreage that could be ploughed up in that area, but to how much does it amount? Is it not very small compared with what has been done? Is it not a fraction of what has been done? Are you not giving forth to the world a false impression? If you attack...
Major Frank Heilgers: Because the land in those parks will not produce a great amount of food. We ought to be proud of this nation and the agricultural industry in general for what is being done, and I deprecate this petty carping at small points which are apparent to those who live in big cities. Go out and see the enormous production of food which is going on in this country. I beg hon. Members not to give to...
Major Frank Heilgers: Is the Minister aware that much of the remaining land is of very poor quality indeed, and unlikely to grow corn? Will he consider first ploughing up golf courses and other land used for sport before curtailing horse breeding further?
Major Frank Heilgers: There is one point in the speech of the hon. and gallant Member for South-East Leeds (Major Milner) to which I want to refer. He criticised the tactics of our generals in Libya. I do not think it fair at this juncture to criticise tactics in Libya before we know the facts. Amateur strategy is one of the most dangerous of the arts. I have listened to the speeches of those who have put their...
Major Frank Heilgers: Could the right hon. Gentleman say on what basis compensation will be paid for the houses that are destroyed?
Major Frank Heilgers: Will my hon. and gallant Friend remember that without cheese the agricultural worker's wife is unable to provide the basis of the ploughman's dinner?
Major Frank Heilgers: While appreciating all that my right hon. Friend has done to make inquiries, may I ask him whether, in view of the fact that I too have heard complaints about this camp, and only this camp, as regards catering, he will send one of his catering advisers to make inquiries?
Major Frank Heilgers: I do not believe that we can deal with this matter by means of an import duty, as was suggested by the hon. Member for Bedford (Sir S. Wells). I have had a good deal of experience of this problem. The import duty position has been examined repeatedly, and it has been on all occasions found to be impracticable. But it was not for that purpose that 1 rose to-night. I rose to congratulate the...
Major Frank Heilgers: asked the Postmaster-General the aggregate amount due to depositors in the Post Office Savings Bank; the number of active accounts represented; the extent of increase, if any, during the preceding 12 months; and the amount of further national savings through the Post Office in the form of Government Stock on the Post Office Register and National Savings Certificates?
Major Frank Heilgers: I think that on this particular occasion my hon. Friends are ill-advised. It seems that the only justification is the fact that there are necessitous cases and that if you take this particular form of words out of the Bill, you take away the whole core of the Bill. I think you could, if these words were removed, allow any trustees to make payments to anyone they liked, and I am sure that is...
Major Frank Heilgers: I cannot see that there is anything unfair about this Amendment. I should have thought that Ministers on the Front Bench would have welcomed it. It seems to me that they have received a much larger amount of money from the State than ordinary Members, and if they do come on to the rocks, I think they must have been extremely unwise to have reached such a position. I should have thought that...
Major Frank Heilgers: There is one point that was made by the Under-Secretary of State for Scotland to which I wish to refer. He said that the oat growers of Scotland were in an unfair position in comparison with the growers of wheat, and that that would be rectified by the provisions in this Bill. He went on to say that, roughly, the figure of 8s. for oats was a reasonable one when compared with the figure of...
Major Frank Heilgers: I admit that one is more likely to get ten sacks of oats and eight of wheat. There is one other point I would like to make, and it has reference to the speech of the hon. Member for the Forest of Dean (Mr. Price). He was arguing, quite rightly, that oats are a principal feeding stuff. Not a great quantity of oats is sold off the farm, but at the present time, every one in this country is...
Major Frank Heilgers: May I interrupt the right hon. Gentleman? We have just been discussing the question of giving higher wages to agricultural workers. We are all in sympathy with that. If we are to do that—
Major Frank Heilgers: — the farmers must have the means of paying the increased wages. We very much hope that the result of this Bill will be that wages committees, in whose hands the matter will rest, will see fit to give an increase to the agricultural workers if more is put into the hands of the farmers so that they can pay the increased wages.