I beg to move in page 13, line 20, at the end, to insert: (3) The receipt, or letter or certificate, from the Commissioners of Inland Revenue as to payment of death duties or freedom there-from required by the following enactments in cases of payments under nominations by members of societies, and in cases of payments on intestacies of members of societies entitled to sums not exceeding one hundred pounds, shall be required in cases of payments under nominations only where the member's total property in the society exceeds two hundred pounds, and shall cease to be required in cases of payments on such intestacies, and accordingly the following amendments shall be made in those enactments respectively.The said enactments and the amendments to be made therein are—

1. (a) Subsection (3) of Section fifty-seven of the Act of 1896 (relating to nominations), in which the words 'two hundred pounds' shall be substituted for the words 'eighty pounds;'
2. (b) Subsection (1) of Section fifty-eight of the Act of 1896 (relating to intestacies), in which the words from 'subject' to the end of the Subsection are hereby repealed;
3. (c) Subsection (1) of Section ten of the Provident Nominations and Small Intestacies Act, 1883 (relating to nominations and to intestacies), in which the words 'two hundred pounds' shall be substituted for the words 'eighty pounds,' and the words 'or standing to the credit of any person in any society at his death,' and the words 'or otherwise,' where they occur for the second time are hereby repealed;
4. (d) Subsection (2) of the Section substituted by Section six of the Industrial and Provident Societies (Amendment) Act, 1913, for Section twenty-eight of the Industrial and Provident Societies Act, 1893 (relating to nominations and to intestacies), in which there shall be inserted, after the words 'If the principal value of the property or money to be so transferred or paid exceeds eighty pounds,' the words 'and the transfer or payment is made under the said Section twenty-six and the total property of the nominator in the society at his death exceeds two hundred pounds.'"

Those who served on the Committee will know that although this is rather a long Amendment, its meaning is quite clear. It is to do what was promised on the Committee stage; namely, to bring the existing state of this branch of the law in line with the present practice so far as Estate Duty is concerned. When the original Acts were passed, Estate Duty was payable on any estate above the value of £100. Now, of course, as the House knows full well, the amount has been changed to £2,000 under a recent Finance Bill. Therefore, amendment of the law regarding friendly societies is necessary.

I put down the original Amendment in the Committee for a sum of £100, and, to my utter amazement, the Government not only agreed to the £100, but have now proposed £200. Really, there never was such a Government as this. Usually if one asks a Government for £100 one gets a bit less. In this case they have doubled the figures proposed by a modest back bencher.

Amendment agreed to.