also asked whether the United National Friendly Assurance Company of Glasgow has appointed any trustees to look after the interests of the Irish insured persons; if so, what are the names and addresses; and how many persons insured in Ireland are in this society?

The United National Friendly Approved Society, a separate section of the United National Friendly Assurance Society, has appointed three trustees: Mr. Robert McGregor, of Charles Terrace, Balloch; Mr. James Timoney, 217, Crow Road, Partick; and Mr. Robert McLean, Clifton Terrace, Pollokshaws. 2,517 insured persons in Ireland are members of this society.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury the number of approved societies working in the county and city of Cork under the National Insurance Act; what arc their names; and how many are insured in each society, respectively?

I am unable to state the number of approved societies operating in the area to which the hon. Member refers. Ten approved societies have their headquarters in the area. The approved societies with head offices in the county or city of Cork at present transacting business under the National Insurance Act are:—

Name of Society.	Place of Head Office.	Number of Insured Members in Society.
Cork Central Friendly Society	Cork	2,000
Cork County and City Land and Labour Health Insurante Society	Cork	2,600
Cork County Society	Cork	5,250
Cork Medical Benefit Association Health Insurance Section (Separate Section, of the Cork Medical Benefit Association)	Cork	350
Cork Operative Bakers' Trade Union	Cork	190
Cork Railway Employés' Friendly Society	Cork	480
Federation of Trade Unions of Cork and District Health Insurance Society	Cork	690
Irish Creamery Managers' and Rural Workers' Insurance Society (Separate Section of the Irish Creamery Managers'Association)	Cork	6,000
St. Colman's Health 1nsurance Society	Queenstown	10,200
St. Finbarr's Diocesan Health Insurance Society	Cork	12,200

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether the Lord Chancellor of Ireland has yet come to a decision in the case of Mr. Florence O'Sullivan, of Farranfore, county Kerry, whose name was submitted to him for appointment as a justice of the peace for the county of Kerry?

I have nothing to add to the reply given to the question on this subject asked by the hon. Member on the 11th February.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury the amount of the deductions under the different heads made out of Grants to the Kerry County Council for each of the years 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911, and 1912, owing to the insolvency of the Local Taxation Account?

No deductions were made from sums payable to the county council of Kerry out of the Local Taxation Account under Section 58 of the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898, by reason of the insufficiency of income of the account prior to the year 1910–11. In that and the following year the amounts so payable were abated to the extent and in respect of the services mentioned in the following table:—

Year.	Medical and Education Expenditure in Unions.			Rural Sanitary Salaries.			Urban Sanitary Salaries.			Railway and Harbour Guarantees.			Pauper Lunatic Graut.
(1)	(2)			(3)			(4)			(5)			(6)
	£	s.	d.	£	s.	d.	£	s.	d.	£.	s.	d.	£.	s.	d.
1910–11	587	14	5	86	3	10	20	15	1	593	13	2	818	11	4
1911–12	317	10	7	45	13	6	10	13	7	604	19	3	854	2	5
Total	905	5	0	131	17	4	31	8	8	1,198	12	5	1,672	13	9

The payments in respect of the expenditure mentioned in columns 2 and 3 are made to the county council on behalf of boards of guardians and rural district councils, respectively; those in respect of the expenditure in column 4 are made to urban district councils, and those in columns 5 and 6 to the county council.

asked the Chief Secretary if the Estates Commissioners have yet acquired the untenanted land on the

The reply to the first paragraph of the question is in the negative. This estate is the subject of proceedings for sale direct by the owner to the tenants, and the owner included in the proceedings some 50 acres of untenanted land. The Estates Commissioners have had an inspection made of this untenanted land and have communicated to the owner their preliminary estimate of the amount which they will be prepared to advance for it, and they are at present in correspondence with him on the subject.

asked the Chief Secretary if the Estates Commissioners are now in a position to make any statement regarding the removal of Messrs. Ryan and Whelan from the estate of Lord Cloncurry at Brittas, Murroe, county Limerick; and whether, in view of the desire on all sides to settle these cases, something might be done to expedite matters?

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given to his question on this subject on the 20th May last. The Estates Commissioners are not at present in a position to provide the occupiers of the evicted farms with holdings elsewhere.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty the number of shipwrights in the Navy; whether he will state the number that have accepted the new scheme; whether he is aware that it is considered that pressure has been brought to bear on the shipwrights to accept this scheme; and whether he is aware that the shipwrights would prefer to remain under the old contract in force before the new scheme was introduced?

As regards the first and second parts of the question, the number of the shipwright class is 1,316; the numbers who have accepted the new scheme are not yet known. A return has been called for. The answer to the third and fourth parts is in the negative. If the men prefer to remain under the old scheme thy are at liberty to do so.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he can give the House any further information as to the missing cutter belonging to His Majesty's Ship "Perseus" in the Persian Gulf; whether he has had an official Report to the effect that the cutter had been in action with an Tangistani dhow; and whether he can state to the House what steps were taken in order to have a complete and thorough search for the missing cutter?

A further telegram has been received from the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies, in which mention is made of certain rumours respecting the fate of the missing cutter, but there is no definite information. With regard to the second part of the question, there is no information beyond that published in the Press on the 1st instant. All the adjacent islands and coasts in the Persian Gulf have been thoroughly searched by four ships and two launches, but no trace has been found of the missing vessel, though it is practically certain that if the boat was wrecked off Sheikh Shuaib some wreckage would have been found. Further inquiries are being made, and a reward of 2,000 rupees has been offered for reliable information.

asked the Postmaster-General why appointments to the class of overseer in the telegraph department at Newcastle-on-Tyne, which became vacant on 12th September and 16th November, respectively, have not yet been filled; and whether he will state the reason for the delay in filling these vacancies?

The vacancies in question were kept open pending the result of the trial of eligible officers upon certain duties of the overseers' class. They have now been filled.