asked the Secretary to the Treasury if he is aware that the managing board of the City of Glasgow Friendly Society undertook in writing, as a condition of becoming an approved society under the Insurance Act, to comply with the recommendations of an inspector approved by the Chief Registrar; is he aware that the management has received further recommendations from the Registrar, which so far have been ignored; and will he see that new rules are at once drawn up so that the society is put in compliance with the conditions of approval?

An undertaking was given to the National Health Insurance Joint Committee, on behalf of the City of Glasgow Friendly Society, when the question of that society's approval was under discussion, that certain specific requirements should be complied with. Protracted discussions have taken place between the representatives of the society and the Assistant Registrar for Scotland on the rules necessary to carry out these requirements, and on the complete amendment of the society's rules in general. The rules embodying these requirements have been settled and the large majority of the recommendations of the Assistant Registrar made in the course of those discussions have been accepted on behalf of the society and embodied in the proposed complete amendment of rules. The society is now in process of summoning a meeting of the delegates to which the proposed complete amendment will be submitted for adoption.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he can see his way to permit doctors earning incomes under the National Insurance Act to bank such moneys free of Income Tax?

I do not see my way to the granting of differential Income Tax treatment to doctors who may be deriving income under the National Insurance Act.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he will give the number of Royal Marines borne on the 31st March in 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911, and 1912?

The numbers are as follows:—

1906	…	…	…	…	19,004
1907	…	…	…	…	18,452
1908	…	…	…	…	18,484
1909	…	…	…	…	17,809
1910	…	…	…	…	17,546
1911	…	…	…	…	17,056
1912	…	…	…	…	17,158

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he has received notice from the engineers employed at His Majesty's dockyards at Chatham and Devonport of their refusal to continue to work overtime; whether such refusal has now been put into operation; whether this decision is likely to continue until such time as their request for an advance in wages has been conceded; and whether he can indicate what steps he proposes to take to end the difficulty?

We have received a communication from the district secretaries of the Devonport and Chatham Committees of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers to the effect that the members of the society employed in the Devonport and Chatham dockyards had decided not to work overtime until some satisfactory reply be given to their demand for an increase in wages. As a consequence, during the past two weeks, a number of men in these two yards have refused to work overtime. As I explained to my hon. Friend in a reply to an unstarred question put by him on Thursday last, the work of annually reviewing wages and conditions is approaching completion. I have yet to hear the workmen's petitions at Portland, Pembroke Dock, and Haulbowline. These will be heard within the next few weeks, and the Board's decisions announced as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for War if it is the intention of the War Office to issue to sergeant-instructors of Territorial units the new magazine rifle about to be issued to the Army for the purposes of instruction and demonstration?

The new pattern magazine rifle is at present being issued for trial only.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department the names of the new advisory body set up to assist his Department in the administration of the Vivisection Act; and will he say how many members of this body have personally made experiments, giving the name or names?

The names of the members of the Advisory Committee for the purposes of the administration of the Cruelty to Animals Act, 1876, are:—

• Sir Anthony Bowlby, C.M.G., F.R.C.S.
• Sir John Rose Bradford, K.C.M.G., M.D., D.Sc., F.R.C.P., F.R.S.
• Sir H. Bryan Donkin, M.D., F.R.C.P.
• George Henry Makins, C.B., F.R.C.S.
• The Lord Moulton of Bank.
• Seymour John Sharkey, M.D., F.R.C.P., and Charters J. Symonds, M.D., M.S., F.R.C.S.

Sir A. Bowlby and Sir J. R. Bradford are the only members who have held licences to perform experiments on living animals, the former twenty-six years ago, the latter nine years ago.

asked the Home Secretary by what authority prison officials direct forcible feeding in the case of a prisoner under remand?

The duty which is imposed by law on prison officials to use all reasonable means of keeping a prisoner alive applies to prisoners on remand as well as to others.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether, inasmuch as many shareholders in a limited liability company which has gone into liquidation remain in ignorance of the terms of Section 192, Sub-section (3) of the Companies (Consolidation) Act, 1908, until too late to avail themselves of the benefits conferred by that Section, he will in each case compel the liquidator of the transferor company to furnish each shareholder with a copy of that Sub-section at the same time that he gives him notices of the meetings, and also send to each shareholder therewith a correct form of dissent, which the shareholder may, if he so desires, return to the liquidator, who should inform him of the time within which the same should be received by the liquidator?

The Board of Trade have no jurisdiction which would enable them to take the action suggested by the hop. Member.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what the value of the total exports of the United States to all parts of the British Empire, in the latest year for which statistics are available, is, and what was the value of the imports into the United States of British produce from all parts of the Empire for the same year or years?

The total value of the exports from the United States of America to all parts of the British Empire in the year ended 30th June, 1912, was £210,800,000 (of which £117,600,000 represents exports to the United Kingdom). The total value of the imports from ad parts of the British Empire in the same year was £104,800,000 (including £56,900,000 from the United Kingdom). The official statistics of the United States do not show separately the imports of British produce as distinguished from the produce of foreign countries imported viâ the United Kingdom or other parts of the Empire.