asked the Prime Minister whether he is aware that the proposal of the Prime Minister of Canada to make a loan gift of three battleships to the Admiralty has become a matter of party controversy in the Dominion Parliament; and whether, under these circumstances, he will take the opinion of the Cabinet on the propriety of suggesting to the Canadian Government the undesirability of proceeding further with a proposal which has not the approval of both parties in the Dominion?

I beg to call your attention to the fact that parts of this question have been left out without any notification having been sent to me. Might I ask whether it is in Order to change a question or to leave out parts of a question without intimating the fact to the Member responsible for it?

I have not the slightest idea to what the hon. Member refers.

Parts of the question have been left out, and I want to ask you, Sir, whether it is in order for a question to be changed without the fact being intimated to the hon. Member responsible for it?

I will make inquiries. I have no knowledge of it, nor have the Clerks at the Table whom I have just consulted.

No, Sir, I do not think that it would be proper for His Majesty's Government to interfere in a matter which is entirely one for consideration and decision by the Canadian Government and Parliament.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether the lymph with which the members of the crew of His Majesty's "Conqueror," who have recently developed small-pox, were vaccinated and re-vaccinated was supplied by his Department; what was the nature of the original virus from which the vaccines with which they were infected was cultivated; what precautions, if any, were taken to ensure that the original viruses were free from variolous taint, as prescribed by Section 32 of the Vaccination Act, 1867; and what is the explana- tion of the failure of the re-vaccinations of the three seamen to protect them from small-pox?

During recent years the Local Government Board have supplied the lymph which is used in the Navy. It is a strain of lymph obtained from Cologne and passed through a series of calves before issue. I am not aware what lymph was used for the original vaccination of the cases referred to, nor have I sufficient data to enable me to reply to the latter part of the question.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is aware that during the last year men of long service and good character have been dismissed from the Royal dockyards on reduction; whether it is still the practice of the Admiralty, when a discharge becomes necessary, to begin with the men having the shortest service; and, if a change in policy has been made in this respect, will he say when and why such a change was introduced?

As the hon. Member is aware, when reduction is necessary the general practice is to select the least efficient men for discharge.

Will the right hon. Gentleman kindly answer the question I have put to him?

I hope I have done so.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that for some time past men of long service and good character have been dismissed on reductions in the Royal dockyards?

I do not think I can add anything to the answer. When a reduction is necessary the practice is to select the least efficient men for discharge.

If I bring evidence to show that men of long service and who are efficient have been dismissed, will the right hon. Gentleman inquire?

If the hon. Member will bring before the Admiralty any cases of unfairness, we shall be glad to investigate them.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether his Department have any contract with the Hoffman Manufacturing Company, Limited, Chelmsford; and, if so, whether he will make inquiries into the wages and conditions of labour, in order to ascertain whether this firm are observing the Fair-Wages Clause in their contract?

The only Admiralty order that can he traced with this firm is one for a small supply of steel balls costing a few shillings. I do not think that on the strength of this small order the Admiralty would be justified in instituting a general inquiry into the whole of the labour conditions at these large works, where a strike involving a large number of men is understood to be in progress.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether an order has been issued recently to the effect that warrant officers are to be allowed to retire at the age of forty instead of fifty; and, if so, whether the pension of £95 per annum at present given to warrant officers on attaining the age of fifty years will date back ten years; and, if not, whether it is the intention of the Admiralty to bring forward a revised scheme of pensions, and at what date?

The optional age for retirement in the case of warrant officers has recently been altered from fifty to forty. The scales of pension for warrant officers of the various classes are based on service and not upon age, and there is no intention of altering them.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether several large tanks have been recently constructed at Invergordon for the storage of oil fuel for the Navy; whether they are fully exposed to aerial attack; and, if so, why, having regard to aerial developments, they were not built underground?

My right hon. Friend asks the House to support him in declining to enter into this subject in public discussion.

asked whether the Irish Land Purchase Bill will be introduced before Whitsuntide?

I am afraid the Government will not be able to introduce the Bill before Whitsuntide.

May we take it for granted that the Government will introduce and pass a Bill this Session?

Certainly, we shall introduce the Bill, and I hope we may pass it but that will depend upon the manner in which it is received in the various quarters of the House.

asked the Prime Minister whether the would consent, on the Second Reading of the Redistribution Bill to its being referred to a Select Committee for examination and report and with the view of ascertaining whether and how far an agreement can be arrived at which would satisfy all parties?

This is a question for consideration after the Second Reading of the Bill.

asked if the question of the strategic advantages which may follow from the construction of a Channel tunnel between England and France has been before the Committee of Imperial Defence recently?

As I recently informed the hon. Member, no detailed examination of this project has been carried out by the Committee of Imperial Defence since the early part of 1907.

Might I ask if it has come before them in any form, and not only for detail examination?

I do not think it is very desirable to answer that kind of question. There are many confidential matters which come before the Committee of Imperial Defence. It has not been seriously considered since 1907.

Might the House of Commons and the public know whether the Government of the country is favourable or unfavourable to the scheme?

Certainly not in answer to a supplementary question.

asked the Prime Minister (1) whether there will be an opportunity afforded to the House, either on the discussion of the Vote for the Civil Service Commissioners or otherwise, to discuss the value of making appointments by competitive examination; and (2) whether he has noted the divergency of views recently expressed on appointments by competitive examination; and whether he will give an opportunity to the House to discuss the question raised by the Returns, Public Service (Appointments without Competitive Examination)?

I cannot do more at the moment than to repeat the answer which I gave on the 2nd instant on this subject. I may point out that the question of competitive examination falls within the scope of the Royal Commission which is now sitting.

Has the right hon. Gentleman been made aware of the great differences of opinion in this matter existing even side by side on the Front Opposition Bench?

I am not in the counsels of the Front Opposition Bench, but I can well believe that that is so.

asked if the provisions of the Plural Voting Bill will apply to Ireland should the Government of Ireland Bill become law, alike to the election of Members to the Irish Parliament as to the Parliament of the United Kingdom; and whether it will be competent for the Irish House of Parliament to alter by legislation the basis of franchise in this respect in the case of either class of Members?

The effect of the Government of Ireland Bill and of the Plural Voting Bill is that the provisions of the latter Bill will apply to the election of Members of the United Kingdom Parliament whether Members elected for Ireland or for any other part of the United Kingdom, and will also apply to the election of Members of the Irish Parliament, if in force when the Government of Ireland Bill becomes law, for a period of three years after the date of the first meeting of the Irish Parliament. After that date the Irish Parliament will have power to alter the law as respects the Irish House of Commons if they so desire. I would refer the hon. Member to Clause 9 of the Bill.

asked the Prime Minister whether he is aware that five hours only were available last Thursday for the discussion of the Board of Education Estimates, amounting in the aggregate to £14,500,000, an hour and a quarter of which time was occupied by the President of the Board in describing the work and policy of his Department; that although the rural education authorities have admittedly more serious grievances and more serious problems to face than urban education authorities, no hon. Member representing such authorities or desiring to speak on rural education had, through lack of sufficient time, an opportunity of addressing the House, including one who put a Motion down to reduce the Vote on the second day of the Session and whose name was first on the list of those intending so to do; and whether, seeing that there is a very general demand on both sides of the House that further opportunity should be afforded to hon. Members to criticise the increasingly important and extensive work of this Department, he will afford the necessary facilities for that purpose?

If there is a real and general desire expressed through the usual channels for another day for a further discussion of the Education Vote, the Government will certainly endeavour to grant it.

Could the right hon. Gentleman arrange so that when this very important Vote is taken every year there shall be no private Bill nut down for the same evening?

That does not rest with me, but with the authorities of the House.

What is meant by "the usual channels"?

asked the Prime Minister whether he has received the interim Report of the Royal Commission on the Law Courts; whether the arrears in the King's Bench Court are worse now than they were a year ago; and whether he will take immediate steps for the appointment of another judge?

I understand that the interim Report has just been received. I am not yet aware of its contents nor of what recommendations the Commission may have made. The Report will be very carefully considered.

asked the Home Secretary whether the four men convicted at the Central Criminal Court on 14th February last in what was known as the treacle-plaster robbery have applied for leave to appeal, and have also applied for a copy of the shorthand notes of the trial, which application has been refused; whether, in the first instance, the magistrate at Tower Bridge Police Court discharged another man, who had voluntarily confessed to having taken part with several other men in the robbery of the cashier, without reading the man's statement or questioning him upon it; whether, when the four men who have been convicted were brought up for trial the first time, the jury disagreed; whether at the second trial the defending counsel did not call further witnesses for the defence, but closed his case summarily; whether the police have refused to produce the statement of the man who confessed to participation in the robbery; and whether, in view of all the circumstances of the case, he will take steps to have the statement referred to produced, and thus afford the prisoners every reasonable facility for proving their innocence?

The matters referred to are matters for the consideration of the Court of Criminal Appeal. I understand that the prisoners' applications are being heard by the Court of Criminal Appeal to-day.

asked the Home Secretary whether his attention has been directed to a recent legal decision that theatre queues constitute an unwarrantable use and obstruction of the highway, amounting in law to a public nuisance; and, if so, whether he will instruct the police authorities to disperse any such queues as may hereafter be formed?

I am informed that the decision referred to is being appealed against. When the final judgment is given, if the hon. and gallant Member will repeat his question, I shall be prepared to reply to it.

asked whether it is with the sanction of his Department that railway companies are now, for the first time, declining to carry cows and their calves, or calves and pigs, in the same wagon or the same part thereof; and, owing to their frequent inability to provide wagons with partitions, are insisting upon farmers and small holders chartering large wagons for small consignments of stock, thereby increasing their railway charges by 50 per cent.; and whether he has sanctioned this new railway policy?

The Regulation under which the railway companies are acting in this matter was, as has been explained to the hon. Member, made by the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries and did not require the sanction of the Board of Trade. I am not aware that there is a scarcity of wagons with movable partitions, but I may point out that under the Order mixed consignments of cows and calves or calves and pigs must be loaded on both sides of the partition, and thus make use of the whole wagon. I have received a letter from the Great Western Railway Company on the subject of a somewhat similar question which the hon. Member put on Thursday last, and I am sending him a copy.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the Board of Agriculture has so far in this House disclaimed any responsibility for this new railway policy?

They have laid down certain regulations which the companies are carrying out.

They have not admitted it.

asked the Postmaster-General whether, for the convenience of persons using insurance stamps, he will consider the advisability of supplying books of insurance stamps. 6d. and 7d., for the amount of 10s. or 12s., somewhat similar to those issued for 1d. and ½d. postage stamps?

As my right hon. Friend the Financial Secretary to the Treasury stated in answer to the hon. Member for Dulwich on 7th January, he will be very glad to receive evidence of any public demand for the sale of stamps in this form, with a view to considering the advisability of supplying them, but hitherto practically no such evidence has been forthcoming.

asked the Postmaster-General when the present tender for advertisements in the General Post Office telephone book expires and, before renewing the same, will the tenders be asked for publicly; and will he consider the question of dropping all advertisements out of this publication if a sufficiently strong representation to this effect be made to him?

The present contract with the advertising agency in respect of advertisements in the telephone directories expires on the 31st January, 1915. Before renewing the contract, the question of asking for tenders publicly will be considered. I do not think that the large financial sacrifice which would result from adopting the suggestion of the hon. Member as to omitting all advertisements from this publication would be justified.

asked by whose authority have telephone subscribers to pay an increased price for a special type entry in the General Post Office telephone book for an entry which has previously appeared gratis; and whether it is permissible for a telephone subscriber to have an additional entry at a cost of one guinea for any address he chooses, regardless of the fact that he may not have a telephone at the second address?

There has been no increase in the tariff for special type entries in the directory. A number of such entries and additional entries in ordinary type were, however, accepted at reduced rates, or free of charge, by the National Telephone Company. The Postmaster General is precluded from showing favour or preference, and since the transfer of the company's system to the Post Office full rates for all such entries must be charged unless they are covered by existing telephone contract. The answer to the remaining question of the hon Member is in the negative.

Would it necessitate any preference if everybody were treated alike and if the right hon. Gentleman followed the practice of the National Telephone Company?

I understand that the National Telephone Company did give a preference, in certain cases, in charging less or nothing at all for certain entries. I cannot do that.

asked the Postmaster-General whether his attention has been called to the case of a subscriber in Halstead, Essex, to the telephone, whose printing works were destroyed by fire and whose telephone instrument was in consequence burnt; whether the Post Office are claiming the amount of the cost of the apparatus from the subscriber, although it was not his property and was not insured; and whether he will reconsider the circumstances with a view to withdrawing the claim for the accidental loss of the apparatus, not in any way contributed to by the subscriber?

My attention has been drawn to the case to which the hon. Member refers. The subscriber in question is, in common with all telephone subscribers, liable, under his agreement, for the destruction or damage by fire or other accident of his telephone apparatus—a risk which he ought to have covered by insurance—and I regret I am unable to waive the claim in this instance.

Does not the right hon. Gentleman think this is a hard and unconscionable use of the powers given him by the Act, where the loss of the instrument was entirely accidental and in no way attributable to carelessness?

No, I think it a most reasonable and necessary regulation. The telephone instrument is lent to the subscriber, and it is his duty to insure against risk of fire and consequent destruction of property situated on his premises.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he has received a petition from the residents of Grainmore, subdistrict of Ballymote, county Sligo, praying that a pillar-box be erected in the locality; whether the request contained in the petition has been refused; and, if so, whether he will cause fresh inquiries to be made, in view of the fact that some of the inhabitants of that district have to travel over two miles to have their letters posted?

The petition from residents at Drumcormick (Grainmore) was duly received. It was found that the erection of a letter-box was not warranted by the very small number of letters likely to be posted, and the request was accordingly refused. I regret that I am unable to depart from that decision.

Will the right hon. Gentleman reconsider the matter? I am personally acquainted with the district, and know what a convenience this would be.

I have been into the matter very carefully, and I am assured that the number of letters likely to be posted in the box would not exceed four per week.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether his attention has been drawn to the Rochford Board of Guardians emigrating children to Canada whose ages range from three to seven years; if he can state what institution they are sent to when they arrive in Canada, what provision is made for the children when they leave the institution, if there is any inspection of the institution by the Government of Canada, and at what period the inspections are made; are any reports made to the guardians as to the progress of the children; and whether any money is paid to the emigration agency and what is the cost of the emigration of such children?

I understand that the Rochford Board of Guardians have had before them proposals for the emigration of a family of five deserted children whose ages range from three to eleven years. Owing to the refusal of the justices to consent to the emigration of the two youngest children the question is, I am informed, at present in abeyance. I may add that there is a very complete system of inspection of child emigrants in Canada, and that annual reports on Poor Law children are furnished to my Department by the Canadian authorities and communicated by me to the boards of guardians.

Is the emigration agency paid any money in respect of these children?

I will give the hon. Member information as to that when I have made further inquiries.

Are these children indentured to employers on arrival in Canada?

I have satisfied myself that Poor Law children and children sent from Dr. Barnardo's Homes and other institutions are admirably treated.

Is it not unusual for children under seven years of age to be sent out by boards of guardians?

It is usual not to send them out under that age.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether he will provide in his new Poor Law Order that, in future, no clerk to the guardians and no relieving officer shall be coroner, registrar, or superintendent registrar of deaths, or clerk to the magistrates, or hold any other office connected with the administration of justice, registration of deaths, or prison management, and that no Poor Law medical officer shall also be a medical officer of a prison?

As the Departmental Committee have not yet made their report, I cannot say what their proposals on this subject may be, but the hon. Member's suggestion will not be lost sight of by me.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether, in the new Poor Law Order which he proposes to make, there are provisions that no inmate of a workhouse shall be required to perform harder work, or work for more hours than is required, for the time being, of prisoners sentenced to imprisonment with hard labour?

I have not yet received from the Departmental Committee on the Poor Law Orders any report on this subject, but the suggestion of the hon. Member will be noted for consideration.

asked whether it is part of or the whole duty of Poor Law inspectors to see that the law is carried out by the guardians; and, if the law is not carried out, whether an appeal may be made to the Poor Law inspector by the inmate of a workhouse who considers that he has been illegally treated?

An inspector would be expected to draw attention to matters in which boards of guardians were failing in their duties. It is open to any inmate to prefer a complaint to an inspector, or through the visiting committee, or otherwise to bring it before the guardians.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether he will take steps to record the statistics relating to persons in receipt of old age pensions in such a form that the rates of mortality experienced by such pensioners can be readily deduced?

This matter was carefully considered in 1909, and it was then found that the expense and labour involved in constructing a life table from the materials available would be out of all proportion to the value of the table when obtained. I fear therefore it is not practicable to adopt the hon. Member's suggestion.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether he will have prepared tables, similar to those in Cd. 3618, of Session 1907, showing the estimated population over seventy years of age in 1921 and in 1931 and the estimated number of pensionable persons, respectively, taking into account in his calculations the results of the 1911 Census?

The tables referred to were tables giving estimated results, assuming that various alternative schemes of old age pensions were adopted. I see no reason for reproducing these now, but I will see what figures can be obtained from the Registrar-Generals of the three Kingdoms for the purpose of facilitating an estimate of the number of old age pensioners in 1921 and 1931.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether he is aware that in the borough of Kensington dairymen are being prosecuted under the Public Health Acts for using boric acid and other derivatives of boron for the preservation of cream, although in strict compliance with the milk and cream Regulations recently issued by the Board; and whether, if these Regulations are deemed to be contrary to the provisions of an Act of Parliament, he will, in fairness to the dairymen, bring in an amending Bill to legalise such Regulations?

I have no information of proceedings taken by the Kensington Borough Council with reference to preservatives in cream since the 1st October last, the date when the Regulations to which the hon. Member draws attention came into force.

If the right hon. Gentleman on inquiry finds there have been such prosecutions, and if these Regulations are ultra vires so far as the Act of Parliament is concerned, is he prepared to withdraw them?

I am not prepared to admit that. There was a prosecution instituted by Kensington in July last, before the Regulations came into force.

But will the right hon. Gentleman withdraw them if the Regulations are found to be ultra vires to the Act of Parliament?

That question can be put when the occasion arises.

asked the Attorney-General whether the advisory committee for the appointment of magistrates for the county borough of Stoke-on-Trent has been duly constituted; if so, whether its members have yet been convened for the first meeting; and can he give the name of the chairman?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. Instructions have been given for the convening of the first meeting, in order that the Committee may select their own chairman and proceed to business.

asked the Attorney-General whether he has received complaints regarding the block of legal business in the King's Bench Division; and whether, in view of the consequent delay and inconvenience to litigants, he will consider the question of reintroducing the County Courts Bill of 1912, conferring increased jurisdiction on the County Courts, and thus relieving the High Court pressure?

The answer is in the affirmative. The question of reintroducing the County Courts Bill is being considered.

asked the Chairman of Ways and Means whether, in recent private Acts of Parliament promoted by railway companies and others, the right expressly reserved by the Lands Clauses Acts for the assessment of compensation by a jury where lands are taken or injuriously affected has been taken away; and whether he will consider the desirability of such a change in the rights of the public only being made after due consideration or a Public Bill?

I think this matter does not come under my control. If the hon. Member desires an inquiry into it it seems to me it should be made by a Special Committee of the House.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if any report has been published of the proceedings of the Committee which was called together to consider the petition of the self-governing Dominions that Great Britain should close her markets to plumage illicitly exported from her Overseas Possessions?

There has been an Interdepartmental conference with a view to considering how far it might be possible to restrict the demand for plumage by legislation in this country and the Colonies or by international agreement. The conference was, however, an informal one, and no report of its proceedings has been or will be published. I may add that I have not received any petition from the self-governing Dominions.

asked whether he has any information to give respecting the outbreak of sleeping sickness in Southern Rhodesia; and whether the Chartered Company have informed him as to the steps they have taken to prevent the epidemic spreading to the countries embraced in the union of South Africa?

asked (1) whether, having regard to the appearance of sleeping sickness south of the Zambesi, any steps have been taken to segregate the populace living in the affected areas; and (2) whether the right hon. Gentleman has received any details of the spread of sleeping sickness in Southern Rhodesia; and, if so, will he lay them before the House?

In August last the illness of an official of the Native Department, who had been stationed in the Sebungwe district and who has since died, was diagnosed as trypanosomiasis. A small commission of inquiry was at once formed by the Administration of Southern Rhodesia, and eleven more cases were discovered among the natives, the source of infection being traced to the same or a neighbouring district. Further investigations are being made. The Administrator has informed the High Commissioner that he proposes to remove all natives from these fly areas to areas which are free from fly, and the High Commissioner has replied that he is prepared to approve an Order of removal.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what were the cash balances at the credit of Votes of Parliament in the books of the Paymaster-General on the 31st of March in each year from 1904 to 1913, inclusive, under the heads of Consolidated Fund Services, Civil Services, Army, Navy, Treasury Chest, and Civil Contingencies; and what was the total amount standing at the close of business on the 31st of March on the Paymaster-General's account at the Banks of England and Ireland in the same year?

I shall be glad to send a statement to my hon. Friend.

asked the right hon. Gentleman whether claims for Undeveloped Land Duty are being made against owners who before 30th April, 1909, have granted a lease of land not used for agricultural purposes (the lease being one having less than fifty years to run), notwithstanding that the lessor has no power during the currency of the term to develop the land; and whether he will introduce legislation to remove such a hardship?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. With regard to the second part, I am not aware that the existing provision of the law has given rise to undue hardship.

Has not the right hon. Gentleman considered that in a case of that sort, where a man has a lease of a house and a few acres, the lessor cannot develop the land, and is it not very unfair?

The hon. Baronet is always inviting me to enter into a discussion upon the merits of the Land Taxes by way of question and answer. That is obviously impossible. He will have his opportunity later on.

asked whether the Commissioners of Inland Revenue are claiming Undeveloped Land Duty upon grounds of private schools, when those grounds are essential to the proper conduct of the school?

Certain claims to Undeveloped Land Duty in respect of land belonging to a private school have been made and subsequently withdrawn upon the full facts being brought to the notice of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue; other claims have been maintained on the ground that the land is not bonâ fide used for the purposes of the school.

asked the right hon. Gentleman whether the Commissioners of Inland Revenue are claiming Mineral Rights Duty in respect of shale clay; and, if so, whether, in view of the fact that the extraction of shale oil from shale clay is a new experiment, he will give instructions that no duty shall be charged in respect of shale clay, so that experimental work, undertaken with the object of obtaining fresh sources of oil supply, shall not be hampered in its infancy?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. With regard to the second part, the hon. Member is doubtless aware that the tax is payable by the owner of the mineral royalty, and accordingly does not hamper the activities of a working lessee who may be engaged in experimental work.

asked the right hon. Gentleman whether, in cases where an amended provisional valuation has been served and the owner of the property has been put to expense on account of the original provisional valuation being inaccurate, he will direct the Commissioners of Inland Revenue to refund to such owner the expenses he has incurred?

The answer is in the negative. The point raised by the hon. and learned Member was very fully discussed when the Finance Bill of 1909 was before this House.

Did not the right hon. Gentleman promise that the landowners should be put to no expense in the matter of valuation?

No, certainly not.

asked whether any assessments to Undeveloped Land Duty have been served before the owner of the property has received a valuation; and, if so, whether such course has the sanction of the Treasury?

I am not aware of any cases such as those referred to in the first part of the question, but if the hon. Member will furnish me with specific instances I will cause inquiry to be made into the matter.

Does the right hon. Gentleman realise that I am myself a victim and that legal proceedings have been threatened against me?

Will the right hon. Gentleman interfere now?

asked the right hon. Gentleman if he has received a memorial from the Auctioneers and Estate Agents' Institute asking that the Finance (1909–10) Act, 1910, may be amended so as to make it clear, in accordance with the intention expressed by him at the time when the Finance Bill was before Parliament, that Increment Duty is only leviable upon profits derived directly from an increase in site value and not upon profits due to the business capacity of owners in dealing with buildings upon such sites; and, if so, what action he proposes to take in the matter?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. With regard to the second part the memorial is being carefully considered, but I am not at present able to make a definite statement in the matter.

asked the increase in the number of cottages and small houses in Great Britain in the year 1911–12, as compared with the previous year?

The actual figure, so far as ascertained, is 79,149.

asked the right hon. Gentleman whether, in view of the increased cost of living, and the fact that the salaries of senior abstractors in Government Departments compare unfavourably with the salaries in other grades of the Civil Service, and that they have remained at their maximum for a period of six years and upwards, he will now increase the salaries?

The maximum salary of an abstractor, £150 per annum, is not, in my opinion, inadequate for the class of work which he is called upon to perform.

asked if the sum of £1,923,000 received on account of Income Tax during the first seven days of the current year represents to a very large extent Income Tax which was due during the past year but which was not collected by the collectors for the Income Tax Commissioners until the current year?

The bulk of the sum referred to was collected from taxpayers during the latter part of March, but in view of the normal time necessarily occupied in transmission could not be paid into the Exchequer till April. The remainder consisted almost entirely of ordinary arrears which could only be collected from the taxpayer after the end of the financial year.

Was not the amount collected in the first week of April much larger than usual?

I could not answer that without notice.

asked if there is any reason, other than the statutory one, for charging an officer commuting his pension 5 per cent. interest, seeing that the money is borrowed at 3½ per cent. to pay him with, and that the Regulations provide that each officer commuting is subject to a strict medical examination in London and to the addition of years to actual age in the case of impaired lives and to fees being charged varying from £5 to £50 for every commutation effected after the first?

In fixing the rate of interest to be charged under the Pensions Commutation Act, 1871, Parliament had no doubt regard not only to the necessity for providing a margin of safety, but also to the measure of advantage which the individual officer derves from commutation in cash.

If the 1½ per cent. is too high a margin, will the right hon. Gentleman reduce it?

I will look into that.

I beg to ask the Prime Minister a question which, at the right hon. Gentleman's request, was postponed from Wednesday last, namely: Whether he proposes to put down a Motion terminating the suspension of the hon. and learned Member for North Armagh (Mr. Moore)?

I asked the hon. Baronet to postpone the question until to-day in order that I might have an opportunity of looking into the precedents, which are not numerous. I have been in communication with the Chairman of Ways and Means, and, at his strongly expressed desire, I propose to put down a Motion in the course of a day or two in regard to the matter.