asked whether the thirteen lay officials of the Trim district school come under the National Insurance Act or are they entitled to pensions; and, if they are excluded in both cases, how are they provided for in case any of them are obliged to resign through ill-health?

These officials are not regarded as coming within the National Insurance Act, nor are they entitled to pensions. There does not, therefore, appear to be provision made for them in the event of their retirement through ill-health.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether the Registrar of Friendly Societies has yet received from the National United Insurance Society the statutory Return for 1912; if so, will he state the number of persons insured, the gross receipts, the gross expenditure, the gross liability, and the sum secured to meet the liability; whether the same person acts as treasurer and secretary; and whether he has complied with all the requirements for both positions?

The Return for 1912 has not yet been received. The society promised to deliver it by 25th April, and it is being pressed for.

asked the Prime Minister if he has undertaken to give an opportunity for discussing the question of the extension of medical benefit to rural districts in Ireland on the Civil Service Votes; and, if so, on what Vote does he propose that the discussion should take place?

As my right hon. Friend informed the hon. Member for Cork on the 24th ultimo, he is anxious that the constitution and methods of the Treasury Committee should be discussed, and an opportunity will arise on the Temporary Commissions Vote, but he thinks it will be better to postpone discussion till the Committee has reported.

Would it not be more convenient to discuss it on Class 8? Could the right hon. Gentleman say on which of the Temporary Commissions Votes it will be discussed?

I am afraid I could not, but my right hon. Friend thought it would come more appropriately on one of the Temporary Commissions Votes.

Will the right hon. Gentleman make inquiries? I do not think there is any Temporary Commissions Vote on which it could be discussed.

Yes, I will inquire and let the hon. Gentleman know.

asked whether any payment out of public funds has been made to any person for legal advice or legal assistance in connection with the proposed contract between the Postmaster-General and the Marconi Company; and, if so, to whom and how much?

Assuming that the hon. Member refers to special payments apart from the annual salaries paid to legal advisers in the public service, the answer to the first part of the question is in the negative. The opinion of an independent counsel has been obtained on certain aspects of the subject; but the amount of his fee has not yet been fixed.

asked the Prime Minister if he will give facilities for the early discussion of the Motion with respect to the Select Committee on the Marconi Contract standing in the name of the hon. Member for Huddersfield?

My right hon. Friend does not see his way to give facilities for a discussion of this Motion.

asked what was the amount of the Carriage and Motor Car Licences collected by the several county councils in England and Wales during the last complete financial year; the proportion of such amount retained by these bodies towards the cost of county work; and the proportion taken by the Imperial Exchequer for the purposes of the Road Board?

I regret that the complete figures for 1912–13 are not yet available.

Can the right hon. Gentleman say when the figures will be available?

As soon as possible.

asked whether, at a meeting held in Dublin after the Road Board came into existence, Sir G. Gibb announced that £170,000 would be Ireland's share for the first year; having regard to the fact that the revenue of the Board has exceeded the amount anticipated, what Ireland's share per annum is at present, what was the actual amount paid to Irish authorities in each of the years since the Board was established, and what amount to Great Britain for a corresponding period; at what date was money available for distribution in the first instance; and the dates and amounts first paid to Great Britain and Ireland, respectively?

I understand that at a general conference between the Road Board and representatives of Irish county and county borough councils held in Dublin on the 7th March, 1911, the chairman of the Road Board stated that the amount proposed to be allocated to Ireland out of the Road Improvement Fund up to 31st March, 1912, was approximately £150,000. The sum of £144,236 has already been indicated to individual highway authorities. The Board are now engaged in selecting other works to which approximately £100,000 will be granted. [See Written Answers this date.]

asked upon what principle the Road Board allocated Ireland's share of the money as between the different counties in Ireland, whether upon the basis of population, annual road expenditure, or the outlay consequent on the county being an avenue for tourist traffic; what conditions were attached to the Grant; how many Irish counties failed to comply with the conditions and thereby forfeited their right to a Grant; whether the aggregate sum not drawn by such counties is at the disposal of other counties; whether the Road Board is aware that the county of Meath, through its representatives, have unanimously voted £1 for every £1 the Road Board has granted or will grant; and whether, having regard to the fact that three main trunk roads run through the county diverging from Dublin, and which are largely used by tourists visiting places of historic interest, the Board will consider the advisability of increasing their Grant to an amount equal to what the county itself will contribute?

The amount distributed in Ireland out of the Road Improvement Fund has hitherto been allocated by the Road Board to works of road improvement in the various counties approximately upon the basis of population, but in considering each case the Board have regard to the circumstances of each county and to the relative public importance of the improvements required in the various parts of the country. No conditions are attached to Grants except that the work towards which Grants are made will be carried out in accordance with the approved specifications, and no Irish county has forfeited its right to payment of the amount payable under any Grant made. The Board are aware that the county of Meath are prepared to provide £1 for every £1 of Grant from the Road Board, and the claims and requirements of the county of Meath will receive from the Board the same consideration as is given to the relative claims and requirements of other counties in Ireland.

asked the Secretary for Scotland what amount is paid for salary and expenses to Mr. Dunlop, Sub-Commissioner under the Scottish Small Holders Act?

Mr. Dunlop is at present paid a salary of £570 on the scale of £550, rising by annual increments of £20 to £700. When necessarily absent from headquarters on public business he is subject to the ordinary regulations applicable to the Civil Service as laid down by the Treasury for travelling and subsistence expenses.

asked the Secretary for Scotland whether the continuing departure to Canada and Australia of the rural population of Roxburghshire and other Lowland counties is largely due to the delay in providing small holdings for qualified applicants; and whether, as Mr. Dunlop's duties in discovering suitable lands, in sifting the numerous applications so as to secure the best qualified small holders, and in meeting with and negotiating with landowners, extend over all the Lowland counties from Aberdeenshire to Wigtonshire, he can arrange to appoint a colleague to work with Mr. Dunlop, or to arrange that Mr. Dunlop's services, or those of a new full-time officer, shall be given over to the county of Roxburgh and the neighbouring border counties?

I understand there is a large emigration to Canada from all parts of the country, but no avoidable delay has taken place in providing small holdings for qualified applicants. Proposals for additions to the staff of the Board are now under consideration.

Has the right hon. Gentleman considered the advisability of appointing a new Sub-Commissioner in view of the fact that there is so much emigration and that people are clamouring for land?

Yes, I have said that a proposal for increasing the staff is under consideration.

Is it any good making any more jobs?

asked how many applications for small holdings have been made from the county of Roxburgh; and how many have been granted?

Fifty-one applications have been received from the county of Roxburgh. The Board of Agriculture for Scotland have made application to the Land Court for an order to constitute nine new holdings and one enlargement of a holding on the farm of Kinninghall. The case was heard on 23rd April last, but the decision of the Court has not yet been announced. The landowner is not opposing the proposal.

asked what judgment has been delivered by the Land Court in regard to the application of the Small Holdings Commission to make use of Mr. Scott Plummer's land at Lindean for the purpose of creating small holdings; what order as to costs was made by the Land Court, and whether and how many small holders are likely to be settled at Lindean; and at what date they are to enter into possession?

The Land Court have issued an order, authorising the constitution of new holdings, not exceeding thirteen in number, on part of the farm of Lindean. The Board hope to complete arrangements which will enable the holders to secure entry at Whit-Sunday next. No order as to the costs has yet been made by the Court. It is proposed to form twelve holdings.

May I ask on whom the cost of the inquiry will fall?

It will probably fall on the Board of Agriculture.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when it is intended to issue the Annual Report of the Chief Inspector of Factories?

The chief inspector informs me that his Annual Report will probably be published about the middle of June, as in previous years.

asked the Home Secretary to give the statistics of lead poisoning in potteries for this year; and whether any good result from the new Regulations can yet be noted?

The number of cases reported up to date is twenty-six, of which four were fatal; the number for the corresponding period in 1912 was the same, five however being fatal. The new Regulations were only made on the 2nd January last, and entailed a great deal of work, both on the occupiers and the Department, to give effect to the requirements. It is too early yet to look for any substantial change in the figures of lead poisoning.

May I ask whether these Regulations are now in force in all the potteries in North Staffordshire or only in some?

I should like to have notice of that question. I think they are in force everywhere.

asked whether, in the case of meetings held in Hyde Park by persons with the permission of the authorities, the police accept responsibility for maintaining order and protecting the speakers?

The police do whatever is possible to secure the maintenance of order and to protect speakers, and my information is that, on the whole, they have been successful in so doing.

asked the Home Secretary whether at a meeting held in Hyde Park last Sunday by the Men's League for Women Suffrage, a non-militant society, under a permit front the First Commissioner of Works, the police failed to protect the platform from an attack of about 100 persons in a crowd of about 6,000 who were giving a sympathetic hearing, in consequence of which attack the meeting was abandoned at the request of the police, although the force in the park was more than sufficient to prevent the disorder and to arrest the disturbers, not one of whom was arrested; and what steps he will take to ensure the right of public meetings which have not been prohibited?

The police cannot secure a hearing for Hyde Park speakers when the audience is so entirely out of sympathy with their views, as was the case on the occasion referred to, according to my information. The police were in strength sufficient to intervene upon the appearance of disorder, and their intervention ensured that no speakers were roughly handled. The police will give similar protection on any future occasion, but I cannot undertake that they will provide a sympathetic audience for speakers on controversial topics.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that his information is all wrong in regard to this meeting?

No, Sir.

Was the audience unsympathetic when my right hon. Friend was addressing it?

asked the Home Secretary whether his attention has been called to the breaking up of the meeting held in Hyde Park on Sunday last by the Men's League for Women Suffrage; and whether he contemplates putting into operation the recent Act of Parliament for the protection of public meetings should such action be repeated by persons who disapprove of freedom of speech on the suffrage question or any other?

It is for the promoters of meetings to take proceedings under the provisions of the Act referred to. The police have no power of arrest under this Act.

Has this Act ever been put in operation in connection with open-air meetings?

I must ask for notice of that question.

asked the Home Secretary whether there has been any and, if so, what reduction in the number of police employed in Hyde Park on Sunday afternoons by reason of the prohibition of the meetings; and how long he intends this prohibition to remain in force?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the negative. I am unable at present to answer the latter part of the question.

asked the Prime Minister if it is the intention of the Government to bring in an Indemnity Bill to relieve Sir Stuart Samuel from the penalties incurred through voting in this House?

My right hon. Friend regrets that he is not yet able to reply to this question, and perhaps my hon. Friend would be good enough to repeat it next Monday.

asked if the Government intend to introduce a Mental Deficiency Bill for Ireland similar in scope and purpose to the English and Scottish Bills?

The question of extending the Mental Deficiency Bill to Ireland is under consideration. It is not proposed to introduce a separate Bill.

asked the Home Secretary whether, following the statement made by Mr. Mottram, the chief inspector, in his Report for 1911 on the slate mines of North Wales, page 26, approving of two types of guards and stating that there seems to be now no reason why all slate-dressing machines should not be effectively fenced, he issued instructions for the fencing of such machinery; if so, whether objection is taken to the order by the employers on the ground that the guards recommended are unworkable; and what steps he proposes to take in the matter?

Instructions were issued to the owners to fence these machines, but objection is taken by the owners, and also I understand by the men, to the guards which have so far been devised. A conference has been held with the owners on the subject, and I am informed that they fully recognise the necessity of providing a suitable means of protection. The matter will continue to receive the attention of the Department, and I hope a satisfactory solution may be found before long.

asked whether Phyllis Brady, a suffragette, was sentenced at Croydon on 12th April last as a person loitering for the purpose of committing a felony; if she hunger struck and has continued to do so since convicted; whether she is now in bad health; and will she be released under the Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill-Health) Act?

Phyllis Brady was sentenced as stated; she refused her food while in prison both during remand and after conviction. I ordered her temporary discharge under the Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill-Health) Act, and she was released accordingly on the 28th April.

May I ask if it is a fact that the prisoner named in the question has been identified since her conviction in connection with another case of arson?

I am afraid I cannot answer a question of that kind without notice.

asked the Home Secretary, with reference to the case of John Smith, of Tunstall, who was deprived of his old age pension because he escaped from the Chell Workhouse in the workhouse clothes, whether he will communicate to the House the statement made to him respecting this case by the stipendiary who sentenced the man?

Reports to the Secretary of State from magistrates on applications for the exercise of the prerogative of mercy are of a strictly confidential nature, and I cannot make an exception in this case to the general rule against making them public.

Does the right hon. Gentleman still insist that the magistrate did not say that if he had known the man would lose his old age pension he would have given a different decision?

I am informed that he did not make that statement. I believe he did state that he did not know it would affect the man's old age pension, but he did not state that had he known it he would have given a different sentence. I am told he has refrained from making any statement of that kind.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he is aware that the Registrar-General has stated that the number of children in England and Wales who reach the age of five years shows a steady annual increase of over 3,600; whether the total school accommodation of the Kingdom is being maintained to meet this increase; and whether the Estimates of the year were framed after due consideration of this fact?

I am unable to identify the statement to which the hon. Member refers, but I have nothing to add to the reply which I gave to his question on this subject on the 21st April.

Would the right hon. Gentleman like me to furnish him with this statement?

I certainly should like to have verification of it.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether the latest published figures show that the Trinity Church of England school, Oswestry, is overcrowded; for what length of time this overcrowding has existed; and whether, to prevent a continuance of this overcrowding, he will notify the school authority that, failing an improvement, the Grant will be reduced?

The accommodation at the school referred to was exceeded by the average attendance for the year 1910–11 as a result of the reassessment on the ten and nine square feet basis. There has been no overcrowding in the school for the last two school years ending February, 1912, and February, 1913.

asked whether Ellesmere Church of England school, girls' department, the Llanymynech Church of England school, the St. Martin's Church of England school, the St. Martin's Ifton Heath Church of England school, and the Weston Rhyn Church of England school, all near Oswestry, in Shropshire, appear in the latest published Returns as overcrowded; whether any attempt has been made to relieve the overcrowding; and whether the Board of Education will insist on the children of this district having such school accommodation as the law provides?

Plans for the enlargement of the Ellesmere Church of England school, girls' department, are at present before the Board. The Llanymynech Church of England school is not now overcrowded. Proposals are now before the Board for the enlargement of the St. Martin's Church of England school. Notices of a transfer of the Ifton Heath Church of England school to the local education authority and of its enlargement by seventy-five places have been published under Section 8 of the Education Act, 1902. The Weston Rhyn Church of England school is not at present overcrowded, but the school will be closed as soon as a Council school, of which notice was given in November, 1912, is ready to replace it.

asked whether, according to the last published figures, there are three departments of public elementary schools in Oswestry town that are overcrowded and three in the schools in the Oswestry rural district; whether these figures show that 32 per cent. in Oswestry, urban and rural, are in overcrowded schools; whether the local authority have been warned against this overcrowding; and when the evil will be remedied?

The Measbury undenominational school is the only school in Oswestry town or Oswestry rural district now overcrowded, the overcrowding in this school amounting to twelve units. Notices have been issued by the local education authority under Section 8 of the Act of 1902 of their intention to provide a new school, and an appeal and counter-proposals have been forwarded to the Board.

Is the improvement since the last official figures were given due to the President himself or to the local authority?

That I cannot say.

asked (1) whether the standard required to qualify as an acting teacher is higher than that required from students who have undergone a course in a training college; and (2) whether the standard of the acting teachers' examination has been steadily raised during the last six years, with the result that there has been a great decrease in the percentage of teachers passing recently; and whether, in consequence, there is now a very small chance for a teacher who is unable to incur the expense of a course in a training college being able to become a fully qualified teacher?

I have nothing to add to the answers I gave on 27th March to the Noble Lord the Member for Cardiff to similar questions, copies of which I am sending the hon. Member.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether his attention has been called to published statements by Miss Geraldine Hodgson, lecturer on education in Bristol University, and by Professor Gerothwohl, of the same university, containing grave reflections upon the administration of the university, and expressing their readiness to substantiate these statements by evidence before a public inquiry; whether he proposes to secure such an inquiry by a visitation or otherwise; and (2) whether Mr. T. R. Glover, D.Litt., Fellow and Professor of St. John's College, Cambridge, has resigned his seat as official representative of Cambridge University on the Bristol University Council as a protest against the unsatisfactory answers of the council to the charges brought against their administration and their opposition to a public inquiry?

I have seen published letters and statements relating to the matters referred to. I have already in previous answers explained the Board's position in relation to university administration, and I can add nothing to what I have said. I do not propose to institute an inquiry, and I cannot in any way interfere with the discretion of the visitor.

Is it not the fact that this university is in receipt of a Parliamentary Grant? In consequence of that is it not the duty of the right hon. Gentleman's Department to see that the Grant is administered satisfactorily and efficiently? Are not the reports received by the right hon. Gentleman plain demonstration that the administration is unsatisfactory?

By the Advisory Committee, presided over by Sir William McCormick, I am informed that the educational work is efficiently carried on, and therefore I am fully justified in continuing the Grant which the university at present receives.

Has the right hon. Gentleman received any report at all as to whether the charges made against the administration are justified? Is the Grant to go on without any inquiry as to whether these people were right or wrong in resigning?

Power is given, through the Sovereign, to the President of the Council and the visitors to make inquiry if one is needed. But my duty is to see that the Parliamentary Grant is efficiently administered in connection with education, and I am satisfied that the educational efficiency is satisfactory at the present time.

asked the President of the Local Government Board the number of public authorities which have availed themselves of the provisions of the capital Grant of £1,500,000 towards the building of institutions for the treatment of tuberculosis; and how much of this sum has yet been granted to or earmarked for particular authorities?

The Board have been in communication with all the county councils and county borough councils in England, and in the majority of cases have promised capital Grants towards the cost of providing institutions. Some small Grants have already been paid, but in most of the cases the schemes have not been matured in sufficient detail to enable me to say what Grants will be given. I may add that practically all these authorities have already indicated that they propose to avail themselves of the capital Grant, and that the whole of the English share of the Grant has been provisionally earmarked in proportion to the population of the several areas.

asked what authority in London the Board propose to recognise as the central organising authority for the preparation and co-ordination of a general scheme for dealing with tuberculosis in London; and whether the Board have approached any authority for this object?

The Local Government Board propose to recognise the London County Council as the central organising body for the provision of institutional treatment. The London County Council have already been informed to this effect, and the Board understand that the council have such a scheme in preparation.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether, in the opinion of his expert advisers, the use of less than 0.20 per cent. of boron trioxide as a preservative in cream is injurious to the health of infants, pregnant women, and invalids; whether the new milk and cream Regulations of his Department permit its use for this purpose; and, if so, in what quantities?

In regard to the first part of this question, there is no exact consensus of opinion as to the amount of boron trioxide which may be necessary to produce injurious effects in different persons. The Regulations to which reference is made were not intended to control the amount of preservative which might be added, but only to secure that no preservative should be added to cream without declaration on the label as to the amount. The provisions of the Sale of Food and Drugs Act, 1875, are available for preventing the use of preservatives to an extent such as to render any article injurious to health.

Does that mean that if a declaration is made as to the amount used of this particular preservative, it would be passed as permissible by the Local Government Board?

If the hon. Member will give me notice I will do my best to reply to that question. But the subject matter of this question is before the High Court, and I should prefer not to answer supplementary questions regarding it.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many tons of tin and terne plates were exported from Great Britain to the United States of America in the years 1909 and 1912, respectively?

In 1909, 64,400 tons of tinned plates and sheets and 2,200 tons of black plates and sheets, under ⅛-in. thick, were exported to the United States of America. In 1912 the corresponding quantities were 2,100 tons of tinned plates and sheets and 2,000 tons of black plates and sheets.

asked how many tons of tinplates were imported into Canada from Great Britain and the United States, respectively, in the respective years 1909 and 1912, the year 1911 being substituted for 1912 if the figures for the latter are not yet available?

In 1909, 25,081 tons of tinplates were imported into Canada from the United Kingdom, and 7,856 tons from the United States of America. In 1912, 8,071 tons were imported from the. United Kingdom and 45,941 tons from the United States.

asked what was the total production in tons of tin and terne plates in the United States of America in the years 1891 and 1911, respectively, also in the year 1912 if the figures are available?

The first complete calendar year for which official statistics of the production of tin and terne plates in the United States are available is 1892. In that year the production amounted to 1,880 tons. In 1911, the latest year for which the figures have been received, the production amounted to 783,960 tons.

asked the Postmaster-General whether, in view of the fact that the terms of reference to the Norton Committee were to inquire into complaints from the staff arising from the reorganisation in the Central Telegraph Office; that the Committee declined to discuss any matter with the staffs' representatives which had not previously been the subject of complaint to the authorities; that the question of refreshments in the galleries between 9 a.m. and 2.30 p.m. had not been a subject of complaint from the staff nor discussed by their representatives before the Norton Committee; and, having regard to the fact that this question did not come within the purview of the Committee, will he, in view of all the circumstances, direct that this Clause of the Committee's Report shall not become operative?

Under the terms of their reference the Committee were to consider not only the effect upon the staff of certain improvements in organisation which had been made, but also whether, having regard to the efficiency of the service and the proper consideration of the staff, any further changes were desirable. The practice of consuming food in the galleries naturally came under the notice of the Committee in connection with complaints as to the inadequacy of certain meal reliefs; and I am satisfied that the restrictions subsequently introduced on their recommendation are desirable from an administrative point of view and do not cause any real hardship to the staff. The Postal Telegraph Clerks' Association has made representations to me on the subject, but the members of the Committee are agreed that their recommendation was necessary and that effect should be given to it.

asked the right hon. Gentleman if there is a contract for the carrying of mails between the Post Office and the Khedivial Mail Steamship Company; and, if so, if he has made any inquiry as to the wages paid to officers and men on the shins of the company in question?

There is no contract with this company.