To ask the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that six female learners who entered the service at Belfast upwards of three and a-half years ago, and who have been fully qualified for appointment for almost three years, are still employed at a salary of 5s. per week, with little prospect of appointment for a long time to come; and whether, in view of his assurance that he was devising some scheme for the improvement of all those similarly circumstanced, he can now give any definite announcement on the subject. (Answered by Lord Stanley.) These learners, none of whom, however, have yet completed three years service, receive 16s. a week when acting as substitutes for absent officers, and 5s. per week when not acting. All who had served for two years or more might have received a higher constant rate of pay than 5s. a week, but they preferred the varying rates stated above.

To ask the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that the assistant woman, superior at present in charge of the Donegal Square branch of the Belfast Post Office has reached the retiring age of sixty; and whether, seeing that when a claim was made some three years ago that she should perform rotation duties with other women superiors, the memorialists were asked to withdraw their petition on the assurance that she would, in the course of a couple of years, retire on pension, he will explain why it has been decided to further retain her services for a period of five years. (Answered by Lord Stanley.) I am not aware of the circumstances to which the hon. Member refers, but I am making inquiry in the matter, and will communicate with him.

To ask the Postmaster-General whether, in view of the proposed increase of established linemen and foremen, as notified in the Civil Service Estimates for 1905 and 1906, he can state the reason for the delay in creating the appointments; whether the persons, when appointed, will be required to perform fifty-four hours per week, that is, throe and a-half hours longer than the present average; and whether the appointments, where made, will date back from the commencement of the present financial year, 1905. (Answered by Lord Stanley.) Some inquiry is necessary before I can give a full reply to the hon. Member, but I will communicate my Answer to him as soon as possible.

To ask the Postmaster-General if he is aware that the people of Enniskillen and the surrounding district desire an extension of the time of despatching their British and foreign evening letters; and if he will so arrange that the towns and counties to the east of Enniskillen, including Armagh, Monaghan, Cavan, and part of South Down and North Louth, can despatch their mails by the evening steamer from Greenore. (Answered by Lord Stanley.) I fear that the amount of correspondence available is insufficient to justify the establishment of despatches from Enniskillen and the other towns mentioned by the hon. Member. I am, however, further considering the question.

To ask the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that the mail train from Dublin to Westport does not stop at Balla Junction either on the outgoing or return journey; and whether, seeing that this state of things causes inconvenience to passengers who wish to alight at Balla Junction, he will see that a stop of a few minutes is made there. (Answered by Lord Stanley.) As the hon. Member was informed in reply to a similar Question some two years ago, a regular stoppage of the mail train at Balla, which is a comparatively small village, would not be justified. There is, however, no objection on the part of the Post Office to the train being specially stopped on exceptional occasions, such as a local cattle fair, and the secretary to the Post Office in Dublin will deal with any applications which may be addressed to him.

To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that the Clare County Council have formulated, during the last two years, two schemes for employing direct labour on the roads of the county, and that the Local Government Board has disallowed each scheme in succession; will he say what was the reason of the disallowance in each case, and how long did the Board take in each case to make its decision known; and whether some simpler and more speedy method of bringing direct labour schemes into operation than that at present in existence can be devised by the Board. (Answered by Mr. Walter Long.) The first scheme was adopted on 30th January last, and received by the Local Government Board on 15th February. Appeals were lodged during February and March. It was then found that the county council had failed to carry out the prescribed regulations in one particular. The county council, therefore, proceeded on 20th April to make a new provisional declaration, which they finally adopted on 13th June. Under the existing Orders, the council can only make these declarations at their statutory half-yearly meetings, which the meetings of April 20th and June 13th were not. The Board at once informed the county council accordingly, and the council now propose to proceed de novo. The Board are considering the question of amending the rules dealing with these schemes in the case of counties which hold half - yearly instead of quarterly meetings.

To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that, in the case of Mr. F. E. Tydd, who sold his estate in the county of Kilkenny last year to his tenants, Mr. Tydd was informed on June 14th last that applications for the interest on the purchase had been sent out by the Land Commission, and again informed on July 28th that a draft for the amount received would be sent to him that day or the day after; whether he was informed later on that the applications for the interest had not yet been sent out; and, if so, what explanation has the Commission to give. (Answered by Mr. Walter Long.) The facts are substantially as stated. It was, however, found necessary, owing to an informality, to issue fresh demands for the interest. This was done on August 2nd, and as soon as payment is made by the tenant purchasers the Land Commission will remit the amount to the vendor.

To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lori-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he can now state (1) the number of model schools in Ireland recognised on the 31st day of December, 1904; (2) the cost of each pupil in average attendance in each model school for the year 1904; (3) the number of model schools in which there were no Catholic pupils on the rolls on the 31st day of December, 1904; (4) the number of pupil-teachers in office in the model schools on the 31st day of December, 1904, according to religious denominations; and can he state (5) how many of these pupil-teachers had been appointed by competitive examination, and if not by competitive examination, will he state the reason in each case. (Answered by Mr. Walter Long.) (1) The number of model schools recognised on December 31st, 1904, was thirty, which are sub divided intoseventy-five departments, each of which has a separate roll number. (2) The cost of each pupil in average attendance in each model school for the year 1904 was as follows:—

TO ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he can state the total number of national schools in operation reported by the inspectors as unnecessary; the number of these schools under Catholic, Protestant Episcopalian, Presbyterian, and Methodist management, respectively; the number of pupils of each of these denominations; and the percentage of these pupils to the total. (Answered by Mr. Walter Long.) The number of such schools in operation is 101, and these are distributed, as regards management, as follows: Roman Catholic, twenty-three; late Established Church, twenty-eight; Presbyterian, thirty five; Methodist, thirteen; other denominations, two. The numbers of pupils on the rolls on December 31st last in these cases, and the percentages to the total, were as follows: Roman Catholic, 1,293 (31·3); late Established Church, 1,108 (26·8); Presbyterian, 1,461 (35·4); Methodist, 194 (4·7); others, 77 (1·8).

To ask the Postmaster-General if he will state the total loss falling on savings bank funds as the result of fraudulent withdrawals by telegraph and return of post for each year since the system of withdrawal by telegraph was instituted. (Answered by Lord Stanley.) The following table gives the information asked for by the hon. Member:—

To ask the Postmaster-General if he can state why the porters of the London postal service were refused an opportunity of stating their grievances at an interview, seeing that the postal porters were not allowed to give evidence before the Bradford Committee. (Answered by Lord Stanley.) The case of the porters in the London postal service was carefully considered in connection with the recommendations of the Bradford Committee. I found that, having regard to the nature of their duties, the present scale of pay is adequate, and I did not consider that any useful purpose would be served by a personal interview.

To ask the Secretary to the Board of Education what number of Royal College of Art scholarships were granted last year at South Kensington, and how many of these were held by women; and whether it is intended to make any reduction in the sum set apart for such scholarships, or any change in the conditions upon which they have hitherto been granted. (Answered by Sir William Anson.) Sixteen Royal College of Art scholarships were awarded last year, of which three were awarded to women. The Board do not contemplate, at the present time, any reduction of the sum set apart for such scholarships, or any change in the conditions under which they have hitherto been granted.

To ask the Postmaster-General whether he can now state the result of his inquiries as to the possibility of improving the postal service at Burtonport and Dungloe, county" Donegal. (Answered by Lord Stanley.) The inquiries in regard to the possibility of improving the postal service at Burtonport and Dungloe are not yet completed, but no time shall be lost in communicating their result to the hon. Member.

To ask the President of the Local Government Board how many ecclesiastical parishes there are within the municipal boundary of Leicester; and for what reason his Department recently refused to sanction an application by the board of guardians to acquire seventy-five acres of land for Poor Law purposes. (Answered by Mr. Gerald Balfour.) Matters relating to the boundaries of ecclesiastical parishes do not come within the jurisdiction of the Local Government Board, but it would appear from the Census Returns that there are some twenty-seven ecclesiastical parishes or districts wholly or partly comprised within the municipal boundary of Leicester. The Board do not appear to have received any application by the board of guardians to acquire seventy-five acres of land, but an application in respect of a smaller area is now under consideration.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies what action, if any, he proposes to take upon the protest of the medical men of Malta upon the appointment of Major Lawson by His Excellency the Governor to supervise the Malta Lunacy Board's medical officers in dealing with English patients only; and whether, with the view of adding to the good feeling of His Majesty's loyal Maltese subjects, he will consider the advisability of making Major Lawson a member of the Maltese Lunacy Board rather than a casual supervisor. (Answered by Mr. Secretary Lyttelton.) The hon. Member's suggestion has been carried out, and Major Lawson has already been appointed a regular member of the board of the Malta Lunatic Asylum. The duties of the board are to meet once a week at the lunatic asylum to discharge inmates when cured and to testify to the insanity of those admitted during the preceding week. It was never at any time intended that Major Lawson should in any sense supervise the medical officers of the board or to cast any reflection whatever on the manner in which the board has performed its duties

To ask the Secretary of State for War whether he can, consistently with the public interests, so arrange the contracts for brushes and other like work that a larger proportion will go to institutions for the blind. (Answered by Mr. Secretary Arnold-Forster.) Care is taken to allot to the various institutions for the blind as large a proportion of such work as is possible.