asked the First Lord of the Admiralty, in view of the official assurance that the retirement of the rear-admiral appointed to command the Canadian naval forces after six months is in accordance with a long-existing rule applied to all Colonial appointments and the Royal Indian Marine, whether he will state the length of time between the date of their appointment to the Colonies and the date of their retirement from the Navy of the following Governors in Australia, Admiral Sir Harry Rawson and Admiral Sir F. Bedford, and the appointments of Captains Hewitt, Hent, and Goodridge to the command of the Royal Indian Marine; and, in each of the five eases, whether he will state for how long the Colonial or Indian posts were occupied?

Admiral Sir H. Rawson remained on the active list for 6½ years, and Admiral Sir F. Bedford for four months, respectively, after their appointments to Governorships in Australia. The length of time the captains named remained in command of the Royal Indian Marine before retiring were: Captain Hewitt, 4½ years; Captain Hent, 6½ years; Captain Goodridge, 6 years. The hon. Member must be aware that in my reply he quotes I referred to junior flag officers expecting employment at sea and not to flag officers who had served many years at sea as such, and who were unlikely to obtain further sea employment. In respect of the captains, these officers were already on the captains' list before the period of non-service which necessitated retirement was reduced from six to three years— i.e., in December, 1903. The rule I have quoted could not, therefore, in fairness be enforced against them.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether, in the-contemplated transfer of certain duties from the coastguard to the Customs, care will be taken to fully safeguard the rights and privileges of men of the existing coastguard whose services will be no-longer required for coastguard duties; whether surplus men of the existing coastguard will all have the opportunity of transferring to the Customs service; whether any such transfers will be compulsory; and whether men transferred' from the coastguard to the Customs will retain their extra good conduct pay and the same prospects of pension that they previously enjoyed?

No final decision has been come to by His Majesty's Government as to the proposed changes; but the hon. Member may be assured that the interest of the men who are at present in the coastguard will in any case be fully safeguarded.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if he will state what steps have been taken by the Estates Commissioners to acquire the Creedon estate, Ballinatone, Millstreet, county Cork; whether any offer has been made to the court, and, if so, with what result; what steps are being taken to determine the present tenancy of a man named Buckley in these lands; and when do the Estate Commissioners hope to have them available for distribution amongst the evicted tenants?

The Estates Commissioners expect to be in a position at an early date to make an offer for this estate, but until the property has been vested in them they cannot deal with the lands.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty if he will give a statement showing the prices realised for vessels sold during 1907–8, stating also date of construction and original cost?

presented the following figures:—

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty what was the active list personnel provided for in the estimates of 1904–5 of Great Britain, Germany, America

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he is aware that many purchasers under the Church Act, 1869, liable to pay interest on simple mortgages at 3⅛ per cent., have not availed themselves of Sections 25 and 26 of the Land Act of 1896 in having their mortgages converted into annuities at four percent, to pay off the mortgage in 49 years owing to the high rate; and if he will

and France; and what is the number provided for in the latest published estimates of each country, stating the increase or decrease in each case?

submitted the following comparative statement:—

introduce a clause in the new Land Act somewhat similar to Section 26 of the Land Act of 1896, but allowing those purchasers a cheaper rate of interest and extended time to pay off the mortgage?

There are 729 mortgages of the kind to which the question refers where the payers have not hitherto availed themselves of the provisions enabling them to convert their mortgages into terminable instalment annuities, and who now pay 3⅛ per cent, interest amounting to £5,432 per annum. There are 1,660 mortgages also under the Church Act which are payable by terminable instalment annuities, which also include interest at the rate of 3⅛ per cent., which annuities on the 31st March, 1908, amounted to £22,327 per annum. Three and one-eighth per cent, interest is also the rate included in and now payable in respect of all the annuities under the Ashbourne Act. I have been in communication with the Treasury with regard to these 729 persons, but the Government are unable to propose better terms for the commutation of their payments, having regard to present financial conditions.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he can arrange that the War Office employés in Ireland will have a holiday on St. Patrick's Day; whether he is aware that it is a Bank Holiday in Ireland; and that in the year 1906 the War Department offices in Ireland were closed on St. Patrick's Day?

I have nothing to add to the previous replies which I have given the hon. Member on this subject.

asked the President of the Local Government Board how many carcases were seized during 1908 by officers of local sanitary authorities in England and Wales, under Section 116 of the Public Health Act, 1875, and Section 47 of the Public Health (London) Act, 1891; how many were condemned by the justices; and how many of those condemned were condemned on account of the animal having suffered from tuberculosis?

I am not at present in a position to give the information desired. The medical officers of health have been requested to include in their annual reports for 1908 information as to the action taken under Section 117 of the Public Health Act, 1875, or Section 41 of the Public Health (London) Act, 1891, as the case may be, and they have been also requested to state the number of carcases and parts of carcases condemned for tuberculosis. When this information is obtained, I shall be happy to grant a Return on the subject, if the hon. Member will move for it; but I do not expect to receive all the reports for some time to come.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether the answer given by him in reply to a question on 24th November, that poor relief given to a husband solely for his own support would not disqualify his wife from an old age pension, had been acted upon by his Board; and why the Board did not apply this principle in respect of an appeal by a pension officer in the case of the claims of Elizabeth Smith, Alice Plane, and Jemima Crow, who had been granted pensions by the Norfolk local pension committee, and whose husbands had received relief in sums of from 2s. to 3s. per week, that is to say, not more than sufficient for the husbands' needs.

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. With regard to the particular cases mentioned, I find that in each of them the clerk to the guardians stated that the relief was given partly for the support of the wife.

asked the First Commissioner of Works when it is expected that the, memorial to Queen Victoria opposite Buckingham Palace will be completed; and, having regard to the desirability of this on many grounds, whether the approaching fine weather and longer hours of daylight will be utilised to the fullest extent for the purpose of pressing on the work?

I cannot yet fix a date; everything depends upon the rate of progress of the sculpture and the rapidity with which it can be placed in position. Every effort is being made and will continue to be made to press on the work.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he can give any information as to the cutting of the Indo-European telegraph line by royalist troops between Tabriz and the Russian frontier; and have any representations been made to the Shah's Government?

The answer to the first question is in the affirmative; the Company is not a British one, and I am informed that the Russian Government, who are more directly interested, have already made the necessary representations to the Persian Government, and it is proposed to await the result.

asked the First Lord of the Treasury, whether the Government intend to appoint a Minister of Commerce this Session?

The answer is in the negative.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he can state approximately the amount of British capital invested Abroad last year, distinguishing India, self-governing Colonies, remaining portion of the Empire, America, other principal protected Foreign countries, Argentina, rest of South America, and other remaining Foreign countries?

I have no official statistics which would enable me to answer this question. My hon. Friend will find some information bearing on the subject in the "Commercial History and Review of 1908," recently published by " The Economist," which, at page 6, contains a table showing the capital applications for last year. These figures, however, relate only to new public loans and issues.

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland if he can say when clerks to old age pension committees and sub-committees in Ireland will be paid for their services rendered as such to the 31st December, 1808?

The accounts are being dealt with as rapidly as possible. A number of them have already been paid and I trust that those still outstanding will be settled at an early date.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that a seaman named William Roberts was sentenced by the magistrate at Alderney, Channel Islands, to one month's imprisonment for desertion from the sailing brig "Willie," of Faversham; whether he is aware that, when the seaman endeavoured to explain to the magistrate the nature of the agreement that he had signed, the magistrate sentenced the man to a further term of one week's imprisonment for contempt of court; whether he is aware that, under Section 222 of the Merchant Shipping Act, imprisonment of seamen for desertion or absence without leave from his vessel at ports in the United Kingdom is abolished; and whether he will cause inquiries to be made forthwith with a view to the liberation of the man Roberts?

The case has not previously been brought to my notice, but I am making inquiry about it.

asked the Lord Advocate whether his attention has been drawn to the case of Mrs. Mackie, who, born and brought up in the parish of Kilbirnie, Ayrshire, and now over 70 years of age, has made application for an old age pension, which has been refused on account of her having gone abroad from the year 1893 to 1895; and, as she has not at any time received parochial relief and has no income of her own, whether he can have the case reconsidered?

As I have indicated in my reply to the hon. Member for St. Andrews Burgh on the 25th ult., it is not competent for the Local Government Board to reconsider their decision. This case received very careful consideration, and I am satisfied that it was impossible upon the most liberal interpretation of the Act and Regulations to hold that the applicant was not disqualified. I fear, therefore, the case cannot be reconsidered.

asked the Lord Advocate, in view of the fact that the farm of Gress, in the parish of Stornoway, island of Lewis, consisting of 4,228 acres, is not held under lease, will the Congested Districts Board approach the proprietor with a view to breaking up the farm into new holdings, especially bearing in mind that the Deer Forest Commissioners scheduled this farm, to the extent of 3,579 acres pasture and 181 acres arable, as suitable for new holdings?

Having regard to existing and prospective undertakings already entered into or in contemplation, the Congested Districts Board do not for the present propose to renew negotiations in regard to the farm referred to by my hon. Friend, and I must also remind my hon. Friend of the reply given to him on 9th November last that the proprietor was not then willing to consider any proposals which might properly have the effect of increasing expenditure or local burdens.

asked the Lord Advocate whether the attention of the Secretary for Scotland has been called to a meeting of the Lewis Land Law Reform Association, held at Bayble, island of Lewis, on the 3rd February, at which it was stated that overcrowding in many of the Lewis townships were so great that there were three or four families on every holding; and, in view of the fact that the Congested Districts Board have powers to create new holdings, will he state what efforts have been made to secure land in the district for the purpose of relieving the congestion referred to.

I understand that in the present financial condition of the Lewis district committee there is no immediate prospect of the extension referred to being carried out.

asked the Lord Advocate whether the attention of the Secretary for Scotland has been called to a meeting of the Lewis Land Law Reform Association, held at Bayble, island of Lewis, on 3rd February, at which it was stated that overcrowding in many of the Lewis townships was so great that there were three or four families on every holding; and, in view of the fact that the Congested Districts Board have powers to create new holdings, will he state what efforts have been made to secure land in the district for the purpose of relieving the congestion referred to?

The attention of the Secretary for Scotland has not, so far as I know, been called to the meeting referred to, but the Congested Districts Board are well aware of the congestion in certain parts of the Lews. No efforts have been made to secure land in that district. In saying this, I must remind my hon. Friend that the funds of the Congested Districts Board, as well as their powers, are limited; that they are spending a considerable annual sum in contributing to the making of roads in Lewis, and that everything cannot be done at once.

asked the Lord Advocate, in view of the complaints from the inhabitants of Stornoway in regard to the insanitary conditions arising from the dumping of refuse on the Alexandra Embankment, Stornaway, is he now in a position to state what action it is proposed to take to secure an abatement of the nuisance?

I am informed that the completion of the construction of a weir across Bayhead River has, in the opinion of the Local Authority, effectually remedied the matter complained of.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether, during the years 1904 and 1905, any representations were made by managers of non-provided schools to the Board of Education that the salaries of teachers in their schools sanctioned by local education authorities were inadequate; and, if so, what was the course taken by the Board in regard to such cases as have come under, or been brought to, his notice?

A considerable number of complaints were received by the Board during the years 1904 and 1905 from managers of Voluntary Schools as to the insufficiency of salaries which local education authorities consented to pay. The point at issue was frequently obscured by subsidiary disputes, but the decisions of the Board were invariably based, so far as I can ascertain, on the principle enunciated by the hon. Baronet the Member for Oxford University in an answer to a question in the House of Commons on 4th August, 1903, in which he stated: "The local authority has, under Section 7 of the Education Act, the control of all expenditure required for the purpose of maintaining and keeping efficient the public elementary schools within its area. The matter of teachers' salaries is not one in which the Board of Education would intervene unless it could be shown that a reduction of salaries amounted to a failure by the local education authority in its duty to maintain and keep efficient a public elementary school."

asked the President of the Board of Education if he will state the amount of loans raised for purposes of elementary education by education authorities in England and Wales, and the payments made in respect of loan charges, principal and interest, in the year 1907–8?

Some of the audited financial statements of local education authorities for the year 1907–8 have not yet been received, and I regret it is, therefore, impossible at present to give this information.