asked the Postmaster-General whether, in view of the fact that so far back as 1903 the Postmaster-General of the day admitted that the rate of allowance paid to travelling clerks was inadequate, and announced that he was seeking the sanction of the Treasury for an increase, but that this increase has not yet been made, he will make provision to allow these officers remuneration proportioned to their status and duties?The hon. Member further asked the Postmaster General whether the daily rates for subsistence paid to travelling officers in the surveyors' branch of the Post Office are for surveyors 20s., superintending engineers 17s. 6d., assistant surveyors 15s., assitant superintending engineers 15s., engineers 12s., and travelling clerks 10s.; and, if so, will he say why travelling clerks, who carry as large quantities of official papers and work in hotels on precisely the same conditions as surveyors and assistant surveyors, receive not any less than these officers but even less than the engineers of the classes named, who are not charged with the transport of any official papers?

I will answer these questions together. The rates of subsistence allowance paid to travelling officers in the Post Office are as stated. It is not the case that travelling clerks work under precisely the same conditions as surveyors and assistant surveyors; but the question of the proper allowance to such clerks is under consideration. Subsistence allowance is not remuneration but is paid solely to defray necessary additional expenses occasioned by absence from head quarters. The carriage of official papers has no bearing on the matter.

asked the hon. Member for South Somerset, as representing the President of the Board of Agriculture, what is the acreage of glebe land that has been acquired for the purposes of small holdings and allotments under the Small Holdings and Allotments Act, 1907?

The Ecclesiastical Commissioners have approved the letting of 359 acres of glebe land. They have under consideration the letting of a further 264 acres for the purposes of the Small Holdings and Allotments Acts of 1907 and 1908.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he will state the cost of horse supply per year for the various armies of France, Germany, Austria, and Italy; and whether he will appoint a Committee to inquire into the supply for the British Army?

The figures, which are as follows, include expenditure on remount establishments but exclude sums spent on horse breeding. Complete figures for the latter are not available, but such information as is procurable was given in reply to a question put by the hon. Member for the Blackpool Division of Lancashire on 15th October last:—

France	…	£783,399	Estimate 1909
Germany	…	808,000	Estimate 1908
Austria	…	464,821	Estimate 1909
Italy	…	208,000	Estimate 1908–09

As regards the second part of the question, the matter is being carefully considered, and I do not propose to appoint a committee

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he will issue a statement of the gross' expenditure on the Army for each of the years 1905–6, 1906–7, 1907–8, 1908–9, and 1909–10 (estimated) in the same form as that for the Navy appearing on page 1 of the present Naval Estimates?

in reply, supplied the following statement, showing the gross expenditure on Army Services for the years 1905–1906 to 1907–1908 together with the estimated gross expenditure for 1908–1909 and 1909–10:—

	Actual Gross Expenditure.			Estimated Gross Expenditure.
	1905–1906.	1906–1907.	1907–1908.	1908–1909.	1909–1910.
	£	£	£	£	£
Gross Expenditure (Army Votes)	32,043,810	32,072,564	30,645,191	30,826,804	30,889,950
Abate Annuity under the Barracks Act, 1890, and Military Works Acts, 1897–1903	1,020,824	1,081,523	1,122,882	1,122,882	1,155,603
	31,022,986	30,991,041	29,522,309	29,703,922	29,734,347
Expenditure from Loan	1,287,416	560,980	308,252	260,000	400,000
Expenditure on behalf of Army Services from Votes of other Departments	499,496	501,102	476,682	455,764	467,856
	32,809,898	32,053,123	30,307,243	30,419,686	30,602,203

asked when the half-yearly Report of the Small Holdings Commissioners ending 31st December, 1908, will be published?

The Annual Report for the year ending 31st December, 1908, is in course of preparation, but inasmuch as it involves the collection and tabulation of Returns for over 10,000 local authorities it is not possible to say when it will be issued. Every effort will be made to expedite its issue.

asked the Lord Advocate whether he will state the total catch of fish landed in this country by foreign trawlers which have been observed trawling in the Moray Firth during the years 1900–1908?

The figures required by my hon. Friend are as follows:—

Year				Cwts.
1900	…	…	…	6,600
1901	…	…	…	7,308
1902	…	…	…	12,145
1903	…	…	…	11,165
1904	…	…	…	18,094
1905	…	…	…	24,018
1906	…	…	…	11,757
1907	…	…	…	10,525
1908	…	…	…	19,021
Total	…	…	…	120,633

but, as I have already pointed out, any information at my disposal relates only to fish landed by foreign trawlers which have been observed trawling in the Moray Firth, and would, therefore, be no true index to the total catch landed at English ports by foreign trawlers.

asked the Lord Advocate, in view of the amount of the rates in the parishes in the Highland crofting counties, will he give a list of all such parishes in which the rates exceed 10s. in the pound, indicating the rate for each parish?

The following list gives the information desired by my hon. Friend for the year 1907–8, the last for which it is at present available:—

County		Parish	Total Parochial Rates per £of Net Rental				Total County Rates per £ of Assessable Rental		Total (1907–8)
			Owners.		Occupiers.		Owners.	Occupiers.
			s.	d.	s.	d.	d.	d.	s.	d.
Inverness	…	Barra	5	3	7	0	14·031	10·085	14	3·116
		Harris	3	10	4	6	14·531	10·585	10	5·116
		Uist, North	4	0½	4	5½	18·656	14·710	11	3·366
		"South	4	3	4	10	14·031	10·085	11	1·116
Ross and Cromarty	…	Barvas	6	4	8	8	18·064	15·063	17	9·127
		Lochs	6	2	7	0	18·064	15·063	15	11·127
		Stornaway (landward)	3	10½	4	1¾	18·064	15·063	10	9·377
		Uig	6	5	7	1	18·064	15·063	16	3·127
Zetland	…	Delting	4	4	5	4	10·000	8·250	11	2·250
		Nesting	4	6	4	6	12·250	10·500	10	10·750
		Sandsting	4	2	4	6	15·750	14·000	11	1·750
		Walls and Sandness	4	11	5	8½	10·500	8·750	12	2·750

asked the Home Secretary if he will state the places with respect to which Section 111 (6) of the Children Act will take effect?

An order will be made under Section 111 (6) for the Metropolitan Police Court district, as the arrangements for establishing separate children's courts in London are not yet complete. There is, however, in force a good working arrangement for separating children's cases from other cases in the metropolitan police courts. No application has reached me from any other place for an order to postpone the operation of Section 111.

asked the Home Secretary whether he has received a petition against the appointment of Dr. Rigby, of Adlington, as factory surgeon for the Horwich district; whether he is aware that the gentleman appointed lives a considerable distance from the district in which his duties are, that there are six medical men resident in Horwich who are all fully competent and qualified to per- form the duties, and that inconvenience has been caused by the appointment; and whether he will reconsider it with the view of appointing a resident medical man to the position?

I have received two letters from the Urban District Council of Horwich on the subject. The facts are these: Horwich and Adlington are contiguous districts, and prior to the appointment referred to had each a certifying surgeon. As, however, there are few factories in the two districts—30 in Horwich and 17 in Adlington—and the area is small, it was decided in accordance with the usual policy of the Department, on the recent retirement of the Horwich surgeon, to amalgamate the districts, and the appointment for the combined district was given to Dr. Rigby, who was already surgeon of Adlington. Dr. Rigby lives only a short distance from Horwich—about two miles—and visits Horwich (where he has a room) at least twice a week, and oftener, if necessary. I have not been able to hear of any inconvenience caused to employers by the arrangement, but the district council states that complaints have been made of inconvenience caused to children in cases where they have to attend the surgeon's room, and I have asked the council for further particulars.

asked the Under Secretary of State for India whether, in view of the facts that the education supplied at modern engineering colleges is of a complex character, requiring a carefully prepared curriculum of a highly specialised nature, and that the technical classes started at Thomason College, Roorkee, under Resolution No. 501/XV.—413–54 of 1906, dated 6th June 1906, and published in the "United Provinces Government Gazette," were intended to educate men for subsquent positions as managers of factories, the Government of India approves the resolution of the Government of the United Provinces in which it is stated that there will be no cut-and-dried curriculum; and whether the Secretary of State will cause inquiries to be made for the purpose of ascertaining whether the educational scheme characterised by the absence of a cut-and-dried curriculum is giving satisfactory results?

If the hon. Member will refer to the Resolution from which he quotes he will find that a course of instruction of which details were given in a circular annexed to the Resolution, was prescribed, and that the sentence quoted was explained as meaning only that endeavours would be made to give each student such instruction and training as would best qualify him for the employment he proposed to seek. The Secretary of State sees no reason to make the enquiry suggested.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that the British steamer "Myrtledene" engaged a crew of Chinese seamen at the port of Shanghai on the 19th September, 1908, for a period of 18 months, the agreement to expire at a port in China; whether he is aware that the master of the "Myrtledene" discharged these Chinamen at Newcastle-on-Tyne on the 2nd March, 1909, leaving the men destitute and only paying their fares to Liverpool, where they now remain, unable to obtain employment; and whether the Board of Trade intends to take any action in the matter with a view of compelling the owners of the "Myrtledene" to repatriate the Chinamen back to their own country?

Twenty-four seamen who formed the Chinese crew of the s.s. "Myrtledene" were discharged by mutual consent at Newcastle, receiving the full balance of wages due to them. I am informed by the owners that they were prepared to keep the men on board until the vessel again proceeded to the East, or until other arrangements could be made for their repatriation; but the men insisted on their discharge. Should they fail to secure employment, and become destitute and chargeable on the poor rate, the owners would, under Section 184 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, be liable to a penalty or the cost of their repatriation.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that the sailors and firemen of the White Star steamer "Republic" have now been waiting for some weeks for new copies of their continuous discharge books in the place of their discharge books that were lost in consequence of the foundering of the vessel; whether he is aware that those men have had no compensation for the loss of their clothes, and, in consequence of not being supplied with their continuous discharge books, they have been unable to obtain employment; and if he can state what is the reason for the delay in the issuing of the discharge books to the men?

An exceptionally large number of applications for full copies of continuous discharge books has been received recently from members of the crews of shipwrecked vessels, including the steamship "Republic," and they are being dealt with by the Registrar-General of Shipping and Seamen with all possible despatch. Between the 10th February and the 26th March, 171 applications were received from the seamen of the "Republic" and 125 books were sent out. I am in communication with the owners of the "Republic" with reference to the question of compensation to the men for loss of clothes and alleged failure to obtain employment.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether, in the best interests of the service, he will consider the advisability of throwing open to all ratings the chance of securing good-conduct badges, and of making such badges carry Id. per day, whether the men are required to wear them or not?

The matter has received the careful consideration of the Board of Admiralty, but it is not regarded as advisable to make the change proposed.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he can devise means whereby naval pensioners may have an equal chance with other branches of His Majesty's service of securing employment; and whether any steps can be taken to remove the bar which prevents pensioners under 50 being employed by the Government Departments?

Correspondence has taken place with the War Office with the object of arriving at some final agreement for the purpose of inducing other Government offices to employ a proportion of Army and Navy reservists, but that Department has up to the present been unable to give any definite reply. Other steps for extending the area of employment are receiving consideration.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty if he will state whether a foreign warship recently came into Dartmouth and practised landing parties, without any effort being made to stop them?

The German training-ship "Charlotte" was at Dartmouth for 16 days, but nothing is known of any landing except for ordinary and walking exercises.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty if he will state what interval is allowed to elapse between the times of docking ships that carry nucleus crews?

The interval allowed to elapse between the times of docking ships that carry nucleus crews is the same as that for ships with full crews, viz., 12 months as a general rule.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether in the official Returns as to the total cost of British battleships the cost of the reserve guns is included; and whether a similar practice obtains in Germany?

The cost of reserve guns is not included in the Parliamentary Returns of British battleships. It appears that the cost of reserve guns is treated in the same manner in the Estimates for both countries.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is aware that officers, stewards, and cooks, although granted the substantive rating of chief and petty officers, only receive the same pension as an able seaman; and whether he will take steps to secure for this branch of the service a similar scale of pension to other petty officers?

The facts are as stated in the first part of the question. On the recommendation of a Committee which sat in 1905 substantive ratings, as specified in the question, were given to these non-continuous service men mainly for disciplinary purposes, but the concession of increased pension on account of petty time was not considered necessary.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is aware that the pension of 10d. per day was originally secured on a basis of 20 years' service, and that when the qualifying period was increased to 22 years no addition was made to the 10d.; and whether, in view of this oversight, he will again consider the request of the men that the lengthened service should carry Is. per day as the foundation pension.

The facts are as stated in the first part of the question. It is not, however, the case that the arrangement was due to an oversight. The period of 22 years now requisite to qualify for a long-service pension, as against 20 years previously necessary, was fixed upon the Report of a Committee appointed in 1881 to inquire into the pensions of seamen and marines, with particular reference to the large and growing charges for non-effective services. In the opinion of the Board no case has been made out for a change.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, as the taxpayers are required year after year to make good deficiencies in the income account of the Post Office Savings Bank, the deficiency for the past year being estimated as £161,443, and as they are further liable for the deficiency in the capital account, estimated unofficially, in the absence of a balance sheet, as at least £15,000,000, they are entitled to receive official information as to the financial position of the institution; and whether, as a balance sheet containing a valuation of the assets at market prices is held to be misleading, will he take other means to acquaint the taxpayers with the position of this institution, for the current expenses of which they are required to pay and for the solvency of which they are liable?

All the facts bearing on the financial position of the Post Office Savings Bank Fund are disclosed in the returns annually presented to Parliament under Statute. Any estimate of the contingent liability of the Consolidated Fund in respect of a deficiency upon the capital account of the Post Office Savings Bank Fund would be purely conjectural, since the amount of that liability depends upon the price which will ultimately be realised for the securities standing to the credit of that account in the event of their being sold. The preparation of any balance sheet of the kind contemplated by the question would require the framing of such an estimate, for which, in the absence of any means of judging when (if at all) necessity for realising the securities is likely to arise, I am unable to take official responsibility.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he will state the amounts of the Board of Education's expenditure out of the Parliamentary Vote in the year 1902, under the same heads as in Table 117 of the recently published statistics (Cd. 4506) and in the same form?

Owing to the extensive changes in the organisation of public education and in the classification of schools and other grant-earning institutions which have been introduced since the Education Act, 1902, it is not possible to apply to the year 1902–03 the same classification in regard to certain categories of expenditure, such as secondary schools, technical institutions, etc., and the instruction of pupil teachers, as has been adopted in Table 117 of the Statistical Volume for 1906–7–8. But the hon. Member will find a classified statement of expenditure for the year 1902–03 on page 18 of the Board's Report for that year (Cd. 1763 of 1903).

asked the President of the Board of Education if he will state whether a petition, signed by over three quarters of the ratepayers at Broughton, in Hampshire, against the building of a county council school there, has been handed in to the Board of Education and the Local Government Board; arid whether, before deciding to build, he will take some other step of testing the feeling of the inhabitants?

I have received the petition referred to, and I understand a copy has also been sent to my right, hon. Friend the President of the Local Government Board. A public inquiry, at which the question of school accommodation was exhaustively discussed, was held at Broughton on 18th December, 1907, and, after consideration of the Report, the Board of Education decided on 18th March, 1908, that the proposed council school was necessary. I regret I am not prepared to re-open the case.

asked the Attorney-General whether it was in view of Lord Penzance's statutory position under the Public Worship Regulation Act, 1874, that the Treasury instructed counsel to appear on his behalf in the case of Martin v. Maconochie; whether Sir Lewis Dibdin occupies the same statutory position; and whether there is any precedent, except that of Lord Penzance, for the law officers of the Crown appearing for the judge of an ecclesiastical court to show cause against a writ of prohibition in a suit in which the Crown has no interest?

The answer to the first part of this question is in the negative. The Treasury have instructed counsel to appear on behalf of Lord Penzance because in all actions against judges for things done in discharge of their public functions it was usual for the Treasury to take the matter up and see that the case was properly defended. The answer to the second part of the question is in the affirmative. As regards the third point, there are no less than five cases between 1878 and 1886 in which the Treasury instructed counsel to appear on behalf of Lord Penzance as judge of an ecclesiastical court, and there are many precedents founded on the general principle, but I have not at present any information as to precedents in respect of ecclesiastical judges other than Lord Penzance in cases of the class mentioned in the question.

asked the number of acres of land proposed, since the Act of 1907 became law, to be acquired by notice in the "Dublin Gazette" by the Estates Commissioners under the Evicted Tenants Act; how many have been actually acquired; and what reason can be assigned for the delay which has occurred in putting the provisions of the Act into operation?

The Estates Commissioners inform me that they have published notices in the "Dublin Gazette" of their intention to acquire 41,812 acres under the Evicted Tenants Act, but that up to the present they have only been able to acquire 6,035 acres. There has been no delay on the part of the Commissioners in putting the Act into operation; but a number of legal objections have been raised by the owners of lands, which the Commissioners proposed to acquire.

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether nine years have elapsed since Mr. Justice Ross made an absolute order for the sale of the estate of John Joseph O'Grady, county Waterford; whether the Estates Commissioners have made an offer for the estate or for the untenanted lands comprised in it; whether the offer has been accepted; and, if so, what is the cause of the delay in the payment of the purchase money?

I am informed that the land judge made an absolute order for the sale of this estate on 27th April 1900, and that the whole of the estate has since been sold. There was no untenanted land on the estate, and the Estates Commissioners made no offer for any part of it.

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland if he is aware of the character of the letters signed by the junior secretary of the National Education Board that are being constantly issued to inspectors of schools throughout Ireland; whether he is aware that up to a few years since this junior secretary was a subordinate master in a training school, and so knows little about inspection work; and whether, in the interests of education and economy, he will inquire as to the methods by which this officer was a few years ago appointed to his present position in preference to many deserving and capable inspectors who were candidates at the time?

The Commissioners of National Education inform me that all letters from the secretaries of the Board are issued by the authority, general or special, of the Board, or of the Resident Commissioner. The secretary referred to in the question was not a subordinate master in a training school. He was the principal and professor in the Commissioners' Training College, Marlborough Street, and is a distinguished graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, with large experience in connection with educational matters. He was selected by the Commissioners in 1903 as the most suitable candidate for the position of secretary, then vacant.

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland what action has been taken by the Estates Commissioners to take over the lands commonly known as the Earl's Park Farm, in the parishes of Aille and Loughrea, from the Earl of Westmeath; was a request made by the Earl of Westmeath to inspect with a view to sale; and, having regard to the requests made to the Commissioners by the landlord, the tenants, and the Member for the division, urging on them the necessity of dealing with this estate at the earliest moment, will he urge upon the Commissioners to deal with this estate at once?

Proceedings are pending under the Act of 1903 for the sale of these lands to the Estates Commissioners, who inform me that they will have them inspected as soon as possible.

asked what steps have been taken by the Estates Commissioners to reinstate Mr. Martin Flanagan, of Glanaslabb, Loughrea, in his former holding, at present in possession of Mrs. Kennedy, Kinculla, Loughrea; has Mrs. Kennedy been approached to find out if she is willing to surrender; and have the necessary notices been served by the Commissioners to take over possession of this holding compulsorily?

The Estates Commissioners have noted Flanagan's name for consideration in the allotment of untenanted land. His former holding is now occupied by Mrs. Kennedy, who has been approached by the Commissioners. She has not signed a consent to surrender the lands. The reply to the concluding portion of the question is in the negative.

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether it has come to his notice that evictions on a wholesale scale are meditated in the district of Derrybrien, Loughrea, by the Marquis of Clanricarde; and, seeing that the district is a mountain and congested district, with the average valuation per house less than £2, whether the Government will take any steps, pending the passing into law of the Land Bill before the House, to suspend the execution of the decrees in question, as certain to create disorder in the country?

I am informed that processes have been served on a number of the tenants in the district referred to, but I am not aware whether any evictions are imminent. If the sheriff calls for protection in the service of the King's writ it is not competent to the Executive Government to refuse the assistance of the forces of the Crown.

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether the estate of Mr. Daly, of Holly Hill, near Gurtymadden, Loughrea, has been sold to the Commissioners; and can he indicate what time the Commissioners expect to be able to dispose of this property?

The Estates Commissioners have not yet acquired this property, but are in negotiation with the owner. I am unable, at this stage of the proceedings, to reply to the concluding portion of the question.

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether the Estates Commissioners will provide Mrs. Ellen Davin, Eglish, Ballybrophy, Queen's County, an evicted tenant, with a holding on the Hopkins estate, known as the farms of Park and Lyrogue, seeing that those lands are in the neighbourhood of her former holding, and that her case was referred to an inspector I for settlement so far back as the 13th May, 1908?

Ellen Davin's name has been noted by the Estates Commissioners; for consideration in connection with the allotment of untenanted land, but the Commissioners cannot say whether she will be provided with a farm on the Hopkins Estate.

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland when the Estates Commissioners propose to distribute the balance of untenanted land on the Hussey estate, Eathkerry, county Meath; and whether, having regard to the dissatisfaction caused by the manner in which they distributed some lands in county Meath, and the public unrest caused by their giving land to people to whom the Act of 1903 never intended it should be given, they will, in this case, have regard to the prior claims of the labourers and occupiers of uneconomic holdings in the district?

I have already informed the hon. Member, in reply to a question asked by him on 7th December last, that the residue of these lands was being distributed to small occupiers. I am not aware of the existence of the alleged dissatisfaction and unrest.

asked the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland) whether he is aware that the lives of several people have been lost off the coast of Tawin, Oranmore, Galway, owing to the absence of a pier or landing-slip; whether a large turf trade is carried on between the inhabitants of Tawin Island and the neighbourhood and the congested districts of Connemara; and whether he will confer with the people of this district with a view of assisting them to provide a pier or landing stage where boats may call for the transaction of trade generally?

A pier at Tawin is no doubt desirable, but owing to the exposed nature of the coast line the construction of a suitable work would be very costly, and unless the county are prepared to provide a large proportion of the necessary expenditure the Department, having regard to the state of their funds, could not undertake to co-operate.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether any steps are being taken to delimit the boundary between North-Western Rhodesia and the Haut Luapula zone of the Katonga district of the Congo State?

The answer is in the negative.