asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will state on what basis of reduced consumption or otherwise the estimated yield of the proposed increase of the tobacco duty is calculated to produce £1,900,000 in 1909-10 and ultimately £2,250,000; and what proportion of this £2,250,000 will be raised in England, Scotland, and Ireland respectively.

In estimating the yield of the proposed increase of the duty at £1,900,000 for the current financial year as against £2,250,000 in a full year, I have allowed for the fact that the additional duties being imposed as from the 30th ultimo, they are applicable only to 11 months of 1909-10. I have also taken into account the forestalments in March and April and the probability of some decrease in consumption. The contributions in a full year from England and Wales, Scotland, and Ireland respectively are estimatad to be as follows:—

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in reference to the estimated yield of £2,600,000 for 1909-10 arising from the increase of liquor licence duties, whether he will state what proportion it is calculated will be raised in England, Scotland, and Ireland respectively?

It is anticipated that of the total estimated yield of £2,600,000 about 90 per cent. will be contributed by England and Wales, about 6 per cent. by Scotland, and about 4 per cent. by Ireland; but sufficient data are not available for framing a precise estimate.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his attention has been called to the fact that the pension officers in Ireland have refused to accept returns obtained by the United Irish League in Dublin from the Record Office as proof of age of applicants for old age pensions in Ireland; whether there is any necessity for the applicant to obtain copies of the record of age personally; and whether the practice of the pension officers has inflicted hardship in Ireland?

Under the statutory regulations the investigation of the evidence of claimants for old age pensions devolves on the pension officer, and he must be satisfied before forwarding a claim to the pension committee that the applicant is over 70. He cannot therefore accept the evidence of age produced by the United Irish League without first satisfying himself that it is correct, and this he does by reference to the Census Office. If arrangements could be made for the Census Office to give to the United Irish League some form of certificate without additional fee in cases of successful search by them, such certificate could be accepted without further investigation. There is no necessity for the claimant to an old age pension to obtain evidence of age from the Census Office. This, if desired, will always be undertaken by the pension officer. I am not aware that any hardship has been inflicted on a pensioner by reason of the action of the pension officers in this matter.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he can state approximately the total amount of imperial taxation expected to be levied in Scotland during the present financial year?

I regret that I am unable to form a satisfactory estimate of the proportion of the total Imperial taxation which will be levied during this financial year in Scotland.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty what was the original cost of the "Gladiator "; and what was the estimated cost of repairing her before the recent sale of the vessel?

The original cost of the "Gladiator" was £287,604, and of her guns £12,970. The estimated cost of repairing the hull and machinery of the "Gladiator" after collision and restoring here to her former condition as a cruiser was £145,000.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether he is aware that aged people living with sons or sons-in-law, and who hitherto, consequent on age and infirmity, have had a little relief from the rates, have had that relief stopped, and that the action of the board of guardians and the relieving officers in this connection is attributed to instructions received from the Local Government Board; whether he is aware that the outcome of this order in many cases will be the forcing of the aged poor into the workhouses of the country; and in such case whether it is the intention of the Local Government Board to take steps to recover the cost to the ratepayers from the sons and sons-in-law who have denied old people a shelter in their home consequent on the withdrawal of the few shillings relief hitherto paid prior to the issuing of said instructions or order?

I believe that in some instances where relief had been given to aged people living with sons or sons-in-law the relief has been discontinued, but no instructions of the kind referred to in the question have been issued by the Local Government Board. I am not aware that in any such case the aged person has been forced into the workhouse. If he were it would be competent for the guardians to take steps to obtain an order of justices to require any child of the aged person, if of sufficient ability, to contribute to his maintenance. The Local Government Board would have no authority to do so. The liability to contribute to the cost of maintenance would not extend to a son-in-law.

asked the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland) whether any representations have been made to the Department with regard to the establishment of a central flax market in Ulster; and what action, if any, the Department is taking in the matter?

The Department are aware that a suggestion has been made for the establishment of a central flax market in Belfast to serve flax growers in the vicinity of that city, but they have not, up to the present, taken any action in the matter.

asked the Vice-President whether he has any further report to make with regard to the provision of accommodation for boats at Rathlin and Bally-castle; and what reply has been received from the Treasury to the application for special aid for these urgent and necessary works?

The matter is being very fully considered, and will form the subject of a conference between the Department and a deputation from the Antrim County Council at an early date. I cannot at present add anything further than this to my answers to previous questions on the subject.

asked the Vice-President whether he can state if any steps have been taken by the Department to establish classes for the instruction of women and girls in the working-class districts in Ireland, and especially in the towns and cities, in cookery and housekeeping; or, if not, whether this matter will receive the attention of the Department?

The answer is in the affirmative. The Department have an extensive system of such instruction both in urban centres and in rural districts. The schemes of technical instruction under local authorities throughout Ireland make provision for instruction of this character, and classes are in successful operation and are largely attended.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he can state on what grounds the Estates Commissioners have declined to reinstate two tenants, Thomas Brady and Mary Morrison, evicted on the Cootehill estate of E. P. Smith, James Carragher, evicted on the Smith estate at Dring, and Edward Clegg, evicted on the Earl of Dartrey's estate, county Monaghan; and whether he will represent to the Commissioners the advisability of reconsidering these cases?

The Estates Commissioners decided, after inquiry and in the exercise of their discretion, to take no action in reference to the applications of Thomas Brady, James Carragher, and Edward Clegg. It would be contrary to established practice to state the reasons which actuate the Commissioners in the exercise of their discretion. Mary Morrison's application has not been inquired into, as it was not received within the time specified by the Evicted Tenants Act.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he is aware that on 19th December, 1907, William Hoey, an evicted tenant of the Lalor estate, county Wicklow, was informed by the Estates Commissioners that they had considered his application for reinstatement, and noted his name as a suitable person for a holding; and can he say when the Commissioners will be in a position to provide the evicted tenant with a holding?

The Estates Commissioners inform me that Hoey's application has been noted for consideration in the allotment of untenanted land to be acquired by them. They are not at present. in a position to allot him a farm.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury if any precedents exist in the case of English municipalities for making deductions from contributions in lieu of rates where the municipality is willing to provide, in the case of the Government buildings concerned, the same services as arc rendered to ordinary ratepayers; if so. whether he will specify the same; whether it is the practice of Government authorities in England to put pressure on municipalities to render services which they have no legal powers to render under penalty of reducing their contribution in lieu of rates; and whether, in the case of the Cork Barracks, any attempt was made by the military authorities to procure a contractor for the removal of refuse on the days when the Corporation were unable to remove it?

There are a great many precedents in the case of English municipalities, as well as in Ireland, for deductions of the kind referred to, but I see no reason for specifying them in either country. In no case has any difficulty been raised by the local authority concerned. A Government contribution in lieu of rates is a bounty and not a payment legally due, and the principle of modifying it in such cases as these is that public money should not be expended twice over for the same service. The question of putting pressure on the Cork Corporation to act illegally does not arise. As regards the last part of the question, I am informed that no attempt was made by the military authorities to procure a contractor to remove the refuse on the days when the corporation were unable to remove it.

asked the Secretary of State for War who bears the cost of arming certain companies of the Dublin Protestant Boys' Brigade and the Jewish Lads' Brigade with carbines and rifles; what are the conditions of membership of the local detachment of the Legion of Frontiersmen, and under what arrangements are they allowed the use of Ship-street Barracks for drill and instruction purposes; and whether the Civil Service Rifle Club is confined strictly to Civil servants?

The records of the War Office do not contain any information on the various points raised by the hon. Member in this question.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he can have a yearly census made of the horses required for the expeditionary force, with a view to having them ready to hand on any outbreak of war?

Arrangements for the taking of an annual census of horses are now in progress.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that in order to obviate the discharging of men 60 years of age from the factory at Enfield the general body of the workmen are prepared to accept an extension of the time they are off work during August and thus let the fixed minimum number of employés be reached by the ordinary wastage and the discharging of lads on attaining the age of 21; and whether he will accept this suggestion of the workmen and cease to discharge men at 60 years of age, who, having spent their life in the making of rifles, are quite unable to perform other employment at that age?

The proposal has been brought to my notice, but I fear it cannot be adopted. It must be remembered that, even while the men were off work, the standing charges would still continue. Moreover, it is doubtful if the suggestion would have the desired result, since, even allowing for the extension of the time for closing, the work to be done during the year would probably be completed without obviating the discharges in question. The discharges of men at 60 is made in accordance with the rules, and cannot, in the present circumstances, be stopped, but as much notice as possible will be given to men discharged under the age rule.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he has considered if Yeomanry on outpost duty would be at a great disadvantage at night without bayonets; and, if so, what steps he proposes to take in the matter?

The Yeomanry are at no greater disadvantage than cavalry in the matter of their armament when dismounted in the conditions suggested by the hon. Member. The principles and rules for outposts will be found in Field Service Regulations, Part. I., chapter v.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether the Yeomanry are only intended for offensive action on account of their mobility and whether, seeing that when acting as advance guard they would he compelled to act on the defensive to hold an enemy till the main body had time to get into battle formation, and in view of the disadvantage of their lack of bayonets on these occasions, he will say what the Army Council propose to do in the matter?

The reply to the first part of the question is in the negative. As regards the second part of the question it is not admitted that the lack of bayonets is any disadvantage, and the Army Council do not propose to take any steps in the matter.

asked the Home Secretary whether, having regard to the satisfactory results of the practice of the Admiralty in stipulating that tenders for canvas will only be received from British firms, and that the successful contractor must undertake that the canvas he supplies will be manufactured in this country from British-spun yarns, he will observe the same practice in respect of the canvas supplied to his Department for the manufacture of mail bags; and whether he will arrange for the inspection on delivery to be in bulk in lieu of the inspection he now permits by persons who are not as well qualified to undertake inspection as the officials employed for this purpose by the Admiralty?

With regard to the first part of the question, the Secretary of State regrets that he does not see his way to go further than was indicated in my reply to the hon. Member on 23rd March last. With regard to the second part of the question, no complaints of the articles manufactured have been received, and there has been nothing to show that the canvas supplied to the Prison Department has not been equal in quality to the sealed patterns which are kept at all prisons, and adequate for the purpose for which it is required.

asked the Home Secretary whether, if a man fails in four attempts to pass the examination required by the regulations before he is granted a licence to drive a motor cab, he is thereby precluded for all time from being able to pass the required examination, and therefore unable to obtain a licence; and, if this is not the case, what period must elapse after the fourth attempt before he can again offer himself for examination?

A fifth test would only be allowed if there appears to be reasonable prospect of the man becoming a competent motor-cab driver. The interval between the fourth and the fifth test would be such period as the Commissioner might determine, but would not he less than two months.

asked the Postmaster-General, in regard to paragraph 99 of the Hobhouse Report, if he could state what is meant by cases of hardship which are treated exceptionally; and whether those who have performed the duties of the higher class during the past four years may claim to be qualified and to be exempt from the recurring deduction of two months from the extra remunerative period?

I cannot in the limits of a brief answer indicate the nature of the eases which have been demanded, or may demand, exceptional treatment. The recurrent performance of higher duties during a portion of several years in succession cannot be regarded as creating an occasion for exceptional treatment.

asked the Postmaster General if he can now state in which class the Bolton postal district is included, the classes in which the various sub-offices in that district are included, with the names of those sub-offices where the maximum has been raised and those where it has been reduced?

The Bolton head office has been placed in Class III. in accordance with the recommendations of the Select Committee. The units of work at Bolton are 597, and cost of living as low as 92 (the average being 100). The sub-offices under Bolton have been placed in Classes III. and IV. with the following result:—Maximum raised at

asked the Postmaster-General whether, in making the appointments of postmen now pending at the Cork post office out of revision, the claims of the 15 ox-telegraph messengers on the unestablished list, and who have for years been acting as postmen, will be recognised in preference to the claims of ex-Army men employed on casual work, and whose service in the Post Office does not exceed a few months; and whether he will take into consideration that this revision is practically the only prospect in life of the unestablished postmen referred to at their age and service?

The proposed revision of the postal arrangements at Cork is still under consideration; and at present I am unable to make any statement on the subject of the question.

asked the Postmaster-General if he can state the present annual cost of the existing combined force in the postal and telegraph branches of the Irish Post Office stores in Dublin; whether any revision is proposed, and at what cost, and what was the annual cost of the staffs of the two branches prior to their amalgamation under the control of the London Controller of Stores; how many officers are now employed in the joint establishment in Ireland, and how many were employed in the postal and telegraph sections before the amalgamation; what financial benefit, if any, has any officer attached to the Dublin stores branch before the amalgamation derived from the amalgamation; has any officer transferred from London to Dublin on or after the amalgamation derived any financial benefit therefrom or prospective advantage; if so, to what extent, has any complaint been made by officers of the old Irish stores branch as to the conditions of their work and prospects and disciplinary methods, involving written explanation of every apparent irregularity, even trifling, in the new branch; if so, how have these complaints been dealt with, and how does he reconcile the dissatisfaction with his statement of 2nd May, 1907, that the amalgamation then decided upon would not adversely affect or alter the status of the then existing Irish stores branch staff, but on the contrary might well in some cases put them in a better position; and have any officers attended or been obliged to attend beyond their fixed official hours of attendance without extra payment?

I am not at present in a position to answer this comprehensive question, but I will write to the hon. Member on the subject as soon as I have collected the necessary information.

asked the hon. Member for South Somerset, as representing the President of the Board of Agriculture, whether the Kent County Council have voluntarily acquired the Crockham Hill dairy farm; if not, are the compulsory powers provided under the Small Holdings and Allotments Act being applied; and whether he can state the probable date on which applicants will be placed in possession thereof?

The county council have not been able to acquire the farm to which my hon. Friend refers by voluntary agreement, but if they are satisfied that the applicants are willing to pay sufficient rents to protect the council against loss a compulsory order will be made.

asked the hon. Member for South Somerset if he is aware that Mr. J. Howard, Billingford, North Elmham, Norfolk, applied to the Norfolk County Council for land under the Small Holdings and Allotments Act in January, 1908, and is still unaware whether such will be supplied him; is he aware that Mr. Howard is under notice to leave his present holding at Michaelmas next, and that unless other land be found him he will be compelled to dispose of his hardly-acquired stock; and can he state what action is being taken in the matter?

We are informed that Mr. Howard did not receive notice to quit, but that he himself gave his landlord notice. The land agent of the county council is negotiating for land for him, and has recently been in communication with him on the matter.

asked the hon. Member for South Somerset whether his attention has been called to the case of Mr. Rose, of Marnhull, in Dorset, who owns two farms amounting to 188 acres, one of which farms he looks after himself and the other is farmed by two of his six sons; whether the county council have sealed an order for the compulsory purchase of the latter farm, 94 acres in extent, although it consists of two holdings of each less than 50 acres; and whether he will cause inquiry to he made into this case?

The Board have received objections to the Compulsory Order which the County Council of Dorset have made in this case. A local inquiry will therefore be necessary, and arrangements for holding it will at once be made.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been called to the death from beri beri on 1st March, 1909, of an Asiatic fireman named Balkhole, a member of the-crew of the s.s. "Merton Hall," of Liverpool; whether he is aware that this disease is attributed to insufficient and improper food; whether the seaman was medically examined before joining the ship, and how long he had served on her; whether he had any previous sea service; and whether any previous cases of death from this disease have occurred on this vessel?

The fireman, Balk-hole, died of beri beri on board the "Merton Hall" at Birkenhead. The cause of beri beri has not yet been definitely ascertained, but it is probable that bad and insufficient food may predispose to the disease. It is the practice in the line to which the "Merton Hall" belongs for the engineer to pick out from a number of men those he thinks most suitable, who are then examined by a surgeon for any physical defects. Balkhole was examined before joining the ship at Bombay by the medical inspector of seamen to the Government. He served on the ship about six months. I am informed that he would not have been rated as a fireman if he had not had previous sea service. No other death from beri beri has occurred in this vessel during the last three years.