asked the President of the Local Government Board whether he will consider the advisability of cancelling an order made by the Board 'on 2nd September, 1908, in the case of an appeal by certain frontagers of a private street within the district of the Hale (Cheshire) Urban District Council; whether he is aware That such order was made under an erroneous understanding of the facts, especially so as the frontagers confined their appeal to two grounds, whilst the Board went beyond the terms of reference and granted total exemption of liability in respect to the whole of the unpaid sums, such items representing in some cases the whole of the surveyor's apportionments; and whether such steps will be taken, by legislation or otherwise, to amend the grievance of the ratepayers in this case and to prevent recurrences of a similar nature?

I think my hon. Friend is under a misapprehension in supposing that there has been any erroneous understanding of the facts of this case. The Order was made under section 268 of the. Public Health Act, 1875, and in dealing with an appeal under that section the Local Government Board are not limited to the grounds upon which the appeal is made. It does not appear to me that any question for legislation arises. Each case of the kind must be dealt with on the merits, and I do not think that in the present instance anything further is needed.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether his attention has been drawn to the report of the inquest on Mrs. Emily Chapman, who was found unconscious in a train at Reading and sent to the Reading Workhouse; whether he is aware that the nurse at the workhouse said Mrs. Chapman was not seen by the medical officer until nine a.m. the next morning, as it was an ordinary -case of paralysis, and the master of the workhouse said, as Mrs. Chapman was seen at the station by a medical man, there was no need to send for the medical officer of the workhouse; whether he can say if Mrs. Chapman received any medical treatment, and on whose advice; and what does he mean to do in the matter?

I have seen a newspaper report of the inquest, and I am making inquiry on the subject to which it relates.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether the Miners' Eight Hours Act, which comes into force on 1st July of this year, is leading to any disputes between owners and men; if so, what is the nature of the disputes and in what districts are they; how many men are affected and how many are threatening to strike; and will he say whether his Department is taking any steps to prevent the threatened strikes.

I have asked my hon. Friend to postpone this question in view of the negotiations which are proceeding between the parties in South Wales.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he can see his way to receiving a deputation from the Institute of Journalists with a view to discussing a uniformity of allowances for shorthand writing under 'lie Bankruptcy Acts throughout the country, and the desirability of requesting registrars to appoint as official shorthand writers in their bankruptcy courts professional shorthand writers instead of members of their own staff's'?

The position of the Board of Trade in this matter was fully explained by the Department to a committee of the Institute towards the close of last year at an interview and by letter. I shall, however, be prepared to examine any additional representations that the Institute may think fit to put before me in writing, and will then consider whether the attendance of a deputation is likely to be of advantage.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, under the Finance Bill, in ascertaining the amount payable to the revenue as the share of the State on the sale of urban land, an allowance will be made at compound interest in respect of the loss of annual income on capital invested in such land, which an investor has suffered by reason of such building or accommodation land producing either no income, or an income far below the return which he would have received had he invested his money in any ordinary dividend-yielding investment; if such allowance is to be made, whether the capital value of the land upon which such allowance is calculated will be the capital value as declared by the owner at the passing of the Act, and upon which he is paying the ½d. in the £ tax; and whether, from the gross profit made from the sale of land, deductions will be allowed for legal and profesional charges and out-of-pocket expenses, for mortgagees' interest and costs, amounts paid for road making, severing, lighting, and other improvements to the land, for tithe or Land Tax redemption, and other similar charges to which the land may be subject at the time of the owner's declaration of value, including losses due to litigation in respect of such land?

I must ask my hon. Friend to wait for the text of the Finance Bill, which will be issued very shortly.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer why non-alcoholic spruce is subject to the same Excise Duty as alcoholic spruce?

Spruce beer, or black beer, made in this country, is chargeable with Excise Duty as "beer" under the Inland Revenue Act., 1880. The duty is in all cases charged on a specific gravity, and not on an alcoholic basis.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he can state the highest sum paid as a gratuity for old age pensions work to any member of each of the following grades in the Excise: inspector, supervisor, assistant supervisor, first-class officer, second-class officer, clerk, and assistant; and how much of the grant in respect of these gratuities remains unallocated?

The highest sums are as follows:—

asked the Secretary of State for War why the separation allowance granted to the Special Reserve during training this year is only: to wife, 4d. per diem; girl, under 16, 1½d.; boy, under 14, 1½d.; while the Territorials have: wife, ls. 1d. per diem; girl, under 16, 2d.; and boy, under 14, 2d.?

The rates of separation allowance issuable to non-commissioned officers of the Special Reserve during training are the same as those issued to non-commissioned officers of Territorial units during encampment. The lower rates quoted by my hon. Friend are those issuable to the permanent establishments of the Special Reserve whose families are Provided with quarters, or the allowance in lieu, and they are the rates which are issuable in similar circumstances to all soldiers of the Regular Army who are on the married establishment.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether, in connection with the excavations now being made near Purfleet, in Essex, for the proposed new range, the contractors, Messrs. Kirk and Randall, have entered into sub-contracts, and the sub-contractors are paying less than the standard rate of wages; if so, whether this has his sanction and is in accordance with the terms of the contract between the War Office and Messrs. Kirk and Randall?

Inquiry is being made into this matter.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether complaints have reached the Local Government Board as to their rearrangement of dispensary districts, partly in Meath and partly in Louth, in the union of Ardee, in the year 1904; whether, having regard to the unanimously expressed opinion of the people of the district, he will cause the matter to be inquired into, with a view to altering the existing arrangements under which unnecessary hardships are inflicted upon the sick poor, who have in many cases to send six miles for medical attendance; if he will state what distance the doctor in charge of the dispensary district. which includes Drumconnah, would have to travel if he was obliged to visit a patient at opposite extremes of his district on the same day; what is the area of his district and the length and width, respectively; and whether, in the whole of Ireland, there is another district so badly provided with medical attendance for the sick poor?

As regards the first part of the question, I would refer the hon. Member to my reply to a question on the same subject asked by the hon. Member for South Louth on the 25th instant. I am informed by the Local Government Board that the dispensary district of Drumconrath is moderate in size and of average population. The facilities afforded to the sick poor throughout the district for obtaining medical relief are considered adequate by the Board, and compare favourably with the arrangements in many other rural dispensary districts in Ireland.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he is aware that Rule 12 (b) of the new Intermediate Education Rules is practically the same as Rule 14 (b) of last year's programme; and whether, seeing that he rule was withdrawn last year, he will state on what grounds it has been now reintroduced?

The reply to the first paragraph of the question is in the affirmative. the rule of last year was withdrawn because it was considered that insufficient notice OT it had been given to the schools concerned. This ground for suspending the operation of the rule no longer exists. The present rule only applies to the examinations of 1910.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he can say how long the senior inspector had charge of the circuit in which the Currie (No. 2) girls' school, Belfast, roll number 12,214, is included, and how often he visited this school without reporting the violation of the Board's rules in having his brother the manager, his sister teacher, and himself inspector of the school; is he aware that when attention was called to this breach of rules the only changes made were to accept a nominee of the erring manager and to put a junior inspector in charge of the school, over whom the senior inspector has authority; can he explain why this senior inspector was remiss in the discharge of his duty, and can he state what punishment would be meted out to a teacher who had a relative for manager

The Commissioners of National Education inform me that Mr. Dewar, the senior inspector, has been in charge of the circuit in which Currie No. 2 National School is included since 1st April, 1906. He visited the school once between that date and the date on which his brother resigned the managership, namely, the 14th January, 1907. The new manager was in accordance with the Commissioners' rules, nominated by the outgoing manager. Mr. Dewar was the senior inspector in general charge, and Mr. O'Connell the district inspector in charge of the circuit in question. No change was made in this arrangement. Mr. Dewar was called on for an explanation of his omission to report the breach in this case of the rule that no near relative of the manager is to be a member of the school staff. He stated that his predecessor had reported the irregularity in 1898, but no official action appears to have been taken in regard to it. The Commissioners insist on the observance of the above rule as a condition of aid to a school.

asked the Chief Secretary whether the attention of the Estates Commissioners has been directed to a statement made by Mr. Thomas Nagle, the present occupier of the holding formerly held by Mrs. Alice Nagle, at Ballinahallisk, on the Leader. estate, Kildorrery, county Cork, during the hearing of a case before the petty sessions court, Kildorrery, on the 129i instant, to the effect that he would be willing to give up the farm to Mrs. Alice Nagle on obtaining a holding of equivalent value elsewhere; and if the Commissioners will cause inquiries to be made into this matter, with a view to bring about the reinstatement of Mrs. Nagle and thus restore peace and harmony in the locality?

The Estates Commissioners have no knowledge of the statement referred to in the question, but the matter will be inquired into when the estate is being dealt with in its order of" priority under the Irish Land Act, 1903.

asked the Chief Secretary, in reference to the dispute between the Wexford Rural District Council and the Local Government Board as to the payment of the cost of the arbitration held on the 8th July last, under the Labourers Acts, in that district, whether he is aware that the terms of the arbitrator's appointment expressly excluded from his purview the agreement cases dealt with by him on that occasion; that the council repudiated the inquiry, as evidenced by a question asked on the 30th July; that on the 7th August the council objected to pay for this sitting of the arbitrator; and that, without hearing the local authority by solicitor or counsel, the Local Government Board made their order for payment of the disputed costs; and whether, seeing that in giving costs against the arbitrator in the New towards appeal case (Rex (Crommelin v. O'Neill), decided in December last, the Lord Chancellor expressed the opinion that the Local Government Board should not see him at a loss, he will say if the Local Government Board paid these -costs; and, if so, whether, having regard to the whole circumstances and to the fact that the law proceedings and the expense incurred were primarily occasioned by the Local Government Board having entertained an erroneous view of the law, he will request that body to have that portion of the costs to the payment of which the Wexford Council object defrayed, as suggested by the Lord Chancellor in the Newtownards case, out of their own funds?

I am informed by the Local Government Board that the facts are as stated. There is no analogy between the Newtownards case and the Wexford -case as regards the liability of the Board to defray out of their vote any portion of the costs incurred in relation to the arbitration proceedings. In the former case the Local Government Board and the arbitrator were represented in the King's Bench Division and in the Court of Appeal, and the costs necessarily followed the result. In the Wexford case the Local Government Board merely appointed the. arbitrator, and subsequently conveyed to the council the unanimous decision of the King's Bench Division, given in the following month, and the proposal that the Board should themselves bear portion of the expenses of the arbitration is not one that can be entertained. The Board, in issuing their certificate as to the amount of the costs to be paid by the council acted -in pursuance of Article 28 of the second schedule of the Housing of the Working Classes Act, 1890, and after considering the objections of the council to the arbitrator's account as set forth in their minutes. It is not the practice of the Board to require that such objections should be put before them by solicitor or counsel when they can as well be submitted in writing, and this course would only result in increased expense. It is to be borne in mind that the costs in the Newtownards case were the taxed costs of legal proceedings while there were no legal proceedings in the Wexford case, but merely the expenses connected with the local valuation and award by the arbitrator. The costs of the award in the Newtownards case, as distinguished from the costs of the lawsuit, have been paid by the Newtownards Rural District Council.

asked the Chief Secretary if leave has been given to commence the building of the proposed new national schools at Gorey, county Wexford?

Permission has not yet been given for the commencement of the building of the proposed new schoolhouse at Gorey. The Commissioners of National Education have provisionally sanctioned a grant towards the cost of the erection of the new building, but their solicitor, on investigation, was unable to advise that the title to make the necessary lease of the site was satisfactory. By letters dated 20th and 23rd April, 1909, the hoard's solicitor informed the manager's solicitors of his requirements in the matter_ of title, and until these shall have been complied with further action in the case cannot be taken by the Commissioners.

asked the Chief Secretary whether the Estates Commissioners are now in a position to deal with the case of Mr. Thomas O'Leary, at present residing in Tralee, but formerly evicted from his holding on the Herbert estate near Killarney; and whether the Commissioners are taking any steps to secure any of the farms at present offered for sale in the district to provide for evicted tenants?

The Estates Commissioners inform me that the holding in question has been purchased by the present occupier under the Land Purchase Acts, and that O'Leary's name has been noted for consideration in connection with the allotment of untenanted land to be acquired by them. As regards the concluding portion of the question, advances cannot be made from the Land Purchase Fund for the purchase of tenants' interests.

asked the Chief Secretary whether the Golby estate, county Kerry, is now before the Estates Commissioners, and has been vested in them; whether the Commissioners are aware that nine of the tenants on it have refused to purchase on the conditions offered; and whether the Commissioners will make inquiries as to the objections of these tenants?

Proceedings for the purchase of this estate were instituted before the Estates Commissioners in October, 1908, when agreements for purchase by 16 tenants on the estate were lodged. When the estate is being inspected in its order of priority inquiry will be made as to any tenants who have not signed purchase agreements.

asked the Chief Secretary if he can state what the obstacles are which stand in the way of the restoration of the balance of the Massareene evicted tenants?

I am not. in a position at present to add anything to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Solicitor-General for Ireland to the question asked by the hon. Member on 11th March.

asked the tinder-Secretary of State for India how many officers in the Indian Civil Service are qualified Russian interpreters; and how many are employed in appointments in which a knowledge of this language is essential or advantageous?

So far as can be gathered from the Civil lists, four members of the Indian Civil Service now serving in India are qualified Russian interpreters. None is employed in an appointment in which a knowledge of the language is essential or advantageous.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether he will consider the desirability of extending the period for which the India medal was granted for the operations in 1901 and 1902 so as to include the period from 1st December, 1900, to 23rd November, 1901, during which time a number of Indian regiments which were employed in blockading the passes into the Mahsud Waziri country underwent all the hardships of active service?

In recommending the grant of a medal for the active operations which began on 23rd November, 1901, the Government of India stated that the operations of the passive blockade which preceded were not in their opinion of such a nature as to justify their inclusion. The Secretary of State is not prepared to propose the revision of the decision arrived at by His Majesty's Government in 1902, which was in accordance with the recommendation of the Government of India.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether expectant supervisors of Excise have been appointed to the position of first-class examining officers of Customs; whether the vacancies arising in the latter class have already been found to be incapable of satisfying the reasonable claims of the senior second-class examining officers for promotion; whether it is to be understood, in view of these circumstances, that the system of advancement by examination from the second to the first-class of examining officers has been abandoned; and whether it is his intention to apply, as soon as possible, to those senior second-class examining officers (1882-8 entrants), whose prospects have already been twice injuriously affected by the reorganisations of 1882 and 1891, that revised scale of pay, on a service basis, which received the approval of the Board of Customs on the occasion of their interview with the delegates of the senior second-class examining officers in November, 1907?

As explained in the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer to the question of the hon. Member for Barrow-in-Furness on 26th instant, a few assistant supervisors of Excise are, as a temporary expedient only, performing the duties of first-class examining officers of Customs; but I must point out that the number of promotions made this year to the latter grade is already in excess of the number for any of the three previous years. Pending the Report of the Committee appointed to inquire into the whole subject of the amalgamation of the Customs and Excise Departments, it is not possible to make any general pronouncement on the question of salaries or as to any alteration that may be found necessary in the present system of advancement from the second to the first-class of examining officer.

asked the hon. Member for South Somerset, as representing the President of the Board of Agriculture, if the county council of Huntingdonshire have applied for any orders for the compulsory acquisition of land for small holdings; and, if so, who are the tenants of the land, what are their holdings, and who are the landlords?

Three compulsory Orders have been submitted to us, particulars of which are as follows:—I. Yaxley and Farcet, comprising:— Weston Farm, Yaxley, 156a. Or. 24p.; owner, Mr. George Keeble; occupier, Mr. Walter Cole. Part of Bottom Fen Farm, 45a. Or. 25p.; owner Mr. George Keeble; occupiers, Messrs. James and Welby Whitsed. Mere Mouth Farm, Farcet, 113a. l r. 3p.; owner, Mr. George Keeble; occupier, Mr. John Ward.II. Ramsey.—Middle Moor Fen Farm, 94a. Or. 13p.; owner, Miss Agnes Ellen Jones; occupier, Mr. Robert Barlow.III. Warboys.—Round House and Tick Fen Farms, 487a. 2r. 16p.; owner, Mr. Alfred Fuller; respective occupiers, Mr. E. B. Greenwood and Mr. Harvey W. Noble.

asked the hon. Member for South Somerset if the county council of Huntingdonshire have applied to the Board for permission to take, under the compulsory powers of the Small Holdings Act, any land in the occupation of Messrs. Coleman, in the Ramsey district, and, if so, how much; if he is aware that Messrs. Coleman employ over 50 men and boys on 300 acres of land and pay the highest wages in the district, and that if this land is taken it will disturb a considerable amount of labour and create much dissatisfaction in the village of St. Mary's; and if he will communicate with the county council and suggest that some other land which is available might be taken for the purpose of supplying small holdings?

No order for the compulsory acquisition of the land to which my hon. Friend refers has as yet been submitted to us for confirmation. In the event of an Order being made and of any objection being offered thereto, a public local inquiry would be held, at which evidence might be offered as to the circumstances mentioned.

asked the Postmaster-General whether his attention has been called to the dissatisfaction existing with the design and quality of colour of most of the stamps issued by his Department; and whether he can hold out any hope of their being replaced at an early date by some more worthy design?

There is no present intention of adopting a new stamp.

asked the Postmaster-General if he is aware of the amount of inconvenience caused to the general public of Dublin owing to the congested state of the offices of the General Post Office in Princes-street; what is the cause of the delay in the carrying out of the improvements in the building generally; when may the starting of the rebuilding of the extensions promised be expected; and whether, in view of the dearth of employment in the building trade, he will hasten on the beginning of the work so urgently needed for the convenience of the public?

I am sorry that it has not been possible to begin work on the extension of the General Post Office in Dublin. Difficulties have arisen in connection with rights of light appertaining to certain adjacent properties. These difficulties are now, I hope, in a fair way towards settlement, and, if that is effected, I will ask the Board of Public Works to make as early a start with the building as may be permitted by the funds at their disposal for the purpose.

asked the Postmaster-General whether a man who for 15 years has carried out a contract for the conveying of mails between a post office and the railway station is eligible for a pension on the expiry of his contract?

The answer is in the negative. Services performed under contract are outside the scope of the Superannuation Acts.

asked the Home Secretary whether his attention has been drawn to the action of the Lord Chamberlain in refusing permission to perform a play by Mr. Bernard Shaw; and whether he can say if the Lord Chamberlain acted on his own responsibility in the matter?

The Lord Chamberlain acted entirely on his own responsibility in this matter. The responsibility of allowing or disallowing plays or parts of plays submitted to him is placed exclusively upon him by section 12 of the Theatres Act, 1843.

asked the Home Secretary if he can state how many men of the London Metropolitan and City Police Forces are employed on point duty on Sundays?

The number of fixed points is 753. As some are 8, some 16, and some 24 hour points, the actual number of men required for this duty during the 24 hours. is 1,521. I am informed by the Commissioner of the City Police that 36 constables are on point duty on Sundays in the City.