asked the Secretary to the Treasury if he is aware that in the Customs Statistical Office assistant clerks are required to exhibit special merit in order to obtain a checking allowance of £30 per annum; further special merit to obtain promotion to minor staff officer; and still further special merit to obtain promotion to a port clerkship; that there are four assistant clerks who have each been employed in that office over 28 years, who have completed five years on the maximum salary of £150, and who have exhibited such special merit as to be entrusted with the responsible duty of checking and supervising the work of other assistant clerks; and if he will state if there is a still further degree of special merit, differing from any of the above, now required from these men to enable them to obtain the increase of £10 in accordance with the Treasury Circular of December last?

"Checking" allowances are assigned in strict order of seniority to those assistant clerks who are certified to be efficient and of good character. For the other situations referred to in the question special merit of varying degrees which cannot, however, be precisely defined, is required.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury if he will state in what mannar it is possible for the heads of Departments, in accordance with Treasury Circular of 22nd December last, to recommend assistant clerks who have officially exhibited efficiency and good conduct in a special degree, and who have completed five years on the maximum salary of £150, for an increase of £10, in view of the fact that all assistant clerks of special merit would naturally, under clause 15 of the Order in Council of November, 1898, have been removed from that class by promotion to a higher grade long before reaching the maximum of the assistant clerks class, which is the lowest class of clerical labour employed in the Civil Service?

It is impossible to define precisely the degree of merit which a head of a Department will require from an assistant clerk before he recommends him for a special increase of salary beyond £150 per annum.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether it is the practice of the Treasury, as stated by his predecessor, to recognise as pensionable all services performed in an established capacity after the age of 16 years, and to reckon for pension all services performed in a full-time unestablished capacity if followed by service of the same character in an established capacity; and, if so, whether he will explain on what ground the Treasury refuses to count certain services performed by a class known as boy sorters, who were 16 years of age on entry into the Civil Service, who possessed Civil Service certificates, and were therefore established servants, and have since been continuously employed in an established capacity, performing work of the same character as that on which they were employed as boy sorters?

Speaking generally the practice of the Treasury is as stated. The Treasury has not felt able to apply this practice in the cases alluded to, seeing that employment as a boy sorter was by the regulations under which the class was recruited expressly declared to be un-pensionable. I may add that the grant of a Civil Service certificate does not necessarily confer pensionable status.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the total amount received from the various Stamp Duties in England, Scotland, and Ireland respectively during the year ended March, 1908?

supplied the following information:—

asked what is the total amount received from the various forms of spirit, beer, and wine licences in Ireland in the year ended March, 1908; what is the total amount received from all other licences, tobacco, guns, game, auctioneers', pawnbrokers, house agents', etc., in the same year?

The total net receipt from the various spirit, beer and wine licences in Ireland in the year ended 31st March, 1908, was £168,516, and the total net receipt in respect of all other Excise licences in Ireland in the same year was £46,442. The details are shown on pages 37 and 38 of the 51st Report of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue (Command 4,226, of 1908).

asked whether the annual value on which charges are levied is the rateable value at which wine and spirit merchants are at present assessed for poor and local rates.

I presume that my hon. Friend refers to the proposed charges of Licence Duty under the Finance Bill. Where the Licence Duty is charged according to a scale based upon annual value the amount of duty payable is determined under the Excise Acts by reference to the full annual value of the licensed premises.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he is now in a position to state whether Henry Morris, a London electrician, who had been detained in the Chiriqui Gaol, Panama, for more than four months awaiting his trial, has been allowed bail; and whether any day has been fixed for his trial?

His Majesty's Minister at Panama reports that Morris and two United States citizens are charged with complicity in robbery at Colon last January. Morris is being tried according to the law, but the case against him is complicated by his attempted escape from gaol. He can be liberated on bail for £150, and counsel will be required for his defence. Being destitute, he is unable to meet these expenses, and the question of providing bail and the employment of counsel for him is now under consideration. The first notice received by His Majesty's Minister from Morris was on June 5th, and he personally made a thorough investigation into the case the same day.

asked the Under-Secretary for the Colonies Whether, when Miss Colenso intervened in support of Dinizulu, the Government had taken steps to provide for his defence; and, if that is so, whether they have considered how far Miss Colenso's payments were made for services which the Government itself were under obligations to provide?

The reply to the first part of my hon. Friend's question is in the negative. As I explained on 5th ultimo, in answer to a question by my hon. Friend the Member for Montgomery Boroughs (Mr. Rees), His Majesty's Government intervened with help towards the payment of counsel's fees in order to prevent the defence from breaking down for lack of funds. As regards Miss Colenso, I regret that I can add nothing to my answer of the day before yesterday.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he has any official information as to concerted action on the part of the employers in the linen trade in Belfast and Ulster to reduce working time to four days per week until the end of September next?

My information is that about half the mills are now working full time and the remainder 44 hours per week. I am not aware that any proposal has been made that the working time should be reduced as suggested.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in view of the convenience which has resulted to the business community from the codification of the Companies Acts, he will arrange for the codification of the Acts relating to Income Tax on a basis which will obviate the necessity for cross references?

While sensible of the advantages which might accrue from this and other codifications of the Statute Law, I cannot at present see my way to give the undertaking desired by my hon. Friend.

asked the Lord Advocate if he will grant a Return of the number of cases in connection with workmen's compensation raised in the sheriff courts of the county of Lanark during the period from 1st October, 1908, to 31st March, 1909, under the Workmen's Compensation Acts, Common Law, under the Employers Liability Act, 1880, at Common Law, or alternatively under the last-mentioned Act, respectively; the date when each case was called into court; the date when the proof in each case was fixed to begin; and the date in each case of the interlocutor disposing of the same?

The information desired by the hon. Member would entail the examination of a large number of cases at present depending before the court, and would require the services of members of the staff for a considerable period. As the work before the courts fully engages the time of the present staff it would not be in the public interest that they should be withdrawn from their ordinary duties unless upon an occasion of very grave urgency. The hon. Member may rest assured that the expediency of an early decision of cases between masters and workmen is fully appreciated, and that measures will be taken to have that attained as early as possible

asked the President of the Board of Education whether a new scheme has been recently drawn up for the regulation of a school known as St. Dunstan's College, Catford; whether the assistant masters of the school have signed a petition asking for amendments; and whether he proposes to take steps to incorporate any of the amendments in the scheme before it is finally approved?

The answer to the first and second part of the question is in the affirmative. With regard to the third, I am not prepared to come to a decision until the period of publication has expired, and all the suggestions and objections which may have been received are before me.

asked the Secretary of State for War under what circumstances the principal foreman at the Curragh Camp was discharged from the Army Ordnance Department; and if it is intended to deprive him of the pension to which his service would entitle him?

The principal foreman referred to was discharged for misconduct, and loses any pension to which he would otherwise have been entitled.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he will have inquiry made regarding the rates of wages paid in Dublin to men working hydraulic presses; and if he is aware that this work is performed at Island Bridge by labourers who receive only 2s a week in excess of the labourers' rate of wages?

The extra pay of 4d. a day is given to cover the process of baling. This remuneration is considered sufficient for the nature of the work Similar pay is given at other stations for this same class of work.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he is aware that on the 13th inst. a Roman Catholic procession took place at Highgate; that the Host was carried and the canopy borne by four Life Guardsmen; that in front and behind walked men of the same regiment and the Horse Guards Blue; and if he can state under what regulation or on whose authority were these soldiers assisting in the procession?

Will the hon. Member kindly refer to a question put on Monday last by the hon. and gallant Member for the Evesham Division of Worcestershire (Colonel Long), to which I have nothing to add?

asked the Secretary of State for War if he can state what would be the approximate annual cost of a military system in this country based upon the scheme of the National Training Bill?

To enable me to give more than an approximate estimate it would be necessary to have a scheme showing details of establishment, arms of the service, rates of pay, and many other points as to which the Bill contains no information; and I prefer not to give an official figure until I am in possession of fuller information on these points.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether an advance was made to Mr. Mark Curtis, of Flemingtown, county Meath, for the purchase of his farm; what proportion of the purchase price was advanced; how much has since been repaid; whether an application has been submitted and is now before the Land Commission, sitting as a body, to fix and accept the redemption price of a portion of the holding; and whether there is any, and, if so, what, objection to their acceding to the application?

The Estates Commissioners inform me that an advance of £4,800 was made to Mr. Mark Curtis in 1884 for the purpose of enabling him to purchase his holding in Flemingtown, county Meath, from the then owner, Lord Rathdonnell, the entire purchase money being £6,500. Of the £4,800 advanced, £3,582 is at present outstanding. An application for liberty to sub-divide the holding, having regard to the provisions of section 30 of the Land Act of 1881, is at present before the Commissioners, who have the case under their consideration.

asked the Chief Secretary if he can say what steps the Estates Commissioners are taking to reinstate John O'Neill, of Rockhill, Bruree, in the county of Limerick, in the farm from which he was evicted on the Carleton estate; is he aware that the landlord and his agent have no objection to his reinstatement by the Commissioners, and that the tenants on the estate have signed agreements to purchase their holdings; and whether, under these circumstances, he will see that there is no further delay in the matter?

The Estates Commissioners inform me that O'Neill's former holding is in the occupation of another tenant. The estate on which it is situate will be dealt with in order of priority, but its turn has not yet come. The case will be considered in the allotment of untenanted land in the neighbourhood of the estate when acquired.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he is aware that John Gorman, Mrs. Ecles, and James Woods, three evicted tenants, made application to the Estates Commissioners for, and were promised, farms on the untenanted lands situated at Ballyboe Covoy, East Donegal, and Magherahan, Raphoe, purchased by the Commissioners, and inspectors sent down in February, 1908, to inspect this purchased land with a view to provide Gorman, Ecles, and"Woods with farms, and nothing has been done since; and will he state what steps will be taken, and when, to place those people in holdings?

The owner filed objections to the acquisition of the lands referred to, and the Estates Commissioners decided that they could not be acquired compulsorily under the Evicted Tenants Act. The names of the evicted tenants mentioned in the question will be considered in the allotment of such lands as the Commissioners may be able to acquire.

asked the Chief Secretary whether his attention has been called to the statement made by the superintendent of works to the Belfast Corporation on the 9th instant to the effect that the register of men seeking employment was so congested that it would take him some months before he could get through the list, and that he would be unable to register any more men for some time to come; and whether, in view of the continuance of exceptional distress in Belfast, he would endeavour to have a further grant made by the Local Government Board in aid of the relief of unemployed there?

The Local Government Board have no information with regard to the statement mentioned in the question. The Relief Statistics do not indicate the existence of any abnormal distress It may, however, be mentioned that a sum of £85,290 per annum is now being distributed in old age pensions in the city of Belfast.

asked the Chief Secretary whether his attention has been called to the proceedings at the Newtownards Rural Council on the 11th instant, when representations for labourers' cottages were considered; whether he is aware that it was stated at the meeting that some houses in the district were unfit for habitation, and were allowed to be occupied because there was no other accommodation; that one case was instanced of a labourer with twelve of a family living in a house with only two small apartments because he could not get another house; and that the case of Comber was instanced as one in which the sanitary officer would be prepared to condemn more than a dozen houses if other and suitable houses were available; whether he is aware that the chairman stated that farmers in his district were living in houses not as good as the labourers' cottages for which they paid rates; and that the council decided by 11 votes to 6 to defer the consideration of the labourers' representations for six months; and whether the Local Government Board proposes to take any action in the matter?

The facts stated having been brought under the notice of the Local Government Board, they have asked the rural district council to inform them of the reasons for postponing consideration of the representations for six months. The Board at the same time intimated their opinion that the council should forthwith refer any representations based on the alleged unfitness of existing dwellings for human habitation to the sanitary officers for inspection of the premises and reports as required by the Acts. On the other hand, it is right to observe that the council have already provided 132 labourers' cottages, and that they are at present engaged in carrying into effect another scheme under which they have been authorised to provide 207 additional cottages.

asked the Chief Secretary whether the Estates Commissioners have received a memorandum of agreement signed by Mr. George Joyce, Charlemont, Douglas, Cork, in which he has intimated his willingness to surrender the holding of Moneen, Glanworth, county Cork, on the Roberts estate to the Commissioners upon such terms as may be agreed upon, or to sell to them, in order to facilitate the reinstatement of Mrs. Catherine Gleasure; and whether, seeing that the Commissioners have already decided that she is a suitable person to hold land, they will take the necessary action in this matter?

The Estates Commissioners have received a memorandum signed by Mr. George Joyce, who states that he requires £1,000 compensation for his interest in the lands formerly occupied by Mrs. Catherine Gleasure. This the Commissioners are not prepared to pay.

asked the Chief Secretary if he can say what is the cause of the delay on the part of the Estates Commissioners in completing the sale of the property of Miss Young, which is situate at Lismakeery, Askeaton, in the county of Limerick, the title deeds of which were lodged long since and the title verified by a barrister of law?

This estate will be dealt with in its order of priority. It has not yet been reached.

asked when the sale of the estate of Lord Southwell, situate in the parish of Rathkeale, in the county of Limerick, will be completed?

The Estates Commissioners inform me that the purchase money of the greater portion of this estate was advanced on the 17th instant, and the holdings vested in the tenants.

asked what is the amount paid into the Local Taxation (Ireland) Account in each of the years 1900 to 1908, respectively, under the provisions of section 58, sub-section (1) (a) of the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898; whether this fund has been able to meet the charges placed on it by this Act; and what balances, if any, remained each year?

Statement showing the amount paid into the Local Taxation (Ireland) Account in each of the financial years 1899–1900 to 1908–9 respectively under the provisions of section 58, sub-section (1) of the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898 (including the annual sum of £79,000 under sub-section (l) (b) ), and the balances remaining in the Account at the end of each financial year in respect of Licence Death Duties, etc.:—

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether he is aware that a scaffolder in the employ of the Metropolitan Asylums Board has been discharged owing to his refusal to erect defective scaffolding at the Grove Hospital, Homerton, and for informing a member of the board of the fact; whether there are any regulations to be followed when erecting scaffolding; and whether he has any power to deal with this matter?

I have made inquiry and am informed that the case referred to is supposed to be that of a scaffolder recently employed at the Eastern Hospital at Homerton. This man, I understand, was not discharged for refusing to erect defective scaffolding or for informing a member of the Metropolitan Asylums Board of the fact, but for absenting himself from work without permission and without adequate explanation. The managers have made no regulations as to the erection of scaffolding; but I am informed that each particular scaffolding is so designed as to meet the weight it will be called upon to bear.