asked the Postmaster-General whether he can arrange for the completion of the telephone system to Burnham-on-Crouch in time for use during the holiday season?

I am afraid that I cannot arrange for the completion of the telephone extension to Burnham-on-Crouch in time for use during the earlier part of the holiday season, as through pressure of work the engineers will be unable to finish the line this month. I will, however, have the work pushed forward as rapidly as possible.

asked the Postmaster-General what was the number of established sorting clerks and telegraphists and of salaried assistants at each of the 36 offices reduced from head to sub-offices during the last two years prior to the reduction; and what are the numbers of each class at each office at the present time?

The particulars asked for are as follows:—

Office.	Prior to reduction.		At present time.
	Sorting Clerks and Telegraphists.	Assistants.	Sorting Clerks and Telegraphists.	Assistants. (provisional).
England & Wales.
Chulmleigh	2	—	1	1
Eye	3	1	3	—
Howden	2	—	—	2
Ilminster	4	—	1	3
Ivybridge	3	1	2	2
Kirkby Stephen	2	1	2	1
Lyme Regis	3	2	3	2
Mountain Ash	4	—	3	1
Narberth	3	—	3	—
Pershore	3	—	1	2
Plympton	2	1	2	1
Rhayader	2	1	2	1
Torrington	2	—	—	3
Ireland.
Antrim	2	—	2	—
Arklow	1	3	1	3
Ballymoney	4	—	3	1
Buttevant	3	—	3	1
Gashel	3	—	2	1
Dungarvan	3	—	3	—
Edgeworthstown	3	—	2	1
Limavady	3	—	2	1
Listowel	3	—	3	—
Moy	1	I	—	2
Templemore	4	1	4	1
Thomastown	1	2	—	3
Scotland.
Ayton	2	1	2	—
*Fordoun	—	2	—	—
Golspie	2	—	2	2
Insch	2	—	2	1
Lasswade	2	1	2	—
Mauchline	2	1	2	1
Midcalder	2	—	1	1
Newburgh	2	—	2	—
Penicuik	3	—	3	—
Prestonkirk	2	—	2	—
South Queensferry	3	—	3	—
	88	19	69	38
*The Sub-Postmaster now provides the necessary assistance under the Scale Payment System.

asked whether it is the usual practice to employ salaried sub-office assistants at salaried sub-offices; whether it is intended eventually to substitute the employment of these assistants in the place of established sorting clerks and telegraphists at the 36 offices reduced during the past two years; and whether this will have the effect of reducing the general wage standard of the offices in question?

I beg to refer the hon. Member to the answer which I gave to a question asked by him in this House on 10th May last, the answer was as follows: "For administrative reasons the status of 36 small head offices has been altered during the last two years. It is the intention to avoid introducing unestablished staff at salaried sub-offices except to a small extent in particular cases."

asked the Secretary to the Treasury if he will state the total amount drawn from the Ireland Development Grant in respect of land purchase from 1st November, 1903, to the end of June, 1909; the total amount of deductions made in the same period in respect of land purchase from the local taxation grants payable to each of the local councils in Ireland; and the total for the whole of Ireland, plus the sum withdrawn from the Development Grant?

The total amount drawn from the Ireland Development Grant in respect of land purchase from 1st November, 1903, to 30th June, 1909, was £360,136 5s. 9d.The total amount of deductions made in the same period in respect of land purchase from the local taxation grants payable to each of the local councils of Ireland was £103,099 10s. 5d., inclusive of deductions under Land Purchase Acts prior to 1903.The total for the whole of Ireland was accordingly £463,235 16s. 2d.

asked the President of the Local Government Board if he will state the total amounts sanctioned for loans under the Housing of the Working Classes Acts, Parts I., II. and III. respectively, for the years, ended 31st March, 1907, 1908 and 1909 respectively, and the total amounts of loans sanctioned since March last?

The following statement gives the particulars desired:—

Total Amounts of Loans sanctioned for purposes of Parts I, II. and III. of the Housing of the Working Glasses Act, 1890.
For Year ended 31st March, 1907.
Part I.	Part II.	Part III.	Total.
£	£	£	£
45,955	Nil.	72,614	118.569
For Year ended 31st March, 1908.
53,733	1,066	121,050	175,849
For Year ended 31st March, 1909.
135,067	12,964	111,401	259,432
From 1st April to 3rd July, 1909.
17,973	Nil.	4,565	22,538

asked the President of the Board of Education, whether he is aware that the new regulations for the training of teachers, which are to come into force on 1st August next place upon the Board of Education and upon His Majesty's inspectors' novel duties in regard to the teaching of religious subjects which run counter to the provisions of the Elementary Education Act, 1870; and whether, seeing that, inter alia, that Act requires that it shall be no part of the duty of His Majesty's inspectors to inquire into any 'instruction in religious subjects, he will consider the desirability of modify-the new regulations?

Section (7) of the Elementary Education Act, 1870, to which my hon. Friend refers, applies only to public elementary schools, and is not, therefore, infringed by Chapter 10 of the Training College Regulations. I may, however, point out that the duties of His Majesty's inspectors under that chapter will be confined to ascertaining that the provision made for the training of students in the work of giving religious instruction is sufficient, and that the methods employed are satisfactory. They will not be concerned with the subject matter of the instruction.

asked the President of the Board of Education if he can state how many of the candidates, giving the number of males and females separately, that applied for admission into residential training colleges in England and Wales during the year 1908, were refused admission; and whether he can state the reason why they were refused?

I beg to refer the hon. Member to the answer which I gave on the 25th March last.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he is aware that numbers of otherwise qualified voters are disfranchised every year in Belfast owing to the fact that the rates are not paid by the landlords or their agents; and what action he proposes to take in the matter?

I am informed by the Clerk of the Crown and Peace that up to the year 1907 coniderable numbers of persons were struck off the voters' lists in West Belfast owing to rates not having been paid, but I am not in a position to say to whose default such non-payment was due. In 1907, when a considerable number of persons were disqualified for non-payment of rates, the revising barristers took steps to call public attention to the matter, with the result that very few persons were so disqualified in 1908. It is hoped that the state of things of which the hon. Member complains is now at an end.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he can state the amount of the rates collected in Belfast annually for the past five years; the amount received each year directly from the rated occupiers; and the amount recoverable, either through landlords or agents, but not paid, in each year?

I am informed that the total amount of municipal and poor rates, taken together, collected by the Belfast Corporation during the past five years, have been as follows:—

Year.					Amount.
1904–5	…	…	…	…	£340,414
1905–6	…	…	…	…	348,244
1906–7	…	…	…	…	357,107
1907–8	…	…	…	…	395,582
1908–9	…	…	…	…	414,281

The information at the disposal of the Local Government Board does not enable them to furnish the other particulars asked for in the question, and the town clerk is also unable to do so. Under the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898, the poor rate is payable by the occupier and not by the landlord or his agent.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he is aware of the inconvenience which is caused to Irish national school teachers by the present system of paying their salaries quarterly; and whether he will consider the advisability of having the salaries paid monthly as is the case in Great Britain?

As I stated in reply to a question asked by the hon. Member for North Westmeath on 2nd December last, the teachers cannot be paid monthly, as this would involve a very large increase of the Commissioners' staff, and a corresponding addition to the Vote.

asked the Chief Secretary whether the Estates Commissioners have received an application for reinstatement from an evicted tenant named William Hynes, Cahermacnally, Headford, county Galway; and what decision, if any, have they arrived at with reference thereto?

The Estates Commissioners received Hynes' application, and informed him in December, 1905, that they had no power to consider it, having regard to the date of his eviction.

asked the Chief Secretary whether his attention has been called to the report of the medical officer of health for Donaghadee, county Down, of the insanitary condition of some of the smaller houses in the town; whether he is aware that some of these houses have earthen floors, and windows which do not open; that one of the reasons given at the urban council meeting for not interfering with these houses was that the landlord might evict the tenants where he was not inclined to put the houses in a sanitary condition; and whether the Local Government Board will consider the advisability of interfering in this case, in order to compel the enforcement of the Public Health Acts?

The Local Government Board know that the urban district council recently received reports from the medical officer of health as to the condition of certain houses, but they cannot say whether the contents of these reports are correctly described in the question. The reports have been referred to the public health committee of the Council, and the Board when informed of the action which the council decide to take, will give the matter full consideration.

asked the Chief Secretary if he can say whether the Estates Commissioners are aware that the agent on the Carleton estate, situate at Rockhill, Bruree, in the county of Limerick, called on the evicted tenant John O'Neill, in last November, to sign the purchase agreement for his evicted farm there, which he did about the same time that the tenants on the estate were signing agreements to purchase their holdings; and, having regard to this fact, if he can say why it is that the Commissioners have not taken steps to reinstate this evicted tenant; and what interest has the person in occupation of the holding in it?

The Estates Commissioners inform me that the purchase agreement lodged by the vendor is not signed by John O'Neill, but by the present occupant of the holding, who is the tenant thereof. As I have already informed the hon. Member in reply to the question asked by him on 30th June last the case will be considered in the allotment of untenanted land.

asked the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland) whether he is now in a position to state what means the Department proposes to adopt to protect the public, and especially the working-class public, in Ireland from being sold margarine instead of butter?

The duty of enforcing the Sale of Food and Drugs Act primarily devolves on the local authorities. The Department can, in certain circumstances, have samples of articles of food taken for analysis, and can proceed in default of the local authorities for offences under the Acts; but it would be obviously impossible for the Department to enforce the Acts generally. All they can do is to stimulate local authorities to greater activity and to supplement their work under the Acts. The Department have three officers employed in the taking of samples. Many successful prosecutions have resulted from their action, and others are pending.

asked the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland) whether his attention has been called to the fact that foreign yarn is being used extensively for weaving in the Belfast mills, and that the working of this yarn is injurious to the health of the workers who come in contact with it, the smell being offensive and sickening; and whether, in view of the damaging effect which the use of this inferior foreign yard must have on the reputation of Irish linen, as well as on the health of the workers, the Department will take some more effective steps than it has yet done to encourage the cultivation of flax-growing in Ireland?

A certain class of foreign yarn is being imported into Belfast, but the Department are not aware that the smell of this yarn is injurious to health. If such be the case it would appear to be a matter for the consideration of the sanitary authority. The question as to what further measures can best be taken to encourage the growing of flax in Ireland is engaging attention.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in view of the statement in the Report on the Uganda Protectorate of 1908–9, that the satisfactory progress in the development of the export of cotton on a great scale is only checked by the lack of transport facilities from the Interior to the Lake shore, His Majesty's Government will take into their early consideration the question of enabling the protectorates of Uganda and East Africa to raise a loan under Government guarantee for the purpose of developing their natural resources, and constructing, or inducing the construction of light railways and metal roads suitable for motor-wagon traffic?

The question of the improvement of transport facilities in Uganda is at present engaging the careful attention of His Majesty's Government.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that the Excise Duty on whisky produced from an acre of barley (I. P. M.), assuming 16 barrels to the acre, at the proposed rate of 14s. 9d. per proof gallon would amount to £131 5s. 6d.; whether he is aware that the Land Commission when fixing judicial rents, or the Estates Commissioners when sanctioning sales of land on which the rent paying crop produced is barley, never contemplated this burden; and, whether, in view of the depreciated security for advances under the Land Purchase Acts caused by an increased duty of 3s. 9d. per proof gallon, he can see his way to relieve agricultural land of this burden?

The subjects raised by the hon. Member can hardly be adequately dealt with in the form of a reply to a question, and I am not quite clear as to the precise nature of his proposal. But if the suggestion is that whisky distilled from malt grown in Ireland is to be exempted from the proposed increase in the tax, I am afraid I cannot meet his wishes.

asked the quantities of foreign-grown corn, barley, rye, oats, and Indian corn imported into Dublin, Belfast, Cork, and Londonderry, and used in these towns for the manufacture of patent-still and pot-still whisky respectively?

I regret to say that I have no means of giving the information asked for.

asked whether, for purposes of probate, the Finance Bill of 1909 is to be regarded as having passed into law on 29th April, 1909; whether the higher rate of duty proposed by the Bill is charged from that date; and, if so, by what authority a subject of the Crown is called upon to pay taxation which has not received the sanction of Parliament and the Crown?

I can add nothing to the replies given to similar questions of the hon. Members for the Strand Division and for the Kingswinford Division of Staffordshire on the 10th and 23rd ultimo, in which it was stated that in connection with deaths on or after 30th April, 1909, Estate Duty is accepted only at the rates set out in the relative Budget Resolution. As regards the latter part of the question, I may refer the hon. Member to the note on page 589 of the 1906 edition of Sir W. Erskine May's "Parliamentary Practice."

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he can state whether the proposed central road authority referred to in the Finance Bill is to be a Crown nominated Board or a popularly elected one; and when he proposes to bring it into existence?

I hope that a Bill embodying the proposals in connection with roads, which I laid before the House in my Budget speech, will shortly be introduced, but until this is done it would perhaps be premature to answer the question put by the hon. Member.

asked whether, in view of the late sittings of the House, any additional allowance is made to the policemen in attendance at the House for ser-vice after 12 midnight; and, if so, the amount per hour of such extra allowance?

The police on duty at the Houses of Parliament receive, while so employed, a special allowance of a shilling a day in addition to the ordinary pay of their rank. Further compensation for extra duty is given in the shape of "time off" and also of special leave.