asked the President of the Board of Trade whether, in view of the fact that the dock company's timber books show each week the exact number of feet in stock and of every parcel of boards and every pile of logs in the docks, and in view of the importance of such information to the timber trade, he will consider the possibility of the London Port Authority publishing week by week a full and detailed statement of the wood stocks in each dock?

The Board of Trade have no power to require the Port of London Authority to publish the particulars referred to. I have, however, communicated with the Port Authority in the matter, and am informed that if my lion. Friend will give them further information as to his requirements they will be pleased to consider his suggestions.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he can now state the result of his inquiries regarding the possibility of improving the statistics of unemployment issued by the Board of Trade?

The statistics of unemployment published by the Board of Trade are continually being extended and improved as opportunity occurs. When the proposed system of Labour Exchanges is in working order, it will doubtless be possible to obtain fuller information from that source than is now available.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware that, under Part XI. of the London County Council (General Powers) Act, 1905, the London County Council has certain powers in regard to employment agencies, which, having regard to the definition of "Labour Exchanges" contained in Clause 5 of the Labour Exchanges Bill, might be held to come within the scope of that Bill; and will he take such steps as may be necessary to obviate any conflict of authority which might arise in the exercise of such powers and the powers proposed to be conferred by the said Bill, both with regard to the existing powers and any extension thereof to other employment agencies?

As at present advised, I do not think that any Amendment of the Labour Exchanges Bill is necessary to meet the hon. Member's point, but if he will let me know precisely what he would propose I will give the matter my careful attention.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether he will give instructions that successful candidates at the examination recently held for assistant clerks be informed that, out of about 170 new class assistant clerks in the Statistical Office of the Customs, only four have received promotion, and that the prospect of promotion promised in the regulations governing the appointment of new class assistant clerks is inferior in the Statistical Office to any other Department?

No, Sir.

asked the Secretary to the quarter ended 31st March has been sions committees in Ireland have been paid their salaries for the quarters ended 31st March and 30th June; and, if so, whether he will make arrangements by which these officials will be paid the remuneration coming to them immediately after it becomes due?

In the case of seven committees the payment of the fees for the quarter ended 31st March has been delayed by correspondence as to doubtful items or as to the production of vouchers. In three cases the accounts have not been received or have only been received within the last few days. About half the accounts for the June quarter have been received, but they cannot be paid until returns of the numbers of claims and questions dealt with have been received from the pension officers, but the clerks can obtain advances if they wish under paragraph 9 of the Financial Instructions.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether any of the officers or agents employed by the Inland Revenue receive as part of their emoluments a percentage on the amount of the taxes they individually collect; and, if so, what is the total amount of such remuneration, and under what Vote does it appear in the Estimates?

As regards the first part of the question, I may refer the hon. Member to the reply of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 11th May last to a similar question by the Noble Lord, the Member for the Chorley Division of Lancashire. The reply to the second and third parts of the question is that, under the Vote for the Inland Revenue, sub-head E, provision is made for £12,000 as poundage to collectors in Ireland, and £51,500 as poundage to agents for foreign dividends, officials of railway companies, etc.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether officers on full pay, acting as presidents of canteen committees, are allowed to enter into competition with local firms for the supply of goods to other than soldiers in uniform from places other than the grocery bars or regimental institutes, the charge of which rests with their committee?

The reply is in the negative.

asked the Secretary of State for War what are the present regulations under which purchases may be made in grocery bars or regimental institutes by persons other than soldiers in uniform; and whether he is aware of my cases where exceptions have been allowed to these regulations?

Paragraphs 1,175 and 1,176 of the King's Regulations define the persons who are entitled to deal at a regimental institute. The purchase of goods by civilians is prohibited, and persons entitled to deal there are not allowed to make purchases on their behalf. The reply to the second part of the question is in the negative.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether his attention has been directed to the ease of Patrick Donughey, of Ballintra, county Donegal, who, having served 17 years and 208 days in the Army, of which period 13 years and 156 days were spent in India, from which he was invalided home, took his discharge from the 1st Oxfordshire Light Infantry, 21st Brigade, Regimental P.O. 621; and whether, having regard to the fact that he is in ill-health, which precludes him from working, and in deep poverty, and has, despite his long service, received no pension or gratuity, his case will be favourably considered with a view to some recognition by way of pension?

This man was granted a temporary pension of 8d. a day for 51 months on his discharge. The question of awarding him a further pension shall be considered, and the decision arrived at will be communicated to him.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether he is aware that on Thursday, 8th July instant, the West Ham Board of Guardians resolved to emigrate 27 children to Canada, the large majority of whom, 25, are Church of England children, under the auspices and control of a Nonconformist Association, the Annie Macpherson Home of Industry; can he say whether the reports received relating to the work of the said association have been satisfactory in the past; whether each and all of the children, or their parents, if any are alive, have consented to be sent to Canada by a different religious body to the religion as entered in the creed register of the board of guardians; whether the parents or relatives of such children are asked whether they want the children emigrated; and if the Annie Macpherson Association guarantee employment and watch the future interests and life of children they take to Canada, as well as seeing to their religious belief?

I am informed that the guardians proposed to emigrate 28 children to Canada through the agency of the Annie Macpherson Home of Industry, but three of them have not passed the medical examination. Of the remaining 25, 23, according to the creed register, belong to the Church of England, and two are Nonconformists. As I stated on Monday last in reply to a question on this subject, I have no information to show that the association referred to is a Nonconformist association, and I find that the guardians have no such information either. I may, however, repeat what I stated on Monday, that the guardians have obtained from the association a written undertaking that each child if a Protestant shall be placed with a family of the Protestant faith. I understand that in the large majority of cases the homes in Canada in which the association place pauper children are reported by the inspectors of the Dominion Government to be satisfactory. Twenty-four of the 25 children are either orphans or have been deserted by their parents, whose whereabouts are unknown, and each child has consented and has expressed his desire before justices to emigrate to Canada. In the remaining case the surviving parent and the child have consented to the proposed emigration. The association does not guarantee employment for the children emigrated by them, but the guardians are satisfied that the future life and interests of the children are well cared for and watched over by the association.

asked the hon. Member for South Somerset, as representing the President of the Board of Agriculture, if he will give the name of those counties, with the number of cases therein, which have cases of stem eelworm and frit fly in oats; and if local newspapers had the Press notice sent them warning farmers?

We have received reports of the existence of these pests from:—

asked the hon. Member for South Somerset, as representing the President of the Board of Agriculture, if he will give the following information as to small holdings in Oxfordshire, namely, the number of applicants for small hold- ings and the total acreage applied for in each of the Parliamentary divisions of Oxfordshire; the number of applicants approved and for what total acreage in each of the Parliamentary divisions; the names of applicants already supplied by the county council with small holdings and cottages, stating where situate, for each of the Parliamentary divisions; what steps, if any, are being taken fey the county council to meet the requirements of the other approved applicants; and whether approved applicants are being informed as to when they may approximately expect to be supplied with land?

The information for which my hon. Friend asks is as follows:—

asked the hon. Member for South Somerset whether his attention has been called to the report of a meeting of the Hastings Town Council held on 2nd July, at which a letter from Mr. E. G. Cheney, containing a definite proposal from the Board of Agriculture for dealing with the demand for small holdings at Hastings, was read by the town clerk, and a resolution declining to act upon it was carried by 20 votes to 2; whether he is aware that no other proposal for satisfying this demand was brought before the council, and that Councillor Dr. Gray, in seconding the resolution, expressed the opinion that now that the Board had already written two letters, each containing different proposals, the council had only to wait for a third letter to be told that they were right in doing nothing at all; whether the Board are prepared to acquiesce in this decision of the town council; and, if not, whether he will now carry out the provisions of the Act by sending to the council a report from the Commissioners stating that it is desirable that a scheme should be made, so that, six months from that date, in case the council have still failed to take action, the Board may themselves be in a, position to carry out their own proposals?

The facts are as stated in the question. We are in communication with the town council on the subject, and I will let my hon. Friend know the outcome of our further representations.

asked the hon. Member for South Somerset whether he can state the number of applicants for small holdings in Lancashire, with the quantity of land asked for; how many applicants have been approved after inquiry by the county council, and if any intimation has been conveyed to them; how long it is since the first applicants were approved; what steps the council has taken to provide land, and how many of the applicants have obtained land as the results of the efforts of the council; what proportion of the applicants the special Commissioner has so far approved had been approved already by the county council committee; how many public inquiries have been held by the special Commissioner; what action he has taken to secure the provision of land; and whether any land is being provided as the result of his negotiations?

The number of applicants is 230 for 1,900 acres. One hundred and sixty approved applicants were informed at the inquiries held by the county council that efforts would be made to find land for them, if practicable, in the localities in which it was required. The first applicants were approved in April, 1908. The county council endeavoured to acquire suitable land by agreement, but, except at Rishton, where 15 applicants have been supplied with 102 acres, and at Marton, where 64 acres will be available for about 12 applicants, the land could not be obtained at a price which would enable it to be let to the applicants at rents which they were prepared to pay. Eighty per cent, of the applicants so far approved by the special Commissioner had already been approved by the county council committee. The remaining 20 per cent. are chiefly new applicants not examined by the county council committee. The special Commissioner had held 20 public inquiries, after each of which he has made inquiry as to the land obtainable in the locality. At Whittington, near Kirby Lonsdale, two land-owners have voluntarily provided 30 acres for three applicants at the request of the special Commissioner, and he has recommended that the county council should acquire 232 acres at Banks, near Southport, by compulsion if necessary.

asked whether all the colour printing for the various Irish Public Departments, as well as the coloured one-inch map issued by the Irish Department of the Ordnance Survey, is printed at Southampton, and all the four-mile and two-mile maps are also printed in Southampton; whether the projected one-inch coloured large-sheet series, which includes an expenditure of several thousand pounds per annum on the work, is also in contemplation to be sent to the same place; and whether he can see his way to have this work executed in Ireland, where there is dearth of employment at present?

The colour printing required for the various Irish Departments is carried out at Southampton, as it can be more economically done there than at Dublin. The coloured editions of the one-inch and four-mile maps are also printed at Southampton, where it is also proposed to print the large-sheet series of the one-inch map. The two-mile map of Ireland is not yet prepared. I may add that the Board are bound to have reasonable regard to the question of expense, and that it would not be practicable to provide for the duplication of staff and machinery for all classes of work without considerably increased expenditure. But they are in entire agreement with the hon. Member in the view that the work connected with the preparation of the Irish maps should be done in Ireland to the fullest extent possible.

asked whether a sum of £18,000 per annum is spent at Southampton and is charged to the Vote for Irish Survey; whether this work could be more economically executed in Ireland; whether he is aware that this work is of a purely Irish character, and that £12,000 out of it is charged for superintendence, etc., at headquarters; and whether he is aware that if the work was done in Ireland, as originally, this sum could be saved to the Department?

There is no separate Vote for the Irish Survey. It is estimated that the expense chargeable for work done at Southampton and for administrative charges on account of Irish services was from £15,000 to £16,000, but of this from £4,000 to £5,000 only, and not £12,000, was on account of administrative charges for the whole of the expenditure for Ireland. No work is done at Southampton unless it can be better or more economically done there than in Ireland, and any transfer of duties such as is suggested would lead to an increase and not to a diminution of cost.

asked whether the printing machine which was purposely erected in Dublin to execute the work of the Irish Survey has been transferred to Southampton, although this machine was bought and fitted up at large cost to the Irish Vote; whether the excuse given for its removal at the time was that there was a scarcity of work; and whether, now that there is a sufficient amount of work in Dublin to keep it fully employed, it can be sent back to Dublin, and thus print the work properly belonging to the Irish Survey of Ireland?

The cost of the purchase and erection of the printing machine, to which the hon. Member perhaps refers, was charged to the Vote for the Surveys of the United Kingdom and not to any Irish Vote. It was transferred from Dublin to Southampton in 1905 as there was not sufficient work at Dublin to keep it constantly employed. This reason still holds good, and its re-transfer would conduce neither to economy nor efficiency.

asked the Attorney-General for Ireland whether he can state how many persons are at present suffering imprisonment in Ireland for contempt of court, together with the names of the judges who committed them; the duration of the terms of imprisonment in each case; the names of the persons imprisoned; and the charges upon which their imprisonment is based?

The following table gives the required information with regard to the eight persons now in custody in Irish prisons for contempt of court:—

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he will have inquiry made into the circumstances under which it is proposed to deprive Michael Mangan, Ardlahas, a tenant on the McGillicuddy estate, near Killorglin, county Kerry, of the use of the only available water for his cattle?

The taking of a plot of land for a labourer's cottage on this man's holding was provisionally authorised by a Local Government Board inspector in April, 1908, but was disallowed on appeal to the County Court. No reference to the question of interference with the water supply available for his cattle was made by Mangan in the petition he presented to the County Court. If these are not the proceedings to which the hon. Member refers I shall be happy to make further inquiries on being furnished with fuller particulars.

asked the Chief Secretary whether the Estates Commissioners have taken any further action in regard to the case of Timothy E. Barrett, evicted tenant on the Grehan estate, Banteer, county Cork; are they prepared to reconsider the appeal case lodged on behalf of the landlord, in view of the admitted fact that Barrett's former holding is still untenanted and is divided by the public high road from the landlord's home farms; and, if they decline to take action in this respect, what steps they propose to take to provide this man with an equivalent holding, having regard to the fact that they scheduled Barrett as a deserving evicted tenant?

The Estates Commissioners published a notice of their intentionto acquire Barrett's former holding under the Evicted Tenants Act. The owner filed a petition against its acquisition, and the Commissioners have judicially decided that the lands cannot be acquired compulsorily under the Act. Barrett's name will be considered in the allotment of untenanted land to be acquired by the Commissioners.

asked the Chief Secretary where and how soon may Timothy Burke, of Kilduff, Pallasgrean, county Limerick, expect a farm as an equivalent to the one he was evicted from 26 years ago because of his loyalty to his brother tenants who were engaged in a struggle for a reduction of their rents at the time; and, in view of the fact that this man has, since his eviction, lived in a cabin on the roadside with a delicate wife and family, will the Estates Commissioners take immediate steps to provide him with a suitable home?

Burke's application has been noted by the Estates Commissioners for consideration in the allotment of untenanted land. His former holding is in the occupation of another tenant.

asked the Chief Secretary if he can explain why the rents of labourers' cottages in Antrim and Lisbum rural districts, in the county of Antrim, range from 1s. 6d. to 2s., while in the Aghaleee districts they are only 1s. and in the Ballymena and Ballymoney districts they are only 1s. 3d.?

The rents of cottages let before the Act of 1906 were left by the then existing statutes wholly at the discretion of the local authority in each case. The disparity between the rents charged in the rural districts mentioned can only be accounted for by the fact that different opinions appear to prevail in different districts as to the relative proportion of the annual charge incurred in providing the cottages and plots which should be borne by the labourers and the ratepayers respectively.

asked the Chief Secretary if he can say whether the Estates Commissioners have considered the case of Michael Costelloe, evicted tenant on the estate of the Knight of Glin, for a building grant to enable him to build a house on the farm in which he has been reinstated, as there is none on it at present; whether he is aware that Costelloe is at present living in a labourer's cottage which he holds from the Glin Rural District Council and which he must now give up; and whether, under these circumstances, the Commissioners will give him the grant as requested?

The Estates Commissioners will consider what arrangements as regards expenditure on buildings should be made in these cases.

asked the Chief Secretary if he can say whether the Estates Commissioners have considered the application of Daniel Costelloe, of Glin, in the county of Limerick, evicted tenant on the Knight of Glin's estate, for a building grant to enable him to build out-offices for his cattle on the farm from which he was evicted, and on which he has been reinstated; and, if so, whether they propose to give him a grant, as they have done in similar cases on the same estate?

The Estates Commissioners do not propose to sanction a grant in this case for the purposes mentioned.

asked the Chief Secretary if he can say what is the cause of the delay in completing the sale of the estate of R. E. Longfield, of Fort, county Limerick, the agreements for purchase by the tenants having been lodged in August, 1905; whether agreements in the estate which were subsequently lodged have been dealt with; and is the delay caused by the landlord, his agent, or solicitor?

I am informed by the Estates Commissioners that the greater number of the agreements in the case of this estate were lodged in August, 1905, and the residue in the months of April and November, 1906. Having regard to its place on the priority list, the Commissioners anticipate that the estate will be inspected at an early date. There has been no undue delay on the part of the owner or his representatives.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he has received a resolution passed by the Mountmellick District Council on the 10th instant, protesting against the recent order of the Local Government Board raising fees to solicitors under the Labourers Act, 1906; and whether, seeing that the solicitors were quite willing to act at previous terms and that the ratepayers in Ireland are overburdened, he will cause the Order in question to be withdrawn?

I have received the resolution referred to. The Order in question makes a large reduction in the fees and costs which were payable to solicitors acting for rural district councils and for owners of lands respectively, prior to the Labourers Act of 1906. It alters in certain respects Orders already made by the Local Government Board in 1906 and 1908, which were the subject of legal proceedings in the courts and much controversy with the members of the legal profession. The Order, as now made, has been the result of most careful consideration on the part of the Board, having regard to the interests of the ratepayers, as well as those of the owners of land, and it cannot be withdrawn, as suggested.

asked the Chief Secretary whether his attention has been directed to the case of Denis Mulhern, of Bachelor's Walk, Ballyshannon, who having been granted an old age pension by the pension committee, of which he has been deprived by the Local Government Board, is out of work, in bad health, and supported by the earnings of his wife, a laundress; whether he is aware that Mulhern, who was married 42 years ago, when he was 30 years of age, but whose name does not appear in the Census of 1841 or 1851, did not receive any reply from the Local Government Board to his communication inquiring the reason of the stoppage of his pension; and whether he, as official head of the Local Government Board, will institute inquiries into this case with a view to the relief of this man?

Before adjudicating upon the appeal lodged by the pension officer in this case the Local Government Board afforded Denis Mulhern an opportunity of furnishing evidence proving that he had reached the statutory age of 70 years, but he failed to forward any. The Board, therefore, upheld the appeal. The claimant's request for information was replied to by the Board on the 15th instant.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he will make inquiries into the case of John Kelly, of Lackland, Ballintra, county Donegal, whose pension, allowed by the pension committee, has been stopped by the Local Government Board on the ground that he could not produce a certificate of his baptism, records of baptism not being found before 1864 in the Catholic church of Ballintra, his birthplace, but who procured all available evidence as to the period of his birth and is able to remember his father, who died in 1846, for years before his death; and whether any steps can be taken for the restoration of his pension to this man?

The Local Government Board did not, as alleged, disallow the pension in this case because the claimant could produce no baptismal certificate. The pension officer appealed on the ground that no evidence as to age had been produced, and when the Board communicated with the claimant he stated he was perfectly certain he was 70 years old. The only evidence he adduced, however, was a statement from the parish priest to the effect that he believed him to be over 70. The Board were unable to accept this as proof of the fulfilment of the statutory conditions.

asked the Chief Secretary if he will state, in cases where the Local Government Board has refused pensions to applicants on the appeal of a pension officer from a committee, what is the procedure for having such cases reconsidered?

Subject to the proviso set forth in Article 9 (1) (a) of the Old Age Pension Regulations, 1908, which have been presented to Parliament (H.C. Paper 304 of 1908), the claimant can make a fresh claim, which will be dealt with in the usual way.

asked the Chief Secretary if he can say whether the Estates Commissioners have received a resolution, unanimously adopted by the Newcastle West Rural District Council, calling upon them to consider the claims of the labourers in the locality to a portion of the untenanted lands on the Vereker estate, in the parish of Abbeyfeale, and in regard to which representations have already been made under the Labourers (Ireland) Acts; and, if so, will he say what steps the Estates Commissioners propose to take in the matter?

The Estates Commissioners have received the resolution referred to, but they are not in a position at this stage of the proceedings to say what steps they propose to take in the matter.

asked the President of the board Education what progress is being made with the securing of a site for a new school at Flixton, near Manchester; and, if a site has not yet been acquired, will the Board of Education take steps to urge the local authority to obtain a site immediately, in view of the facts that the present school buildings were condemned in 1904; that in June, 1907, the present buildings were only recognised for a further period of two years, and that nearly two years ago the local authority agreed to purchase a certain site for an agreed upon sum, but have up to the present refused to complete the purchase?

I understand that the local authority have now selected a site, and a loan has been sanctioned for its purchase. The plans of the buildings have been approved by the Board, and no further delay in the provision of the new school is anticipated.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will give the number of hansom cabs, four-wheeled cabs, and taxi-motor cabs licensed in the metropolitan area on 1st January, 1st April, and 1st July, 1909?

The numbers are as follows:—

asked the First Commissioner of Works whether he has considered the desirability of prosecuting Messrs. Clarkson and Sons, whose cartage contract for the Royal parks was cancelled earlier in the year under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1906, in view of his information that Messrs. Clarkson had bribed at least two of his employés in the parks?

In this case I believe that the penalties I inflicted have been both salutary and sufficient.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he can give the House any information as to the result of the conference between His Majesty's Government and the delegates from South Africa with regard to the South Africa Union Bill, and as to any agreement for the amendment of the same?

I shall be in a position to make a short statement to-morrow with regard to the final form of the Bill to be introduced by the Secretary of State. Perhaps the right hon. Gentleman will be good enough to postpone his question, therefore, until to-morrow afternoon.

asked the Postmaster-General how many ledgers representing Irish post offices are kept in the Savings Bank Department of the General Post Office; how many ledger clerks are employed in connection with these, male and female, including superintending clerks; what is the total amount of their salaries; and why these accounts are not kept in Dublin and the necessry staff recruited from Ireland?

Savings Bank business is transacted at 1,406 post offices in Ireland; and the ledger work is performed at the Savings Bank Department by 63 women clerks at an average cost for salaries of £5,400 per annum. It would be difficult to state separately the cost of supervision of this work, or of work other than ledger work which is performed in connection with these Savings Bank accounts. As I have before stated in this House, if the Irish Post Office Savings Bank work were transferred from London to Dublin it would be necessary to readvise every transaction which took place in one country in respect of an account opened in the other, and there would also be duplication of other work. The cost of supervision would be higher if the force were divided. The force of women clerks is already recruited from Ireland, as from other parts of the United Kingdom, by open-competition.

asked the Postmaster-General on what grounds he selected the sorter, Mr. G. Cosens, for promotion to overseer in the East Central Office over 20 of his own class on the acting list, some of whom had performed the superior duty for several years longer than he?

Mr. Cosens was selected for promotion as the best qualified of the eligible officers. The other officers referred to were junior to Mr. Cosens on the class of sorters, and it is not correct to say that he was promoted over them.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that the morning delivery of letters in the town of Ballyshannon, county Donegal, which should take place at 8.30 has for the last fortnight been two hours late; and whether, having regard to the great inconvenience caused by this delay, steps will be immediately taken to ensure punctuality in the delivery of letters?

I am having inquiry made in the matter, and will communicate the result to my hon. Friend.

asked the Postmaster-General whether his attention had been directed to the fact that for some time past the morning delivery of letters in Bundoran, county Donegal, has not taken place before noon, and that on one occasion during the last few days letters were not delivered in the most central part of the town till 12.45 p.m.; whether he is aware of the inconvenience and dislocation of business arrangements and communication by this delay and the irritation caused thereby; and did he receive a telegram from Bundoran on 14th July, asking whether the postal service to Bundoran had been suspended; and whether immediate steps will be taken to secure the delivery of letters at the appointed time?

I Have called for a report on this subject, and on its receipt will communicate the result to my hon. Friend.

asked the Postmaster-General whether, during the past three weeks, 38 temporary civilian postmen have been dismissed in Dublin, and their places filled by 20 ex-telegraph messengers and 20 ex-soldiers; if 16 Army reservists are being requisitioned to take the place of the civilian postmen who are going on leave; if so, will he say if it is the policy of His Majesty's Government to throw the civilian employés on an already overcrowded labour market; and whether some regard will be had for the old employés who have up to the present been employed at the work of temporary postmen?

The facts are as follows:—The policy of the Department is to employ as many established postmen as possible. An increase in the permanent force of established postmen at Dublin has recently been sanctioned in order to provide for sick leave and annual leave; and the new posts thus created are being filled in the ordinary manner by the appointment of qualified assistant postmen. The services of 20 men who have no claim to appointment, but who have acted when required as substitutes for absent postmen, are, therefore, no longer needed for that purpose; and as no other work is available for them their employment has necessarily ceased.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that it is the practice in the Belfast office to record against an officer any appeals he may have made against his superiors; and whether he will consider the advisability of giving to all officers unfettered freedom of appeal without incurring the risk of an unfavourable record for so doing?

Appeals made against the decisions of superior officers are usually noted in a man's record; but the entries are made simply as a note of the fact that the officer concerned did not admit the justice of the punishment, and no unfavourable conclusions of any kind are based on them. I have no reason to suppose that the knowledge that such entries will be made has in any way acted as a check upon the freedom of appeal.