asked the Postmaster-General if he will state the hours; of labour, the wages paid, and the number of men employed on the mail-cart service in Leicester and Wolverhampton, and the name of the contractors?

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

asked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether his attention has been drawn to a statement of Mr. Chief Justice Udal, in the trial of a man at St. John's, Antigua, for the larceny of food, that it appeared to him that under the present system of labour laws no one could help sympathising with the labourers, who, he thought, were in a far worse state than "was possible in any slavery days; and whether he will cause inquiry to be made into the working of the contract labour system in the Colony of Antigua?

The Secretary of State has seen a newspaper report of the statement to which my hon. Friend refers, and he will ask the Officer Administering the Government of the Leeward Islands for a report on the facts.

asked the Under-Secretary for the Colonies whether any instructions have been or will be given to Sir Percy Girouard on his appointment as Governor of East Africa such as was given to Colonel Sadler on his appointment as His Majesty's Commissioner in Uganda, and laid before this House, in Africa (No. 2), 1902 [Cd. 910]; and, if so, whether they will be laid upon the Table?

The Secretary of State does not consider it necessary to issue any instructions of the kind to Sir P. Girouard, who is already aware of the general lines of policy which my Noble Friend wishes to be followed in the Protectorate.

asked the Under-Secretary for the Colonies whether he will resume the practice adopted by the Foreign Office when the African Protectorates were under its administration of laying annually before the House a Memorandum showing their position to date?

The Reports on the Protectorates, which are now published in the Colonial Reports Series and presented annually to Parliament, have superseded the Memorandum to which the hon. Gentleman refers. I think that the hon. Gentleman will find in them all the information which he requires.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if he has yet made inquiries as to the rights of tenant purchasers on paying their annuities or interest in lieu of rent into Irish banks to demand a bank receipt; and will he say if representations have, been made to the Estates Commissioners asking that duplicate receivable orders be issued, so that the banks might give their official receipt and thus confer a mutual convenience?

The Land Commission, as the result of their inquiries, believe that a tenant purchaser paying his annuity through a local bank can, as a matter of practice, always obtain an acknowledgment of his payment. If it can be shown that this is not so, I shall be happy to make further inquiries into the matter. The Land Commission, whom I have consulted with regard to the suggested issue of duplicate receivable orders, think that such a course would be likely to lead to confusion.

asked the Chief Secretary if he can ascertain from the Estates Commissioners at what date the purchase agreements on the estate of Lord Clon-mel, county Tipperary, were lodged with them; whether they investigate all such agreements in accordance with priority; and whether the Commissioners are aware that the tenants on this estate are paying 4 per cent, interest pending purchase?

I am informed by the Estates Commissioners that two estates of Lord Clonmel, in the county of Tipperary, are pending for sale direct by the owner to his tenants under the Irish Land Act, 1903. The purchase agreements in one estate were lodged in March, 1906, and in the other in March, 1907, and they will be dealt with in order of priority. The rate of interest in lieu of rent which the tenants in their purchase agreements contracted to pay is as stated in the question.

asked the Chief Secretary whether Mrs. Anna O'Brien applied to the Estates Commissioners to be reinstated in the holding from which she was evicted on the estate of Mr. Pennefather, Golden, Tipperary; and whether the Com- missioners, having considered her claim, have allotted her an equivalent holding on the land of the De Montalt estate, Dun-drum, Tipperary?

The Estates Commissioners received an application from Mrs. Anne F. O'Brien for reinstatement in a holding containing 20 acres on the estate of Mr. Pennefather. The Commissioners have not allotted Mrs. O'Brien any land on the De Montalt estate.

asked the Chief Secretary whether any steps have been taken by the Estates Commissioners with a view of having the town of Hospital, county Limerick, included in the sale of the property of the Earl of Kenmare; and will the Estates Commissioners see that the sale will not be sanctioned until terms are come to between the town tenants in Hospital and Kilteely and the Earl of Kenmare?

This estate will be dealt with by the Estates Commissioners in order of priority under the Irish Land Act, 1903. Its turn has not yet come.

asked the Chief Secretary whether the Estates Commissioners have yet acquired the untenanted lands on Lord Massy's estate at Hermitage, near Castle-connell county Limerick; and, if so, will it be soon divided; and will the Estates Commissioners give the preference of these lands to labourers and uneconomic holders who reside in the district?

The Estates Commissioners have not acquired the lands referred to.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he is aware that James Casey, of Foxfort Causeway, county Kerry, was granted an old age pension by the local pension committee; and will he say on what grounds the pension officer appealed to the Local Government Board, and on what grounds the Local Government Board upheld the appeal of the pension officer and disallowed the pension granted by the local committee?

I understand that James Casey was granted an old age pension by the local pension committee. The pension officer appealed to the Local Government Board on the grounds that the claimant's means exceeded the statutory limit. The Local Government Board, after fully considering the report of the pension officer and the statements of the claimant and the pension committee, were of opinion that the appeal should be allowed on the grounds submitted by the pension officer.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he will cause an inquiry to be made into the affairs of the H Company of the 5th Battalion the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment, and the opportunities offered to the men to drill and practice shooting?

Inquiry is being made.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that members of L and P Companies of the Post Office Rifles have been forbidden to attend for training with their battalion in August, and that these men have received only one week's training this year; and whether, seeing that they are Army Reservists, on exactly the same footing as M Company, which is receiving a fortnight's training, permission can be granted them to attend camp for a second week?

Inquiry is being made into this matter.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India if he will say when death registration was set up in India; will he give the number of deaths to date under the heading of starvation and famine or kindred headings; and will he say of the revenue in India for 1908–9—viz., £59,035,100—what was the proportion of direct and indirect levies?

Death registration was instituted generally in British India between 1870 and 1875, the exact date varying in different provinces. There is no reliable record of the number of deaths resulting from starvation or famine. In times of famine special efforts are made to secure an exact report of deaths directly resulting from starvation, but, as was explained in the answer given to a similar question on the 20th July, the number of deaths so recorded is small, and is not an indication of the excess mortality directly or indirectly brought about by privation in seasons of drought and scarcity. Of the £69,035,000, the receipts from taxation represent £40,586,300. The latter figure includes £19,696,100 on account of "Land Revenue." If "Land Revenue" be excluded as not being strictly taxation, the receipts from taxation would be £20,890,200.

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether the Local Government Board, when deciding appeals under the Old Age Pensions Act, rely, in respect of questions of age of applicant, upon the Census Returns of 1841 and 1851; whether they treat these Returns as generally reliable, having regard to the circumstances under which they were made; and, in case of conflict between such Returns and local testimony, what opportunity is given to the applicant to rebut the prima facie evidence of the Returns when adverse to the claim?

In the absence of a baptismal certificate or other conclusive evidence, the Local Government Board accept the Census Returns as proof of age. These Returns are generally treated as reliable, and it must be borne in mind that they have furnished the only proof of age which has enabled the great bulk of pensioners to establish their rights to pensions. In the event of a conflict between these Returns and other evidence of age, a claimant is given an opportunity of rebutting the primâ facie evidence of the Returns when adverse to his claim.