asked the Secretary of State for War what are the punishments following a sentence of confinement to barracks; and are they laid down by military law or decided by the officer who sentences the soldier?

If my hon. Friend will kindly refer to paragraph 493 (iv.) of the King's Regulations, he will find full information on these matters.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many on-licences have been suppressed under the 1904 Act in the years 1905, 1906, 1907, and 1908 respectively, and how many have been referred by the justices in 1909?

The figures for the years 1905 to 1903 are given in the Annual Volumes of Licensing Statistics (see volume for 1909, page 6). They are as follows:—

1905	…	…	…	…	194
1906	…	…	…	…	892
1907	…	…	…	…	1,735
1908	…	…	…	…	1,235

The figures of references for 1909 are not in my possession. I do not collect them till the end of the year, when the number of extinctions can also be ascertained.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he has any official information showing that certain American firms have formed a syndicate with the object of obtaining control of the meat supply from Argentina; whether he will make inquiry from the Argentine Government with respect to this matter; and whether it is intended to take any action thereon?

I have no information with regard to the formation of any syndicate for the purpose referred to. His Majesty's representative at Buenos Aires has been instructed to report on any developments in the direction of the acquisition of existing, or the erection of new, freezing plants by foreigners in the Argentine Republic. So far as I am aware there have been no such developments since the issue of the Report of the Departmental Committee on Combinations in the Meat Trade.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been called to the accident which occurred on the City and South London Railway, at the Oval Station, on Bank Holiday; whether he is aware that some passengers were injured through the falling of the lift, caused by the bursting of a small water pipe, and that had the lift not been near the ground the accident might have been more serious; and will the Board make inquiries with a view to some sufficient safeguard being applied to lifts in order to prevent the possibility of such accidents?

An inquiry has been held into the causes of this accident by one of the Board's inspecting officers, and his report will be published in due course.

asked the Lord Advocate whether he can state how many persons are at present suffering imprisonment in Scotland for contempt of court, together with the names of the judges who committed them, the duration of the terms of imprisonment, the names of the persons imprisoned, and the charges upon which their imprisonment is based?

The particulars desired by the hon. Member are as follows:—

RETURN OF CONTEMPT OF COURT PRISONERS IN CUSTODY AT MIDNIGHT ON 2ND AUGUST, 1909.
Name.		Charge upon which imprisonment is based.	Name of Committing Judge and Court.	Date of Sentence.	Duration of Sentence of Imprisonment.
Inverness Prison.
Malcolm Morrison	…	Breach of Interdict	The Sheriff Substitute, Sheriff Court, Stornoway	28th July, 1909	£3 5s. or 21 days each
Kenneth McLeod ("John").	…
Kenneth McLeod ("Angus")	…
Stornoway Prison.
Donald Murray	…	Breach of Interdict and Contempt of Court	The Sheriff Substitute, Sheriff Court, Stornoway	28th July, 1909	£3 5s. or 21 days
Donald MacLeod ("Malcolm")	…
Murdo MacLeod ("Peter.")	…

asked the President of the Board of Education whether his attention had been called to the case of a Willesden pupil teacher whose father has a conscientious objection to vaccination and who has been trained in the Middlesex County Council College without vaccination being imposed upon him; whether he is aware that this young man's

I am not aware of the case referred to. I may point out, however, that although the Board of Education do not require as a condition of their recognition that teachers should be vaccinated in cases where they have made a declaration of conscientious objection to vaccination, it is open to local education authorities to make vaccination a condition of appointment. I would suggest that the teacher in question should endeavour to obtain an appointment under an authority where this condition is not laid down.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his attention has been drawn to the right of appeal to the General Commissioners of a district concerning the imposition of the Income Tax, which has been availed of and has givengeneral satisfaction ever since its inauguration in 1798, and—its confirmation in 1842; and whether he can see his way to grant the same right of appeal concerning the proposed imposition of the Super-tax under Clause 47 of the Finance Bill?

I may perhaps point out to my hon. Friend that the analogy suggested in the question in respect of machinery between the Income Tax and the Super-tax proposed in the Finance Bill is apparent rather than real. The right of appeal to District Commissioners against Income Tax assessments is necessary and valuable in view of their local knowledge, but this is not required in the case of assessments for Super-tax, which will consist in grouping and marshalling assessments which have already been made, the total income of an individual for the purposes of Super-tax being (in accordance with the provisions of Clause 47 (2) the total income of the individual from all sources for the previous year estimated in the same manner as for the purposes of exemption or abatements under the Income Tax Acts. Persons liable to Super-tax will, in the great majority of cases, be persons possessed of interests in several localities, and, in such cases, an appeal to the District Commissioners could only be an appeal to the appropriate Commissioners in respect of each local item of income, thus involving great inconvenience and delay both to the public and the Administration. I regret, therefore, that I am unable to accept my hon. Friend's suggestion.