Written Answers
Telegraph Department (India)
asked the Under-Secretary of State for India when a decision may be expected on the proposals of the Government of India for improving the position of members of the telegraph department?
The proposals of the Government of India have been received by the Secretary of State, and are at present under his consideration.
Post Offices (Season Assistants)
asked the Postmaster-General if he has given instructions that persons may be trained to act as season assistants and as full-time assistants at salaried sub-offices; whether post- masters have been informed that no wages must be paid to those persons, however efficient they may be, until they are actually appointed as assistants; and, if so, whether, in view of the fact that this is a direct encouragement of cheap labour, he can see his way to withdraw the instructions?
I have recently authorised the trial of a scheme for training persons to act as assistants in order to relieve the season pressure. There is great difficulty at present in obtaining a sufficient number of persons for such relief and to prevent overtime. The persons in question will receive facilities for learning, and as soon as they do any useful work they will receive payment, and when they are qualified and employed the usual rates will be paid. I am inquiring whether the wording of the instructions to the postmasters has given rise to any misunderstanding in regard to the matter. There is no question of encouraging the use of cheap labour in the scheme.
Post Office Courtesy (Ireland)
asked the Postmaster-General if he can state the number of complaints made by the public as regards incivility by the staff at the post office counters throughout Ireland; and how many of these, on inquiry, were found to be justified?
I am glad to think it is generally admitted that the large majority of the staff in Ireland, as well as elsewhere, act with courtesy and consideration towards the public. No advantage would be gained by compiling the information asked for.
Dublin Post Offices (Medical Inspection)
asked the Postmaster-General if he can say how often the medical officer at Dublin has inspected the General Post Office and the various branch offices within the past 12 months; when did he last inspect Portobello Bridge and James's-street branch offices; and can it be stated on how many occasions he was absent from his office in the General Post Office since 1st January last?
The medical officer to the Post Office in Dublin has inspected the head office and each of the branch offices (including the two specifically referred to by the hon. Member) on several occasions within the past 12 months. No record is kept of the dates on which the medical officer does not attend personally at the head office. The medical officer attends regularly at this office, except when on leave or on the rare occasions when special circumstances necessitate his absence.
Dublin Telegraph Office
asked the Postmaster-General if he is aware that on the 1st ultimo considerable delay was caused to Admiralty telegrams in the Dublin telegraph office by the inability of the sorting office authorities to correctly read the context of a message; is he aware that wrong instructions were issued to the telegraph office on the authority of a junior sorting clerk and telegraphist of scarcely two years' service; and will he say if it is the practice in the Dublin sorting office for Service messages to be signed by junior members of the rank and file?
I have made inquiry in the matter, and do not find that the alleged delay took place. Routine Service messages are sometimes initialled by a junior officer on behalf of his chief at Dublin, as elsewhere.
Civil Service (Women Clerkships)
asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether he is aware that owing to the postponement of the examination for women clerkships numerous candidates who would have been eligible in June will be over the age limit in October; and, having regard to the time and money spent by them in preparation, whether special provision will be made?
The holding of open competitive examinations for situations in the Civil Service depends upon the needs of the public service. The fact that no examination for women clerkships in the Post Office was needed in the spring of 1909 is not a sufficient reason for altering the limits of age for the examination to be held in the autumn.
Customs Service (Assistant Clerks)
asked the Secretary to the Treasury if he will state the reason why assistant clerks of the new class in the Long Room of His Majesty's Customs, London, are given preference for promotion to the next higher class, namely, lower section clerkships, over the senior abstractors serving in the same Department; and whether, in view of the fact that the senior abstractors are employed on the more responsible seats, he will see that in any future promotions due regard will be given to their longer service and departmental experience?
I beg to refer the hon. and gallant Member to the answer which I gave to the hon. Member for the St. Patrick's Division of Dublin on 31st March last to an almost precisely similar question.
Irish Land Bill
asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether it is intended by Section (2) of Clause 3 of the Irish Land Bill that if the market price of the 2¾ per cent. Stock on the day of issue is not below £92, the vendor will obtain an amount of stock equivalent, if sold for cash at the price of the day of issue, to the full purchase money; and whether, if the stock is below the price of £92 on the day of issue, the vendor will obtain £l,086 19s. stock for every £1,000 of purchase money?
The answer to both parts of the question is in the affirmative.
Imperial Taxation (Irish Contribution)
asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether he can state what amount towards the Imperial taxation was drawn from Ireland in the year the Financial Relations Commission was sitting; what was the population of Ireland at that period; what amount Ireland contributed last year towards Imperial taxation; and what was the estimated population of Ireland last year?
The amount of Imperial taxation contributed by Ireland (on the basis of calculation adopted in the Financial Relation Returns) in 1895–6 was £8,034,384, and the estimated population of Ireland in the middle of the calendar year 1895 was 4,559,936. The Irish contribution to Imperial revenue in 1908–9 was £9,250,500, and the estimated population in the middle of last year was 4,363,351. The corresponding figures for the rest of the United Kingdom are:—
| 1895–6.—Imperial Taxation. | ||
| England and Wales | … | £88,303,211 |
| Scotland | … | £11,435,320 |
| Great Britain | … | £99,738,601 |
| 1895.—Population. | ||
| England and Wales | … | 30,451,528 |
| Scotland | … | 4,209,645 |
| Great Britain | … | 34,661,173 |
| 1908–9.—Imperial Taxation. | ||
| England and Wales | … | £123,243,000 |
| Scotland | … | £16,037,500 |
| Great Britain | … | £139,280,500 |
| 1908.—Population. | ||
| England and Wales | … | 35,348,780 |
| Scotland | … | 4,826,587 |
| Great Britain | … | 40,175,367 |
Finance Bill
Duty Paid On Spirits (Scotland)
asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the amount of duty paid on spirits taken out of bond in Scotland in each of the months of May, June, and July of last year; and what amount was paid in the corresponding months of this year?
The amount of duty paid on spirits in Scotland in the months of May, June, and July in the years 1908 and 1909 was:—
| 1908. | 1909. | |||
| £ | £ | |||
| May | … | 602,000 | … | 144,000 |
| June | … | 527,000 | … | 238,000 |
| July | … | 585,000 | … | 439,000 |
Duty Paid On Beer (Ireland)
asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what amount of duty was paid on beer in Great Britain and Ireland in the months of May, June, and July of last year respectively; and what amount was paid in the corresponding months of this year?
The amount of duty paid on beer in Great Britain and Ireland in the months of May, June, and July respectively in the years 1908 and 1909 was:—
| 1908. | 1909. | |||
| £ | £ | |||
| May | … | … | 1,056,000 | 1,058,000 |
| June | … | … | 1,084,000 | 1,088,000 |
| July | … | … | 1,116,000 | 1,125,000 |
Duty Paid On Spirits (Ireland)
asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what amount of money was received for spirits taken out of bond in Ireland in the months of June and July, 1908, respectively, and the amount received in each of the corresponding months of this year?
The amount of duty paid on spirits in Ireland in the months of June and July respectively in the years 1908 and 1909 was:—
| 1908. | 1909. | |||
| £ | £ | |||
| June | … | 278,000 | … | 124,000 |
| July | … | 297,000 | … | 199,000 |
Income Tax On Land
asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he proposes to communicate to the House of Commons the form in which he proposes to grant the promised readjustment of Schedules A and D in respect of Income Tax on land?
I think it would be premature for me to make any statement on this or other Income Tax questions until the Income Tax Clauses of the Finance Bill are reached.
Development Grant Proposals
asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the intention of the Government as to the Development Grant Bill of the present Session; and whether, in addition to proposals as to roads, it is to contain detailed proposals in relation to agriculture and to schools of forestry?
I hope shortly to introduce a Bill dealing with the Development Grants and the funds provided in the Finance Bill for construction and improvement of motor roads. Provisions will be included in the Bill for grants or advances to be made in relation to both agriculture and forestry.
Typhoid Carriers (Millbank Hospital Treatment)
asked the Secretary of State for War whether he will state what is the nature of the later treatment to which the soldiers treated at Millbank Hospital as typhoid carriers, on whom experimental methods with antityphoid injections were made, have been submitted; and whether he will lay upon the Table Papers showing the results obtained by the various methods employed in these cases, in continuation of (Cd. 4609)?
The later treatment alluded to consists in treating the urinary cases with sodium benzoate and acid sodium phosphate. X-ray treatment is being tried in one of the intestinal cases with marked gall bladder symptoms. It is yet too early to speak of results, but I shall be prepared to lay Papers on the subject at a later period.
Territorial Force (Long Service Decoration)
asked the Secretary of State for War if he will consider the possibility of allowing past Militia and Regular service to count towards the twenty years necessary to qualify for the long-service decoration granted to officers in the Territorial Forces?
Past Regular and Militia service was not permitted to reckon towards the long-service decoration for volunteer officers, and there does not appear to be any good reason for allowing such service to reckon in the case of Territorial officers.
Mussel Culture (Irish Coast)
asked the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland) whether any expert inspection has yet been made of that portion of the channel between Reenard and Portmagee to which his attention has already been drawn as eminently suitable for the cultivation of edible mussels; and, if so, what has been the result?
Expert inspection has been made of part of the area mentioned, but not westward of Lough Mask in the direction of Portmagee. Lough Mask and the neighbouring parts of the shore have been found to be quite unsuitable for mussel culture. An inspection of the remainder of the area will be made within the present month.
Pier, Cooscroum, County Kerry
asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether the Congested Districts Board proposes to improve the facilities for landing fish at Cooscroum, county Kerry; and can he state when the work will be put in hand?
The Congested Districts Board propose to contract with the County Kerry County Council for the construction of a pier at Cooscroum. The work cannot, however, be commenced until a conveyance of the site of the pier to the county council has been executed. It is understood that the solicitor to the county council has this matter in hand, and the Board are awaiting a notification from the council that the necessary preliminaries have been settled, and that the work may be started.
Workmen's Dwellings (Tralee Rural District Council)
asked the Chief Secretary whether the Local Government Board made any inquiries respecting the qualifications of Messrs. Cahill and M'Carthy, who were appointed as clerks of the works to superintend the erection of workmen's dwellings by the Tralee Rural District Council; whether he is aware that the council's engineer described these men as incompetent and protested against their appointment; and whether he is satisfied that they possess the qualifications required by Section 27 of the Labourers (Ireland) Act, 1907?
The Local Government Board were satisfied from testimonials and other documentary evidence furnished to them that these men, who are to be under the direction and control of the councils engineer, have sufficient knowledge and experience to act as clerks of works as required by the Act.
Weeds And Agricultural Seeds (Ireland) Bill
asked the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland) whether, on the second reading of the Weeds and Agricultural Seeds (Ireland) Bill, he will accept an Instruction to the Committee to extend the scope of the Bill to the United Kingdom?
The Bill in question has been drafted to meet the special conditions of agriculture in Ireland, and it would appear from the answer given on behalf of the President of the Board of Agriculture to the question of the hon. Member for South Buckinghamshire that the Bill could not be extended to England and Wales without considerable modifications; and I have also learned that it would be opposed. My only hope of getting the Bill passed during the present Session lies in the fact that so far as Irish Members are concerned it is unopposed.
Berkhamsted Grammar School
asked the President of the Board of Education what are the sufficient grounds on which the Board of Education have reduced the proportion of free places in Berkhamsted Grammar School?
The Board have allowed a percentage of free places under Article 20 of the Regulations for Secondary Schools, smaller than the percentage of 25 normally required under that Article, to be offered in the case of this school principally on the grounds of the financial circumstances of the school and the comparatively large proportion of boarders in attendance.
asked the President of the Board of Education whether Berkhamsted School is the only place of higher education available for boys of the elementary school class in Berkhamsted and the adjacent towns and villages, comprising a population of 40,000; what is the present number of such scholars attending the school, and what number of applicants of this class have been refused admission during the last school year; and whether, seeing that the scheme under which the school is governed provides that if there is not room in the school for all boys found fit for admission, preference shall be given to the children of inhabitants of Berkhamsted, he will say whether the Board of Education is satisfied that this rule is being obeyed?
The Berkhamsted Grammar School is the only school recognised under the Board's Regulations for secondary schools which is conveniently available for boys resident in Berkhamsted and the immediate neighbourhood. The number of pupils in attendance at the school during the school year 1908–9 who had during the two years preceding their admission been in attendance at public elementary schools was 28. I do not know whether any applicants of this class have been refused admission during the last school year. The Board have no grounds for supposing that the provisions of the scheme regulating the admission of boys to the school are not being fully complied with.