asked the Home Secretary if he will state the number of prisoners in local and convict prisons, respectively, who, in the twelve months ended 31st March, 1909, underwent corporal punishment; and if he will state with regard to each case the nature and extent of the punishment, the age of the prisoner, the main circumstances of the violence or mutiny, whether the prisoner had been previously in prison or penal servitude, and;, if so, how often; and, with respect to the cases in convict prisons, the division and class of the convict at the time of his offence?

Information as to corporal punishments inflicted in prison will be found in Appendix No. 7 of the Annual Report of the Prison Commissioners. Their Report for 1908–9 will, I hope, be published very shortly. I am afraid that I cannot undertake to furnish all the details of each individual case which my hon. Friend asks for, having regard to the amount of labour and time which would be involved in their collection.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he can state the annual charge to drivers and conductors of public carriages for police licences in London and also in the principal towns; and can he say whether in some towns owning their own trams there is no charge made to drivers and conductors?

The charge in London is 5s. I have no information as regards the charge made in the provinces.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will say how many males and females (other than persons convicted of homicide or attempted murder) are now serving in England and Wales sentences of penal servitude for terms exceeding 10 years; how many of these have now undergone penal servitude for a period longer than 10 years; and if he will say for what offences all such persons were so sentenced?

The following table gives the information:—

Offences for which sentenced. Number of persons (other than persons convicted of homicide or attempted murder) now serving in England and Wales, sentences of penal servitude for terms exceeding 10 years. Number of persons included in the preceding column who have now undergone penal servitude for a period longer than 10 years. Males. Females. Males. Females. Wounding and other acts endangering life (felonies) … … 12 — — — Endangering life at sea … … 1 — — — Possessing explosive substances with intent by means thereof to endanger life … … 1 — 1 — Procuring abortion … … 1 — — — Unnatural offences … … 3 — — — Rape … … 27 — 7 — Defilement of girls under 13 … … 14 — — — Bigamy … … 1 — — — Burglary … … 11 — — — Housebreaking … … 2 — — — Breaking into shops, warehouses, etc. … … 3 — — — Robbery and assaults with intent to rob … … 1 — — — Extortion by threats to accuse of crime … … 4 — 3 — Extortion by other threats … … 2 — — — Larceny of horses, cattle and sheep … … 1 — — — Receiving stolen goods … … 2 — 1 — Arson … … 2 — — — Forgery and uttering (felony) … … 4 — 1 — Coining … … 2 — — — Uttering or possessing counterfeit coin … … 2 — — — Total … … 96 — 13 —

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware that many of the accidents notified under the Factory and Workshop Acts are caused by the workpeople doing something which they have no right to do and which is not part of their duty; and whether, under the circumstances, he will have an additional

question placed on the Notice of Accident, after question 6, to ask whether the accident occurred in the actual performance of duty or not?

I beg leave to answer this question. Accidents, no doubt, do occur in the manner indicated in the question, but the questions in the form of notice already provide for a full statement of the circumstances of the accident, the occupier being required to report how the accident was caused, the usual employment of the injured man, and the precise occupation in which he was engaged at the time of the accident. The answer to the suggested question would in many cases be a matter of opinion, and perhaps of dispute; and I do not think any useful purpose would be served by including it in the notice.

asked the hon. Member for South Somerset, as representing the President of the Board of Agriculture, whether the recent Milk Order granting compensation will be withdrawn now that the Milk Bill is dropped?

The question of the postponement of the operation of the Tuberculosis Order of 1909, to which, no doubt, my hon. Friend refers, is, as I informed my hon. Friend the Member for the St. Patrick's Division of Dublin on 1st inst., under consideration.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he has now received the agreement of all parties concerned as to the proposals made for the heating and cleansing of schools, he will take immediate steps to secure the Treasury contribution, so that the schools can be heated and cleansed during next winter?

The hon. Member is mistaken in supposing that I have received an expression of the agreement of all parties in the proposals to which he refers. I am not, therefore, in a position at present to add anything to my reply to the question on the subject asked by the hon. Member for Carlow on 26th August. I am prepared, as I then stated, to give careful attention to any practical solution which has the general support of the school managers, but it must not be assumed that the Treasury as yet are in any way committed to the basis of negotiations.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he is now prepared to take any steps to amend the Compulsory School Attendance Act in Ireland, seeing that an arrangement has been made as to the questions of heating and cleansing schools on which an amending Act was stated to be contingent; whether representations for such an amending Act have been received from many educational authorities in Ireland; and whether, as practical unanimity exists as to the Amendments required, he proposes to take steps to introduce an amending Act this year?

I have already expressed my opinion that the questions of compulsory attendance and of the heating and cleansing of schools must go together, but the hon. Member is mistaken in supposing that an arrangement has yet been arrived at on the latter question. I am always prepared to consider any measure for the improvement of education in Ireland, but I do not see any possibility of legislation on the subject during the current Session.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if he will state the number of evicted tenants, including representatives of evicted tenants, noted by the Estates Commissioners as suitable for holdings, who remained unprovided with holdings at the end of August, 1909, in each county and in the whole of Ireland?

The following Return gives by counties the number of evicted tenants, or representatives of evicted tenants, who have been provisionally noted by the Estates Commissioners for consideration in the allotment of untenanted land:— County. Antrim 8 Armagh 7 Cavan 38 Donegal 19 Down 11 Fermanagh 60 Londonderry 7 Monaghan 21 Tyrone 39 Total for Ulster 210 Carlow 9 Dublin 7 Kildare 6 Kilkenny 9 King's 12 Longford 12 Louth 10 Meath 18 Queen's 51 Westmeath 5 Wexford 26 Wicklow 21 Total for Leinster 186 Galway 134 Leitrim 42 Mayo 54 Roscommon 10 Sligo 20 Total for Connaught 260 Clare 22 Cork 174 Kerry 129 Limerick 40 Tipperary 36 Waterford 76 Total for Munster 477 Total for Ireland 1,133

asked the Chief Secretary if he will state approximately the number of evicted tenants, including representatives of evicted tenants, in each county and in the whole of Ireland, whose claims are valid on the merits, and who, through no fault of their own but in consequence of eviction, have become, in the opinion of the Commissioners, unsuitable for holdings; whether their greater misfortune deprives them of all remedy; and, if not, what provision the Government proposes to make for them?

It is not possible to say how many applications lodged by persons seeking reinstatement as evicted tenants or the representatives of evicted tenants have been rejected by the Estates Commissioners in the exercise of the discretion vested in them, solely on the ground that the applicants were unsuited to work land.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland when will the Returns of local contributions to technical schemes, ordered five months ago, be available?

The Returns in question were laid on the Table of the House on 25tih August, and were ordered to the printed on the same day. They are now in the printers' hands, and I understand that they will be distributed in a day or two. I would remind the hon. Member that at the time the Returns were granted he was informed that they would take some time to prepare.

asked the Chief Secretary if he will state the number of tenanted holdings and their aggregate acreage sold in Westmeath, under the Land Act of 1903, to the end of August, 1909; similar particulars of tenanted holdings in that county in respect of which purchase agreements have been lodged, but the sales of which are not complete; similar approximate particulars of tenanted holdings in that county neither sold nor agreed to be sold; the number and aggregate acreage of new holdings formed from untenanted land in that county and allocated to purchasers to the same date; the amount of such land purchased but not yet divided; and the approximate amount of untenanted land, exclusive of demesnes, still remaining in that county?

Advances have been made by the Estates Commissioners under the Irish Land Act, 1903, for the purchase of 1,432 holdings in county Westmeath comprising 51,966 acres, and purchase agreements are pending in regard to 3,553 holdings comprising an estimated area of 103,350 acres. In the allotment of un- tenanted land in county Westmeath 42 new holdings have been created comprising 1,362 acres, 146 holdings have been enlarged by the addition of 2,797 acres, and 1,070 acres have been acquired, but have not yet been distributed. For the latest estimate of the number of holdings in the county which have not yet been purchased or agreed to be purchased I would refer the hon. Member to column 18 of the Return giving the results of proceedings under the Land Purchase Acts which was presented to Parliament in November last. The Commissioners are not in a position to give the information asked for in the concluding portion of the question.