asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he can now place upon the Paper his Amendments in reference to the Stamp Duties?

My right hon. Friend's Amendments were placed on the Paper on Friday.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will give the number of licensed houses in England and Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and the county of London rated at and under £30 a year, the number between £30 and £50, and the number above £50?

I assume that by "licenced houses" my hon. Friend re- fers to public-houses. It is not possible to arrange public-houses exactly in the valuation groups mentioned in the question, but probably the following approximate figures, which relate to the year 1907–8, will serve his purpose:—

asked the hon. Member for South Somerset, as representing the President of the Board of Agriculture, if he can state whether Smithells Common, near Bolton, Lancashire, was inclosed prior to the passing of the In-closures Act, 1845; if not, whether he can give the date of the local Act or Provisional Order sanctioning the inclosing of this common; and whether the provisions of Sections 25 and 26 of the 1815 Act were complied with?

No inclosure of the Common mentioned has been authorised under the Inclosure Acts, and the Board are not aware of any local Act or Provisional Order affecting it.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether, as stated in their letter to him, the Midland Great Western Railway Company are unable to construct a goods siding at Drumhamagh owing to the objections of the Board of Trade that the gradient is too steep at that part; and, if so, will he consider the advisability of remedying this by a small outlay on banking and changing the present gradient of the line?

The Board of Trade do not appear to have been consulted by the company respecting the siding referred to, but they would necessarily have regard to conditions of safety if approached on the subject. It is for the railway company to consider the advisability of the works suggested and a copy of the hon. Member's question has been sent to them for their information.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he has communicated with Lloyd's in reference to the cases of the ss. "Derwent" and the Dun-doe steamer "Ruby," both of which were classed as 100A1, though in so unseaworthy a condition that they were detained by the Board of Trade's officers, the ss. "Derwent" having defective hull, machinery, and equipment, and the ss. "Ruby," which was subsequently broken up, being found to have a defective hull; and, if communications have been made, whether he can state the nature of the answers?

No official communication was sent to Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping in these cases. I am informed that the "Derwent" was due for her periodical survey by Lloyd's Register, and, after being detained at Cardiff in December, 1908, she was temporarily repaired and allowed to proceed to Appledore for completion of repairs under Lloyd's survey. At that port the whole of the requirements of Lloyd's periodical survey was completed, and her class continued. The "Ruby" was laid up in the Tyne awaiting her periodical survey by Lloyd's Register. She came under survey on 22nd January, 1909, and, after partial examination, the owner decided not to repair the vessel. She was detained in June last at South Shields, but on being temporarily repaired was allowed to be towed to Sunderland, where she was subsequently broken up.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that a sounding-bell has been placed at the head of the Admiralty Pier, Holyhead, and electric bells are about to be placed on the North Stack gun-signalling station which will be kept ringing continuously; and whether, as Rosslare is the first harbour encountered by the up-channel vessels, he will consider the advisability of providing Rosslare with a similar apparatus, which would be of benefit to vessels fitted with the submarine signalling arrangement?

I am aware that a submarine fog bell has been placed at the head of the mail jetty at Holyhead, and that a submarine ground bell is to be placed as an experiment off the North Slack during next month. The cost of these will be borne by the London and North-Western Railway Company, and the Holyhead bell is only sounded during fog when the mail steamers belonging to that company and to the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company are expected. As regards Rosslare, the only vessels likely to be fitted with submarine signalling apparatus utilising this harbour are those belonging to the Great Western Railway Company, and I do not think, therefore, that the cost of fitting the apparatus at Rosslare would be a reasonable charge on the General Lighthouse Fund.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether his attention has been called to the case of Mr. Bushell, who, after completing 43 years' service in the Ordnance Survey, was awarded a reduced pension in June last owing to an adverse report by the Director-General; whether Mr. Bushell had already been punished for the fault complained of by the Director-General by having his rate of pay reduced; whether the full amount of pension is based on the average rate of pay of the last three years; and, if so, whether, seeing that the result of now granting a reduced pension is that Mr. Bushell is punished twice over for one fault, if any miscarriage of justice has taken place, he will issue orders to have the matter rectified?

The answer to the first paragraph of my hon. Friend's question is in the affirmative. Mr. Bushell's pay was reduced on four occasions for bad work. It was, however, subsequently increased, and his average rate of pay for the last three years on which his pension was calculated was considerably in excess of the amounts to which his pay had been reduced. As it could not be certified without qualification that Mr. Bushell had served with diligence and fidelity to the satisfaction of his head officer, the Treasury was debarred by the provisions of Section 8 of the Superannuation Act, 1859, from awarding the full amount of pension, and I do not consider that the deduction made from that amount was in any way excessive.