asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether it is the intention of Clause 10, Section (2), of the Finance Bill that land built upon for agricultural purposes, as, for instance, glass-houses, shall be free from the Undeveloped Land Duty?

I regret that I cannot add anything to the reply which I gave to my hon. Friend's question yesterday on the subject of glass-houses and the Undeveloped Land Duty.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether, when the 1s. Import Duty on corn was repealed in 1903, any refund was made of duty paid on imported corn; and, if so, to whom was it made; and what was the total amount refunded?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. Duty was repaid to those persons who, on 30th June, 1903, had in their stock or possession grain or other articles liable to the Corn Duty on which it was proved that duty had been paid. The total amount of duty repaid was £362,389 1s. 8d.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury if he can state the number of assistant clerks and of boy clerks actually employed in the Civil Service Departments on 1st July, 1908; and the number of assistant clerks and of boy clerks who have been employed as a result of the scheme recently adopted for these grades?

The number of assistant clerks employed in public Departments on the date mentioned was approximately 1,830. Since that date arrangements have been made with various public Departments for the substitution of one hundred additional assistant clerkships for 145 boy clerkships to be abolished. Effect is being given to this arrangement gradually as opportunity occurs.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been called to the decision of the Nottingham Watch Committee giving one day's rest in seven to the Nottingham policemen; and whether he can now see his way clear to grant one day's rest in seven to all Metropolitan police without making any distinction as to length of service?

I have no information as to the decision of the Nottingham Watch Committee to which the hon. Member refers. As regards the Metropolitan Police, I have already stated that full effect will be given to the decision of His Majesty's Government as soon as the necessary augmentation is complete, which will probably be in about four years' time. Meanwhile, the privilege will be extended as rapidly as the increasing strength of the Force permits.

asked the Home Secretary whether his attention has been called to the sentence of three months' imprisonment passed at the Guildhall on Saturday, 25th September, upon Harry Taherman, a native of Russian Poland, for stealing a purse from a lady as she was entering an omnibus in Old Broad-street, E.C.; if he is aware that the prisoner declared on oath that he picked the purse up in the street, when he was surrounded by an excited crowd and was taken into custody by a policeman, and, in consequence of the magistrate recommending his deportation, the prisoner declared that he was a deserter from the Russian army and, if sent back, would be shot; and if he intends taking action in the matter.

I have received the recommendation of the court in the case referred to by the hon. Member, and am proceeding, as usual, to make thorough inquiries before deciding whether to act on it and make an expulsion order. For the present I can only say that statements such as are said to have been made by this alien are very frequently made by alien criminals, and that in most cases no foundation can be found for them except the alien's desire to remain in this country.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what are the various subjects on which new or additional taxation has been imposed by the German Government this year; what is the estimated annual yield of these taxes as regards each of these subjects respectively; and what is the estimated annual yield of these taxes in the aggregate?

The estimated annual yield of new or additional taxation in Germany is as follows:—

Tea and coffee	£1,850,000
Beer	5,000,000
Tobacco	2,150,000
Spirits	4,000,000
Sparkling wine	250,000
Matches	1,250,000
Lighting appliances	1,000,000
Land transfer	2,000,000
Stamps on bills of exchange and on cheques	975,000
Stamps on securities	1,125,000
Coupon tax	1,375,000
Sugar	1,750,000
Passenger tickets	1,000,000
Total estimated annual yield	£23,725,000

which will be made up to £25,000,000 by contributions from the separate States.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland, if, to illustrate the effect of the Irish Land Bill, as amended, he will state the amount of principal, interest, and total payments, respectively, to be made under it in the full term of 68½ years by a tenant purchaser of a holding rented at £100 yearly purchasing at the average price of tenanted land in Ireland since 1903; and append, from the accounts of the Irish Land Commission, a list of all the closed tenant-purchase transactions under the Acts prior to that of 1903, in which the holdings are no longer liable to purchase annuities, showing in each case the yearly rent prior to the purchase, the number of years' purchase of rent, the price, the amount of interest paid on the advance, and the total payment in respect of the purchase, including guarantee deposit where paid and not refunded?

The reply given by my hon. Friend the Secretary to the Treasury to a question asked by the hon. Member for Mid-Armagh on the 22nd April last states that an advance of £100 would be repaid by half-yearly instalments of sinking fund at the rate of 10s. per annum, accumulating at 3 per cent. interest in 65½ years. The total payments which would be made during that period by a tenant purchaser paying an annuity of 3½ per cent., as contemplated by the Irish Land Bill on an advance of £100, would be £229 5s., of which £32 15s. would be for principal and the remainder for interest. The list asked for in the concluding portion of the question could not be prepared without imposing undue labour on the staff of the Land Commission and retarding their ordinary work.

asked the Chief Secretary if he will say in how many of the 3,731 cases in which the Estates Commissioners refused advances under the Land Act of 1903 to the 31st March, 1909, on the ground of insufficient security, were the rents judicial; the percentage these cases are of the entire number of sales under that Act; the average number of years' purchase paid under that Act; the number of refusals on the same ground in cases of judicial tenants under all the previous Land Purchase Acts; the percentage these cases are of the entire number of sales under those Acts; and the average number of years' purchase paid under those Acts?

The statistics of the Estates Commissioners and the Land Commission do not give the information asked for respecting applications for advances under the Land Purchase Acts, 1885–1903, which have been refused. Information as to the number of years' purchase in cases where advances have been made under those Acts is given by counties and provinces in the Appendices to the Reports of the Land Commission and the Estates Commissioners.

asked the Chief Secretary whether, in the case of purchase agreements being entered into under the Land Act of 1903 and duly lodged with the other necessary documents with the Estates Commissioners before the passing of the present Land Bill into law, and in case the date of the passing of the Act should be substituted for 15th September as the date up to which pending purchase agreements may be lodged, the vendor will be entitled to a bonus under the graduated scale in the Bill if the same is passed unamended and the tenants will be liable to an annuity of only 3¼ per cent.?

The answer is in the affirmative. If the date of the passing of the Act were substituted for 15th September for the purpose indicated in the question, agreements lodged after 15th September and before the passing of the Act would be carried out on the basis of 3¼ per cent. annuities, and this alteration would not affect the bonus rate.

asked the Chief Secretary whether the Estates Commissioners have received an application from Carey Joyce for reinstatement in a holding on the estate of Colonel Cooke, Collis, county Cork, from which he has been evicted; and, if difficulty should arise in his reinstatement, whether the Commissioners would consider his application for an allotment of untenanted land in the neighbourhood of the estate or elsewhere, seeing that Joyce is fully capable of working an allotment with advantage?

The Estates Commissioners have received an application from Carey Joyce, who states that he was evicted in May, 1906, from a holding on the Cooke Collis estate. The case does not come within the Evicted Tenants Act. It will be considered when the estate is being dealt with under the Irish Land Act, 1903.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he is aware that, in the case of Martin Noone, the Roscommon pensions sub-committee having granted him a pension of 5s. per week, there was an appeal by the pensions officer on the ground of income, and notwithstanding that the pensions officer who investigated the case allowed 3s. per week, the Local Government Board disallowed the claim entirely; and whether, in face of the facts as reported by the pensions officer, the Local Government Board will reconsider the case and grant the amount approved by that official?

The facts are as stated in the question. The Local Government Board considered that Noone's means derived from his farm exceeded £31 10s. a year, and accordingly disallowed his claim. It is not open to them to reconsider the case.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he is aware that in the case of John Casey, an applicant for an old age pension, the Roscommon pensions sub-committee granted a full pension, and that, upon appeal to the Local Government Board by the pensions officer on the ground of age, the Local Government Board was satisfied as to the evidence of age, but reduced the pension to 2s. per week, notwithstanding that the committee and the pensions officer were both fully satisfied that the applicant's income from all sources was much below the statutory amount; and whether, in face of these facts, the Local Government Board will reconsider its decision?

The facts are as stated in the question, except that the Local Government Board are not aware that the pension officer was fully satisfied that the pensioner's income was much below the statutory limit. The Board reduced the amount of pension from 5s. to 2s. a week, as they calculated that Casey's means were more than £26 5s. per annum. It is not open to them to reconsider their decision.

asked the Chief Secretary on what grounds the application of Miss Bridget Stokes, of Gurtavalla, Doon, county Limerick, for a pension under the Old Age Pensions Act was rejected; and whether the rejection was due to the local pension committee having received an anonymous letter stating that the woman had a yearly income, which is absolutely false, and that the Local Government Board upheld the pension committee's decision on the same information?

The ground upon which the Committee originally rejected this claim was that they considered the maintenance of Miss Stokes upon her nephew's farm to be worth more than £31 10s. a year. The Local Government Board upheld this decision, but had no knowledge of any anonymous communication.

asked the Chief Secretary if he can say whether proceedings for the sale of the estate of the Knight of Glin, situate at Glin, in the county of Limerick, to his tenants are taking place under Section 6 of The Land Act, 1903, or by direct sale between the landlord and the tenants; and whether, before the sale is completed, the Estates Commissioners will make inquiry into the position of those tenants on the estate who have refused to sign purchase agreements on the ground that the price is too high?

The Estates Commissioners inform me that the owner has instituted proceedings to sell this estate direct to the tenants under the Irish Land Act, 1903. When the estate is being inspected in order of priority inquiry will be made as to the cases of any tenants who may not have signed purchase agreements.

asked the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland) whether, in view of the dissatisfaction among Irish creameries in regard to the manner in which creamery instructors are at present appointed, the Department will reconsider the question of making these appointments by competitive examination; is he aware that similar positions, such as dairy supervisorships in the Australasian Colonies, are filled in that way; and will he state what objections the Department have to making such appointments by competitive examination?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the negative. The Department have no information as to the method followed by the Australian Colonies in connection with this matter. As already stated in reply to the hon. Member's question of 13th May last, the Department do not propose to alter their present arrangements.

also asked the Vice-President what is the present annual expenditure of his Department in connection with their schemes in relation to creameries; and what is the present annual expenditure through county committees in connection with home butter-making?

The amounts allocated for the year 1908–9 are £5,500 and £3,424 respectively. The latter figure includes the contribution from the local rates. It is not possible at present to give the actual expenditure in respect of these allocations, as the agricultural year has not yet terminated.

asked the Vice-President whether he is aware that Mr. Wilkinson, creamery instructor in dairying under the Department, wrote a private letter on 3rd April to the Reverend President of the Drumshambo Creamery containing a statement that it cost 3s. per cwt. more to make unsalted than salted butter, and that the Department wrote to the Drumshambo Creamery on 17th May, stating that the cost of making salted and unsalted butter was practically the same; will he say what explanation Mr. Wilkinson has given the Drumshambo Creamery for the mis-statement he has made; and whether he will discontinue the system of private reports?

The facts are substantially as stated in the first part of the question. I understand that the point at issue is one upon which experts are not wholly agreed, and that a series of experiments would be necessary to determine it at any particular creamery. Mr. Wilkinson furnished the president of the society on 17th July last with a supplementary report, which contained particulars of the data on which he based his previous statement, and recommended that experiments to test the matter should be carried out by the creamery in question. Since that no further communication has been received from the society on the matter. I see no reason to make any change of the kind suggested in the concluding part of the question.

asked the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland) how many cases of glanders have been reported in each year in Ireland from 1890 to 1908; and what measures have been taken with a view to eradicate the disease?

Particulars as to the outbreaks of glanders reported in each year in Ireland from 1890 inclusive are contained in a table which I shall be glad to hand to my hon. Friend. The last outbreak of the disease occurred in November, 1907. The measures taken to eradicate glanders in Ireland were such as are prescribed in the existing Glanders (Ireland) Order, the administration of which devolves on the Department, as the central authority, in conjunction with the local authorities, under the Diseases of Animals Act, namely, the county councils. From 1906, inclusive, special measures for regulating the importation of horses into Ireland have also been enforced, and the continued freedom from the disease may be largely attributed thereto.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether the submerged rock which caused the damage to H.M.S. "Hannibal" was marked on the chart; and, if not, what steps have been taken to prevent a similar mishap occurring?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the negative. The necessary notice to mariners to guard against a similar mishap has been issued.

asked the President of the Board of Education what has been the annual increase in the administrative cost of his Department during each of the financial years 1906–7, 1907–8, 1908–9, and 1909–10; and what number of" persons has been added to the staff in each of these years?

I am not sure what the hon. Member would desire should be included in the term "administrative cost," but taking as a basis the expenditure comprised in sub-heads A, B, H1 and 3, I 1 to 7, and 12, K1, L1 and 2 and 6, M, N2, and deducting appropriations in aid, the expenditure is as follows:—

—			Total.	Increase+ Decrease- on previous year.
1906–7	…	…	£498,973	-£2,303
1907–8	…	…	£507,805	+£8,832
1908–9	…	…	£516,571	+£8,766

The year 1909–10 is not yet completed, and no figures of net expenditure can be given. The greater portion of the increase in cost is, of course, due to automatic increments to salaries.In 1906–7 there was a decrease in the permanent staff of the Board of three.In 1907–8 there was an increase of 80.In 1908–9 there was an increase of 11.

asked the number of students who satisfactorily completed their course of training in the year ending 31st July, 1908, and how many of this number had not obtained employment by 1st July, 1909; and also the number concerning whom no information is available?

A return will be issued shortly giving such information as the Board have been able to obtain with regard to this matter.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he can state the number of non-provided schools of the Church of England, Roman Catholic, and other denominations in England and Wales which have been closed during 1907, 1908, and the first six months of 1909, because structural defects have not been remedied, and the number of schools which are threatened with the same treatment?

The following statement shows the number of schools in England and Wales which have been closed during the periods stated:—

	1907.		1968.		First 6 m'nths of 1909.
	England.	Wales	England.	Wales	England.	Wales
Church of England	61	5	56	6	26	5
Roman Catholic	1	1	5	—	1	—
Other denominations	24	—	18	5	14	1
Total	86	6	79	11	41	6

It is not possible to say in how many cases the closure was due to requirements as to structural alterations not having been complied with. Nor am I able to say how many schools are threatened with closure for the same reason. In the majority of cases the Board's requirements are duly carried out.