asked the Postmaster-General what is the reason of the delay in the issue of his Report for the year ended 31st December, 1908, and when may its appearance be expected?

The Report, which is for the year ended 31st March last, is now in the hands of the printer, and will, I hope, be issued in the course of a few days.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether, in view of the contemplated addition to the number of men employed at the Government dockyard works at Rosyth next March of 2,000, he will take the necessary steps to secure proper hospital accommodation on the spot, to prevent wounded men being carried 3½ miles to a hospital in which the room is limited, and in which arrangements, in the event of an accident to several men, would prove inadequate?

The care of the men employed at the dockyard works at Rosyth is entirely in the hands of the contractors, and the Admiralty have no authority in the matter.

asked the Attorney-General whether he or the Director of Public Prosecutions would, if furnished with particulars, take any action with reference to an electoral convention held in a constituency immediately before a Parliamentary election there, like that which invalidated the Bristol election in 1870, constituted and conducted corruptly and under undue influence, claiming to determine, and in fact determining, which of a set of candidates should be elected to Parliament, and practically depriving the electors of their right of exercising the franchise under the protection of the ballot, and sending to Parliament a nominee of a corrupt clique?

The hon. Member's question is extremely hypothetical. I am not able to say whether I should take action in any case until the actual facts of that case are placed fully before me. If the hon. Member will furnish me with the particulars to which he refers, I will consider whether or not they disclose adequate grounds for the institution of legal proceedings.

asked the Attorney General for Ireland, whether his attention has been drawn to the decision of the magistrates at the Caledon Petty Sessions, county Tyrone, on October 8th instant, dismissing without prejudice a summons brought, under Section 4, Sub-section 2, of the Irish Education Act, 1892, by the Dungannon rural district school attendance committee against Edward M'Mahon for non-compliance with an order previously made for the attendance at school of his child Ellen, on the alleged ground that a copy of the attendance order should have been served on the defendant prior to the issue of the further summons; and whether, seeing that the Act makes no provision for service of the attendance order, that the defaulting parent is presumed to know whether an order was or was not made, and that the expense of serving such orders on defaulting parents would add considerably to the rates, he proposes to take any action in the matter?

I understand that the facts are, as stated, in the first paragraph of the question. I have no power to interfere with the discretion of the magistrates in dismissing a case. It was open to the school attendance committee to ask the magistrates to state a case if the committee considered the decision was wrong in point of law.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland what was the cost, defrayed locally, of the extra forces of constabulary employed in the counties of Clare, Galway, King's County, Leitrim, Longford, Roscommon, Meath, Westmeath, and Sligo respectively in the twelve months ended on 30th September in each of the years 1905 to 1908, and in the six months ended 31st March, 1909?

The information applied for is as follows:—

asked the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland) whether the Department recently sent one of their apprentices from the Centenary

My right hon. Friend informs me that the apprentice referred to, who had not completed his training, left the Centenary Creamery without the Department's consent, and obtained the position at Rattoo, which he held only for a short period.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been called to the suicide at sea, on 15th July, 1909, of an Asiatic seaman named Mahomed Hasson, whilst serving on the steamer "Macedonia," of Belfast; whether any inquiry has been held into the matter; whether the seaman was medically examined before joining; how long he had served on the vessel; whether he bad had any previous sea service; whether he was on duty at the time; and whether any previous cases of suicide, supposed suicide, or disappearance have occurred on this vessel?

The Lascar Seaman Mahomed Hasson jumped overboard from the "Macedonia" three days after leaving Fremantle for Colombo. Inquiry washeld by the Principal Collector at Colombo and the Deputy-Superintendent of Mercantile Marine at Tilbury. The man had deserted from the "Mantua" at Fremantle, and had been sentenced to de- portation from the State after seven days' imprisonment. He was reported by the surgeon of the "Mantua" as being mentally deficient, but had shown no signs of suicidal mania. He was not on duty at the time of his disappearance, and had done no work on board the "Macedonia." No other case of suicide, supposed suicide, or disappearance has occurred in this vessel during the last three years.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been called to the suicide at sea, on 4th June, 1909, of an Asiatic seaman named Sk Ebram Sk Alle, whilst serving on the steamer "Locksley Hall," of Glasgow; whether any inquiry has been held into the matter; whether the seaman was medically examined before joining; how long he had served on the vessel; whether he had had any previous sea service; whether he was on duty at the time; and whether any previous cases of suicide, supposed suicide, or disappearance have occurred on this vessel?

The Asiatic firemen's cook referred to in the question disappeared from the "Locksley Hall" on the voyage from Bombay to Liverpool. Inquiry has been held by the Deputy Superintendent of Mercantile Marine at Liverpool. The man was medically examined before joining: he had been six days on board the "Locksley Hall" as cook, but had had previous service in another vessel as fireman. I cannot say whether he was

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he can give the numbers of those employed, according to the Census of 1901, in the following trades and industries: mining, coke works, shale-oil, cotton, woollen, tinplate, and iron and steel?

The Census Returns being based primarily on the occupation of the individual as declared by him on the Census Schedules, and not on the trade with which he is temporarily connected, do not enable accurate figures to be given of the numbers employed in particular trades in the Censal year. In the following statement an attempt has been made to group together so far as possible the principal occupations which fall under the headings asked for in the question. It will be evident from the above considerations that the figures below cannot be compared properly with those published in the recent preliminary returns under the Census of Production Act, which relate to the actual average numbers of workpeople of all occupations employed by occupiers of factories and mines engaged in the trades specified.