asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, under the Finance Bill, a person succeeding under a will to a building estate will have to pay Death Duties on the full value of it, though he could only realise by sale the full value less the Increment Duty?

No, Sir. He will be allowed a deduction, from the full value of the property, of the amount of the Increment Value Duty paid.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether the Secretary of State has any information showing that natives of India, whether in or out of gaol, consume a smaller amount of food as measured by weight than natives of the United Kingdom?

No reply has yet been received to the inquiries on the subject which I informed my hon. Friend on 13th September would be made of the Government of India.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether he has any official information showing that the diminution of deaths from malaria necessarily follows upon improved sanitation, or whether it is still doubtful if improved sanitation materially lessens mortality from malaria; and whether the Secretary of State has any figures in relation to those matters which he can lay before the House?

The Secretary of State sees no reason to doubt the conclusion of medical authorities in India that rational sanitary improvements by raising the public health tend to increase immunity against malaria, and that particular measures such as drainage, clearing of sites, and distribution of quinine directly reduce sickness and mortality in epidemics. But I am unable to give reliable figures as the effect is often obscured by imperfect mortality returns and other circumstances.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the inoculation of calves with variolous matter, or with matter impregnated with small-pox, or with matter whose origin was small-pox, produces variolous disease in the calves inoculated with it; and, if not, what is the disease which is produced in the calves so inoculated?

Perhaps I may be allowed to answer this question. My hon. Friend will find the subject to which it relates fully discussed in paragraphs 352 to 362 of the Final Report of the Royal Commission on Vaccination. I may state briefly that, whilst the Commission of the Society of Medical Sciences at Lyons, who fully investigated the matter in 1865, failed to transform human small-pox into cow-pox by inoculating cattle, other experimenters have succeeded in so doing, but that the eruption produced was entirely local in its character and was incapable of producing small-pox in human beings.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether he will issue an order to boards of guardians and public vaccinators giving practical effect to Section 32 of the Vaccination Act, 1867, in view of the fact that the lymph now in use for vaccination has probably a variolous origin?

I am not aware that any Order is required, or indeed could be issued, to give effect to Section 32 of the Vaccination Act, 1867. As I pointed out on 28th September, in reply to a question by my hon. Friend the Member for the Attercliffe Division, the Section renders it an offence to produce or attempt to produce small-pox in any person by inoculation with variolous matter or by any other means. Most of the lymph used in cases of primary vaccination is that supplied from the Government Lymph Establishment. That lymph does not produce, and is not used to produce, small-pox, and persons using it do not come within the Section. There is no reason to doubt that the same observations apply to other lymph in use in this country.

asked the President of the Local Government Board if his attention has been called to the case of Mrs. Roper, a widow, aged 82, of Bradford, who, although she has led a respectable and industrious life and is otherwise eligible, cannot claim an old age pension on account of having received out-relief for about five weeks at the rate of 4s. per week; if it is his intention to deal with this and similar cases by further legislation; and, if so, when?

I am aware of the case referred to. The claimant received Poor Relief during the period between 6th March and 17th April, 1908, and was consequently disqualified for a pension. Legislation to amend the Old Age Pensions Act is a matter for the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who, as stated by the Prime Minister yesterday, hopes to introduce a Bill on the subject next year.

asked the President of the Local Government Board how many local authorities in the United Kingdom, exclusive of London, and in the County of London respectively, have taken action under the Cleansing of Persons Act; whether any representations have recently reached him suggesting that more extensive use should be made of the powers given under this Act; and what action, if any, he proposes to take in the matter?

I have no jurisdiction under the Act referred to, and am not in possession of any complete information as to its administration. I have recently received a communication from the coroner to the City of London stating that a jury had added to their verdict a rider to the effect that, in their opinion, the time had arrived when the Act, instead of being merely adoptive, might with advantage to the public be made compulsory. I am not in a position at the present time to promise to introduce the legislation which would be necessary to give effect to this suggestion.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty if he will state how many of the 2,980 men in receipt of the Greenwich Hospital age pension of 5d. per day were transferred from the Navy Vote to the Greenwich Hospital funds on reaching the age of 55 years?

1,850 approximately.

asked the Postmaster-General, in view of the fact that the Treasury decision on the proposals submitted by the Postmaster-General, arising out of the Departmental inquiry into the case of the supervising officers, London postal service, was communicated to him on 5th October, if he can now give his decision on the subject?

The decision has already been announced to the staff concerned.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether it is a rule of the Commissioners of National Education that the candidates for entrance to the Marlborough-street Training College are chosen in order of merit; if so, doss this rule apply to the training colleges under local management; how many candidates who passed the Easter examination in the second division were summoned to each of the following training colleges: Carysfort, Kildare Place, Limerick, Belfast, and Waterford; were any candidates who passed the examination in the first division refused admission to any of the same colleges; and whether, with a view to securing that the entrance examination to the training colleges in Ireland would be really competitive, the Commissioners will in future publish a list of the examination numbers, in order of merit, of the candidates who applied for admission to each of the training colleges?

The Commissioners of National Education inform me that there is a regulation in their code to the effect that candidates for admission to the Marl-borough-street Training College who pass the entrance examination are chosen in order of merit, but there is no similar rule in the code applying to the colleges under local management. From the lists of King's scholars admitted in the current training session, which have been supplied to the Commissioners by the authorities of the colleges, it would appear that the number of candidates in attendance at each of the colleges who passed the Easter examination in the second division is as follows: Our Lady of Mercy (Carysfort) Training College, 0; Mary Immaculate (Limerick), 0; Church of Ireland (Kildare Place), 20; St. Mary's (Belfast), 1; De La Salle (Waterford), 35.A certain number of candidates who passed in the first division are not in residence at the foregoing colleges, but the Commissioners are not in a position to say whether candidates who passed in the Second Division have been admitted to the Church of Ireland, St. Mary's, or De La Salle Training College, in preference to such candidates. The Commissioners do not propose to publish a list of the examination numbers of the candidates for the training colleges arranged in order of answering at the Easter examinations. While selecting candidates for their own college in the order of merit the Commissioners are aware that there are other considerations besides the total marks obtained, such as previous experience in schools, skill in music and drawing, or proficiency in Irish, which weigh with the authorities of the other colleges when selecting candidates for admission to training.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether the resident magistrate at the recent election of clerk of petty sessions for the districts of Schull, Ballydehob, and Goleen was furnished with an official return of the magistrates entitled to vote by Dublin Castle; and, if so, under what authority was this list prepared and sent to one magistrate who was a strong supporter of one of the candidates, to the exclusion of all others?

No official list of the magistrates entitled to vote at the election of a petty 'Sessions clerk for Schull, Ballydehob, and Goleen was supplied from Dublin Castle to the resident magistrate or any other magistrate.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he can have a suitable date set aside as a national holiday for Arbor Day in Ireland?

While sympathising with the hon. Member's desire to encourage the planting of trees in Ireland, I do not see any necessity for increasing the number of public holidays.

asked the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland) whether the Department will consider the advisability of starting a trout and salmon hatchery on Lough Erne, the bed of which is vested in the Crown, and by restoring the once valuable fishing thereon, which would be open to all, give employment to large numbers of persons who formerly earned money as boatmen and fishermen?

The Department are prepared to consider applications for assistance in the establishment and maintenance of salmon and trout hatcheries in any part of Ireland. No such application has been received in connection with Lough Erne.

asked the President of the Board of Education what is the total amount of the superannuation and annuity on which Mr. David Jones, of Mold Council school, has been retired; at what age such retirement took place; and after what number of years of service as a certificated head teacher in public elementary schools?

Mr. Jones was awarded a superannuation allowance of £38 17s., and an annuity of £2 15s. 4d. He retired at the age of 67, and had served for 44 years as a certificated head teacher.