asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether a vacancy is shortly to occur on the Prisons Commission; and whether, having regard to the fact that the commissionership which may be vacant had been held for some years by a member of the medical profession, he would undertake, in the event of the occurrence of a vacancy, to appoint a member of the medical profession to the post?

It is true that Dr. Donkin, one of the Prison Commissioners, retires shortly under the age rule, but I hope to be able to make arrangements which will ensure the continuance of the invaluable services which Dr. Donkin has rendered to the medical side of prison work. I hope at the same time to increase the strength of the prison administration in order to enable it to meet the greatly increased responsibilities thrown upon it by recent legislation.

asked the Home Secretary if he was yet in a position to state the result of the negotiations between the Shipbuilding Employers Federation and the Boilermakers Society as to a draft order applying the provisions of Section 116 of The Factory and Workshop Act to piece-workers in the shipbuilding yards; and, if so, could he state whether it is his intention to issue such draft order?

I have been informed, as I stated in reply to a question on the same subject on 26th August last, that the negotiations referred to did not result in any arrangement as to the supply of particulars being agreed upon between the parties. A draft of an order applying the particulars section to the shipbuilding industry was subsequently issued by me in accordance with the procedure prescribed by the Rules Publication Act. Objections to the order were submitted to me by the Shipbuilding Employers' Federation, and at their request I received a deputation of representatives of the employers on Tuesday last. I am now considering the representations made to me, and hope to arrive at a decision shortly.

asked the Home Secretary whether he could state when the order applying Section 116 of the Factory and Workshop Act, 1901, to piece-workers in shipbuilding yards will be made?

I would refer the hon. Member to the printed answer I am giving to-day on this subject to a question by the hon. Member for Sunderland.

asked the President of the Local Government Board if he would state for what purpose the appeal made to the Local Government Board by certain members of the Poplar Board of Guardians against a surcharge made by the district auditor has been sent by the Local Government Board to the Borough of Poplar Municipal Alliance; and whether the Municipal Alliance, being a local partisan body, has any locus standi in the question of an appeal of the guardians to the Local Government Board against the auditor's decision?

The solicitor to the Poplar Municipal Alliance, which is, I understand, an association of ratepayers in the borough, attended at the audit of the accounts of the guardians and objected to certain items, which were disallowed by the auditor. It is the invariable practice of the Local Government Board, when dealing with appeals against disallowances, to communicate with any parties who have objected to the expenditure at the audit, and this course was adopted in the present case. The Alliance appears to be interested in the guardians' expenditure and were, I think, properly heard in the matter now in question.

asked the President of the Local Government Board what was the Poor Law experience of the several members of the Royal Commission on the Poor Laws at the date of their appointment; and what experience, if any, the several members had in connection with Poor Law administration?

The Royal Commission was appointed on the recommendation of the late Government to inquire not only into the Poor Law, but also into the means adopted outside the Poor Law for meeting distress arising from want of employment. I am not at the moment in a position to give exact particulars of the Poor Law experience of the several members of the Commission; but I understand that a majority of them had had experience of either central or local administration of the Poor Law, whilst several others were known to possess special knowledge and experience in relation to the subjects referred to the Commission.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention had been called to complaints regarding the working of the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway Company (Burton-port Extension); whether he is aware that on the 15th instant boxes of fresh herrings, intended for Belfast, Manchester, Glasgow, and other places, were left behind at Cashelnagor Station owing to want of wagons, that these boxes remained there for two days, and were consequently un-saleable when they reached their different markets; that on the 23rd instant a load of dead pigs, intended for the first train to Deny, was refused transport and had to be taken away; that on the night of the 22nd instant the last train to Burton-port broke down and the passengers were forced to remain in the carriages, which are without any heating arrangements, till next morning; that on the 23rd instant a number of men, several of whom were on their way from Scotland, were unable to travel by the 11.30 a.m. train, and were informed that they must wait until the 5 p.m. train, there not being sufficient accommodation in the carriages; and what action he proposes to take in the matter?

No complaint of these delays has been received, but a copy of the hon. Member's question has been sent to the railway company for their observations, and I will communicate with him upon receipt of their reply.

asked the President of the Board of Trade, whether the Life and Health Assurance Association, Limited, whose head offices were at 41, George Street, Edinburgh, and which went into liquidation in June last, had any assets; if so, whether he is aware that those who were in receipt of compensation for accidents from this company have not received anything since June last; and whether he will take steps to secure for the persons entitled to compensation their share of the available assets?

The Association named by my hon. Friend is registered in Edinburgh, and the Board of Trade have no information with regard to liquidations of joint stock companies in Scotland.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he contemplates, in connection with the proposed reorganisation by the Post Office, to make Wales, including Monmouth, a divisional centre for administrative purposes, such as is proposed for Ireland and Scotland?

The committee which I appointed to consider the whole question of decentralisation in regard to the Post Office has reported, but I am not yet in a position to make any definite statement with regard to their recommendations; but I think it possible that if the scheme is carried through, Wales, including Monmouth, will form one of the new surveying districts.

asked the Postmaster-General if he can now state when the difficulties in connection with the payment of substitution allowances are likely to be settled?

Fresh instructions with regard to payment for the performance of superior duties have just been issued.

asked the Postmaster-General whether it is upon his instruction or with his sanction that postmasters are refusing the applications of men who are applying for temporary employment at Christmas unless they can prove that their names appear on either the Distress Committee or the Guild of Help register; whether he is aware that there are a large number of men of good character in every district who are unemployed and who sign the unemployed register of their own society who, owing to the above instruction or regulation, are prevented from obtaining this temporary employment; and whether he will give instructions that, so long as the applicants are persons of good character and capable of performing the work, it must not be a condition that their names must be on the register of either a Guild of Help or Distress Committee.

It is not a condition that the name should be on the register of a Labour Exchange or of a Distress Committee. As I stated in this House on the 21st October and the 3rd ultimo, postmasters have been instructed to take the casual force required to meet Christmas pressure as far as possible from among the genuinely unemployed, and to select a certain number of men on the recommendation of the Labour Exchange, or, if no such Exchange exists, of the local Distress Committee. No further instructions seem necessary.

asked the Postmaster-General whether there have been any further reductions in the established staff at the 36 offices mentioned in a Return supplied to this House on the 8th of July, 1909?

I do not think so, but if there are such cases they are merely temporary, and I can assure my hon. Friend that I have not modified the policy which I announced in reply to his question of the 10th May last.

asked the Postmaster-General whether there have been any further reductions from head offices to sub-offices since the 10th of May, 1909?

Since the date in question the following head offices have been converted from head offices into salaried sub-offices:—England and Wales: Woodstock, Coleford, Market Rasen, Malpas, Southwell, and Elland; Ireland: Moate and Castleblayney. The change in each case has been for administrative reasons; the postal arrangements of the district will in no way be adversely affected, and there has been no change made in the staffing of these offices.

asked the Postmaster-General if he will state the date when the Return of units of work was made which gave 1,314 units for Southampton.

February, 1904.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether his atten- tion has been called to the terms of the Petition presented on the 1st instant from the parents of the children atending the Catholic school at Low Valley, near Barnsley, Yorkshire; and whether he will now grant an inquiry in accordance with the terms of the Petition?

I am unable to trace the Petition referred to. I am, however, at present considering a lengthy printed communication which reached me on the 23rd November from the correspondent of the school. This communication consists of 32 printed pages, and I have not yet had time to arrive at a conclusion as to its contents, which are being carefully considered.

asked the Under-Secretary for India whether, following upon the speech of the Viceroy at Oodeypore, on the 10th November, the Government of India proposes to issue instructions to political agents, and more particularly to those under the orders of provincial governments, to cease from pressing the durbars of native states to which they are accredited to adopt methods of administration in force in British India?

The Secretary of State is not aware of any necessity for the issue of instructions of the kind referred to. The matter is one that he would leave to the discretion of the Government of India.

asked the Under-Secretary for India whether the Madras Government, in its recently issued review of the police administration of the Presidency, observed with satisfaction that several of the most experienced district magistrates were able to speak with favour of the work of the force; and whether the Secretary of State will consider the propriety of giving publicity to this expression of opinion and to the like commendations of other provincial administrations?

The Secretary of State has not yet received the Madras Government's resolution on the last Police Administration Report, but he has seen a summary of it in the newspapers containing statements similar to that mentioned in the question. These reports are always published by the governments in India, and appear to find sufficient publicity through the newspapers.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India if the proposed Amendments to the new Education Code for Bengal will be submitted for the opinions of school managers before the code is put into operation; and if facilities for transference from elementary to secondary schools will be granted in the new revised code.

I understand that the introduction of the new code has been postponed. The Secretary of State has no information on the points raised in the question, but it may be presumed that the Lieutenant-Governor will consult such persons as are best qualified to advise him.

asked the Under-Secretary for the Colonies what is the number of the Indians at present in the Transvaal gaols for contravention of the Registration and Immigration Laws of the Colony; whether the resident Indian population have not all established their titles, as pre-war residents, to be there; and whether the Secretary of State will represent to the Transvaal Government the desirability of repealing this law, and also the immigration law which excludes the population of India on the score of their race and colour?

I do not know the number of Indians now in prison, but enquiry shall be made. I would point out with reference to the second question that there is no reason to suppose that any of the Indians are illegally imprisoned. With regard to the last question, I would refer my hon. Friend to the full statement, given by the Secretary of State in another place on the 16th ultimo, of the nature of the communications which have passed between himself and the Transvaal Government, with a view to the amendment of the laws alluded to in the interests of the Indian population.

asked the Secretary of State for War if, during the past two years, a clerk employed in the Army Ordnance Department at Island Bridge was dismissed for inefficiency because he had refused to carry out the work of the Receipt Office without any help; if, since the man's dismissal, there have been employed in the office referred to three clerks; if special orders have been issued to certain clerks, and if any restrictions are placed on individual clerks, and for what purpose; if quite recently a superintending civil clerk was brought to notice for neglect of duty and other irregularities; and if such has been reported to the War Office, or what action has been taken?

This man is reported to have been discharged for incompetency. No alteration in the establishment of the office has been made since his discharge. No report on the other points raised in the question has reached the War Office.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, whether he is aware that the services of Mr. John Seldom Willmore, a judge of the Native Court of Appeal in Egypt, have been recently dispensed with; whether he has entered his protest against such action; whether he can state the grounds on which his services have been dispensed with; whether any charges have been made against him; whether any opportunity has been given Mr. Willmore of meeting such charges; and whether, under the organic law of the country, such judges are irremovable in this manner?

Mr. Willmore was appointed a judge of the Native Court of Appeal on November 21st, 1889, by Khedivial Decree, under the Organic Law of 1883, Article 49 of which provides that such judges shall be appointed "à titre d' inamovibilité." Two days later the Minister of Justice informed him of his appointment, and stated in his letter that, in accordance with an agreement previously arrived at between Mr. Willmore and himself, the former was appointed for five years with the advantage of irremovability during that period, and on the further beneficial condition not provided for in the Organic Law that an indemnity equal to one-fifth of his total salary during the five years—[i.e.], one year's salary—would be paid to him on the expiry of this period, in lieu of any claim to pension. The arrangement has since been carried out, and Mr. Willmore's contract was renewed every five years—i.e., in 1894, 1899, and 1904, and Mr. Willmore has received, or will receive, a sum of nearly £4,000 under it. The last term of five years expired on November 20th, and the Egyptian Government decline to renew it. Mr. Willmore has entered his protest against this action. The termination of Mr. Willmore's engagement on the conditions which he accepted implies no sort of censure on that gentleman, and the Egyptian Government have made no charge whatever against him.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he has received any communication with regard to interference by the Ottoman Government with the ancient privileges of the inhabitants of the Sporades Islands; whether this interference is an infraction of constitutional rights formally acknowledged by successive sultans; whether, in a former instance of similar infraction, a successful representation was made by the British Government; and, if so, whether it is intended to make any similar representation on this occasion?

Complaints made by the inhabitants of the Sporades Islands as to the alleged intention of the Turkish Government to curtail the privileges they have hitherto enjoyed have been brought to my notice. It appears, however, that the Turkish Government have not yet definitely announced their intentions in the matter, and till the intentions of the Turkish Government are known it is impossible to state how any measures they may contemplate will affect the islanders. Friendly representations on behalf of the islanders have in the past been made to the Porte by His Majesty's Embassy. But the present case is without precedent in the past, as it appears that the islanders' complaints are against the extension to themselves of rights conferred and obligations imposed on the other subjects of the Turkish Empire as a result of the recent introduction of the Constitutional régime.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he has further considered the claim of Plymouth fishermen to compensation for destruction of their nets by a destroyer of His Majesty's Navy?

A further report in the matter has been received from the Commander-in-Chief at Devonport, and is now being considered.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether the Admiralty have issued instructions that the Avenue Road, which forms the approach from the Defensible Barracks Hill to the main entrance gate of Pembroke Dockyard is in future to be closed to the public on one day every year; and, if so, whether he is aware that the road has been uninterruptedly opened to the public for more than 20 years, and if, under the circumstances, he will reconsider the matter?

Part of the road referred to is to be closed one day every year in order to preserve Admiralty rights, but only that part which is the small length of road between the main gates and the line of the dockyard boundary wall.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty, in view of the length of time the petition of the dock yard writers has been in the hands of the Admiralty—i.e., since January, 1908—and as by Admiralty orders these writers are restricted from petitioning further until one month after the present petition has been answered, whether such portions of the Report of the Admiralty Committee as relate to the petition of the writers can be issued at once without waiting for the matter relating to the departmental reorganisation if the latter is the cause of the delay in issuing the whole of the Committee's Report?

It is regretted that it is not yet possible to announce a decision on the Report of the Committee.

asked the Lord Advocate whether he was aware that it is the practice of certain parish councils in Scotland to send children to be handed over to the care of their fathers immediately upon the father being released from imprisonment for the neglect or desertion of their families; whether, in particular, his attention had been called to a recent case in Greenock where three girls and a boy were sent in a cab to the prison door from Smithston poorhouse, where they had been kept for 15 months, to be given over to the charge of their newly-liberated father; and whether any steps could be taken by the Local Government Board to ensure that parents in such a position are, in the interests of their children, given some opportunity of endeavouring to provide a home for them before having such a responsibility thrown upon them?

I am not aware of the case referred to by the hon. Member, but the attention of the Local Government Board will be called to it and to the alleged practice of certain parish councils.