asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that letters have recently been issued by the surveyors of taxes in Glasgow to various firms and persons in that city asking for certified copies of their trading, profit and loss accounts, and balance sheets for the year ended 31st December, 1909, in order that their average liability for Schedule D assessment for the -year 1910–11 can be worked out and the figures submitted to them for approval; whether this request has been made under instructions of the Board of Inland Revenue; whether the ordinary and authorised method of obtaining returns for assessment under Schedule D is Inland Revenue Form No. 11, issued by the assessor of taxes, requiring the taxpayer to prepare, in the form prescribed, a true and correct statement of' his income chargeable for the year of assessment; whether this request is issued after the tax has been imposed by Parliament; whether a surveyor of taxes is instructed to interfere in reference to the assessment of Income Tax until after the notices of assessment have been issued by the assessors and the returns received by them; whether it is in order for a surveyor of taxes to ask for information regarding assessment for Income Tax for a financial year which has not commenced and in reference to a tax which has not been granted; whether in any case a surveyor of taxes is authorised to demand certified copies of the accounts and balance sheets before mentioned; and whether it is in order for a surveyor of taxes to make up a statement of average liability for Schedule D assessment and submit it to taxpayers for approval?

The answer to the first question is in the affirmative; to the second, third, fourth and fifth, that, while the ordinary method of obtaining returns is as stated in the question, the practice referred to has been adopted by surveyors in Glasgow and elsewhere, not on the express instructions of the Board of Inland Revenue, but with their knowledge and approval as a course conducive to the convenience of both taxpayers and officials; to the sixth, in the affirmative; to the seventh, that in no case are the documents in question demanded, or authorised to be demanded; and to the- eighth, in the affirmative.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he would state the approximate amounts received for Income Tax under Schedule D in the financial year 1908–9 from companies in the United Kingdom and Ireland registered under special Acts of Parliament or the Companies Acts under the following heads, respectively: Banks and insurance companies, railway companies operating railways in the United Kingdom and Ireland, railway companies operating railways abroad, trading or manufacturing companies carrying on their principal business in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and trading and manufacturing companies carrying on their principal business abroad?

The amounts of Income Tax under Schedule D received in the financial year 1908–9 from certain public companies were approximately as follows:—

Companies working railways in the United Kingdom	£1,826,000
British companies owning and working railways abroad with the seat of management in the United Kingdom	554,000
Other public companies assessed to Income Tax, Schedule D	7,794,000

I regret that I am unable to furnish the other particulars asked for by the hon. Member.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he is aware that the rents charged per week for the cottages and allotments provided for labourers in the Lucan and Clonsilla divisions of the Celbridge rural district, county Dublin, amount to 1s. 10d. each in addition to the rates, while those charged in other divisions of the same rural district amount only to 1s. 3d.; if so, what is the cause of the difference; and whether the higher rents can be reduced?

The Local Government Board have no information as to the particular rents charged in the several electoral divisions of the Celbridge No. 2 rural district, but the draft regulations recently made by the district council under Section 29 of the Labourers Act of 1906 specify that the minimum weekly rent to be charged for. a cottage and acre plot is to be 1s. 9d., and for a, cottage and half-acre plot 1s. With these rents as minima for the two classes of cottages, the council explain that they consider it only equitable to fix the individual rents in accordance with the local circumstances in different parts of their district, having regard to the fact that in the divisions of Lucan and Clonsilla the wages of labourers vary from 14s. to 17s. a week, whilst in the mountainous areas of the rural district they are only from 9s. to 12s. a week. In these circumstances the Local Government Board see no reason to interfere with the proposed differentiation of the rents of the cottages; but they are in communication with the council with a view to the inclusion in the regulations of a maximum rent, as well as a minimum, for each class of letting.

asked what steps have been taken by the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction in Ireland specially for the benefit of the agricultural labourers; whether in their fruit-growing experiments they have provided for the planting of fruit trees in labourers' plots; in how many cases has this been done; and what is the total number of cases in which the planting of fruit plots has been provided for by the Department up to date?

I understand that several features of the County Agricultural Schemes are specially intended for the benefit of agricultural labourers. These include schemes for fruit and vegetable growing, poultry keeping, pig breeding, domestic economy, and prizes for cottages. The object of the fruit-growing experiments initiated some years ago by the Department at a few favourably situated centres, was to induce farmers to test the possibilities of fruit growing as a farm crop on a commercial scale. Labourers' plots would be quite unsuitable for such a purpose. The county committees, however, are empowered to purchase fruit and other trees in bulk and to sell them at cost price to labourers and other residents in their county, and the Department recommend county committees who have allocated funds for the purpose of horticultural demonstration plots to establish these plots on allotments attached to labourers' cottages. Thirty-one county committees have taken up this work, but no record is available of the number of trees planted on labourers' allotments.

asked what steps have been taken to have Charles Lynch, the evicted tenant, formerly of Killycannon, reinstated or supplied with a farm in county Cavan; how many evicted tenants have still to be dealt with in county Cavan; and when may they expect to get the benefit of the Evicted Tenants Act?

As I have already informed the hon. Member, in reply to a question asked by him on:10th September last, Lynch's former holding is in the occupation of another tenant. His application has been provisionally noted by the Estates Commissioners for consideration in the allotment of such untenanted land as they may acquire in county Cavan, but they are not yet in a position to provide him with a holding. The number of other applicants whose names have been similarly noted for consideration is now twenty-eight.

asked whether the Estates Commissioners have received any applications for reinstatement from persons who were evicted from their holdings on the estate of the late John George Adair, in Glenveigh, county Donegal; and what has been the result of such applications?

The Estates Commissioners have received four applications for reinstatement from tenants evicted from this estate, but as the evictions took place much more than twenty-five years before the passing of the Irish Land Act, 1903, they do not propose to take any action in these cases.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty, whether he could give the dates and the days upon which were laid down, launched, and commissioned in the navies of Germany, United States, America, France, Japan, Russia, Italy, Brazil, and Argentine, those vessels generally considered to belong to the "Dreadnought" or "Invincible" types?

I have not all the details available for which the hon. Member asks, and I cannot undertake to give information of this character in excess of what is contained in the Dilke Return, which will be shortly published.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty if he will state on what date it was decided to raise the pay of reserve colonels, Royal Marines, from £600 a year to £700?

Officers on the reserve list of colonels have always had the same pay as retired colonels-commandant. The pay of the latter was raised in 1881 from £600 per annum to the full pay of colonel-commandant, which is as stated in reply to the hon. Member's question of the 23rd March.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he can state under what circumstances the chief ordnance officer, Island Bridge, refused to receive a deputation from the federation representing the majority of the employés; and if such deputations are received at the War Office and other ordnance depots with good results?

The hon. Member appears to have been misinformed. It is reported that there has been no refusal to receive deputations since 1906.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that recently a subordinate was transferred from Curragh to Island Bridge to fill the position of foreman; will he say whether a better selection could have been made at Island Bridge, where there are a number of employés who lost higher posts owing to changes in the establishment; and if he can say whether those men who have been reduced through no fault of their own will be considered for promotion as occasion offers in the future?

An assistant foreman was transferred from Curragh to Dublin on promotion to fill a vacancy caused by the transfer of a foreman from Dublin to Curragh on promotion to principal foreman. There was accordingly no injustice done to any employé at Island Bridge. The selection was very carefully considered. Each case is impartially dealt with on its merits.

asked the Secretary of State for War, whether the foreman writer employed at Island Bridge stated, when certain matters were being investigated as regards irregularities, that the irregularities took place during his absence on the sick list when a writer was in temporary charge; and whether the writer was ever afforded an opportunity of explaining, or whether he was acquainted by the officer in charge of the statements made by the foreman writer?

The foreman writer stated that certain irregularities brought to notice had occurred during his absence on the sick list. As the ordnance officer was satisfied with the way in which the writer who was in temporary charge had performed his duties, he did not consider it necessary to communicate to him the statements made by the foreman writer.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he will consider the desirability of reprinting the Blue Book containing the evidence and Reports of the Royal Commission which led to the summary abolition of the stud system of horse supply throughout India over thirty years ago, and thus render these records accessible to those Members of the House who may desire to inform themselves in the question of horse supply?

This question should be addressed to the Parliamentary Under-secretary of State for India. The reprinting of documents affecting the Government of India does not come within the purview of the Secretary of State for War.

asked the President of the Board of Education what is the accommodation and average attendance in the council and denominational schools in the area of the Lindsey County Council for the years 1904–05, 1905–6, 1906–7, 1907–8 and 1908–9?

The figures for the year 1908–9 are:—

Council.		Voluntary.
Accommodation.	Average Attendance.	Accommodation.	Average Attendance.
13,675	9,163	39,141	22,747

For the previous years I must refer my hon. Friend to the Boards statistical volumes. The information will be found on page 54 of the volume published in 1906 [Cd. 3255], on page 44 of the volume published in January, 1908 [Cd. 3886], on page 48 of the volume published in August, 1908 [Cd. 4288], and on page 46 of the volume published in 1909 [Cd. 4885].

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will cause a public inquiry to be held into the circumstances which led to the premature retirement of the late Sergeant John Rosser from the Pembrokeshire Constabulary, which took place immediately following the recent General Election?

This is not a matter in which I have any authority to interfere, but I am informed that Sergeant Rosser retired on account of failing eyesight and hearing. The medical certificates submitted showed that on this account he was unfit for further police duty.

asked the President of the Local Government Board what is the area and population of the rural district council of Tregaron, Cardiganshire; what salary is paid to the inspector of nuisances; whether he devotes the whole of his time to the office; and have the Local Government Board sanctioned the salary as an adequate one?

The area of the Tregaron Rural District is 121,545 acres, and the population, according to the last Census, was 7,947. The inspector of nuisances, who is required to devote the whole of his time to his duties, is paid a salary of £50 a year. The appointment has been sanctioned by the Local Government Board. The salary is more than was previously paid to the officer, but I cannot say that I regard it as adequate remuneration for an inspector of nuisances devoting his whole time to his duties.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he has received representations to the effect that the proposed site of the new post office at Ballymena, county Antrim, though geographically central, is far from central for the commercial community; and whether he will have a final decision postponed until independent inquiry shall have been made by him into the matter?

I have received such, representations and will carefully-consider them before coming to a final decision.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he was aware that in June, 1907, it was stated in this House that plans for the permanent enlargement of the South-Eastern District Office were already prepared, and that in August, 1909, it was further stated that the adjoining premises were merely being used for temporary purposes; and would he say if the plans had been pigeon-holed, or could it be stated when building operations would be commenced?

further asked whether the right hon. Gentleman had received any complaints from the public as to the condition of the temporary premises attached to the South-Eastern District Office; whether he was aware that the accommodation in the sorting office is so limited as to be quite dangerous during the evening duty; was he aware that the height from floor to ceiling of the temporary sorting office is little more than eight feet, and that the staff suffer discomfort and distress during the hot weather; that the retiring rooms are dark underground places necessitating the use of artificial light all day; and did he know that the refreshment bar and dining rooms are accommodated in what were, until about two years ago, sheds in which furniture was manufactured?

I am aware that portions of the South-Eastern District Office are not wholly satisfactory, but I have had no complaints recently on the subject from the public or from the staff, who, I am informed, greatly appreciate recent improvements in the dining-rooms. Financial exigencies have unfortunately led to delay in commencing building operations, but I hope that this will be possible during the course of the next financial year.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he can state the following particulars with regards to imports of sugar for each of the last eight years:—Total quantity imported, including raw and refined; estimated total annual cost; estimated consumption per head of the population; total quantity exported from the West Indies; total quantity imported from the West Indies into the United Kingdom; and estimated total cost of the West Indian imports?

The following statements give the information desired:—(1) Statement showing the quantity of raw and refined sugar imported into the United Kingdom, the total (declared) value thereof, and the estimated quantity of sugar (in equivalent of refined) consumed per head of the population of this country in each year from 1902 to 1909, inclusive.

Year.	Quantity and Value of Sugar Imported into the United Kingdom.			Estimated Annual Consumption of Sugar (in equivalent of refined) per head of the population of the United Kingdom.
	Quantity		Total (Declared) Value.
	Raw.	Refined.
	Cwts.	Cwts.	£	lbs.
1902	13,221,000	18,365,000	14,732,000	73·74
1903	12,649,000	18,589,000	15,461,000	66·80
1904	14,684,000	17,606,000	18,252,000	77·83
1905	14,657,000	14,696,000	19,472,000	70·02
1906	15,258,000	18,096,000	17,296,000	76·55
1907	14,960,000	19,690,000	19,134,000	78·19
1908	14,683,000	18,820,000	20,003,000	76·45
1909	16,303,000	18,887,000	21,692,000	79·54

(2) Statement showing (

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he can state the total aggregate value for the last twenty years, from 1890 to 1909, both inclusive, of the imports and the exports, respectively, of gold and silver bullion and specie; the difference between the respective aggregate totals of imports and exports of those twenty years; and the average thence resulting of the amount of bullion and specie yearly retained in the United Kingdom as an excess of imports over exports?

The following statement gives the information desired:—

Aggregate imports of bullion and specie, 1890–1909, inclusive	£917,775,000
Aggregate exports of bullion and specie, 1890–1909, inclusive	834,007,000
Balance	£83,768,000
Average annual net import	£4,188,000

asked the Prime Minister whether, in considering the amendment of the Old Age Pensions Act, the Government will bear in mind the desirability of making provision at an earlier age than seventy for persons suffering from permanent physical disabilities?

I do not think that this is a matter which should be dealt with by amendment of the Old Age Pensions Act. The Government have had under their consideration for some time past the framing of a contributory scheme for insurance against sickness, invalidity, etc., which it is hoped will to a considerable extent meet cases such as those described by the hon. Member.

asked the Prime Minister whether it is still the intention of the Government to present their limitation of Veto proposals in the House of Lords in the form of a Resolution, or whether he will consider the advisability of presenting them in that Chamber in the form of a Bill?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative.