asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he can state the amount of the note issue sanctioned in the case of each of the Irish joint-stock banks, the actual present note issue, and the proportion of the present note issue in each case to reserve?

submitted the following Statement:—

Name of Bank. (A) (B) (C) (D) Circulation authorised by certificate. Average daily circulation during week ended 18th June, 1910. Coin held at Head Office on 18th June, 1910. Percentage of Coin held at Head Office (C) on 18th June. 1910, to average daily circulation (B) during week ended that date. £ £ £ Bank of Ireland 3,738,428 2,793,100 539,232 19.3 Provincial Bank of Ireland, Ltd. 927,667 690,192 123,036 17.8 Belfast Banking Company, Ltd. 281.611 539,233 287,429 53.3 Northern Banking Company, Ltd. 243,440 630,893 404,484 64.1 Ulster Bank, Ltd. 311,079 1,060,529 805,427 75.9 National Bank, Ltd. 852,269 1,287,625 514,330 40.0

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he can state the amount of the deposits in the Post Office savings banks and in the private savings banks, respectively, in Belfast, for the last financial year; and, for the purpose of comparison, the average amounts for the two quinquennial periods preceding the last financial year?

The amount of deposits in Post Office savings banks in Belfast on 31st December, 1909, was £1,011,324 11s. 6d.

The amount in trustee savings banks on 20th November, 1909, was £803,080.

The corresponding figures on the average for the two preceding quinquennial periods were:— 1940–8. 1899–. £ s. d. £ s. d. Post Office Savings Banks 944,988 19 3 792,959 6 8 Trustee Savings Banks 762,494 0 0 624,215 0 0

asked the Secretary to the Treasury if he can state on what basis the estimated amount of beer consumed per head of the population in England, Scotland, and Ireland, respectively, in the year ended 31st March, 1910, namely, .79, .27, and .63 barrels, respectively, is calculated?

The estimated amount of home-made beer consumed per head of the population in the year 1909–10 is calculated on the net receipt of revenue from such beer in that year, adjusted to

give the estimated true contribution of each country. This adjustment is made on the basis of statistics of transit of beer in the three Kingdoms in the year 1903–4 (see Annual Return of Revenue and Expenditure (England, Scotland, and Ireland)).

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether the time has now arrived for providing the National Board of Education (Ireland) with funds to enable them to give increased salaries to teachers who are entitled to them by merit or length of service?

I beg to refer the hon. and gallant Member to the answer which I gave to a question by the hon. Member for North Sligo on the 27th ultimo.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether the Treasury possesses any definition of the number of daily hours' work which constitute full-time employment within the meaning of the Superannuation Acts?

I fear I cannot add anything to the answer which I gave to the hon. Member on the 24th ultimo.

asked the Chief Secretary whether, in regard to the vacancy pending on the General Prisons Board (Ireland), in making the appointment to fill the same, recognition will be given to the desirability of filling the post by a medical man specially qualified in mental diseases, in view of the advantage experienced by the English Prisons Board from such expert knowledge?

When the question of appointing a new medical member to the Prisons Board comes to be considered due weight will be given to the possession of a knowledge of mental diseases.

asked the Chief Secretary whether, in view of the disparity between the income of the working classes in Irish and in English towns, and the proved desire on the part of so many tenants in Irish towns to avail themselves of the provisions of the Small Dwellings Acquisition Act, the Government would facilitate an amending Bill to reduce the deposit required by one-half and to extend the period of repayment to a longer term than the present thirty years?

The town dwellers in Ireland have not shown any great desire to avail themselves of the Small Dwellings Acquisition Act, only 298 houses having been purchased under that Act during the last ten years, nor, so far as the Local Government Board are aware, is there any demand on the part of local authorities or of applicants for a reduction of the deposit or an extension of the period of repayment. There does not, therefore, appear to be any reason why special facilities should be afforded for further legislation on the subject.

asked the Chief Secretary whether, in view of the fact that Mr. Eugene Daly, of Rowls, Meelen, county Cork, is a most popular man and in no need of police protection, he will order the removal of the extra police and police hut from the district?

I am informed by the responsible police authorities that the hut to which the hon. Member refers is necessary and cannot be removed.

asked the Chief Secretary if he will state on whose authority Constable Culhane, stationed at Newmarket, county Cork, served notices on sheep owners, relative to compulsory sheep dipping, on Sunday, 5th June; and whether, in view of the fact that these notices were handed to sheep owners as they were on their way to attend religious service, he will at once order an inquiry to be made?

The Inspector-General of the Royal Irish Constabulary informed me that the notices in question had to be served throughout Ireland before 15th June. The police at Newmarket served them on certain sheep owners while in the village for the purpose of attending Divine Service. The Inspector-General does not approve of this procedure and will inform the local police to that effect. There is no necessity for any inquiry.

asked the Chief Secretary if he will state the names of the particular districts in the East Riding of the county of Cork where it has been reported that cattle-driving took place during the six months ending 1st June, 1910, and the number of cattle involved; and whether the owners have applied for or received compensation for malicious injury to those cattle?

There were three cattle-drives in the East Riding of county Cork during the period mentioned in the question—one in the Kinsale police district and two in the Fermoy district. Forty sheep were driven in one case, twenty-one cattle in another, and twelve cattle in the third case. Compensation to the amount of £48 was claimed in the first case, and £100 in the second case. These claims are still pending. No claim was made in the third case.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether satisfactory proof of the right of Miss Emma Hood, of 8, Gordon Street, Old Trafford, Manchester, to receive an old age pension has been submitted to the local pension officer and also to him; if not, in what particular is the proof unsatisfactory; if satisfactory proof has been submitted can he explain the delay; and will he take the necessary steps which will ensure Miss Hood receiving such pension?

The claim in this case was disallowed by the pension committee on the ground that the claimant had not attained the age of seventy, and a birth certificate was produced in which the date of birth was given as 16th October, 1841. The claimant has, however, produced a baptismal certificate from which it would appear that she was baptised on 14th May, 1840, and, after communication with the Registrar-General, I am prepared to accept this certificate as evidence of age. The birth certificate produced seems to have had reference to another individual of the same name. The question of claimant's means is now being investigated.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he can state the ground on which Mrs. Mary Joyce, Kylemakill, Moyne, county Tipperary, has been refused a pension by the pension committee?

The pension sub-committee awarded Mrs. Joyce a pension, but the pension officer appealed on the ground (hat she could furnish no evidence that she was of the statutory age, and the Local Government Board, after communicating with Mrs. Joyce, felt obliged to allow the appeal.

asked the Chief Secretary (1) whether he can state the reason why Mrs. Mary Heffernan, Ballymore, Cashel, county Tipperary, was refused an old age pension; and (2) whether he can state the grounds on which Mary Fanning, Stradavohr Street, Thurles, was refused an old age pension by the pension officer; and whether he can state if she has been living apart from her husband for the last ten years?

I am not in a position to state the grounds on which the pensions were refused in these two instances as the cases have not come before the Local Government Board on appeal. Pension officers are not under my control, and any questions with regard to their action should be addressed to my right hon. Friend the Secretary to the Treasury.

asked the Chief Secretary whether John Fogarty, Ballinahaw, Thurles, was refused an old age pension, on appeal by the Local Government Board, on the grounds that he was not a British subject; whether he is aware that John Fogarty was born at sea on board a British vessel and has resided in Ireland for the past sixty-five years; and whether, under the circumstances, he will recommend the Local Government Board to reconsider his case with a view to granting him an old age pension?

An appeal has been recently lodged with the Local Government Board by the pension officer at Thurles in the case of a man named John Fogarty. The necessary documents have not yet been received by the Board, and the appeal is therefore pending. This is presumably the case referred to in the question.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he can state what steps the Estates Commissioners propose to take in reference to an application from Denis Egan, Clashadad, Dunkerin, Roscrea, county Tipperary, who was evicted from a farm on the estate of Miss Griffiths?

The Estates Commissioners have received an application from Denis Egan for reinstatement in his former holding on the estate of Miss Griffiths. The eviction did not take place within the period mentioned in Section 2 (1) (d) of the Act of 1903 and Section 2 (1) of the Evicted Tenants Act, 1907, and the Estates Commissioners cannot therefore take any action in the matter.

asked the Chief Secretary if he can say how many schemes for the building of labourers' cottages in connection with the Labourers (Ireland) Acts were lodged in the office of the Local Government Board and were at a standstill for want of money to finance them; and will he give the names of the rural district councils that framed the schemes and the dates when they were lodged with the Local Government Board?

Forty-two councils have framed schemes which are at a standstill for want of money, but only four have been lodged with the Local Government Board owing no doubt to their warning circular of February last. The particulars are as follows: Newcastle West Rural District, 249 cottages, lodged 1st February last; Castlereagh Rural District, fifty-eight cottages, lodged 25th February; Kilkeel Rural District, forty-three cottages, lodged 23rd March; Killarney Rural District, 121 cottages, lodged 18th April.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty, whether, between the years 1850 and 1856, or at any other time, Captain G. A. Bedford, then engaged on the survey of Lough Swilly, made any report to the Admiralty as to the probable effect of the Inch and Farland embankments, then in process of construction, on the bed and navigation of Lough Swilly; and, if so, would he state the tenor of such report?

A report was made by Captain Bedford about 1859 calling attention to the capabilities of Fahan Harbour for refitting or lying-up purposes for small craft of His Majesty's Navy, and the danger of the eventual annihilation of this useful harbour by the alteration of tidal flow due to recent enclosures of large areas of such by embankments.

asked the Secretary of State for War what steps have been taken in regard to the person who passed himself off as an officer of Dragoon Guards in the streets of London on 20th May, acid brought His Majesty's uniform into disgrace?

It appears on inquiry that the unfortunate person in question is at present in a private lunatic asylum suffering from general paralysis, and his case is considered hopeless. In the circumstances, I do not propose to take any further steps in the matter.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether, seeing that for the Proclamation of the late King Edward VII. in 1901 military guards of honour were supplied on the requisition of high sheriffs in Ireland, but that similar applications for the Proclamation of the present King have been refused, he will state the reasons for the change?

There is no record in my Department of guards of honour being supplied on the requisition of high sheriffs in Ireland on the occasion of the Proclamation of the late King Edward VII. The provision of guards of honour on the occasion of the recent Proclamation was only permitted when no extra expense to the public was involved on account of the transport of troops by rail.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that on the occasion of the Proclamation of the King at Coleraine, county Londonderry, the customary guard of honour was refused, and that it was supplied for a similar ceremony at Lisburn, county Antrim; and can he explain why it was refused in the one case and granted in the other?

The provision of a guard of honour at Coleraine would have-involved expense to the public on account of transport by rail, and the application was therefore refused. It was granted in the case of Lisburn because, the latter place being only seven miles from Belfast, no extra expense was involved.

asked the Home Secretary whether his attention has been called to the case of His Majesty's Inspector of Factories against Messrs. Ross Brothers, Limited, of Bloomfield Factory, Belfast, which was heard before the Court of King's Bench, Dublin, on 5th June, which was an appeal from the decision of the magistrates at the Belfast Petty Sessions, dismissing the action brought by the factory inspector against the defendants for an alleged breach of the Factory and Workshops Act, 1901, the charge being that the defendants neglected to provide suitable accommodation in which to keep the clothing of their employés in wet-spinning operations; whether the inspector, on visiting the premises, found in the winding department seventy-five workers for whose clothing sixty-six hooks were provided, in the weaving department 200 workers with similar accommodation, and suggested that heated and ventilated presses should be provided or another ante-room or cloak-room; whether he is aware that Mr. Justice Gibson, who affirmed the decision of the magistrates, on the ground that they had apparently found on the questions of fact and he could not say that they erred on a question of law, stated that it was clear what the object of the Statute is, but it was another thing whether the regulations under which proceedings were taken carried them out; what further action the Home Office proposes to take in this matter; and, if the Act of 1901 can afford no redress for the workers, whether the Government will introduce a short amending Bill covering this and similar cases?

I am aware of the facts of the case. The accommodation for clothing was as described in the question. The object of the Regulation is to secure that the clothes of the persons working in humidified atmospheres should be kept in a dry place; but in this instance the clothes had to be hung in the very room where they would be exposed to the humidified atmosphere, and so would be kept damp. In view of the decision of the court, a revision of the Regulation will be required, and this will be taken in hand at the first opportunity. The circumstances of this case were, I understand, exceptional.

asked the Home Secretary whether his attention had been called to the sentences passed at the Summer Assizes for the county of Durham on the prisoners found guilty of charges arising out of the Horden riots; and whether he proposes to review these sentences?

If any representation is made to me on behalf of the prisoners it will be my duty to consider carefully whether sufficient grounds exist for an exercise of the prerogative in their favour, but up to the present no such representations have been made. I would further remind my hon. Friend that Parliament has recently provided in the Court of Criminal Appeal ample facilities for bringing under review any sentence passed at assizes or quarter sessions.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India if he will cause a copy of the Mysore Press Act to be placed in the Library?

A copy will be placed in the Library.

asked the Prime Minister, in view of the fact that the Sovereign, by the Bill of Rights, is only required to declare that he will maintain the Protestant Reformed Church as by law established in England, he will explain for what reason it is now proposed that he should also avow himself a member of such Church.

By Section 3 of the Act of Settlement (12 and 13, William III., c. 2) it is provided that "whosoever shall hereafter come to the possession of this Crown shall join in Communion with the Church of England as by law established." The proposed form of Declaration is in conformity with this provision.

asked the President of the Local Government Board if he will state upon what basis the expenditure out of Grants voted by Parliament under the Unemployed Workmen Act, 1905, was calculated as between Ireland, Scotland, and England and Wales, and why it was that for the years 1907 to 1910, inclusive, the Grants to Scotland amounted to more than three times the amount granted to Ireland; whether he can state the districts in Ireland which obtained Grants in these years and the amounts granted to each district; and, in the oases of Dublin and Belfast, whether he can state, for purposes of comparison, the Grants made to towns of similar size and population in England and Wales and Scotland?

The allocation between England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland was settled in communication with the three Local Government Boards on estimates submitted by them of the respective requirements in the three countries. The ultimate distribution was made by the three Boards, and I have no materials which would enable me to reply to the detailed questions as regards the Grants in Ireland.

asked the Postmaster-General if he will state by whose instructions waits are given to outlying stations offering telegrams for transmission through the concentrators at Cork post office; how many such waits or delays were recorded for 16th May last; what was the total number of delays caused to the telegrams offered by the Kinsale post office on that date; and whether a complete record of telegraphic dislocations of the nature referred to is retained by those responsible for the rapid transmission of public telegrams at the Cork office?

When there are more calls on the concentration switch than the operators on duty can deal with simultaneously the last must necessarily wait its turn, and the clerk in charge would give the "Wait" signal, which is usually for a very short time. I have no record of these signals on 16th May list (Whit Monday), but I have a record of the delay of telegrams handed in at Kinsale, which averaged less than six minutes throughout the day.

asked the Postmaster-General what is the number of boys employed to deliver telegraph messages or to do postal work under allowances to postmasters; and what steps, if any, are taken by the Post Office to provide for the future of these boys after they get too old to be employed on boys' wages?

There is no record of the number of boys employed to deliver telegrams, or to do postal work, under allowances. They are not in the Post Office service, and usually follow some other occupation, their Post Office work being either part-time or of a casual or intermittent nature.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he will say on whose instructions several important duties in the Cork telegraph office remain unfilled, and why the supervising forces are, for the most part, diverted from their express duties to those of an operative nature?

There are two vacancies at Cork for telegraphists, and two for learners. These will be filled as soon as possible. Supervising officers have not been withdrawn from their proper duties, but have assisted in operating work sometimes, when there has been exceptional pressure.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he will grant a Return from ten of the principal towns in Cork County having direct communication with Cork City, showing the approximate number of waits per day given by the Cork City office to them when telegrams are offered; whether these waits have been in some cases repeated; and how many reports have been made on this subject, and with what result, since 31st March last.

I do not think any useful purpose would be served by such a Return as that suggested. I am informed that the number of "waits" has recently been considerably reduced, and that most of them are for a very short time.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he was aware of the amount of extra work thrown on the Cork telegraph staff in consequence of the addition to the number of daily papers published in that city, and the receipt and transmission of Marconi telegrams; and whether it is intended to bring the operative strength of the staff up to a pitch by which serious delay to public messages may be avoided?

I am aware that additional work has been thrown upon the Cork telegraph staff by the establishment of a new daily paper and by the "wireless" station at Crookhaven. Measures for diverting certain work from Cork are being considered, and the necessity for staffing the office adequately is fully realised.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will lay upon the Table the text of the Fetwa issued by the Grand Mufti relative to the death sentence on Wardani?

The Fetwa of the Grand Mufti is in the form of a letter to the President of the Cairo Assize Court, and runs as follows:—'I have duly received Your Excellency's letter dated the 18th May, and have examined the documents annexed thereto concerning the accusation against Ibrahim Nassef El-Wardany of having assassinated Boutros Pasha Ghali with premeditation, which you sent me for my opinion thereon. The answer is: It is laid down in the works on the Sharia that homicide deserving punishment of death, according to the Sharia, must be by blows from a sharp weapon or other similar instrument capable of separating the divers parts of the body. That death must have been the actual (immediate) consequence of the blows dealt by the offender to the victim. That the assassin must be of sound mind and of full age, and the life of the victim for ever immune as regards the assassin. That the homicide must be unjust, and the assassin must not be in one of the situations in which the death penalty is excluded by the Sharia. Judgment must be delivered in conformity with the Sharia, fulfilling all the conditions of validity required by the Sharia, in an action at law valid according to the rules of the Sharia, brought by one party against another party, recognised as such by the Sharia. Such are the provisions laid down by the Hanafite jurists. It results from the documents referred to, which are forwarded to me, that some of the conditions above indicated are not fulfilled in the crime in question.