asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will, for the convenience of Members, place the Civil List Resolution on the Paper two or three days before it is introduced?

The Resolution will be laid on Thursday next.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if the Congested Districts Board received a memorial signed by a number of people in connection with the making of a new road through the townlands of Liscallyroan, Aughrimin, Kildoragh, and Lisdalkey, in the Drumsna Electoral Division, county Leitrim; and if a Grant will be given towards the making of the same, as the people who live in that district experience great difficulty in bringing any agricultural produce to the neighbouring market towns on account of not having good road accommodation?

The Congested Districts Board have received the memorial referred to. The question of making the proposed road cannot be considered until the Board are dealing with the lands in the neighbourhood.

asked the Chief Secretary how many evicted tenants have been reinstated or provided with new holdings in the Poor Law union of Westport, county Mayo, under the Land Purchase Acts; whether applications for reinstatement or for new holdings have been made to the Estates Commissioners by or on behalf of the following evicted tenants, and, if so, when their applications will be dealt with by the Commissioners: James Walsh, Johnsrow, Westport; John M'Greoul, Johnsrow, Westport; Anthony Kerrigan, Peter Street, Westport; Mrs. Sammon, Carrowkennedy, Westport; Arthur O'Malley, Altamount Street, Westport; and James Fadian, Westport Quay?

The statistics of the Estates Commissioners are not compiled by unions, and it is not therefore possible to supply the information asked for in the first part of the question. Forty evicted tenants or their representatives have been reinstated in county Mayo. The names of James Walsh, Anthony Kerrigan, Mrs. Sammon, and Austin O'Malley have been noted for consideration in the allotment of untenanted land. The Commissioners have decided to take no action with regard to the other applications referred to.

asked why the claim of Patrick Gleeson, of Renavana, for an allotment on the lands of the Dickson estate, at Lachenagoneeny, Doon, county Limerick, was refused; and will steps be taken to see that this man will be given an allotment, or at least the grass of a cow, on the ranch supposed to be left over for the labourers?

The untenanted land on the estate referred to has been allotted by the Estates Commissioners after due inquiry and in the exercise of the discretion vested in them. The Commissioners are unable to give any undertaking with regard to the matters referred to in the concluding portion of the question.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he is aware that the cattle of William Gleeson, Ballywilliam, Nenagh, county Tipperary, were seized and sold in the pound at Nenagh, and that Mr. Gleeson and his friends were prevented by the police from attending the sale, acting under the orders of the head constable; whether he will state if the head constable acted on instructions received from Dublin Castle; whether he will give the name of the police officer who ordered the police to drag respectable men down out of their cars; and whether he will take such action as may be necessary to prevent a repetition of such conduct on the part of the police in future?

The police authorities inform me that the cattle of William Gleeson were seized by the sheriff's representative under a writ and sold by public auction in the pound at Nenagh. Mr. Gleeson and his friends were not prevented from attending the sale, but a rough crowd which had assembled and seemed likely to create a disturbance, had to be kept outside the pound. No person was pulled off his car, and I see nothing in the conduct of the police calling for any action on my part.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he can state when will the two Returns in connection with the Labourers (Ireland) Act be issued to Members of the House which were ordered to be printed on 28th April, 1910, at the request of the hon. Member for North Kerry?

The Returns in question, which were prepared in pursuance of an Order of the House dated 28th April, 1910, were presented and ordered to be printed on 7th and 8th July respectively. It is hoped that they will be issued to Members early next week.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether the standard wage paid to the labourers at Devonport in Government employ is £1 1s. per week for forty-eight hours, or at the rate of 5¼d. per hour; whether he is aware that the firm of John Brown and Company, of Clydebank, are employing labourers on the "Indefatigable" at the rate of £1 2s. 6d. for fifty-four hours; and whether he will make inquiries into this matter and, if necessary, induce this firm to pay the recognised rate of 5¼d. per hour to their labourers in the future, and further request this firm to repay to their labourers the amounts the firm have held back, amounting to 1s. per week, for the number of weeks such labourers have been in the firm's employ, which it is necessary this firm should pay in order to fully comply with the Fair Wages Clause of this House?

The reply to the first part of the question is in the affimative. With regard to the remainder of the question, inquiries are being made on the subject.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that public notices have been issued in the Press that gun practice will be carried out from Ardhallow battery, on the Clyde, between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. daily from 18th July to 22nd July and 25th July to 29th July, inclusive; and whether, seeing that at that particular period the area over which firing is to take place is more than usually crowded with craft of all description and pleasure steamers and boats, a more convenient time can be arranged for the firing without detriment to the due training of His Majesty's Forces?

The dates for the practice of the Territorial Royal Garrison Artillery Companies at Ardhallow are chosen so as to permit as many men as possible to attend training and gun practice without interfering with their civil occupation. The gun practice from Ardhallow Battery will be arranged so as not to interfere with the Royal Western Yacht Club races on 18th July.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he has received a communication from the Northfleet Lawn Council protesting against the decision of the Kent Education Committee to spend £600 in providing extra cloak-room accommodation at the Lawn schools without drawing the attention of the managers to the matter or giving the managers an opportunity of considering their proposals; and, if so, what action he proposes to take in the matter?

My right hon. Friend has received a communication from the managers of the Northfleet Lawn Council School of the character indicated. The relations between a local education authority and the managers of a school provided by the authority are not a matter coming within the jurisdiction of the Board of Education.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he can state when the evidence taken before the Departmental Committee on Lead and Dust in the Manufacture of Earthenware and China will be in the hands of Members?

It is hoped that the volume containing the appendices will be issued in about a fortnight, but the volume containing the evidence and index will not be ready for some five or six weeks.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the total number of inspections made during the year 1909 by the two inspectors under the Vivisection Act; and whether he will state the number of experiments under Table IV. ( a ) and Table IV. ( b ) of the annual Return respectively witnessed by them?

The numbers are as follows:— Experiments witnessed. Visits. Table IV.(A). Table IV.(B). Dr. Thane … 135 … 28 … 44 Sir J. Russell … 154 … 11 … 60 289 … 39 … 104

Each place at which experiments were being performed was visited at least once during the year, and the majority of places were visited three, four, or more times. Almost all visits were by surprise.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he proposes to appoint two labour advisers, one in connection with the Factory Acts and one with the Mines Acts; and, if so, whether these officials will be Members of the House of Commons?

As I intimated in the course of the Debate last month on going into the Committee of Supply, the question whether there ought not to be at the Home Office one or more officials who have been connected with the trades unions or miners' association is engaging my consideration, but I am not in a position at present to make any statement on the subject.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he had noticed the constant use of the expression United South Africa; whether, since the word Union is written in inverted commas in the definition clause of The South Africa Act, 1909, it is not as distinctive a term as Dominion in the case of Canada and Commonwealth in the case of Australia; whether reference should not be made to the Union of South Africa or the South African Union, but not to United South Africa; and whether the Secretary of State will make some announcement as to the correct appellation before the incorrect one has come into common use and become stereotyped in current phraseology?

"United South Africa," if used as a title is not correct. The correct title is the "Union of South Africa," or shortly "the Union." The regular use of the correct title in official documents, both here and in South Africa, will it is to be hoped, establish it in common use.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he was aware that Mr. Hugh O'Donnell, of Arranmore, county Donegal, was put in charge of the lifeboat at Arranmore at a salary of £20 a year and a cottage, and that the local committee of the National Lifeboat Society in August, 1905, procured his dismissal without any inquiry, with the result that the crew of the lifeboat refused to man the same, and a crew living three miles off had to be appointed; if the Board of Trade would inquire whether, in case of wreck, the distance of the crew from the lifeboat would be a source of peril to mariners; and whether an inquiry will be held into the circumstances?

I am informed by the National Lifeboat Institution that their local inspector of lifeboats reports that the present lifeboat crew is made up of fishermen, half of whom live close to the station, and the other half in other parts of the island. There is no reason to suppose that any undue delay would arise in launching the boat when her services are required. I have no power to order an inquiry into the circumstances of Mr. O'Donnell's dismissal as the lifeboat at Arranmore is under the management of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

asked the Under Secretary of State for India who are now the Members of the Council of the Secretary of State; what was the previous official career (if any) of each member, what was the date of his appointment, and what is the date of its expiration.

The following are the particulars asked for including the principal official services (if any) of each Member of Council:—

EXISTING MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL OF INDIA. Name. Previous Official Career. Date of Appointment. Date on which tenure of office will expire. Mackay, Sir James Lyle, G.C.M.G., K.C.S.I., K.C.I.E. (Late President of the Bengal Chamber of Commerce; Director, Suez Canal, British India Steam Navigation Co., and National Provincial Bank of England.) Member of the governor-General's Legislative Council, 1890–1893; His Majesty's Special Commissioner for Commercial Negotiations with China, 1901–02. 27 April,1897, Reappointed Member of Council for 5 years under 32 and 33 Vict., c. 97, sec. 3, 27 April, 1907. 26 April, 1912 Lee-Warner, Sir William, K.C.S.I. Indian Civil Service, 1869–1895; Secretary to Government of Bombay, 1887–1893; Member of the Governor-General's Legislative Council, 1893–95; Resident in Mysore and Chief Commissioner of Coorg, 1895; Secretary, Political and Secret Department, India Office, September, 1895. 12 November, 1902 11 Nov., 1912 Barnes, Sir Hugh Shakespeare, K.C.S.I., K.C.V.O. Indian Civil Service, 1874–1905; Resident and Agent for the Governor-General in Baluchistan, 1896; Secretary to the Government of India, Foreign Department, 1900; Lieutenant-Governor of Burma, 1903. 9 May, 1905 8 May, 1915 Barr, Lieut.- Colonel Sir David William Keith, K.C.S.I. Indian Political Department, 1869–1905; Agent for the Governor-General in central India, 1895; Resident at Hyderabad, 1900. 16 August, 1905 15 August, 1915 Schuster, Sir Felix Otto, Bart. (Governor of the Union of London and Smith's Bank) Member of Royal Commission on London Traffic, 1903–05, and of Board of trade commission for the Amendment of company Law, 1905. 26 April, 1906 25 April, 1916 Morison, Sir Theodore, K.C.I.E (Late Principal of the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental Colege, Aligarh.) Member of the Governor-General's Legislative Council, 1903–04. 19 December, 1906 18 Dec., 1916 Egerton, General Sir Charles Comyn, G.C.B., D.S.O. Indian Army, 1867–1907, Assistant Quartermaster-General, Bengal, 1895; Commanding Somaliland Field force, 1904; commanding Secunderabad Division, 1904–07. 5 February, 1907. 4 Feb., 1917

Name. Previous Official Career. Date of Appointment. Date on which tenure of office will expire. Appointed under the Council of India Act, 1907. La Touche, Sir James, John Digges, K.C.S.I. Indian Civil Service. 1867–1907; Chief Secretary to Government, North-Western Provinces and Oudh, 1893; Member of the Board of Revenue, 1896–1898; Member of the Governor-General's Legislative Council, 1897 and 1899; Acting Lieutenant-Governor North-Western Provinces and Oudh,1898; Lieutenant-Governor 1901. 1 November, 1907. 31 Oct., 1914 Gupta, Krishna Gobinda, C. S. I. Indian Civil Service, 1873–1908; Member of the Board of Revenue, Bengal, 1905. 9 March, 1908 8 March, 1915 Thomson, Sir James, K. C. S. I. Indian Civil Service, 1871–1906; Resident in Travancore and Cochin, 1895; Member of the Board of Revenue. Madras, 1897; Member of Council, Madras,1901; Acted as Governor of Madras, April to December, 1904. 11 September, 1908 10 Sept., 1915. Edgerley, Sir Steyning William, K. C. V. O., C. I. E. Indian Civil Service, 1879–1909; Secretary to Government of Bombay, 1897–1907; Member of the Governor-General's Legislative Council, 1906; Member of Council, Bombay, 1907; Member of Royal Commission on Indian Decentralisation, 1907–09. 16 March, 1909 15 March, 1916 Raleigh, Sir Thomas, K.C.S.I., D.C.L. (Late Reader in English Law at Oxford.) Registrar of the Privy Council, 1896–1899; Legal Member of the Governor-General's Council, 1899–1904; Vice-Chancellor of Calcutta University, 1900. 2 April, 1909 1 April, 1916 Baig, Mirza Abbas Ali Civil Service, 1882–1906; Talukdari Settlement Officer, Bombay, 1906; Dewan in the Junagadh State, 1906–10. 4 June, 1910 3 June, 1917

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the Hull trawler "Onward Ho" was arrested by the Russian gunboat "Baku," on Friday evening 8th July, when fishing at a distance of forty-three miles from the nearest point of Russian land; whether he caused the Hull fishing industry to be informed, on 30th April, 1906, that His Majesty's Government do not recognise any claims on the part of Russia to exercise jurisdiction over British vessels beyond the three-mile limit; whether the "Onward Ho" was on 8th July seven miles to the north of a line drawn from three miles to the north of Kanin Cape to Sviatoi Cape, being in latitude 68.33 longitude 41.22, and there being no dispute as to her position; and whether he will insist on the immediate release of the trawler and obtain full compensation for her illegal detention?

Information has been given me to the effect stated in the first and third parts of the question. The answer to the second part is in the affirmative. In accordance with telegraphic instructions His Majesty's Embassy at St. Petersburg have urged the Russian Government to release the vessel. The master and crew are free. The question of applying for compensation is under consideration pending full inquiry into the facts.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether the Government will consider the advisability of altering the law relating to disinfectants so as to secure a standard which will adequately protect the public against spurious compounds which give a false sense of security?

My right hon. Friend has asked me to reply to this question. As I stated in reply to a somewhat similar question last Session, the standardisation of disinfectants is a subject of great difficulty, upon which expert opinion is divided. I do not think it would be practicable to deal with it at the present time.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether the fact

Parish. Year. Parish Rates levied on Net Rental. County and District Rates levied on Gross Rental. Total Rates. Poor Rate. All Other Rates. Public Health Rate. Other County & District Rates. £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. Barvas … 1907–8 … 0 14 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 9⅛ 0 17 9⅛ 1908–9 … 1 3 9 0 2 4 0 1 0 0 1 8¾ 1 8 9¾ 1909–10 … 1 4 1½ 0 1 11½ 0 1 0 0 1 8¾ 1 8 9 Lochs … 1907–8 … 0 12 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 9⅛ 0 15 11⅛ 1908–9 … 0 19 11 0 2 6 0 1 0 0 1 8¾ 1 5 1¾ 1909–10 … 1 0 10 0 1 7 0 1 0 0 1 8¾ 1 5 l¾ Uig … 1907–8 … 0 10 6 0 3 0 0 1 0 0 1 9⅛ 0 16 3⅛ 1908–9 … 0 14 4¼ 0 2 1½ 0 1 0 0 1 8¾ 0 19 2½ 1909–10 … 0 14 2 0 4 0 0 1 0 0 1 8¾ 1 0 10¾ It is to be noted that the deductions from gross rental under the Poor Law Act were, in 1907–8, 5 per cent. on all subjects in Barvas and Lochs. and in Uig 30 per cent. on dwelling-houses and shops, and 25 per cent. on lands and other subjects. These deductions were increased in 1908–9 to 45 per cent. on all subjects in Barvas and Lochs, and in Uig, 40 per cent. on dwelling-houses and shops, and 35 per cent. on lands and other subjects.

Arrears of Rates at present time. Total. Parish Rates. County and District Rate. £ £ £ Barvas … … … 1,120 518 1,638 Lochs … … … 844 203 1,047 Uig … … … 1,884 693 2,577

Present position of bank advances guaranteed by Treasury—Barvas, advanced by bank, £561 11s. 3d.; Lochs, advanced by bank, £519 10s. 1d.; Uig, nil.

of the conditions under which paper bags were made in dwelling-houses in many London districts had been brought to his notice; and whether he proposed to make any inquiry into, or take any action in, the matter on the ground of the danger to the public health through the probable transmission of disease germs?

A letter has been addressed to me in regard to this matter, and it is at present under my consideration.

asked the Lord Advocate whether he can state the amount of the poor rates, inclusive of the public health rate, in the parishes of Barvas, Uig, and Lochs, in the Lewis, in 1908, 1909, and 1910, and the total rates levied in those parishes for the same years; the amount of arrears at the present time; and the present position of the bank advances guaranteed by the Treasury to meet the financial necessities in the Lewis in November, 1908?

The particulars asked for are as follows:—