asked the Secretary to the Treasury if he will state the amounts of conscience money paid to the Treasury for the years 1904–5, 1905–6, 1906–7, 1907–8, 1908–9, 1909–10, 1910–11, up to the end of February?

The amount of conscience money received by the Treasury in each of the following financial years was:—

1904–5	£1,420	13	6
1905–6	1,441	0	6
1906–7	2,260	8	0
1907–8	2,275	10	5
1908–9	3,197	12	2
1909–10	1,913	18	3
1910–11	2,020	19	6
(To 28th February, 1911.)

NOTE.—If Conscience Money is paid in respect of specified Taxes or Duties the amount is transferred to the Revenue Department concerned; otherwise it is transferred by the Treasury to the Exchequer.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether it is proposed to improve the position of clerks to surveyors of taxes by allowing those upon the establishment to reckon towards a pension or superannuation any portion of the service rendered by them as personal clerks to surveyors; whether it is proposed to increase the number of those placed upon the establishment; and whether it is considered satisfactory that clerks who are in possession of confidential information regarding assessments should be liable to dismissal at a week's notice?

I beg to refer to my reply to the hon. Member for the Newtown Division of Lancashire on the 27th ultimo, and to the reply of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer to the hon. Member for Londonderry on the 10th instant. As regards the third part of the question, I have nothing to add to my reply to the hon. Member for the St. Albans Division of Hertfordshire on the 9th instant.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he can state when he now expects the Inland Revenue authorities to issue the provisional valuations of hotels and licensed houses above £500 of annual value?

It is expected that copies of the certificates showing the annual licence value of hotels and licensed premises, the annual value of which exceeds £500 will be issued shortly.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether it is now admitted that there is inequality of taxation as between Income Tax payers who receive precisely similar emoluments from corporate bodies and from individual employers, seeing that those coming within the first category are assessed on the salaries accruing to them in the year of assessment, whereas those coming within the second category may, at their option, be assessed on the three years' average; whether that inequality is accentuated by the fact that district commissioners of taxes are allowed in their discretion to give only subordinate officials of corporate bodies the benefit of being placed on the same level as all employés of individual employers; and whether, if the circumstances are as stated, he will include a provision in the Revenue Bill conferring equal rights upon taxpayers coming within either category?

It is not optional, but obligatory, for employés of individual employers to be assessed on the three years' average. Officials holding distinctive appointments under corporate bodies have greater fixity of tenure. The salaries are well defined, and are not so liable to fluctuation as those of officials in a subordinate capacity and of employés who are assessed on the three years' average. I do not see my way to include such a provision in the Revenue Bill as that suggested.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if an unregistered friendly society, whose income exceeds £160, is required to pay Income Tax on its full income, or is entitled to claim exemption up to the first £160 of its full income?

An unregistered friendly society, whose income exceeds £160 per annum, is not entitled to abatement for the purposes of Income Tax.

asked the Chief Secretary if he is aware of the inconvenience caused in some cases to the public and to solicitors by the arrangement of registry districts made in the Probate (Ireland) Act, 1857, and the schedule thereto; whether the Lord Lieutenant will, under Section 17 of that Act, add Meath and South Longford to the registry district having Mullingar as its centre; and, if not, will he say what procedure is necessary to move the Lord Lieutenant to do this?

No complaint as to inconvenience has been received. An application may be made to the Lord Lieutenant in Council for an alteration in these districts at any time.

asked the Chief Secretary what is the balance standing to the credit of the canteen fund; whether the Inspector-General was approached by some of the wives of the men of the Reserve requesting that some means should be taken to cheapen the cost of provisions sold at the canteen; and what reason is there why the canteen fund should not be applied in this manner?

The balance standing to the credit of the canteen fund is £704 9s. 10d. Representations were made by wives of the police at the depot, and a considerable reduction was made in the selling price of certain provisions. A further reduction would jeopardise the solvency of the canteen.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he can state the reason why certain national school teachers in Ireland have been denied payment of their earned increase of good service salary under the Board's Rules 105 (a) and 108 (b); whether it is in consequence of any action by the Treasury; if so, can he state the total amount withheld from the teachers to date; and if it is intended that such outstanding indebtedness to individual teachers will be met at a future date?

The postponement of increments of salary is caused by the limitation of the number of teachers in the different grades. It would take a considerable time to determine the amount withheld from the teachers in consequence of this limitation. As vacancies occur the higher salaries are awarded to the teachers who, though promoted, were prevented from receiving the remuneration attached to their grades.

asked the Chief Secretary if he will state what amnesty was granted, on the occasion of His Majesty's Accession to the Throne, to men serving in the Navy and Army and suffering punishment for offences; whether any similar privilege was granted to the men of the Royal Irish Constabulary suffering from unfavourable records when Queen Victoria celebrated her Jubilee; and whether His Majesty's Government will consider the advisability of blotting out unfavourable records standing against the names of head and other constables of the Royal Irish Constabulary on the approaching occasion of the King's Coronation?

I understand that the amnesty granted to men serving in the Army and Navy on the occasion of His Majesty's Accession to the Throne consisted of various remissions of punishments to men undergoing sentences of imprisonment, and it also included a pardon to deserters. On the occasion of the late Queen Victoria's Jubilee, which was a special and quite exceptional event, all unfavourable records standing against the names of all ranks of the Royal Irish Constabulary were cancelled. No such order was made on the Accession to the Throne of the late King Edward, and there does not appear to be any special reason why a different course should be followed on the approaching occasion of the King's Coronation.

asked the Secretary to the Board of Education whether the Government have come to any decision on the question of revising the superannuation allowances to teachers in elementary schools?

I have nothing to add to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for the Oswestry Division of Shropshire on the 9th March.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Inda if he would state what are the latest returns to hand concerning the plague in India; the districts most affected; and whether the death-rate is declining?

The virulence of the epidemic normally increases each year during the cold weather and diminishes rapidly when the hot season sets in in April. During the present cold weather it has been more severe than in any of the last three years, notwithstanding the Tact that 1910 showed a very large increase over 1909 and 1908. Deaths last month numbered 88,498. The disease is worst in the United Provinces, South-Eastern Punjab, and Western Bengal. It is, I need hardly add, a matter for profound concern to the Government that this disease does not show much sign of permanent improvement despite the persistent, and I may truly say heroic, efforts of our doctors and administrators.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the Egyptian Government has prohibited the sale and circulation in Egypt of "La Courrier Européen," an international magazine, published in Paris; and, if so, what was the reason of this prohibition?

I have no information on this subject, but I will make inquiries.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether he has received a resolution from the guardians of the Market Drayton Union respecting the Board's new Poor Law Order; and, if so, whether he proposes to take the action which the guardians desire?

I have received a copy of a resolution passed by the Drayton Board of Guardians on this subject. It is identical in terms with a resolution that has been passed by some few other boards of guardians and a number of branches of the Social Democratic Federation and the Independent Labour party. As I have previously explained, I am at present awaiting the result of the consideration of the Report of the Departmental Committee by the Poor Law Unions Associations, and others.

asked the President of the Local Government Board, if he is aware that the London education authority propose to close the day schools for a week during the Coronation festivities and that during this week no meals will be supplied to necessitous school children; and whether, under these circumstances and in order to prevent suffering, he will inform the education authority that, in the event of their arranging to feed these children during the Coronation week, he will, if the payment for such meals out of the rates is surcharged by the district auditor, remit such surcharge by the exercise of the powers vested in him?

I understand that the London education authority propose to close the public elementary schools for some days during the Coronation festivities. As I have previously informed the hon. Member, the question of extending the scope of the Education (Provision of Meals) Act, 1906, is one for the decision of Parliament, and I cannot take the action suggested in his question.

asked the hon. Member for Southampton, as representing the First Commissioner of Works, if he will, for the convenience of the public in wet weather, have the portion of the footpath in the Mall nearest to the railings of St. James's Park paved with stone or asphalte?

No provision can be made in the approaching financial year for this work, the funds at the disposal of the First Commissioner being already allocated to other services which cannot be postponed. The First Commissioner will be happy to consider the matter when the Estimates for 1912–13 are in course of preparation.