asked the Secretary to the Treasury what is the difference, if any, between the certificates issued by the Civil Service Commissioners to minor staff officers in the Statistical Office and those issued to minor staff officers in the Secretary's and Accountant and Comptroller General's Offices of the Customs and Excise Departments?

The assistant clerks, from whom the minor staff officerships in the Statistical Office are filled, require a fresh Civil Service certificate on promotion thereto, but the Port and Second Division clerks, from whom the minor staff officer-ships in the Secretaries' and Accountant and Comptroller-General's Departments are filled, do not require a fresh Civil Service Certificate on promotion thereto.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether he is able to now state when a decision will be come to regarding the recommendations of the committee appointed to inquire into the Department of the Accountant-General of the Navy on 2nd January, 1909?

I fear that I cannot add anything to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the First Lord of the Admiralty to a question by the hon. Member on the 22nd instant.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether he can say when the proposed Bill to provide for insurance against sickness and invalidity will be introduced; and whether the scheme has yet been submitted to representatives of the medical profession?

I cannot yet say when the proposed Bill will be introduced. The scheme is not yet in a sufficiently advanced stage to be submitted to representatives of the medical profession.

asked a return of the various counties in Ireland in which Form IV. has been issued and the numbers issued in each county?

Finance (1909–10) Act, 1910. Return showing number of Form IV.—Land issued in the undermentioned counties in Ireland:—Antrim (including county borough of Belfast), 1096; Armagh, 45; Cavan, 25; Carlow, 3; Clare, 20; Cork (including county borough of Cork), 244; Donegal, 1; Down, 157; Dublin (including county borough of Dublin), 918; Fermanagh, 7; Galway, 15; Kerry, 13; Kildare, 10; Kilkenny, 18; King's County, 9; Limerick (including county borough of Limerick), 79; Londonderry (including county borough of Londonderry), 75; Longford, 1; Louth, 37; Mayo, 6; Meath, 22; Monaghan, 17; Sligo, 112; Tipperary, 20; Tyrone, 43; Waterford (including county borough, of Waterford), 15; Westmeath, 14; Wexford, 22; Wicklow, 24. Total, 3,068.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland, in view of the necessity for arterial drainage in Ireland, the promises publicly made in 1909 that this was one of the purposes to which the Development Fund, established that year, would be applied, and the inefficient condition into which local drainage boards have fallen, whether he will cause an inspection and estimate to be made of the cost of removing a few obstructions in the River Inny, which now cause the flooding of many farms in Weslmeath and Longford, with a view of having them removed at the cost of the Development Fund?

I am informed by the Board of Works that they are not aware of the existence of the obstructions mentioned in the two Inny Drainage Districts, and that there are no outstanding complaints before them.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether a man named William Heyslip, of Newmarket, was returned for trial at the Cork Assizes, now being held at Cork; whether he was allowed out on securities being given for his appearance before the judge, Heyslip having absconded; have the bonds of the securities been estreated; if so, for what amount; and the names and addresses of the securities?

The man Heyslip with two others was in the first instance returned for trial to the Mallow Quarter Sessions on 20th January, but the trial was postponed to the Assizes, and a fresh order for bail and securities was made. Heyslip, being unable to comply with it was detained in custody for some days, and it being discovered that by virtue of the Quarter Sessions Jurors (Ireland) Act, 1897, the old recognisances remained in force, Heyslip was discharged from custody. He failed subsequently to attend the Assizes for trial, but in the circumstances it was not thought expedient to apply to have the recognisances of the securities estreated.

asked the Chief Secretary what is the cause of delay in executing the warrants for arrest issued against William Heyslip, John Connors, and John Angland, three men sentenced to a month's imprisonment without the option of a fine by the magistrates sitting at Kanturk petty sessions, on 9th December, 1910; whether he is aware that Heyslip was arrested at Newmarket on 6th January of this year, and escaped from two policemen on his way to the police barracks; and has any action been taken by the constabulary authorities with reference to this escape of Heyslip?

At Kanturk petty sessions, on the 10th December last, William Heyslip, John Connors, and John Angland were each sentenced to one month's imprisonment, without the option of a fine, for being drunk and disorderly. The defendants had previously been returned for trial to Mallow quarter sessions on a charge of assault; they absconded and were not heard of until a few days before the quarter sessions when they were required to give fresh bail for their appearance at Cork Spring Assizes. The warrants could then have been executed, but a memorial had been forwarded to the Lord Lieutenant praying for a mitigation of the sentence, and pending His Excellency's decision thereon, the police, as is usual in such cases, did not execute the warrants. This decision was not received in time to admit of the completion of the sentence before the date of the Cork Spring Assizes, and it was therefore decided to await the result of the trial before executing the warrant. Connors and Angland appeared at the Spring Assizes, but the trial, owing to the absence of Heyslip and a Crown witness, was adjourned until the Summer Assizes. The warrants will now be executed. Heyslip was not arrested at Newmarket on the 6th January.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether his attention has been called to the action of the Local Government Board in disqualifying for old age pensions those persons passed by the Sneem and Caherdaniel sub-committees who, having attained the age of seventy, have assigned their farms to their sons on marriage, whilst reserving the grass of a cow or two; whether he is aware that this has been the invariable practice in the district; that these applicants in an impoverished district are unable to work their farms when they have attained the age of seventy; that their children would emigrate unless parents assigned the farm by way of marriage settlement; and that the assignment in such cases has not been, as asserted by the Local Government Board, for the sake of getting the pension; and whether, in view of the small sum that would be obtained if these small holdings were put up for sale, and that the reservation of the grass of a cow or two is more valuable than the sale of the farm, the Local Government Board will reconsider its decision in these cases?

No representations have been received by the Local Government Board from the sub-committee referred to, with respect to the Board's decisions in the case of claimants who have made assignments of their holdings to their children on marriage. The practice of the Board in such cases is explained on page XL of their Annual Report for the year ended 31st March, 1910.

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that Patrick Mahony, an evicted tenant on the Warden estate, near Sneem, county Kerry, has been gazetted for a holding on untenanted land, with the register number 4,008; and whether, in view of the fact that the Estates Commissioners hold some untenanted land at Coomlimina, on the Mahony estate, bordering on the Warden estate, they propose to give a portion of this untenanted land to Patrick Mahony?

The Estates Commissioners have received an application from Patrick Mahony for reinstatement in a holding on the Warden estate formerly occupied by him, and now in the occupation of a tenant who has signed an agreement to purchase his holding under the Land Purchase Acts, and have noted Mahony's application for consideration in the allotment of any untenanted land acquired by them. The Mahony estate to which the hon. Member refers is apparently that of Miss Mahony and Miss Hood, which has been acquired by the Commissioners. No scheme for the allotment of the untenanted lands on this estate has yet been prepared, and the Commissioners are not at present able to say whether it will be possible to give Mahony a holding on this estate or not.

asked why the words "temporarily deducted" are applied to the deductions from the annual grants due to county councils and other local bodies in Ireland in respect of alleged defaults and losses connected with land purchase, seeing that the deductions are never refunded to those bodies and are a permanent loss to the ratepayers; whether the running accounts kept in this matter are accessible for examination by the bodies bearing the losses; and since, after adjustment, an actual deduction is made each year, how arises the alleged difficulty of stating the sum of all the deductions made since 1903 in each case and for the whole of Ireland?

The deductions referred to, so far as they relate to arrears of land purchase annuities, are refunded to county councils when the arrears are paid. If the hon. Member will refer to the Table which was given in answer to his question of 9th instant he will see that, in the case of eight counties, the amounts so refunded in respect of arrears in the current year were actually in excess of the current deductions, the result being that in these cases there were net additions to the current grants to the counties. The accounts connected with land purchase are not accessible to the public. I would remind the hon. Member that, as land purchase progresses, and the amount of annuities payable by tenant-purchasers increases, so generally will the amount of temporary arrears increase. Consequently, although the counties are credited with the amount of arrears previously deducted according as they are recovered, there will still generally remain on balance a certain sum to be deducted. As regards the final paragraph of the question, I would refer the hon. Member to my reply to his further question on this subject on to-day's Paper.

also asked the amount of all deductions made and withheld since 1903 from the annual grants due to each county council and other local bodies in Ireland, and the total account of losses and defaults connected with land purchase?

The annual report of the Local Government Board for each year since 1906–7 contains a table giving details of the deductions from or additions to the Estate or Death Duty Grant payable to the several unions and road authorities in Ireland in the year under review. The preparation of the figures for the previous years would involve an expenditure of time and labour which would be entirely out of proportion to their usefulness.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he is aware that elementary evening schools in Ireland have completed their session three weeks before they have been examined in some subjects, and, seeing that a necessary percentage of those on the rolls has to be taught these subjects in order to entitle the teacher to the higher fees, is the teacher penalised if, owing to circumstances over which he has no control, the required number is not reached when the pupils are specially called together for examination; are the fees for evening schools earned from six to eight weeks before they are paid; and what is the reason of this delay?

The Commissioners of National Education inform me that the grants to evening schools are paid after the end of each session, and are determined as a rule by the reports of the inspectors on the schools at the end of the session. The Commissioners are not aware that undue delay takes place either in the matter of payment or inspection, but if any specific case of alleged hardship in either respect is brought under their notice they will investigate it.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he is aware that the Congested Districts Board received last year memorials from the tenants on the Lyne estate, the Simon White estate, and the Roches estate, all situated in the electoral division of Glengariffe, in the Bantry union, requesting the Board to purchase those etates; has the Congested Districts Board communicated with the landlords of those estates with a view to purchase, or have there been any negotiations between the Board and the landlords; is there a prospect that these estates will be purchased voluntarily and in the near future; and, if the Board cannot acquire those estates by voluntary agreement, will immediate steps be taken to acquire them under the compulsory clauses of the Act of 1909?

The Congested Districts Board received memorials from tenants on the Lyne and the Simon White estates, but they cannot trace any memorial from the tenants on the Roche estate. The owners of the Lyne and Simon White estates were informed that the Board would be willing to negotiate for the purchase of the estates, but they have not so far been offered to the Board. The owners will now be asked to state whether they are willing to negotiate with the Board for the sale of their estates.

asked how the pension officer estimated the income of John Potter, of Rhinetalla, Adare, county Limerick, under which he only receives 2s. a week pension, having regard to the fact that he has only 13½ acres of land, half of which is waste, and for which he pays £5 2s. annually under purchase agreement, which will be less when the sale is completed, and also having regard to the fact that he has no cattle, that last year he made £2 7s. of wheat, £6 13s. of oats, and £5 of turnips and mangolds, and that he has no other income; and why from these facts his pension was reduced from 5s. to 2s. a week, although the Rathkeale Sub-committee granted him the full pension?

In August last the Local Government Board upheld the appeal of the pension officer in this case as John Potter's means appeared to exceed £26 5s. per annum. The pension officer made his calculation upon a careful estimate of the means derived from Potter's holding of twenty-one statute acres, which included other items in addition to those mentioned in the question.

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether several of the tenants of labourers' cottages in the Fermoy Rural District have made frequent complaints that their dwellings are unhealthy and dangerous to live in owing to the smoke nuisance and other defects; is there any inspection of labourers' cottages at present by independent engineering inspectors of the Local Government Board before they are finally completed; and has any such inspection taken place in Fermoy; and, if so, with what result?

The Local Government Board have not received any complaints of the nature referred to from tenants of labourers' cottages in the Fermoy Rural District. The answer to the second paragraph of the question is in the affirmative, but such inspections are solely made for the Board's guidance in authorising the advance of instalments of loans, and do not relieve local authorities and their architects of their responsibility for seeing that cottages are properly constructed in accordance with the plans and specifications. An inspection was made in September last of the cottages erected, or being erected, under the last scheme of the Fermoy Rural District Council. The inspector reported that the work was generally being carried out in a very satisfactory manner, but drew attention to the fact that the kitchen flues in several of the cottages apparently failed to draw properly. The Board requested the council to give their attention to this matter. Another inspection will be made before a further instalment of the loan is advanced.

asked the Chief Secretary whether William Geary, an evicted tenant on the estate of Miss Riversdale, Kildorrery, county Cork, has been reinstated in his former holding since the 12th January, 1911; whether he is considerably handicapped in his agricultural operations until the grant necessary to the proper equipment and restocking the farm and for building purposes is administered; and will steps be taken to have the grant promised to him allocated without delay?

William Geary has been reinstated in the holding formerly occupied by him, and has signed an undertaking to purchase it, which was lodged with the Estates Commissioners on 12th January, 1911. The Commissioners have sanctioned a free grant of £100 being made to him, and it will be expended at an early date.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he is aware of the conditions of housing which generally prevail amongst the coast and deep-sea fishermen of Ireland; whether the present definition of a labourer in the Labourers (Ireland) Acts has been almost invariably held by inspectors of the Local Government Board not to include fishermen, on the ground that they earn more than the statutory qualifying rate; whether he is aware that in Cork county, in almost every improvement scheme recently promoted by rural districts, the bulk of the fishermen who applied for cottages and allotments had their claims rejected; and in these circumstances, will he consider the desirability of making special provision for this class in the Labourers Bill now before Parliament?

I am aware of the general condition of the fishermen's cottages in Ireland, but a considerable number have benefited by the Labourers Acts. The Local Government Board are not aware that their inspectors have almost invariably rejected representations made on behalf of fishermen on the ground stated, nor have the Board returns to show the number of fishermen who have applied for cottages, and the number whose claims have been rejected in Cork or any other county. Fishermen were definitely brought within the scope of the Acts by Section 4, of the Labourers (Ireland) Act, 1886, but the definition of the expression agricultural labourer contained in that Section, and in Section 93 of the Land Act of 1903 explicitly requires that the labourer shall work for hire, so that fishermen who own either boats or shares in boats would be excluded unless they qualified by working for hire for some period at any season of the year. All cases of fishermen living in insanitary houses can be brought under the Acts as they stand, and there appears to be no reason to make special provision for fishermen in the Bill now before Parliament.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he has read a report of a mass meeting of Dublin workers held in Beresford Place last Sunday, and received a copy of a resolution asking for £5,000 to relieve urgent distress; and whether he will comply with that request and enable the distress committee to cope with the calls made upon them?

I have read the report referred to. The resolution asking for £3,500 for the unemployed in Dublin was evidently made on the assumption that a large balance of the money apportioned to Ireland under the Unemployed Workmen Act is still unallocated. This is not the case, as the whole grant of £5,000 for Ireland has been distributed, Dublin obtaining no less than 63 per cent. of the whole.

asked when it is proposed to start improvement works on the Ventry estate, purchased by the Congested Districts Board nearly six months ago?

The Congested Districts Board inform me that improvement works cannot be started until the estate is vested, and the date of the vesting of the estate cannot at present be ascertained.

asked the Chief Secretary if he can state for what reason the Second Beading of the Dublin Police Bill and of the Public Libraries (Ireland) Bill are put down before the Second Reading of the Labourers (Ireland) Bill in the Orders of the Day?

The Bills to which the hon. Member refers are blocked, and no importance, therefore, is to be attached to the position in which they appear in the Orders of the Day.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether the instructions given to the British plenipotentiary at the conference which formulated the Declaration of London, and are quoted in Cd. 4554, were formally approved by the Board of Admiralty in relation to the effective action of the British Navy in war-time prior to being delivered to the plenipotentiary?

The instructions to the British plenipotentiary at the International Naval Conference in London were referred to and received the concurrence of the Admiralty.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether officers of the Regular Forces are required in future to provide themselves with a gold sash, similar to the sash the use of which was discontinued some years ago; and whether, in view of the inadequacy of the pay of junior officers, the Secretary of State will consider the possibility of relieving officers of this expense?

The reply to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. As regards the second part of the question, there are no funds at the disposal of the Secretary of State to enable him to meet this expenditure.

asked the Under-Secretary for War, whether he is aware that the proposed new crimson and gold sash for officers of the Line and Territorial battalions is quoted by Army tailors at £5 15s.; and whether its purchase is to be compulsory for those of junior rank whose present pay was stated by the Secretary of State for War to be already inadequate?

It is understood that the price of the new sash is from £5 to £6, according to the firm from which it is purchased. All Infantry officers other than those of Highland, Scottish, and Rifle Corps will be required to wear it.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether books of instruction can be supplied gratis to the medical officers of the Territorial Army?

Those officers receive a copy gratis of the Royal Army Medical Corps Training and the Field Service Regulations Part I.

asked the Under-Secretary for War whether a number of men who had been approved for transference from Woolwich to the new torpedo factory at Greenock have had their application cancelled; if so, whether he will state the reasons; and whether the Woolwich factory will close on the 30th inst.?

No such approved transfers have been cancelled. The torpedo factory at Woolwich will close on the 30th instant.

asked whether the decision to send the 7th Hussars to India has been arrived at after due consideration of the fact that this regiment has only spent nine years out of the last twenty-five at home?

Yes, Sir.

asked the numbers of the troops inspected by the Inspector-General of the Over-seas Forces at Khartoum and Cyprus, respectively; what was the cost of each of these journeys and the time occupied upon them; and the same information as to the numbers of troops, estimated time, and cost of the proposed visit of inspection to the West Indies?

The journey from Malta to Cyprus, Egypt and the Soudan and back to Malta occupied about six weeks, and the approximate cost is about £350. The journey from London to the West Indies and back will take about six weeks, and the cost will be about £600. The establishment of troops on the British establishments at Khartoum and Cyprus amounts to almost 870, and at Bermuda and Jamaica to almost 2,500. The local Colonial troops in the West Indies will also be inspected.

asked the Under Secretary for War (1) whether he can see his way to provide facilities to enable officers and men of the Special Reserve, who will be in training at the time, to attend the Coronation in London; and (2) what arrangements have been made for the representation of the Special Reserve at the Coronation?

Every unit of Cavalry and Infantry of the Special Reserve, whether undergoing training or not, will be represented on the line of route of the Coronation Procession and the Royal Progress by a selected detachment. The other Arms will also be represented proportionately to their strength.

asked whether, with reference to Circular Memorandum No. 308, a quartermaster at present serving in the Territorial Force will be required to give up his civil occupation and devote his whole time to his military duties in consideration of a salary of from £50 to £75 per annum, or whether he will still be permitted, should he so desire, to serve on, as formerly, without a salary?

It is not considered that the duties for which it is proposed to pay salaries up to £50 or £75 a year need involve the surrender of a civil occupation. There is no possible objection to a quartermaster serving on without a salary, but it will of course be necessary that he should be efficient, and that the duties required shall be properly carried out.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India if he will state how much silver was purchased and was coined by the Government of India in the financial year 1906–7; what was the profit to the Indian Government on that emission; what was the estimated production of silver from the world's mines during that year; what, approximately, was the world's consumption of silver during that year in the arts and manufactures; how much silver has been purchased and coined by the Indian Government during the present financial year; how much profit to the Indian revenue would have accrued if the Government had bought and coined during this year, at the present price of silver bullion, as much silver as was purchased in the year 1906–7; will he state what is the present specific duty imposed on silver bullion imported into India, and what is this duty ad valorem at the present price of silver; whether, seeing that silver bullion is the raw material of one of the most beautiful and important handicrafts in India, there is any prospect of the existing high tariff on silver being remitted or reduced; and what amount of rupee notes has been issued for India during the past two financial years, and how is this paper currency secured?

The value of purchased silver received during 1906–7 in the Calcutta and Bombay mints was £11,628,844. The silver coinage of the year was partly from purchased silver and partly from defective and uncurrent coin which was re- coined in accordance with practice. The total amounted to Rs.26,08,57,405. The profit on coinage during the year was £4,014,426. The Secretary of State is not in a position to give an estimate of the world's production of silver and the world's consumption in arts and manufactures in 1906–7. He is concerned with the comparatively limited undertaking of governing India. The Government of India has not purchased any silver in 1910–11. Its silver coinage operations during the year have consisted in the recoinage of old rupees and the issue of fractional silver currency. The value of the issues from the mint due to these operations was, in the first ten months of the year, Rs.1,87,67,143. If £11,628,844 worth of silver had been bought for coinage in 1910–11 at the present price and coined, and if the public demand had been sufficient to absorb the additional rupees, the profit on the operation would have been about £7,750,000. But the facts of the year show that the additional rupees would not have been absorbed, so that the immediate financial result would have been to lock up £11,628,844 in a temporarily unserviceable form. The Import Duty on silver in India is fourpence per ounce, equivalent at the present price of silver to about 16.45 per cent. There is no intention of reducing it. The increase in the circulation of currency notes from 28th February, 1909, to 28th February, 1911, was Rs.9,66,11,765. The constitution of the paper currency reserve on the latter date was as follows:—

asked the Secretary for Foreign Affairs whether the alliance between Germany, Austria, and Italy is of both a defensive and offensive character, and in this case if there are any, and, if so, what, limitations to its scope; and at what date it will terminate?

The Triple Alliance is a secret treaty, respecting which His Majesty's Government have no official information.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he has any official in- formation showing what proportion, approximately, of the world's production of silver, exclusive of Mexico, is at present produced within the British Empire?

The total quantity of silver produced in 1908 is estimated at 203,186,000 ounces, of which 73,664,000 ounces were produced in Mexico, 40,689,000 ounces in the British Empire, and 88,833,000 ounces in other parts of the world. The commercial value of this silver was as shown below:—

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will say per quarter of how many pounds the average price of wheat imported into London was 35s. 6d. in 1910; and per quarter of how many pounds the average official prices of wheat in Berlin and Paris in 1910 were 45s. 4d. and 45s. 9d. respectively?

All the prices quoted relate to a quarter of 480lbs.

asked the Postmaster-General, whether he will have regard to the hostile opinion held by a number of residents in Derryharney postal district, to the reinstatement of Armstrong, the letter-carrier, who was recently indicted for using party expressions and for revolver firing?

I have taken due notice of Mr. Armstrong's breach of the political reserve which is enjoined on all Post Office servants; but in view of the fact that he was acquitted of the charge preferred against him, no further action seems to me necessary.

asked the Lord Advocate whether he is aware of the practice of many owners of collieries and brickworks in Scotland of deducting sums from their workmen's wages for medical service, notwithstanding the fact that such workmen belong to friendly societies and have their own medical men; and, if so, whether he will introduce legislation on the subject?

I am aware that the practice mentioned exists in some parts of Scotland as well as in other parts of the United Kingdom, but I do not know to what extent it affects workmen who are members of friendly societies. Such arrangements are authorised by Section 23 of the Truck Act of 1831, but it is expressly stipulated that there shall be an agreement in writing signed by the workman. Evidence on the subject was taken by the Truck Committee, and the recommendations of the Committee in this matter will be considered when the Amendment of the Truck Acts is taken in hand.

asked the Lord Advocate, having regard to the fact that, owing to the delay in securing land legislation for the Highlands, the people are rapidly emigrating to other lands, if the Secretary for Scotland will introduce in the House of Lords a short amendment of the Congested Districts (Scotland) Act, such as will admit of the speedy acquisition of land in the congested area, for the pur- pose of creating new holdings, and for the extension of existing holdings?

I am unable to add anything to the answer which I gave to my hon. Friend on the 21st of this month.

asked the Lord Advocate whether he is aware that there are at present 500 men on the register of the Aberdeen distress committee whose applications have been approved in terms of the Act and regulations; if the Local Government Board have refused a grant; and what steps he proposes to take in the matter?

I am aware of the facts referred to by my hon. Friend. The circumstances in regard to the distress committee's work at Aberdeen have been carefully considered, in connection with the local conditions and with the general situation elsewhere in Scotland, and the Local Government Board do not consider that they are such as to justify a grant. No further action is proposed.