asked the Secretary to the Treasury if he can say when the Hobhouse Committee of Inquiry into the conditions of service in the Customs and Excise Department will be published; is he aware of the uncertainty that at present exists in His Majesty's Customs that the hours of work may be altered and increased; and, if the hours of work are increased or altered, will he consider favourably giving compensation to the Custom House officers concerned?

I hope to be able to fix a date for the presentation of the Report of this Committee very shortly. It would be quite contrary to precedent to make any announcement on the possible contents of that Report previously to its presentation.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether the compositors and other workers engaged in printing [Cd. 5609] and [Cd. 5433], respectively, were paid the trade union rate of wages; whether any overtime was worked, and at what rate in each case was it paid; what charge, if any, was made for the type standing between the time of the finally corrected copies being returned to the printer and their publication; and what were the dates, respectively, on which the final corrected proofs were ready for the printer and the dates of the earliest delivery of each to the Vote Office?

Overtime was worked on the printing of [Cd. 5609], but not on [Cd. 5433], No charge was made for the type standing between the time of the finally corrected copies being returned to the printer and their publication. The final corrected proofs were received by the printers in the case of [Cd. 5609] on 1st instant, and in the case of [Cd. 5433] on 13th December, 1910; the copies of [Cd. 5609] were delivered on the 11th instant, and of [Cd. 5433] on 6th January, 1911. The contractors state that the compositors and other workers engaged on the printing were paid the trade union rate of wages both for the ordinary hours and for the overtime.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether he was aware that Mrs. Ellen Scanlan, of Upper Athea, county Limerick, who has been in receipt of an old age pension since 23rd December, 1910, had been entitled to it from 31st July, 1909, as her birth certificate is dated 24th July, 1839; and whether, as she did not seek the pension between July, 1909, and December, 1910, owing to family trouble, she would now get what she was legally entitled to between the dates above-mentioned?

The facts as regards Mrs. Scanlan's age are correctly stated in the question. She did not, however, become legally entitled to the old age pension until the first Friday after her claim was allowed—i.e., the 16th December, 1910, and no payment can be made to her for the period between that date and July, 1909.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether, in view of the fact that the Census of 1851 shows that on 30th March, 1851, Simon Behan, station Kilkee, district Ennis, number in Post Office Register 3851, was certified as ten years of age on last birthday, he can explain why the payment of the old age pension granted to Simon Behan will take effect only on 6th June of this year?

It is true that in the Census of 1851 (taken on 31st March, 1851) Behan was recorded as ten years old; but on the other hand his name was not found with those of his parents in the Census of 1841, the inference being that he was not born when the Census was taken on 6th June, 1841. The grant of pension to take effect from the first Friday after 6th June, 1911, was the most liberal course consistent with the evidence of the 1841 Census. Behan does not appear to have exercised his right of appeal to the Local Government Board against the Local Committee's, decision.

asked on what grounds an old age pension is being withheld from Thomas Kilmartin, of Carrenree, Dromard, county Sligo; whether he is aware that the Skreen sub-committee, county Sligo, passed this man's claim for a pension on 9th February last; whether the Local Government Board have been informed that the applicant's brother is seventy-six years of age, and that a sister younger than he is over seventy years of age, and in receipt of a pension; and whether the only ground of objection stated against the applicant's claim is that his age is not shown by the Census returns of 1841?

The Skreen pension subcommittee stopped Kilmartin's pension on 9th September, 1909, but on 9th February last, as stated, allowed a further claim which he made. Against this decision the pension officer appealed. Kilmartin stated that he came between a brother Michael aged seventy-six years, and a sister Bridget, who, if still living, would be seventy-two years old, but no evidence was submitted to the Board in support of this assertion; whilst the fact that his name did not appear along with their names in the record of his parents' family in the Census Return of 1841 tends to show that he was born after the date of the Census and was younger than his sister Bridget. The Local Government Board upheld the pension officer's appeal on the ground that Kilmartin had failed to prove that he had reached the statutory age.

asked on what grounds the Local Government Board have refused to sanction the pension awarded by the Sligo (No. 2) sub-pension committee to James Conway, of Kilmacowen and Knocknahur, Sligo; whether, in regard to-the applicant's age, the Sligo (No. 2) sub-pension committee were unanimously of the opinion that the applicant was over seventy years of age; and on what facts or evidence did the Local Government Board decide that the applicant was not qualified as to age?

The Local Government Board are no longer in possession of the documents in this case, and are unable to state whether the pension sub-committee passed the claim unanimously. In accordance with their usual practice the Board requested James Conway to furnish them with any evidence he could obtain to show that he had reached the age of seventy years; but he made no reply, and the Board upheld the appeal of the pension officer on the ground that Conway had failed to show that he had reached the statutory age.

asked the Chief Secretary whether his attention has been called to the case of Mary Hehir, a claimant for an old age pension in the Dock Ward Division of Limerick; whether this woman made a claim in November, 1910, and came before the pensions committee in support of her claim, and that the committee, having fully investigated the case and seeing the applicant for themselves, unanimously granted the pension, but the pension officer refused the claim owing to the want of documentary evidence, and the Local Government Board upheld his decision; and whether, taking all the circumstances of this case into account and the impossibility of this woman being able to get documentary evidence, the Irish Local Government Board will allow a fresh claim to be made, and grant the pension in this case?

The Local Government Board upheld the appeal of the pension officer against the decision of the Limerick Dock Ward pension sub-committee granting Mary Hehir a pension of 5s. a week on the ground that there was no satisfactory evidence of her having reached the statutory age. It is always open to her to make a fresh claim, and the consent of the Local Government Board is not required to her doing so; but, if the claim is to be successful, stronger evidence of her having attained the age of seventy years will be required than that already produced.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether he will state what are the duties of an officer appointed by county councils under Section 8 of the Motor Car Licence Duties Collection (Ireland) Order, 1910; and whether a county council appointing one of its officers as collector of these duties can fix the remuneration of that officer at a sum less than the 5 per cent. deducted from the taxes paid into the post offices of the county concerned?

The duties of an officer appointed by a county council under Section 8 of the Motor Car Licence Duties (Ireland) Collection Order, 1910, are the same duties as were formerly discharged by officers of Customs and Excise with regard to licences, and would consist largely of issuing the necessary notices to motor car owners with regard to the payment of licence duties, detecting and prosecuting unlicensed persons, scrutinising the advices which have been sent to-the county council regarding licences issued at post offices, and inquiring as to-the sufficiency and correctness of declarations made by motor car owners. The remuneration is a matter for the determination of the county council.

asked what was the number of sales in Meath, under the 1903-Act, of lands over 100 acres; how much money had been advanced for such sales; and what sales had taken place in Meath since November, 1908?

Five thousand seven hundred and thirty-six applications for advances, amounting lo £4,069,699, have been made under the 1903 Act in respect of 337 estates situate in the county of Meath in sales direct from landlord to tenant, and advances, amounting to £2,196,105 have been made in 2,900 of these applications, but the Estates Commissioners are not in a position to say how many of these sales were in respect of lands over 100 acres. During the period since the end of November, 1908, ninety-one applications in direct sales have been made under the Act of 1903 for advances, amounting to £60,438, and under the Irish Land Act, 1909, sixty-five applications, for advances, amounting to £31,777, have been made.

asked the Chief Secretary what steps, if any, had been taken by the Congested Districts Board to negotiate for the purchase of the Ballinskelligs portion of the estate of Mr. Daniel O'Connell, of Darrynane?

Mr. O'Connell has been asked if he is willing to negotiate for the sale of his estate, and he has replied in the affirmative, inquiring what price the Congested Districts Board will offer. His letter is now under consideration.

asked why the Burke estate, situated in Furlough, Moycullen, county Galway, is not yet vested in the tenants, although agreements for purchase were entered into on 1st January, 1907, and duly lodged with the Estates Commissioners; and whether, in view of this fact, steps will be taken at once to place the tenants in possession of this property?

This estate is being dealt with in order of priority, and the Estates Commissioners anticipate that it Will be reached at an early date.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he can see his way to increase the powers available for the preservation of ancient monuments in Ireland; whether county councils might be given the right to acquire compulsorily such historic remains as the Lyon Tower, in Galway, now threatened with demolition?

I am informed that only five counties in Ireland, of which Galway is one, have shown any disposition to avail themselves of the provisions of the Statutes enabling them to take over and maintain ancient monuments, and it would appear to be premature to consider the question of increasing the powers of county councils, and giving them compulsory powers of acquiring ancient monuments until a more general disposition is shown to avail themselves of the powers they already possess.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he is aware that an application for reinstatement as an evicted tenant was received from Hugh Hanly, Court Lane, Athenry; whether, in reply to a question asked by the hon. Member for South Galway in March, 1908, the Estates Commissioners promised that his application would be duly considered; and, having regard to the length of time which has since passed, can he state when the Commissioners intend to deal with Mr. Hanly's application?

The Estates Commissioners inform me that Hanly's application was received after 1st May, 1907, the date mentioned in the Evicted Tenants Act, 1907, and cannot, therefore, be dealt with under that Act.

asked the Chief Secretary if two sergeants of the Royal Irish Constabulary, in the West Riding of county Galway, were retired on pension on the recommendation of the county inspector on the grounds that they had over thirty years' service and were fifty years of age; will he state how many head constables and sergeants now serving in the West Riding of Galway have over thirty-two years' service, and how many over thirty-four years' service; and if he will state why some constables are required to retire who have shorter service than others?

In February, 1909, two sergeants of the Royal Irish Constabulary, in the West Riding of county Galway, were retired on the grounds stated in the question. There are at present four head constables and sergeants of the Galway West Riding force who have over thirty-two years' service, and three head constables and sergeants who have over thirty-four years' service. The power to require any member of the force to retire on pension is regulated by Statute, but this power is only exercised in cases where the compulsory retirement is considered to be necessary in the interests of the public service.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty if he will state in detail, with regard to a representative list of the various materials and supplies for naval construction and armaments, in respect of what items he is able to check the prices of private contractors by the cost of manufacturing similar articles in Government establishments, and in respect of what items he has no such means of checking prices?

Guns, torpedoes, cordite, and certain transferable mountings are constructed in Government establishments, and in these cases the cost of manufacture does afford a direct check on prices. Armour, non-transferable mountings, propelling machinery other than that of submarines, auxiliary machinery, plates, angle-bars, heavy castings, and other materials required for shipbuilding are obtained exclusively by contract.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty if he can state the number of officers and men in the Austria-Hungary Navy on the active list and also on the reserve list?

The total number of officers and men to be provided by the Naval Estimates for 1911 is 17,277. The approximate number of officers and men on the reserve list at the end of 1908, these being the latest figures available, was 15,873.

asked the President of the Board of Education how many of the 22,627 pupils in the secondary schools of London are of elementary school age; what is the cost to the public, in rates and taxes, of each scholar in London elementary schools; what is the cost to the public of each scholar in London secondary schools; and what the additional cost is of educating in London secondary schools those scholars of elementary school age above the cost which would be involved if they continued in elementary schools?

As regards a considerable number of the secondary schools of London the Board do not possess any of the information asked for in the question. I am not sure what years my hon. Friend includes in his phrase "elementary school age," but I may say that on 1st October last there were a little over fourteen thousand pupils under fourteen years of age in those of the London Secondary Schools, in respect of which Grants were paid from the Board of Education. In regard to the comparisons suggested in the other paragraphs of the question concerning the cost of the education given in the two categories of schools respectively, no information can be given with any accuracy; moreover, if one is to avoid getting wholly misleading impressions from any attempts at comparative figures, regard must be had to the differences in curricula, staff, size of classes, size of schools, in each case. But it may, perhaps, be said that the nearest figure that can safely be given, as an average, in reply to the second paragraph of the question would be about £5, and the nearest figure for the third para- graph somewhere between £14 and £18, including, of course, in both cases expenditure met from fees (which must necessarily be included for my hon. Friend's purposes in his fourth paragraph), but not including administration or building charges. These figures, however, are only rough estimates.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that according to the most recent figures available, namely those given on page 84 of the Welsh Church Commission Report, the Church of England in Wales would in the event of disendowment, and after the extinction of vested interests, retain the sum of £18,538 out of £260,036, or a sum of not quite Is. 5½d. in the pound; can he state whether, since 1906, there has been a marked increase in private benefactions tending to increase the amount to be retained; and whether he is now prepared to state that, in the event of the disendowment of the Church in Wales, the beneficed clergy would be entitled to, approximately, 1s. 5d. in the pound of their present stipends?

I am aware of the figures in Sir Lewis Dibdin's Return, but I am not in a position to make any statement of the nature suggested, except to say that in any event the Church in Wales would appear to remain possessed of advantages in respect of public funds not enjoyed by any other denominations, including those to which the large majority of the Welsh people belong.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether an investigation of Indian sanitary and vaccination reports has established the facts that during the past forty years what are known as the badly-vaccinated provinces have suffered far less from small-pox than the well-vaccinated provinces; that the smallpox mortality amongst children is very much lower in the badly-vaccinated as compared with the well-vaccinated provinces, the lowest rate of all being in Burmah, where vaccination has met with more opposition than in any other part of India; that, notwithstanding that 88 per cent. of the total vaccinations in India are performed upon children under six years of age, the records show that on the average 70 per cent. of the deaths from smallpox occur amongst children under ten years; that the town in which vaccination is enforced usually suffer more severely from small-pox than the towns and rural areas in which the Act is not enforced; that in the capital cities of Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras there has been an enormous increase in the small-pox mortality during recent years; and that the reports chronicle epidemics of foot-and-mouth disease and other fevers amongst the calves used for cultivating vaccine virus; whether he will recommend that a commission be appointed to investigate the value of vaccination in India; and whether, pending the deliberations and report of such a commission, if appointed, he will consider the desirability of affording similar facilities for exercising conscientious objection to vaccination in India as have been granted in Great Britain?

I have seen the articles in the "Vaccination Inquirer" to which apparently my hon. Friend refers; but I cannot accept their representation of the facts, and do not consider that a case has been made out for appointment of a Commission or alteration of the law. He is no doubt aware that vaccination is optional over by far the greater part of British India, including 93 per cent. of the population.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he has received from the Governor of Malta a complaint forwarded to him by a member of the Maltese bar of the behaviour of Judge Roucali on 6th April, 1911, when he attacked in insulting terms Mr. Buttigieg, who was pleading before him; whether the Colonial Office have had any previous complaints of the conduct of Judge Roucali; and, if so, will he take the necessary steps to prevent a repetition; and whether he can state the age of the judge?

I have received from the gentleman mentioned a copy of a letter which he has addressed to the Governor of Malta respecting the matter referred to in the question of the hon. Member. I am not aware of any previous complaint of the conduct of the judge referred to, nor am I able to state his age.

asked the Prime Minister whether his attention has been drawn to paragraph 602 on unemployment insurance in the Report of the Royal Commission on the Poor Law, which states that, owing partly to want of time and partly to the absence within the Commission of expert and actuarial experience upon insurance, the Commissioners have not attempted to formulate a scheme, and that it will require close general investigation and knowledge of local conditions before the foundation of a general or a national system of insurance can be safely laid; and, if so, whether he has considered the recommendation of the Commissioners that a small Commission or Departmental Committee of experts and representative" of existing trade benefit organisations should be appointed, with an instruction to frame as quickly as possible a scheme or schemes for consideration?

I am aware of the paragraph referred to. Since the Report of the Royal Commission the Board of Trade have given very careful study to the question of unemployment insurance, with the aid of the best actuarial advice obtainable, and proposals with regard to this matter will shortly be laid before this House.

asked the Prime Minister whether his attention had been called to the burden upon agricultural ratepayers caused by the rate for education; and would he say whether there was any prospect of legislation in the immediate future to give relief by an increased grant from the Exchequer?

No special burden is, so far as I am aware, incurred by agricultural as distinct from other ratepayers. The hon. Member is no doubt aware that a Committee has been appointed to discuss the relations between Imperial and local taxation.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether any provision is at present made under the Poor Law for stammering children; and, if not, whether the Government has any such provision in contemplation?

The question of the treatment of stammering children is at present receiving the consideration of the Board of Education, and I understand that some local education authorities make special arrangements for dealing with this defect. A large proportion of the children relieved under the Poor Law attend the public elementary schools, and the Poor Law schools are inspected by the Board of Education. I am not aware of any special experiment in dealing with stammering being instituted in any Poor Law school.

asked the President of the Board of Trade in what places the Board have appointed Juvenile Advisory Committees?

Special Advisory Committees for Juvenile Employment have been appointed in the following districts:—Ashton-under-Lyne, Birmingham, Blackburn, Bristol, Bury, Carlisle, Devonport, Dewsbury, Exeter, Halifax, Huddersfield, Ipswich, Leeds, London (with seven local Committees in addition to the Central Committee), Middlesbrough, Northampton, Norwich, Nottingham, Plymouth, Rochdale, Southampton, Sunderland.

asked the names of the British vessels and their respective owners, employing Chinese sailors and firemen as members of their crews, which arrived in the River Mersey during the year ending 31st March, 1911?

It is open to the hon. Member under Section 256 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, to inspect the logs and lists of British ships which visited Liverpool during any given period. I am not prepared to publish particulars of the business of individual shipowners.

asked the Postmaster-General if arrangements have been made whereby the new postage stamps shall be on sale to the public prior to the date of the Coronation?

The answer is in the negative.

asked the Postmaster-General if it can be arranged for the post office at Poyntzpass, county Armagh, to be closed one half-day a week, as is done in the case of other post offices in the neighbourhood?

I will inquire, and let the hon. Member know.

asked the Lord Advocate, in view of the regulations proposed under the minute of the Committee of Council on Education in Scotland, will the Scottish Education Department again consider the expediency of appointing a certificated male teacher to the Grimshader public school, island of Lewis, to meet the requirements of the fifty-five pupils attending the school?

I would point out to the hon. Member, in reply, that the responsibility for the appointment of a sufficient and properly qualified staff for any school rests with the School Board of the district, not with the Department. The Department has no power to direct appointment.

asked the Lord Advocate whether he was aware that the school boards of Barvas, Lochs, and Uig, island of Lewis, incur no expenditure for heating the twenty-eight public schools under their control, but depend entirely on the pupils to carry peats to school; and would he state whether there are any other school boards in Scotland who depend on the children attending school to carry with them to school the fuel required for heating purposes?

I am aware of the fact mentioned with regard to the school boards of Barvas, Lochs, and Uig. As the heating of schools is a matter of internal administration, for which the respective school boards are alone responsible, I am not able to state whether there are any other boards in Scotland who adopt the same plan as the boards in question.