asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether, in order to place the House in possession of facts necessary to pass opinion on the St. Mary, Radcliffe, Rectory Bill, now set down for Second Reading, he will state at what figure the advowson of St. Mary, Radcliffe, in the county of Lancaster, was valued for probate when the property passed after the death of the late Earl of Wilton?

asked a question in similar terms relating to St. Mary, Prestwich, Rectory Bill.

It was not necessary to value either of the advowsons referred to for probate after the death of the late Earl of Wilton, and I am therefore unable to give the required information.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether he could see his way to allow assistant clerks (abstractor class) who have been promoted to the second division to count the whole or some portion of the time served as assistant clerks towards the six years required for eligibility for special increments under Clause 33 of the Order in Council dated 10th January, 1910?

The special increments in question are intended to reward exceptionally meritorious service of not less than six years in the Second Division, and I see no reason for allowing service not in the Second Division, which has already been rewarded by special promotion to that division, to count towards the minimum qualifying period of six years' Second Division service.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he will extend the provisions of Clause 4 of the Dublin Police Bill, which proposes to confer upon the 8,041 inhabitants of Drumcondra, the 7,405 inhabitants of Kilmainham, and the 9,547 inhabitants of Clontarf the advantages of the Sunday drink trade, and confer the same benefit on the 28,000 inhabitants of the Pembroke Urban District and the 32,000 inhabitants of the Rathmines Urban District, as they form geographically parts of the city of Dublin, and the corporation of Dublin has passed a resolution to annex them to the city?

The Pembroke and Rathmines Urban Districts already possess what the hon. Member calls the advantages of the Sunday drink trade, and therefore there can be no question of applying Clause 4 to them.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he can state or will he agree to a Return stating the numbers, respectively, of homicides, other crimes of violence, and burglaries known to the police in London, in the Provinces, and in the whole of the United Kingdom for each of the years 1895 to 1910, both inclusive?

I can only give the information for the years 1897 to 1909. The figures for that period are as follows:—

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the appointments of clerks to surveyors of taxes since 1868 have been made by the Board of Inland Revenue on the nomination of the surveyors of taxes; and whether their salaries have been paid out of public funds under the authority of the Board of Inland Revenue.

Prior to 1908 clerks to surveyors of taxes were engaged personally by the surveyors of taxes, and were paid out of the Revenue Vote entitled "Allowance to Surveyors of Taxes for Clerical Assistance." Since 1908, they have been appointed by the Board of Inland Revenue, and are paid out of the Vote for Inland Revenue, salaries, etc.

asked the Home Secretary if he can state the number and names of the compensation authorities in England and Wales who, in accordance with Section 21 of the Licensing (Consolidation) Act, 1910, have this year certified that it is unnecessary to levy any compensation charge on on-licensed premises within their area; and if he can furnish similar particulars for the year 1910?

In the year 1910 six compensation authorities certified that it was unnecessary to impose compensation charges on the licensed premises in their area. As regards the year 1911, I have, up to the present time, received notices to the foregoing effect in thirteen cases. The names of the authorities and the year or years in which they issued the certificates are given below:—

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether he can state the total cost of pauper lunacy for the twenty-five years ending March, 1910, and the total cost of asylum buildings for the fifteen years ending March, 1910?

The precise figures asked for are not available, but the following particulars give substantially the information desired: The expenditure of local authorities in England and Wales on lunatics and lunatic asylums for the twenty-five years ended March, 1909, was approximately £71,500,000. This would include expenditure on all classes of lunatics (private patients as well as paupers); but pauper lunatics form a very large majority of the patients in the local authorities' asylums. According to the annual reports of the Lunacy Commissioners, the expenditure on these, i.e., county and borough, asylum buildings (including land purchase) amounted to £9,698,000 in the fifteen years ended March, 1909. The total cost incurred by Poor Law authorities in respect of all lunatics who are paupers cannot be given; but the total amount paid by guardians during the twenty-five years ended March, 1909, for the cost of maintenance of pauper lunatics in county and borough asylums, registered hospitals, and licensed houses was £42,784,000. This sum is, of course, to a large extent a duplication of the maintenance expenses already included in the sum of £71,500,000 specified above.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether he is aware that the public meeting that has been summoned at his instigation at Bold Heath Church of England school, in connection with the drainage of Bold, Lancashire, on the 30th instant, has been summoned for 10.15 a.m.; whether he has considered that such a time renders it utterly impossible for working men ratepayers to attend the meeting; and whether he will take immediate steps to secure that the meeting shall be held at 7.30 p.m., in order that all classes of the community nay be able to attend?

I am aware of the facts in regard to the time fixed for the opening of the local inquiry at Bold Heath, but I regret to be unable to alter the arrangements already made.