asked the President of the Board of Trade what are the other occupations which will be provided for applicants to the labour bureaux who, through unskilfulness or other causes, cannot retain the situations found for them or profit by the technical instruction which may be offered?

I assume my hon. Friend to refer to certain words in Clause 74, Sub-clause (1) of the National Insurance Bill. These words relate solely to the class of work which may be deemed suitable to the persons to whom my hon. Friend refers for the purpose of Clause 62, Sub-section (3) of the Bill—i.e., inability to obtain which is an essential qualification for the receipt of unemployment benefit under the Act. There is, of course, no undertaking to provide work for these or any other class of applicants.

asked the Chancellor (1) whether the 6s. per head which lie proposes to set aside under the National Insurance Bill for medical assistance and drugs in respect to each insured person will apply to those insured voluntarily through the Post Office as well as to employed contributors; (2) whether he has considered the desirability of allowing insured persons under his insurance scheme to retain their own doctors, subject to the provisions of Clause 14?

In reply to these questions perhaps I may be permitted to refer to the full explanation which I gave in the discussion on the Second Reading of the Bill yesterday. In the actuarial calculations the same sum was allocated to medical attendance for the Post Office contributions as for the others, but power is given by Clause 14 to the local health committee to supplement this with the consent of the Treasury and the county council or county borough council from the Exchequer and from local rates.

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether his attention has been drawn to the number of attacks on property which have taken place in the Dungannon district recently; whether he is aware that on Sunday evening, 10th May, a dwelling house, situated about 400 yards distant from the Catholic Church in Dungannon, was wrecked, the gates of the Dungannon Catholic Academy taken off and destroyed, and an unoccupied dwelling house set fire to and burned; and that on the 14th May another dwelling house was destroyed; whether claims for compensation have been lodged in these cases; whether the lives of Catholics in this district are in danger, and their persons liable to assault and to be shot at by Orange gangs; whether any arrests have been made; and what steps, if any, the local police are taking to bring the perpetrators to justice and to afford due protection to Catholics in the district?

The Inspector-General informs me that at Dungannon, on Sunday, 7th May, some windows were broken in a dwelling house, a small wooden gate at one of the entrances of St. Patrick's Academy was wrenched off its hinges, and an unoccupied labourer's cottage with a thatched roof was set on fire and destroyed. On the night of 13th May another unoccupied house was burnt down. Claims for compensation have been lodged in the case of both of these houses. The owners belonged to different religions, and the destruction of their property cannot be attributed to party motives. There is no reason to believe that any of the inhabitants are in danger, and the police authorities inform me that the feeling between Catholics and Protestants in the town was never better than at present. Every effort has been made to discover the culprits, but so far without success.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether John Cronin, of Talaght, Ardfert, county Kerry, has been refused an old age pension because he can produce no documentary evidence of age; is the present practice of the Board to refuse pensions in all cases where such evidence is not forthcoming even if the applicant is visibly far over seventy; and whether he is aware that such a practice would mean the permanent disqualifica- tion of thousands of very poor people in Ireland who would be otherwise entitled?

If the person referred to is John Cronin, who formerly resided at the Spa, Tralee, the Local Government Board upheld an appeal by the pension officer against the decision of the Ardfert pension sub-committee awarding Cronin a pension on the ground that there was no sufficient evidence of any kind to warrant the conclusion that he had reached the statutory age. It is not the practice of the Board to disallow all claims for pensions where documentary evidence is not forthcoming, and in this instance the Board made inquiries locally through one of their inspectors before giving their decision.

asked the Lord Advocate if, where a pension officer having appealed against the decision of a pension committee and the appeal being upheld by the Local Government Board for Scotland on the technical ground that the person has divested himself of his property in order to qualify, the Local Government Board for Scotland will, on the application of the pension committee, cause an independent inquiry to be made into the circumstances of the case to ascertain what income might be secured from the capital sum realised?

The Local Government Board for Scotland never decides such an appeal without careful consideration of the facts of the particular case; such cases as are figured in the question are not decided on purely technical grounds. In all cases the vital inquiry is whether or not the applicant has divested himself of the property solely in order to qualify for an old age pension. The suggestion of instituting an independent inquiry in each individual case is not one which I could support. It would be quite impracticable.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he will issue such instructions to the Army Medical Department as will ensure that the conscientious objections of parents who secured exemption under the Vaccination Act, 1898, or who have made declarations of conscientious objection under the Vaccination Act, 1907, shall in future be respected?

I am not quite sure to what regulation the question refers. If the hon. Gentleman has in mind the rules for the management of military barracks, I may say that there is no intention of amending these regulations so as to admit of the residence of unvaccinated persons in barracks.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War if he is aware that in the case of a recent serious accident to an officer quartered at Tidworth it was considered imperative to use the X rays; that there was no apparatus nearer than Bulford, four miles distant; that this apparatus was found to be unfit for use; and that in consequence it was necessary for an apparatus to be sent down from London at the officer's own expense; and whether, in view of the fact that accidents may not always be confined to those who can afford special medical and surgical aid, he will see that all military stations are provided with the necessary appliances?

Early in February last the X ray apparatus at Bulford was found to require repairs, but owing to an unfortunate mistake was not available for use until 20th April. It is understood that during this period the accident mentioned occurred. It is not considered necessary to provide X ray outfits for all military hospitals, and the apparatus at Bulford is considered sufficient for the troops quartered there and at Tidworth.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that the hospital accommodation at Tidworth, where 6,000 troops are stationed, consists of a barrack room so situated that the patients are subjected to all the noise incidental to a barrack square, and further that the mortuary consists of a sergeant's bunk; and whether he intends to provide in the future more suitable accommodation both for the sick and the dead?

Pending the erection of a new hospital by the conversion of and additions to Tidworth House, the whole of the Delhi Barracks have been adapted for use as a temporary hospital, and the arrangements are reported to be satisfactory.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War why the high-angle-fire guns constructed and sent to Gibraltar have been brought back from thence to Portsmouth; and where are they mounted at Portsmouth?

My hon. and gallant Friend was informed on the 25th April, in reply to a question on this subject, that it was not in the interests of the public service to state where these guns were now mounted. I have nothing to add to that reply.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War under what regulations retired officers are appointed Military Knights of Windsor; and whether it is the case that Catholic officers are not eligible for this appointment?

The regulations are laid down in Appendix XXI. of the King's Regulations as inserted by Army Order 71 of April, 1908. The reply to the second part of the question is in the affirmative.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether he has any information on the present general condition of the military detention barracks in India; and, if not, will he procure the same?

The Secretary of State has no recent information on the subject. He will inquire.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether he will state the number of military detention barracks in India, and state where these are; and whether he is completely satisfied with their condition?

There are military detention barracks at nine places in India—namely, Poona, Aden, Dagshai, Hyderabad (Sind), Lucknow, Peshawur, Quetta, Trimulgherry, and Thayetmyo. The Secretary of State has no recent reports as to their condition, and has no reason to suppose that it is otherwise than satisfactory.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is aware that a strike has been going on in the Springhill and Glace Bay collieries of Nova Scotia for nearly two years, that agents of the companies are in this country inducing colliers to go out as blacklegs under false pretences by telling them that there is no strike, and that as a consequence much indignation is felt amongst the working-class population of the Dominion of Canada; and whether he has any power to put a stop to these agents making such misrepresentations?

I am aware that a strike has been in existence at the coal mines at Springhill, Nova Scotia, since August, 1909, but I am happy to think that, if information recently given in the Press is correct, it has now ended. Fraudulent inducements to emigrate can, if sufficient evidence is forthcoming, be dealt with under Section 24 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1906.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is aware that, in the local currency of Northern Nigeria, cowries have been hitherto full legal tender for all dues and taxes, so that cowries being regarded as standard money have constituted the hoarded wealth of millions of natives, and that for the first time during this financial year the cowrie currency has, and without warning, been demonetised by the Government over an important section of Nigeria, including the great province of Kano; whether the cowrie has been replaced in the Nigerian currency by British silver coins which are to-day the only unlimited legal tender currency there, so that the British Treasury is to-day buying silver at less than 2s. 2d. per ounce and selling it, when coined, to the natives at the rate of 5s. 6d. per ounce; whether the natives are beginning to hoard this silver currency, which is as inconvertible into any standard money as cowries are, its convertibility being as with cowries subject to the fiat of the local administration; whether, to protect the natives who hoard these depreciated token silver coins, His Majesty's Government will guarantee the conversion of this British silver currency into gold without limit as to amount at the rate of twenty shillings, or ten florins, for the sovereign; whether steps will be taken to introduce into Nigeria the Indian rupee, which is already the currency of the East Africa Protectorate and Uganda and much contiguous territory, which coin, unlike the shilling, being unlimited legal tender over a vast portion of His Majesty's dominions and convertible into the sovereign at fifteen to one, is unlike our token coins not subject to depreciation in the money of our standard; and what this year was the deficit covered by a grant-in-aid and, reckoning the absorption of coined silver in the Nigerias at some £700,000, was there a profit on the issue of this silver over the grant-in-aid?

No action has been taken with regard to the demonetising of cowries, which have never been "legal tender" in the strict sense of the term, but which have been, and continue to be, accepted by the Government in payment of taxes, and are still current among the natives. The Government is striving, and with success, to replace this unsatisfactory form of currency, which varies greatly in value in different parts of the country, and is subject to constant fluctuations, by British coin, and also by a subsidiary nickel coinage of small denomination. It is true that silver coin is legal tender to an unlimited amount, but except in this respect the law as to the tender and currency of coinage is the same in Northern Nigeria as in the United Kingdom. The natives of Northern Nigeria, as in other parts of West Africa, have a very decided preference for silver coin, but if they should desire to exchange their silver coin for gold, the Government would be very ready to meet their wishes. In the circumstances, there would be no advantage, and indeed many disadvantages in attempting to introduce a rupee coinage into West Africa, where British silver coin has been current on the coast for generations, and is now readily accepted in most places in the interior. The grant-in-aid to Northern Nigeria for the present financial year is £347,000. I am unable to accept the hon. Member's calculation that the annual absorption of silver coin in Northern and Southern Nigeria combined amounts to £700,000. I have not received the statistics for 1910, but the amount for 1909 was £256,446, and the average for the nine years ending with that year was under £200,000 a year, of which the greater portion was no doubt absorbed by Southern Nigeria, which is not in receipt of a grant-in-aid. It is, therefore, evident that the profit on the issue of the silver absorbed in Northern Nigeria is very much less than the amount of the grant-in-aid to that Protectorate.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will ascertain the cost per head of the maintenance of the men in the labour colony at Veenhuizen, in Holland, and at Mirplax, in Belgium, for the year 1910?

At the labour colony at Veenhuizen, the net cost per head in 1910 was about eightpence a day. I will instruct His Majesty's Minister at Brussels to make inquiries respecting the cost of maintenance in the colony at Mirplax, which is a penal colony.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the waters lying within a line drawn from Orfordness to the North Foreland are British waters and therefore exclusively reserved for fishing purposes for vessels flying the British flag; and, if not, whether he will consider the advisability in the interests of British fishermen of securing the recognition by foreign countries of this limit; and further, with the existing practice of what, if any, foreign countries would such a claim on behalf of the British Government conflict?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the negative. The suggestion contained in the second part of the question is one primarily for the consideration of the Fishery Departments of His Majesty's Government, as well as of the Board of Trade and Admiralty. There has been nothing so far in the existing practice of any country to justify such a claim, though one or two countries have made claims of a somewhat similar nature.

asked the President of the Local Government Board if he would give the figures of the recent Census Returns in so far as they relate to the urban district

The population of Acton, as ascertained at the recent Census, will be given in the Preliminary Report, which I hope will be issued in the course of the next two or three weeks.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what number of applications for information and assistance had been received at the Commercial Intelligence Branch, 73, Basinghall Street, for the years 1903, 1909, 1910?

The following figures give the information desired by my hon. Friend:—

asked the President of the Board of Trade what was the estimated per capita consumption of sugar in the principal countries of the world in each year since 1906?

The following statement gives the required information for a few of the principal sugar-consuming countries, including the Dominion of Canada and the Commonwealth of Australia. If the hon. Member desires similar particulars for any other country, perhaps he will put another question on the Paper:—

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that the Great Southern and Western Railway Company of Ireland have erected additional premises to the old goods stores at Cork and built the same in front and against the office building, contrary to the laws of sanitation by excluding sunlight and air from the offices, to the danger of twenty-five clerks and several porters working in the offices; will he say if the city engineer and public health officer were supplied with the plans and specifications of these buildings and the additional buildings to be constructed for approval; and, if so, what steps he will take to have the building placed in a sanitary position and the present offices, now situated between the old and new stores, closed as dangerous to the public health?

The Board of Trade have no information in regard to this matter, and it is not one within their jurisdiction.

asked the President of the Board of Trade when the report of the Chief Inspector of Factories may be expected to be issued?

The Report is now in the press, and is expected to be issued in the course of next week.

asked the Postmaster-General if he can state whether, at the present time, an excessive amount of overtime is being performed by the clerical staff of the Returned Letter Office; and can he give an approximate date when the revision of this office will take place?

It is a fact that a considerable amount of overtime is being performed by the clerical staff of the Returned Letter Office. A reorganisation of the work and staff of the Returned Letter Office is now under consideration; and I hope to be able to arrive at a decision at no distant date.

asked the Postmaster-General whether the contract managers of the National Telephone Company will be placed on the establishment when the company is transferred to the Post Office?

I am unable to make any definite statement on this subject at present, but I propose, some time before the transfer, to make a general announcement with regard to all the classes of the company's servants.

asked the Postmaster-General whether the present postal arrangements at Pettigo, county Donegal, will admit of a full-time appointment of a postman between Pettigo and Clonelly district?

The answer is, I regret, in the negative.

asked the Lord Advocate if his attention has been drawn to the difficulties local authorities are meeting with in their endeavours to comply with the regulations of the Children Act regarding tinkers, owing to there not being places of safety available; and, if so, what proposals he has to make for overcoming the difficulty?

If my hon. Friend will inform me of the special difficulties to which he refers I will be glad to make inquiry with a view to overcoming them so far as possible.