asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is now in a position to announce his proposals as regards payment for services rendered by the agents of those collecting societies which may be included in the National Insurance Bill as approved societies; at what scale will such payments be made; and whether the rates of payment will be embodied in a Schedule to the Bill?

I stated during the discussion on the Second Reading of the Bill, on the 29th May, that the collecting societies, like other societies, would be entitled to pay their agents for services rendered in connection with the National Insurance. The nature and amount of such payments would be a matter for arrangement between the societies and the agents.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether an Order has been issued to the effect that friends of officers will be allowed on board the ships of the Fleet at the forthcoming naval review, but not on board the torpedo boat destroyers or torpedo boats; whether the modern destroyer of the "Amazon" class is a vessel of 1,000 tons, possessing ample accommodation for thirty or forty guests without involving any interference with the ceremonial; and whether, seeing that on previous occasions guests were allowed on boats of a much smaller size without any inconvenience being occasioned, and that, anticipating there would be no departure from the usual custom, a number of friends and relatives of torpedo officers have already taken apartments and made arrangements to be at Southsea for the review, in the event of the Admiralty not seeing their way to relax the Order in question, wives and other relatives of the officers concerned will be granted the use of one of the steamers provided for the various Government officials?

The regulations were drawn up after very careful consideration, and follow those under which previous naval reviews have been held. I regret it is not possible to relax the regulation in the direction suggested by my hon. Friend.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether Circular 709 was issued with his sanction; is he aware that the Clause in paragraph 9 which reserves to the Board at some future time the power of requiring that any teacher, whether he became certificated before or after 1st August, 1910, must have had a college training in order to be a head teacher, especially of a large school, has acted prejudically to the general interests of the 42,000 non-collegiate trained certificated teachers and lowered their prestige, and has been quoted as a reason for barring teachers who are not college trained from proceeding to headships and to head-assistantships, thereby causing anxiety even where it has not done actual harm; and, having regard to his promise to a deputation of teachers to the effect that, in the next issue of the Code, or in the prefatory memorandum, he would carefully consider what could be done to put the matter right, and seeing that no issue of the Code was made in 1910, and that it has been announced that no issue of the Code will be made this year, will he take steps to safeguard the interests of the non-collegiate trained certificated teachers by issuing a circular to the education authorities definitely withdrawing the provision in paragraph 9 of Circular 709, and making it clear that the interests of certificated teachers, whether collegiate or non-collegiate, are to be regarded as identical, and that it is not intended, in so far at least as those who are already certificated are concerned, many of whom qualified when there was no room in the training colleges, to make any division into two grades to the detriment of the non-collegiate?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. No steps have been taken, and, so far as I am concerned, no steps will be taken, to give effect to the very tentative warning contained in the last part of paragraph 9 of Circular 709, as I am satisfied that, in view of the circumstances referred to by the hon. Member, namely, that many teachers obtained their certificates at a time when the training college accommodation was insufficient, and also for other reasons, it would not be fair or practicable to enforce a provision debarring from head teacherships teachers who had not completed their college training before the 1st August, 1910. At the same time, I cannot restrict the liberty of local education authorities to give the preference for certain appointments to trained teachers when they consider that it is in the interests of the schools and the children to do so; and, generally speaking, I am bound to assume that the qualifications of a college-trained teacher are, on the average, superior to those of a teacher who has not had the advantage of a college training. Many individual cases might, doubtless, be quoted against this assumption, and I have no reason to suppose that local education authorities are unable or unwilling to distinguish such cases and to make reasonable exceptions to their rules or practice in favour of untrained teachers who have, in the schools, proved their ability for teaching.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether medical referees have been appointed as per Section 10 of the Workmen's Compensation Act in all trades to which that Act applies; and, if so, whether he would issue a Return giving the names and addresses of all such referees and the respective districts in which they thus act?

Referees are not appointed for particular trades, but for areas, namely, the county court circuits and the districts into which the circuits are divided. In a number of circuits, specialist referees have been appointed for particular industrial diseases, such as lead poisoning; but subject to this, the referees take all cases arising in their areas. A list of the referees is printed for Home Office use, but it has not been placed on sale because all references to referees have to be made by the registrar of the county court, and employers and workmen do not require therefore to consult a list. Changes in the list also are fairly frequent. I think it is unnecessary to incur the expense of issuing the list as a return; but if the hon. Member desires it, I shall be happy to have one or two copies of the list corrected up to date placed in the Library for reference.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been called to the fact that a member of a trade union cannot enforce at law against the executive of his union a claim for the benefits for which he has subscribed, if the executive declines to satisfy the claim, and can be shown to be the executive of a union whose rules make it a union operating in restraint of trade, and to the fact that the consequent position of members of trade unions lays them open to arbitrary denial of benefits on political grounds, as distinct from expulsion; and whether Trade Unions (No. 2) Bill is to be construed as removing the grievance from which members of trade unions suffer in this respect?

It will be more convenient to defer the discussion of this point to the Committee stage of the Bill.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India the recorded number of deaths and the estimated total number of deaths respectively from plague in India in each of the last ten years and in the whole period?

The recorded number of deaths from plague in India (including Native States) in each of the last ten years was:—

1901	…	…	…	287,027
1902	…	…	…	576,365
1903	…	…	…	883,076
1904	…	…	…	1,143,993
1905	…	…	…	1,069,140
1906	…	…	…	356,721
1907	…	…	…	1,315,892
1908	…	…	…	156,480
1909	…	…	…	178,808
1910	…	…	…	511,202
* Preliminary figures.

For the ten years the total is 6,473,704. There is no estimate of plague deaths as distinct from the number of deaths recorded as due to plague. There is no reason to believe that there is much unreported plague mortality.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will state the nature of the arrangement by which the German Steel Syndicate pays an export bounty to its members; the amount of the bounty; what aggregate sums have been paid in bounties by the syndicate since its formation; and what is the eco- nomic effect of the arrangement upon German production and export?

I understand that the arrangement in question is one whereby the makers of certain classes of steel manufactures receive from the syndicate controlling the sale of the steel used by them a sum (varying from time to time) for every ton of more finished goods exported, this sum being allowed as a rebate on the price of the steel used in the manufacture of the goods. It appears, therefore, that such "bounties" are not given in respect of goods manufactured for export by firms who themselves make the steel. Recent accounts of the arrangement will be found in the Report for 1909 of His Majesty's Consul-General at Frankfurt (Annual Series No. 4,570) and the previous Reports therein referred to. I am informed that the "bounty" at present paid is fifteen marks per ton of exported manufactures, but I have no information as to the aggregate sums which have been paid by the Steel Syndicate since its formation. The last part of my hon. Friend's question is a matter for discussion and individual opinion, and I am not prepared to express any views upon it.

asked the Postmaster General whether the necessity for reducing the number of employés in the wood workshops at the Post Office factories is due to the practice of putting work out to contract; and if he can state the number of men employed in these shops now as compared with five years ago; and if it is his policy to close them altogether?

The reduction is not due to the practice of putting work out to contract but to a falling off in the demand for wood-work in the Post Office. No contract for wood-work only has for a long time been placed with an outside firm except in cases in which the factory quotation, either as to price or rate of delivery, was quite unsuitable. The number of men now employed in the wood-working shops as compared with five years ago is forty-two as against 102. I am awaiting the report of a committee, over which my hon. Friend the Assistant Postmaster-General is presiding, before announcing any policy as regards the future of the Post Office factories.