asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will forthwith place upon the Paper his proposed new Clause in the National Insurance Bill providing for contracting out of the provisions of the Bill in the case of nurses, clerks, seamen, and agricultural labourers in certain localities, which Clause has already been communicated privately by the Treasury to a number of persons throughout the country?

I hope the proposed new Clause will be on the Paper at the beginning of next week.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether, in view of the importance of a motor service to Carna and Kilkerrin, Connemara, he would devote a sufficient sum out of the Development Grant to improve and steam-roll the roads between these places and the nearest railway station; whether he is aware that one-third of the lobsters sent away from the district are dead by the time the market is reached; whether this loss is due to the want of a quick and easy means of transit for the fish to the railway station; and whether he is aware that the fishing industry generally, and all other industries peculiar to the district, suffer in a like manner for want of suitable roads for the transit of goods, perishable and otherwise?

No portion of the Ireland Development Grant is now available for the improvement of roads. No application has been received by the Road Board for a grant towards the improvement of the road between Carna and Kilkerrin. The Road Board have intimated that they are prepared, within the limit of the funds available, to contribute towards the improvement of the road from Galway to Clifden viâ Spiddle, Carna, and Kilkerrin, and the county council have made an application for a grant in respect of the improvement of the section of this road commencing at Galway Urban Boundary and terminating at a point 1,265 yards north of the branch road leading to Costello Coastguard station. The application is now under consideration. It is a fact that large quantities of lobsters are despatched from the part of Connemara mentioned to English markets, and acceleration of traffic would no doubt greatly improve matters.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether any report has recently reached the Admiralty of the condition of the graves of British sailors at Lissa, and whether instructions will be given for them to be put and maintained in proper condition?

No recent report has been received, but a small grant is made annually for the maintenance of these graves, and is expended under the direction of the British Consular Officer. I will have inquiry made.

asked the Secretary to the Admiralty whether he now admits that the moulders employed at Messrs. Guest, Keen, and Nettlefold's Dowlais works, in making parts of the machinery used for executing Admiralty contracts at works owned by the same firm at Cardiff are entitled to the protection of the Fair-Wages Clause?

I am assured that no work of any kind is done at Dowlais that has any connection with work under Admiralty contracts at the Cardiff works of the firm in question.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether the Fair-Wages Advisory Committee has yet come to any decision concerning matters connected with the application of the Fair-Wages Resolution to the workmen of Messrs. Guest, Keen, and Nettlefold at Dowlais?

The Fair-Wages Advisory Committee recommended that a local inquiry should be made with a view to ascertaining the rates of wages paid in other iron and steel works in the South Wales district. The inquiry has been in progress for some time, but is not yet completed, owing to the very intricate nature of the questions involved.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he is aware that the children at West Bay, within the area of the Bridport education authority, have to walk a mile and three-quarters to school and the same distance back home; whether he is aware that in the winter in bad weather the children have either to be kept at home or get wet through on their way to school, remaining in their damp clothes until the evening; and whether, in these circumstances, he will suggest to the education authority the advisability of providing a conveyance in which the children can ride to the town in the morning and return to West Bay in the evening?

I am making inquiry into the matter, and will communicate with my hon. Friend in due course.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the by-laws on the employment of children proposed by the Halifax Borough Council have yet been confirmed; and whether any communication has been sent by the Home Office to the Halifax Borough Council dealing with the matter since the inquiry held in May last?

The report of the Commissioner, which had to deal with a considerable body of evidence given at the inquiry, did not reach the Department till the beginning of September. The report has now been communicated to the council with an intimation that the Secretary of State will be prepared to confirm the bylaws in the form suggested by the Commissioner.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will state at what date the International Convention on the Regulation of the Opium traffic will be held; and whether he can give the names of the British delegates to the Convention?

His Majesty's Government have accepted the invitation of the Netherlands Government to take part in an International Conference on the Opium question, to be held at The Hague on 1st December. The question of the selection of British delegates is at present under consideration.

asked the Postmaster-General whether, after the transfer of the National Telephone Company's undertaking to the Post Office, the Post Office will pay local rates on the undertaking or an equivalent contribution in lieu thereof based upon the annual value of the undertaking as appearing in the valuation roll?

The Government is prepared to authorise some contribution in lieu of rates on the National Telephone Company's undertaking after the 31st December next, but the precise basis of the contribution has not been settled.