asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, under the National Insurance Bill, a servant will have to choose a doctor from a list of medical men living in the immediate vicinity of the employer's residence; and whether he will say if a servant becomes ill and has to leave the employer's residence and is removed to an area outside the doctor's care, or if a servant leaves her situation before a year has expired and lives in another district altogether, how medical attendance is provided for?

The answer to the first question is in the affirmative, but the servant in the case put by him will not be deprived of medical benefit, as she will choose a doctor from the panel in the district to which she has removed.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland how many evicted tenants in Munster, whose claims have been recognised by the Estates Commissioners, are yet unprovided with holdings; and how many evicted tenants in Munster, whose claims have been rejected for technical reasons only and who have been promised allotments by the Estates Commissioners, are yet unprovided for?

1,146 evicted tenants in Munster or representatives of evicted tenants have been reinstated or provided with new holdings, and 161 applications from persons seeking reinstatement as evicted tenants in the same province have been provisionally noted for consideration in the allotment of untenanted land acquired by the Estates Commissioners. The Commissioners have not promised allotments to any of the persons whose applications for reinstatement have been refused, and they do not propose to reconsider any of the cases in which after inquiry and consideration they have already decided to take no action.

asked the Chief Secretary if he will say in how many estates in the county Cork the Estates Commissioners have instituted proceedings for the compulsory acquirement of untenanted land; in how many have they been successful, in how many have they been unsuccessful, and the number of estates in which proceedings are pending; how many estates have been offered for voluntary acquirement; the number acquired by voluntary agreement; and the number and area of the estates acquired but not yet allotted to tenants?

The Estates Commissioners have instituted proceedings for the compulsory acquisition of lands situate on thirty-four estates in county Cork under the provisions of the Evicted Tenants Act, 1907. In the case of fifteen of these the lands have been acquired, in two cases the proceedings are still pending, and in two cases the lands are being acquired under the voluntary provisions of the Irish Land Act, 1903, while in the remaining cases the proceedings were discontinued on consideration of objections filed under the Act. Seventy-eight estates in county Cork have been offered for sale to the Commissioners under the voluntary provisions of the Irish Land Acts 1903 and 1909, of which fifty-five have ben acquired to date, and all untenanted lands situate on them have been allotted.

asked how many holdings in the county Cork purchased under the Land Act of 1903 have been vested in the tenant purchasers during the six months ended 30th September, 1911; the number of estates purchased under this Act in county Cork which have been inspected during the same period and in which vesting orders have not been issued; and in how many cases in this county have the vendors signified their intention of accepting part land stock and part cash as payment for property sold under the Land Act of 1903?

In the county Cork 535 holdings purchased under the Land Act, 1903, have been vested in the tenant purchasers during the six months ended 30th last. The records of the Estates Commissioners do not classify by counties for the purposes mentioned in the question estates pending before them, a number of which are situate in more than one county. The information asked for in the concluding paragraph is not available, and could not be obtained without an undue expenditure of time and labour out of all proportion to its public utility.

asked whether the inspector who last reported on the application of Mr. W. O'Neill, Banha, Killorglin, never met the applicant or inspected his receipts and title deeds, which show that Mr. O'Neill was paying rent as an ordinary tenant till 1865, when he was evicted for non-payment of rent; and whether, in face of this fact, special instructions will be given to an inspector to inquire fully into this case at the earliest possible moment?

The Estates Commissioners are not aware whether the inspector referred to when he visited this estate in connection with the proceedings for sale under the Irish Land Act, 1903, saw O'Neill, but on local inquiry and from documentary evidence it was ascertained that O'Neill had never paid rent to the estate as tenant of the lands to which he seeks reinstatement, and which now form part of the owner's demesne. O'Neill had the grazing of the lands from the person who held this portion of the demesne temporarily during the minority of the owner, but even if O'Neill had been tenant of the lands they could not, being demesne lands, be acquired under the Evicted Tenants Act, and the Commissioners will not provide him with another holding.

asked in how many cases in county Cork where a pension has been granted by the pensions sub-committee has the pension officer appealed, the grounds of appeal being excessive income arising from free maintenance and lodging; in how many cases has the appeal been successful; and the number of cases of appeal in which the Local Government Board asked for independent evidence of value or sent one of their staff, other than the pension officer, to make inquiries?

The desired information is not contained in the records of the Local Government Board and cannot be obtained as the original papers are no longer available.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is aware that engineer officers in His Majesty's Navy repudiate the allegation that they received and accepted promotion upon the understanding that they would not receive increase of pay corresponding to the ranks of the executive service; and whether, in view of the services required of and rendered by thorn, he will consider their claim to equal remuneration to that enjoyed by executive officers and to accelerated and commensurate promotion?

I must refer the hon. Member to the replies given to the Noble Lord the Member for Portsmouth on 9th March, 8th and 18th May, and 1st November last.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will give the figures for the total production of gold during each of the last thirty years and the Sauerbeck's index number of December in each of those years?

The following statement shows for the years 1881–1910 the estimated world's production of gold (so far as available), and the Sauerbeck index number of prices for December in each year and for the entire year.NOTE.—The particulars of gold output for 1881–5 are from statistics compiled by Dr. Soetbeer, those for 1886–1909 from statistics compiled by the director of the United States Mint.

Year.	Estimated World's Production of Gold.		Sauerbeck's Index Number (1867–1877 = 100).
	Quantity.	Value.	Figures for December.	Figures for Year.
	Fine Ozs.	£
1881	4,983,742	21,169,000	†	85
1882	4,934,086	20,959,000	†	84
1883	4,614,588	19,601,000	†	82
1884	4,921,169	20,904,000	†	76
1885	5,245,572	22,282,000	70.8	72
1886	5,135,679	21,815,000	69.5	69
1887	5,116,861	21,735,000	72.4	68
1888	5,330,775	22,644,000	73.2	70
1889	5,973,790	25,375,000	73.7	72
1890	5,749,306	24,421,000	71.1	72
1891	6,320,194	26,846,000	71.4	72
1892	7,094,266	30,184,000	67.7	68
1893	7,618,811	32,362,000	67.0	68
1894	8,764,362	37,228,000	60.1	63
1895	9,615,190	40,842,000	61.2	62
1896	9,783,914	41,559,000	62.0	61
1897	11,420,068	48,509,000	62.4	62
1898	13,877,806	58,949,000	63.8	64
1899	14,837,775	63,026,000	78.3	68
1900	12,315,135	52,311,000	73.4	75
1901	12,625,527	53,629,000	68.4	70
1902	14,354,680	60,974,000	69.1	69
1903	15,852,620	67,337,000	70.0	69
1904	16,804,372	71,380,000	70.9	70
1905	18,396,451	78,142,000	74.9	72
1906	19,471,080	82,707,000	79.7	77
1907	19,977,260	84,857,000	76.2	80
1908	21,430,438	91,030,000	72.3	73
1909	21,982,713	93,376,000	76.3	74
1910	*	*	77.9	78
* Figures for 1910 nor yet available.
† Particulars not published.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what are the foreign countries that have not taken any action in the way of owning or working or subsidising any part of the railways within their boundaries by means of State funds?

My right hon. Friend has asked me to answer this question. I am not at present able to name any foreign country having a railway system in which Government assistance, in some form, has not at some time been given towards construction or working.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether His Majesty's Consular Agent at Tripoli is a Spaniard named Alvarez; and whether, more especially in view of the present and probable future importance of this post, he will consider the desirability of appointing thereto a British-born member of our Consular service with experience gained by actual service in some similar position in the near East?

Mr. Alvarez is His Majesty's Consul-General at Tripoli. He is a natural-born British subject, and joined His Majesty's Consular Service in 1877. Since then he has served at various posts in the Near East and Mediterranean.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will state the points on the coast where huts are being erected for coast watching; and whether a Supplementary Estimate will be necessary in the current financial year?

The places on the coasts of the United Kingdom where it has been decided to erect huts for coast watching are as follows:—

Annalong	Cloghy	Newquay
Anstruther	Clovelly	Oyster Haven
Ballinacarrig	Coatham	Pendeen Cove
Ballinagall	Courtown	Pentuan
Ballyally	Coverack	Port Kinnigoe
Ballycroneen	Crowlink	Port Muck
Banmouth	Curracloe	Porthleven
Bar of Lough	Donaghadee	Portreath
Beer Head	Dunbar	Portscatho
Birling Gap	Easington	Ring Bar
Blackgang	Filey	Robin Hood's Bay
Blatchington	Gorran Haven
Bonmahon	Gourdon	Castlefreke
Boscastle	Gurnard's Head	St. Just
Bridge of Don		Sheephaven
Brook	Helen's Bay	Sheringham
Buckie	Howestrand	Southbourne
Burniston	Kilkee	Stepper Point
Cadgwith	Kilmichael	Westward Ho!
Cemaes	Looe	Yealm
Christchurch	Mousehole	Youghal
Clogher Head	Mullion

The question of the erection of huts at some other places is under consideration. I am not at present able to state whether a Supplementary Estimate will be required during the current financial year.

asked the Prime Minister the number of advisory committees, in connection with the appointment of justices of the peace for the county of Lanark, which it is intended to set up in order to secure adequate representation of the various populous centres and of the different wards within the county, and also when these members of these advisory committees will be appointed?

It is the Lord Chancellor's intention to appoint three advisory committees for the county of Lanark to represent the different wards within the county, and he hopes that they may be constituted within a very few days.

asked the Postmaster-General whether the pledge given by him that the proportion of female labour to that of male in the employment of the Post Office would not be increased has been departed from in the case of the Cork telegraph staff; and, if so, will he say why this has been done?

My predecessor stated that it was not his intention substantially to vary the proportion of male as against female workers employed in the Post Office, but his statement, of course, had reference to the Post Office service as a whole. At individual offices the proportion of male as against female staff depends to a large extent upon local conditions, and in some measure must vary with them. The authorised staff for normal telegraph work at Cork was augmented in April last by two posts for women sorting clerks and telegraphists, while six appointments for men, formerly borne on the Cork establishment as part of a special reserve for relief at other offices, were allocated to ordinary duties in the Cork office.

asked the Postmaster-General whether, in view of the fact that parcels by parcel post are now conveyed in bags instead of baskets, and that the breakages of boxes have increased, whether he can see his way to revert to the use of baskets?

I would refer the hon. Member to my answers to questions on the same subject on 14th August and 8th November.

asked the Postmaster-General whether doctors and others who use a plug and socket apparatus for the purpose of moving the telephone from one room to another are charged a sum of 5s. per socket per annum for such apparatus; whether this charge greatly exceeds the annual cost of the apparatus; and whether he can see his way to reduce the charge to a nominal sum of, say, 1s. per annum?

The annual charge for fitting sockets in two rooms, in order that a movable telephone with a plug may be used in either room, is ten shillings, and if a second bell is also required there is an additional charge of five shillings a year. These charges cover the first cost of the sockets and bell, as well as additional wiring up to 110 yards and the maintenance of the wiring and apparatus. In practice the use of extra appliances of this kind gives rise to occasional special difficulties, and thereby slightly increases the cost of maintenance. On this account the present charges are fully justified, and I could not agree to their reduction to a nominal sum.

asked the President of the Board of Agriculture whether he can give any figures to show how many cases of foot-and-mouth disease exist in India and Egypt at the present time; and whether it is on the increase in those countries?

The Annual Reports of the Civil Veterinary Department give the following statistics of deaths from foot-and-mouth disease in India:—

Official Year.		Number of Deaths from Foot-and-Mouth Disease.
1906–7	………	21,297
1907–8	………	21,845
1908–9	………	27,082
1909–10	………	27,041
1910–11	………	25,545

A decrease in the number of cases in the year 1910–11 is reported in the Punjaub, Eastern Bengal and Assam, Sind and Bengal; and an increase in Burmah, Bombay, Rajputana, United Provinces, North-West Frontier Provinces, and Madras.

asked the President of the Board of Agriculture whether he is aware that an outbreak of anthrax occurred in May last on a farm in the occupation of Mr. Surman, at Earl's Croome, in Worcestershire, and that, two months after the contaminated fields were declared free of infection by the Board's officials, anthrax again broke out; whether this is attributed to carelessness on behalf of the officials responsible for slaughtering and disinfecting; and will the Board order a special inquiry to be made in the matter?

Outbreaks of anthrax occurred on the premises in question in 1905 and 1908, but the Board have no knowledge of the occurrence of any outbreak in May last. A heifer died from that disease on 27th July last, and nine other deaths have subsequently occurred. The inquiries which the Board have made go to show that these later deaths were not attributable to any carelessness on the part of the officers of the local authority who dealt with the outbreak. I will communicate to the hon. Member a full statement of the facts of the case in reply to the letter which he has addressed to the Board respecting it.

asked the Lord Advocate whether the Prison Commissioners for Scotland were consulted before it was decided to abandon the work on the Peterhead harbour of refuge; and whether a rearrangement will have to be made at Peterhead prison in order to provide work for convicts who have hitherto been engaged upon the construction of the Peterhead breakwater?

The Treasury is in communication with the Scottish Office on the subject of the future employment of convicts at Peterhead convict prison.

asked the Lord Advocate whether he will issue in the form of a White Paper the various Reports which have been recently received by the Scottish Office bearing upon the housing of the mining and industrial population in Scotland, along with other information on this subject which has been collected as a result of recent inquiries?

Some of the Reports on this subject have already been printed, and those relating to Lanarkshire, Stirlingshire, and Dumbartonshire, Ayrshire, and Clackmannanshire are now available in printed form. The substance of the Report as to Fifeshire is set out in the report of the medical officer of that county for 1909 The whole subject is under consideration, and I am not yet in a position to make any statement with reference to further publications.

asked the Lord Advocate if he will state how many of the guardians of boarded-out children in Iona are over seventy years of age; and how many of these guardians have one or more imbecile relations living in their cottages?

One of these guardians is over seventy, and his wife is in the prime of life. Another, who is a woman, is about seventy, and has proved herself a competent guardian for thirty years. In neither cases are there imbeciles in the cottages.

asked the Attorney-General whether he is aware that the Land Transfer Commission were limited by the terms of their reference to reporting on the working of the Land Transfer Acts and as to whether any Amendments were desirable; that the terms precluded the Commission from recommending the rescission of the order applying compulsory registration to the county of London; whether the Commission reported that the system of compulsory registration as it is now in operation in the county of London is imperfect, and that they could not recommend the extension outside of London of an imperfect system; and whether, in view of the fact that solicitors have more intimacy with the work of conveyancing than any other class of the community, and that not one of the ten signatories to the recent Report was a solicitor, the Lord Chancellor will consider the expediency of appointing a Royal Commission to be left entirely free to consider on its merits the question as to whether or not a system of registration of title is desirable or practical, and will provide that the Commission shall include an adequate number of solicitors?

I do not agree with the assumptions of the hon. Member's question, but I cannot discuss within the limits of an answer to a question the effect of the terms of reference or the Report of the Royal Commission. In regard to that part of the question which asks whether the Lord Chancellor will consider the expediency of appointing a Royal Commission as suggested, the answer is in the negative. The Government does not consider that any useful purpose would be served by appointing a Royal Commission to consider again a principle which has already been affirmed on several occasions by Parliament.

asked the Lord Advocate, in view of the questions which have arisen with reference to access to Loch Lomond, whether his attention has been called to the fact that in or about the year 1884 there was an arbitration between the county road trustees of Dumbartonshire and Sir James Colquhoun, of Luss, for the acquisition by the former from the latter of the ferry rights, the then existing bridge, and such rights as were necessary for the building of the present bridge at Balloch; whether, under the award which followed, the county road trustees paid to Sir James Colquhoun £6,000, or thereabouts, or any, and, if so, what, other sum for the subjects of the arbitration; what they obtained for that sum; whether the subjects which they obtained were specified in writing in any transfer, deed, or disposition; and, if so, where access can be had thereto, in order that there may be an accurate ascertainment of the rights to, and connected with, the land in question, now vested in the Dumbartonshire County Council as successors to the county road trustees?

I have made inquiry into this case, and have received information to the following effect. The Roads and Bridges (Scotland) Act, 1878, Section 93, vested in the then County Road Trustees the bridges and rights of ferry over the Leven at the ferries of Balloch and Bonhill respectively, and pontages or duties leviable thereat, the County Road Trustees paying to the proprietors the values thereof as such values should, failing agreement, be determined by arbitration or by jury trial. On the values being ascertained and paid in manner provided for in the Section referred to, the bridges became highways and free of toll. The value of the "bridges, rights of ferry pontages and duties" were ascertained by arbitration. The claim by Sir James Colquhoun in the arbitration relating to Balloch Bridge, proceeded on the statement that he was proprietor of the bridge and right of ferry over the River Leven at Balloch and the duties or pontages leviable thereat, taken over by the Road Trustees in terms of the Roads and Bridges (Scotland) Act, 1878, and stated inter alia that "the ferry over which the bridge was substituted has been a pertinent of the lands of Balloch from time immemorial, and extending as it does for a considerable distance both above and below the site of the bridge, the right of ferry formed an important and valuable portion of the estate" … He accordingly claimed as compensation for the "right of ferry, bridge and pontages or duties leviable thereat the sum of at least £12,600 or such sum as should be found to be thirty years' purchase of the annual value of the said ferry, bridge, and pontages and duties leviable thereat." After a lengthened inquiry, the value of the bridge, right of ferry, pontages, or duties (apart from interest and expenses) was fixed at £5,775. The inquiry in the arbitration appears to have been mainly directed to ascertaining the amount of the annual revenues. The subjects valued formed a pertinent of an entailed estate, and the value determined in the Arbitration was consigned, and after certain procedure, paid upon Decree by the Court. The Decree Arbitral is recorded in the Books of Council and Session 29th September, 1884. The Petition for Authority to uplift and acquire the consigned money was to the Court of Session (First Division, 18th March, 1885). The Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1889, Section 90, declares that all lands and buildings, roads and bridges, drainage and water supply works and all other heritable subjects with their pertinents then vested in the Commissioners of Supply or County Road Trustees or in any Local Authority under the Public Health Act, in so far as in their powers are transferred to the county council, should without any instrument of conveyance be transferred to and vested in the County Council, who are the successors of the former Road Trustees. As to specific inquiries put:—(1) The capital sum awarded to Sir James Colquhoun upon his claim was £5,775, and that sum, with accrued interest was consigned in bank and afterwards uplifted under Decree of the Court. (2) For the payment mentioned the Road Trustees obtained the bridge and right of ferry over the River Leven at Balloch and the pontages or duties leviable thereat. (3) There is no specification of the subjects beyond what is contained in the Roads and Bridges Act and the Decree Arbitral, namely, the bridge and right of ferry over the Leven at Balloch and the pontages or duties leviable thereat. (4) The subjects obtained are not specified in writing in any transfer, deed, or disposition.