asked the Secretary to 4he Treasury if he will ascertain whether it was by accident or design that invitations to members of the higher division staff of the Admiralty to volunteer for posts in the new Insurance Department were confined to graduates of universities; in either case will he state who was responsible for issuing such invitations; and will the non-graduates of the higher division, equally with graduates, be given the opportunity of promotion into the Insurance Department?

The English Insurance Commissioners have no knowledge that any invitations to Civil servants in any Departments have been limited to university graduates, nor have they ever made such a qualification a necessary condition for any of their appointments.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury if he is now in a position to state the sum of money allocated from the Development Fund for the improvement of harbours on the Banffshire coast, the names of the harbours, and the amount by way of Grant and loan each is to receive 1

I hope that the decision on the recommendations of the Development Commissioners will shortly be made.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will state the number of persons who paid the Super-tax last year, and also the year before?

Until the expiration of the statutory period (namely, three years from the end of the year of assessment) within which case of liability to the Super-tax may arise, no final figure will be available for any year. Up to the present, for 1910–11, some 10,975 individuals are known to be liable; and for 1911–12, there is no reason to anticipate that the numbers will not be well sustained.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that a Departmental Committee on taxi-cab fares recommended on 10th June, 1911, that the extra light locomotive Excise Duty of £2 2s. per annum, payable on hackney carriages exceeding one ton in weight, should be abolished or reduced: that the recent Taxi-cab Court of Arbitration expressed its general concurrence in this recommendation; and whether he proposes to give effect to these recommendations; and, if so, whether any payments already made in respect of this duty for the current year will be remitted?

The answer to the first two parts of the question is in the affirmative. As regards the remainder of the question, I may say that the subject is receiving careful attention.

asked the Prime Minister whether it is intended to make any provision in the Government of Ireland Bill as to the language in which the proceedings of the Irish Parliament, if and when created, are to be conducted, and in which its Statutes are to be printed?

No, Sir.

asked the Prime Minister which country will defray the costs of the Customs houses at Irish and English ports and of the Coastguard which will be rendered necessary by the differences of taxation on whisky, beer, stout, etc., in Ireland, as compared with England, in case the contemplated Irish Parliament alters the duties?

The collection of taxes is a reserved service, and the cost will, therefore, continue to be defrayed from the Exchequer of the United Kingdom.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the bulk of the pauper lunatic asylums in the United Kingdom contain some chapel set apart for religious services though not necessarily restricted to the use of any particular denomination; whether it has been the practice of the Lunacy Commissioners to sanction the erection of any new asylum buildings without such provision; and, if so, in what cases and on what grounds?

I have no information with regard to Scotland and Ireland, but I am informed by the Commissioners in Lunacy that out of the ninety-four pauper lunatic asylums in England and Wales all except seven have chapels. The Commissioners have always considered a chapel to be an essential part of every properly equipped asylum. Of the seven asylums riot provided with chapels two are at present incomplete and two are old and small asylums. The remaining three are the Menston, Storthes Hall and Scalebor Park Asylums, all in the West Riding of Yorkshire. The erection of these asylums was sanctioned on the understanding that chapels would be provided.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what has been the number of prosecutions by local authorities under the Shops Act, under Section 3 of the Employment of Children Act, which fixes the limits of legal employment as after 6 a.m. and before 9 p.m., and under by-laws made under the Employment of Children Act or local Acts dealing with the employment of children, respectively, during each of the years 1909, 1910, and 1911.

The number of prosecutions for offences against the Shops Acts in England and Wales in 1909 was 270, and in 1910, 250. The bulk, if not all, of these prosecutions were no doubt instituted by the local authorities. The number of prosecutions for offences in relation to the employment of children was in 1909, 1,704, and in 1910, 1,748. These figures include, in addition to offences against the Employment of Children Act, 1903, and by-laws made thereunder, offences against Section 14 of the Children Act, 1908, Sections 2 and 3 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Children Act, 1904, and similar provisions in local Acts. The figures for 1911 are not yet available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has received a petition from the inhabitants of Bradfield St. George, Suffolk, praying for the reduction of the sentence passed on W. Barker at the Bury Assizes; what action he has taken; and whether he is prepared to receive a deputation from the petitioners?

I have received the petition in question, and regret that I have not felt able to take any action on it. The case to which it refers had been previously under my notice, and careful inquiry was made into the facts. I consulted the learned judge who tried the case, but was unable to find any sufficient ground for interfering with the sentence. It is not the practice of the Home Secretary to receive deputations in criminal cases, and I cannot depart from that rule.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department which of the prisoners sentenced, in connection with the recent suffragist disturbances to hard labour or to long terms of imprisonment have been released before the expiration of their term or have received special privileges in prison denied to others serving similar sentences; and why this distinction was made?

Thirteen of the prisoners concerned in the recent window breakings have had their sentences reduced. Of these eight were released on medical grounds, and five others received remission of a part of their sentence on special grounds peculiar to their individual cases, including in some of the cases an assurance that the offence would not be repeated. Except where special treatment was necessary on medical grounds, prisoners whose sentences were similar have received the same treatment.

in reply to Mr. Lansbury circulated a copy of Prison Rule 243a, as follows:—

In the case of any offender of the Second or Third Division whose previous character is good, and who has been convicted of, or committed to prison for, an offence not involving dishonesty, cruelty, indecency, or serious violence, the Prison Commissioners may allow such amelioration of the conditions prescribed in the foregoing rules as the Secretary of State may approve in respect of the wearing of prison clothing, bathing, hair-cutting, cleaning of cells, employment, exercise, books, and otherwise.

Provided that no such amelioration shall be greater than that granted under the rules for offenders of the First Division.

—[ See Oral Answers this date, col. 351. ]

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he can state the number of lashes given to prisoners in Mombasa and Nairobi gaols, respectively, during 1911 by visiting justices for offences against discipline, and the number of prisoners punished in this way; whether he can give a full list of the offences for which these lashes were inflicted; and what was the average daily number of prisoners in Mombasa and in Nairobi gaols during 1911?

The Governor was instructed in November last to. furnish half-yearly returns giving particulars both of floggings by order of the Courts and of floggings for prison offences, and he was informed that these returns should clearly state for what offence the punishment was inflicted in each case, the number of strokes, and the nature of the implement used, and, further, that separate returns should be furnished in regard to adults and in regard to juveniles of under sixteen years of age. I have received a dispatch from him stating that the returns will be furnished as requested, beginning with the six months ending 30th June, 1912. The information asked for by my hon. Friend is not available in the Colonial Office, and, in view of what has been stated above, my hon. Friend will perhaps consider it unnecessary that I should ask the local authorities to furnish it.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is aware that the Government of Victoria offers to give a preference to articles of British manufacture in all contracts for State supplies, for a period of three years from 1st July next; and whether the British Government is willing to reciprocate?

My right hon. Friend has asked me to reply to this question. I would refer the hon. Member for information with regard to the preference in question to the reply which I gave on 15th April to a question by the hon. Member for the St. Augustine's Division. The last part of the question is one affecting the various contracting Departments.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether he is aware that those Sessions Judges in the Punjab who are addressed by military titles are anxious that their use should be discontinued, as it gives rise to anomaly and misunderstanding; and whether these judges may be permitted to discontinue the use of these titles without prejudice to their pensions, or whether the use of them is compulsory?

I am not aware that the "military civilians" in question have expressed a desire to relinquish their military titles. The question has been discussed officially in India, but as the rules stand the formal connection of these officers with the Army is a necessary condition of their own eligibility for Government pensions and the admission of their families to fund pensions.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs with reference to the Bill for establishing a system of National Insurance in Italy, with the consequential effect of injuring the existing interests of British insurance companies in that country, if he will state the result of the representations of His Majesty's Ambassador at Rome; and whether he has communicated with other Powers, whose subjects are also injuriously affected, with a view to joint action?

His Majesty's Ambassador at Rome has not yet received replies to all the points raised in the representations made by him to the Italian Government on this subject, and I am therefore not in a position to state the result of those representations. His Majesty's Ambassador has for some time past been in communication with the representatives of other Powers interested in the question.

asked the Postmaster-General whether there is at present a vacancy in the office of postmaster at Lough Glynn, county Roscommon; and, if so, will he take care in appointing a postmaster not to appoint a publican or grocer, or allow the post office to be on premises on which drink is sold?

There is a vacancy for a sub-postmaster at Lough Glynn. The applications are not yet to hand, but no person holding a licence for the sale of intoxicating drink or connected with licensed premises will be appointed if there is any other applicant who is suitable.

asked the Postmaster-General what is the annual telephone charge in the cities of Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and Dundee, respectively?

The current tariff rates for telephone service are the same in the cities of Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and Dundee, and are the ordinary measured service rates. For premises within a radius of one mile from an exchange the rates are as follows: £6 per annum covering 500 calls in the case of business premises; £5 per annum covering 300 calls in the case of private residences with charges at reduced rates for additional calls. At private residences where no business is carried on an unlimited local service can be obtained for an annual subscription of £8.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that the National Telephone Company allowed a deduction of two-thirds of the usual charges to newspapers; and whether he proposes, at the expiration of current contracts, to make a similar allowance in the case of the Government telephone service?

I am not aware that the National Telephone Company allowed reduced rates for telephones to newspapers; and in any case the Postmaster-General is prevented by statute from giving preferential rates to any particular class of the community.

asked the Postmaster-General (1) if there is any common seniority list for unestablished porters in the stores depot without regard to the country in which they serve; if so, has such a list ever been communicated to the Dublin staff, and does quality of work performed, rate of pay, or date of appointment determine each man's position on the list; (2) if any unfavourable reports have lately been received of the work and efficiency of the Dublin stores staff; if not, why is it proposed to pass them over for the first time for promotion to the vacant storemen's appointments, seeing that all other minor established appointments in Ireland, including those for the engineering department, are filled by the promotion or appointment of suitable members of the Irish Post Office staff; and (3) if the unestablished porters were informed on appointment that they would be placed on a common seniority list for the United Kingdom, and that vacancies for storemen in the Dublin branch would not necessarily be filled in the future by the promotion of efficient members of the local staff?

Unestablished porters in the stores depots are labouring men, subject to discharge at short notice; and as but few of them are qualified for promotion it has not been found necessary to draw up a formal seniority list, and still less to announce to the men on first employment the condi- tions of promotion, which they may never attain or desire to seek. Only those performing the best work, which carries the highest pay, have chances of promotion; and as their number is limited, their qualifications are easily compared. No unfavourable reports have been received concerning the Dublin stores staff, one of whom, in fact, has received promotion on the present occasion. The minor engineering officers are promoted in their own districts because the duties elsewhere are not the same, and it is not therefore practicable to secure the advantages resulting, as I explained to the hon. Member on the 2nd instant, from promotion by a combined list.

asked the President of the Board of Agriculture whether his attention has been directed to the continued decrease in the quantity of flat fish caught in- the North Sea; and whether he can state the percentage of decrease during the last five years for which figures are available in the case of each of the following: brill, soles, turbot, lemon soles, plaice, and skate?

Perhaps my hon. Friend will allow me to refer him to the elaborate statistics in the recently issued Report of the proceedings for 1910 of the Board under the Acts relating to Sea Fisheries, and especially to the diagrams in the early pages of the Report. Any statement such as is suggested in the question which did not take account of the annual fluctuations of the quantity of fish landed, the landings of fish at Continental ports, as to which complete figures are not yet available for recent years, and the decrease in the fishing operations of English vessels in the North Sea, might give rise to very erroneous inferences. Moreover, complete figures for the five years anterior to 1907 are not available, and it is not therefore possible to compare the latest period of five years with another similar period. I may say, however, that, comparing the average quantities of fish landed in England and Wales during the years 1907–1911 inclusive with the quantities landed in the year 1906, brill show a decrease of 14.48 per cent., soles of 23.27 per cent., turbot of 18.45 per cent., lemon soles of 25.96 per cent., skates and rays of 18.41 per cent.; but in the quantity of plaice, which is more than double that of all the other fish specified in the question, there is an increase of 1.30 per cent. In these calculations I have made use of the Returns for the year 1911, which have not yet been published. Every endeavour will be made to publish the Report for 1911 with as little delay as possible.

asked the Secretary for Scotland if he can arrange that copies of the Regulations for carrying into effect the teachers superannuation scheme be supplied to every School Board in Scotland for the information of teachers?

A copy of the Regulations for carrying into effect the teachers superannuation scheme has been supplied to every School Board in Scotland, and to every other body of school managers affected. Additional copies of the Regulations are on sale, and can be obtained through the usual channels.

asked the Secretary for Scotland, if he will state which School Boards, if any, and teachers' organisations the Scotch Education Department consulted before issuing the new Regulations for carrying into effect the teachers superannuation scheme.

It was not considered necessary to consult School Boards or teachers organisations with regard to the drafting of the Regulations for carrying into effect the superannuation scheme, the principles of which had been approved in the manner prescribed in Section 14 of the Education (Scotland) Act, 1908. A few expressions of opinion and suggestions were submitted to the Department, and these were duly considered in drafting the Regulations.

asked the Secretary for Scotland, in view of the increased amount of rates which will be paid to the local authorities in Scotland through the operation of the House Letting and Bating (Scotland) Act, and in view of the burdens which factors are placing meanwhile on the tenants, if he can arrange to allow more than two and a half per cent, commission for the collection of rates, and thereby ease the position of tenants through the working of this Act?

The answer to my hon. Friend's question is in the negative. I have no power to increase the commission of two and a half per cent., which is the maximum commission allowed by the Act.