asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether the expenses of and incidental to the formation of an association of small approved societies under the National Insurance Act will be defrayed by the Insurance Commissioners, either by being charged upon the administration account or otherwise, if such expenses are incurred prior to the approval of the societies which are to constitute the association?

The fact that such expenses are incurred prior to the approval of the societies constituing the association will not prevent any society from repaying to the person who incurred the expenses the whole or any part of them, if such repayment is otherwise admissible under the Act.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if the Government or the Insurance Commissioners have yet determined the amount to be paid to chemists for medicine, drugs, and appliances under the National Insurance Act; if so, what is the amount per each insured person; and what is the definition of what a chemist has to supply for this sum; (2) if it is now the intention of the Government to allow, or if it has agreed to allow, doctors to do their own dispensing; and (3) if the proposed payment of 6s. per head of insured persons for medical attendance will be increased; will chemists still receive 1s. 6d. per head of insured persons; and will that sum be provided by the doctors or by the Insurance Fund?

Questions connected with the administration of medical benefit are being considered in conference with the medical representatives on the Advisory Committee, and I can make no statement at present as to the result of these deliberations.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether the position of port clerk of Customs was recognised as a distinct Civil Service appointment, recruited by an examination under the Civil Service Commissioners distinct from that for any other branch of His Majesty's Civil Service?

Previous to the reorganisation recommended by the recent Committee on the amalgamation of the Customs and Excise Departments port clerks in the Customs were recruited by a separate examination.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether an outdoor officer of Customs could only become a port clerk by undergoing examination and receiving a certificate of qualification from the Civil Service Commissioners; and, if so, whether a port clerkship was thus recognised as a distinct Civil Service appointment?

The reply to both parts of the question is in the affirmative.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury if he would state the authority under which the Board of Customs and Excise or the Treasury is compelling port clerks, who entered His Majesty's Civil Service to perform the duties of a specific class or grade, to accept, contrary to their expressed wishes, appointments as officers of Customs and Excise involving the performance of duties which in their nature and conditions are distasteful to clerks, which are alien to those which they entered the Civil Service to perform, and which have hitherto been performed by classes recruited from quite distinct Civil Service examinations?

Persons holding appointments under the Board of Customs and Excise hold office at the pleasure of the Board, and may be required to perform all departmental duties. This must be well understood by the port clerks, as ever since that class was created, individual members of it have performed outdoor duties as part of their daily routine.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury, whether the Treasury or any Government Department possesses powers which enables it so to interfere with the office and status of a Civil servant as to vitiate the free choice as regards the Department in which he elects to serve which he exercises when he becomes a candidate for a Civil Service appointment, or if a Civil servant's consent is necessary before he can be transferred to an office previously recognised as a separate and distinct appointment under the Civil Service Commission?

Except in the case of those classes of officials which are common to the whole Civil Service, the transfer of a Civil servant from one Department to another is usually subject to his own consent; but it rests with the head of a Department to settle the duties which it may be necessary for him in the public interest to call upon his officers to perform.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury upon what estimated aggregate income of the Super-tax payers the yield of Super-tax for the financial year 1912–13 is based; and what was the assessed aggregate income of the Supertax payers in 1911–12?

The estimated yield of the Super-tax for the year 1912–13 does not represent an estimate of the Super-tax to be charged for that year, but of the amount to be collected within the year, which will include a proportion of the sums chargeable for previous years, the assessments for which are not yet complete. The information asked in the second part of the question will not be available until the assessments for the year 1911–12 are complete.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he can now see his way to receiving a deputation on the subject of colour service counting for pensions in the case of ex-naval and military civil servants, in answer to the request made to him by over 200 Members of Parliament in August last?

I shall hope to have the pleasure of meeting a deputation upon this subject some time after the Whitsuntide Recess.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that, by fixing, under the Finance (1909–10) Act, 1910, and the Revenue Act, 1911, the amounts to be paid to local authorities in respect of motor and carriage licence duties at the actual sum collected in the year 1908–9, a loss of revenue as compared with 1909–10 is incurred by a large majority of the county councils of England and Wales, amounting in the case of Somerset to about £4,000 per annum; and whether, in view of the promise made by the then Chancellor of the Exchequer on the Budget in 1907 and the intention of Parliament, as shown by Section 17 of the Finance Act, 1907, that the councils were not to be deprived of the natural growth of local taxation licences, steps will be taken on the consideration of the Finance Bill of the present Session to ensure that the annual amounts payable to the county councils in respect of such licences shall not be less than the amounts which would have been payable if the before-mentioned provisions of the Finance (1909–10) Act, 1910, and the Revenue Act, 1911, had not been passed?

I can add nothing to the answer which I gave to three similar questions on Thursday last in this House.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if he could say why the tenants on the Shortt estate, near Clough- jordan, having signed purchase agreements six or seven years ago, have not received their vesting orders, or what is the cause of delay?

The estate of Albert Shortt and others, King's County, is the subject of proceedings for sale direct by the vendors to the tenants under the Irish Land Act, 1903. The purchase agreements were lodged in October, 1908, and the estate is on the principal register of direct sales (all cash). It will be dealt with in its proper order of priority, but the Estates Commissioners are not at present in a postion to say when it will be reached in its turn.

asked the Chief Secretary whether Mrs. D. Mullins, of Clarenbridge, county Galway, at the request of the people of the district, offered for sale to the Congested Districts Board the farm of Coolraugh; is he aware that the district is one where a number of small holdings are to be found; and, having regard to the need and urgency of acquiring this farm in the general interest of the community, will he explain the reasons why the Congested Districts Board refuse to make an offer at present for this farm?

Mrs. Mullins offered the farm referred to for sale to the Congested Districts Board, but it turned out that as she was not a registered owner she could not complete the sale without the appointment of trustees or the concurrence of the Court of Chancery.

asked the grounds on which relief under Section 6 of the Land Act, 1903, has been refused to Michael Hetherton, of the O'Brien estate, at Cornakelly, county Longford; whether Mr. Lodgdell, the Commissioners' first inspector, reported favourably on this case and recommended that a grant of £10 or £20 should be made to give him a chance to build some kind of house on the land; why this recommendation was not carried out; and will he direct that the grant be now made to keep this man?

The Estates Commissioners inquired into and considered this case, and, in the exercise of the discretion vested in them, decided to made no free grant to Hetherton. They are not prepared to depart from their decision in the matter.

asked why, although the lands of Clunkeen, in the parish of Kilmacabea, county Cork, on the French estate, are now vested in the tenants, the lands of Reenogreena close by, on the Deasy estate, are not yet so vested, seeing that the former sale did not take place for two years after the latter?

The Estates Commissioners inform me that these estates have been dealt with in their due order of priority. The vendors of the Savage French estate elected to take payment partly in cash and partly in stock in 1910, whereas the vendors of the estate of Mary J. Deasy and another did not so elect until the following year, and in accordance with the regulations made under Section 23 (8) of the Irish Land Act, 1903, and Section 4 of the Irish Land Act, 1909, the latter estate was entered on the register (part stock and part cash) after the estates of vendors who had elected in the previous year to have their cases transferred to this register.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he can give any idea when the tenants on the estate of the Misses G. and H. Hungerford, of Dunowen, county Cork (No. 4,239, agreements dated 1st July, 1906), will get relief from the high rate of interest they are paying at present in lieu of rent?

This estate which is the subject of proceedings for sale direct by the owners to the tenants is on the principal register of direct sales (all cash), and will be dealt with in its order of priority, but the Estates Commissioners are not at present in a position to say when it will be reached in its turn.

asked whether any of the Members for Irish constituencies occupy the position of Crown Prosecutor or other post under the Government; and, if so, whether he will give the names and other particulars?

The hon. Members for South Londonderry, North Fermanagh and South Tyrone act as Crown counsel for the Attorney-General at Assizes in certain counties. They are paid by fees for each case in which they are instructed to appear. The only other Irish Member holding any paid office or employment under the Government is the Member for North Tyrone.

asked the Prime Minister whether he will more clearly define the meaning of the words the general subject matter of the Act, etc., in the Government of Ireland Bill, Clause 2 (11) (a), page 2, line 37?

The words in question appear to me to be sufficiently clear. If, however, the hon. Member can suggest any improvement upon them at the Committee stage, I will be prepared to give his suggestions considerations.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the estimate given in paragraph 34 of the Primrose Committee on Irish Finance, that the expenditure for Ireland for the year 1911–12 would exceed its revenue by more than a million and a half was founded on evidence or information furnished by the Treasury; and what the explanation is of the error in the figure mentioned?

I have no information—beyond that given by the Committee in their Report—as to the basis on which they arrived at this particular estimate.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will state the sources from which the £364,500 increase of true revenue from Ireland in the year 1911–12, as compared with the year 1908–9, alleged not to be derived from the new and additional taxation imposed by the Finance (1909–10) Act, 1910, are drawn, giving particulars of each?

The following are the approximate figures, as far as they can be estimated:— £ Post Office (increase) 135,000 Customs and Excise (increase) 150,000 Inland Revenue (increase) 85,000 Miscellaneous Revenue (decrease) 10,000 Under the head of Customs and Excise the principal changes are spirits (decrease), £115,000; tobacco (increase), £205,000; beer (increase), £50,000. Under the head of Inland Revenue the changes are—Estates Duties (decrease), £15,000; Stamps (increase), £10,000; Income Tax (increase). £90,000.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he is aware that the town of Kilrush, West Clare, is unprovided with any public grounds which may be used for the purpose of sports, fairs, or recreation, that in order to remedy this state of affairs the urban council desired to acquire a suitable field of fifty-six acres of the Vandeleur estate and applied for a loan of £929 for the purpose and that the Local Government Board refused to sanction the loan on the ground that Kilrush was not provided with a proper water supply; and whether the Local Government Board will reconsider their decision in view of the fact that the rates in Kilrush are already 9s. in the £, and that the profits arising from the use of the field for various kinds of sport would not only be of immediate benefit to the town but would render it easier subsequently to promote an extensive scheme of water supply?

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given to his questions on this subject on the 25th March last. The question of the provision of the recreation ground was also dealt with at the Inquiry referred to, and the inspector reported that sufficient evidence as to the necessity or desirability of this proposal was not adduced. In these circumstances, and also having regard to the urgent necessity of providing a water supply in the town, the Local Government Board informed the council that they must defer the consideration of the question of this loan, as well as that of the housing loan, until the water supply had received due attention by the council.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he is aware that the sum of £11 19s. 8d. has been withheld from Mrs. O'Connell, principal teacher of Streamstown girls' school, county Westmeath, for non-compliance with the provisions of Rule 92 ( j ) of the Commissioners of National Education; can he state in accordance with what rule of the Commissioners' code has this deduction been made and on what principle the amount of the deduction has been calculated; whether representations have been made to the Commissioners by and on behalf of Mrs. O'Connell to the effect that it was found impossible to comply with the provisions of the rule, as efforts to provide a qualified substitute by advertisement and other means proved unavailing; and whether, if the Commissioners are satisfied that this teacher did all that was possible under the circumstances to comply with the provisions of the rule and failed to do so through no fault of her own, they will refund that portion of her salary which has been withheld from her?

The answer to the first paragraph of the question is in the affirmative. Under Rule 183, the Commissioners of National Education reserve to themselves in every case the right to determine whether the payment of salaries, or the grant of any other aid, should be made in whole or in part, or be altogether withheld. Mrs. O'Connell was absent from 16th February to 15th March, during which no substitute for her was employed, nor was this period, or any portion of the time from 16th February to 31st March, reckoned as vacation. Under the terms of Rule 92 ( j ) the teacher should have absented herself from her school for three months from 16th February, and, in view of her failure to comply with this rule, salary and other grants for the period from 16th February to 31st March were disallowed from the payments made for the quarter ended 31st March, 1912. It has been represented to the Commissioners that Mrs. O'Connell advertised twice for a substitute without success, but in the absence of any evidence as to the remuneration offered, the qualifications required, or the newspapers and journals in which the advertisement appeared, the Commissioners are unable to say whether all that was possible in the circumstances was done to comply with the provisions of the Rule. The Commissioners are, therefore, not prepared to pay the salary which has been withheld from Mrs. O'Connell.

asked when the rules and programmes of the Intermediate Education Board (Ireland) will be laid upon the Table of the House?

I am not in a position to state when the rules and programmes of the Intermediate Education Board for 1913 will be presented.

asked the Chief Secretary if he is aware that a committee has been formed by the county council of Kilkenny, comprised of clergymen of all denominations, magistrates, and county councillors in the Urlingford Rural Dis- trict, to put into operation the compulsory Clauses of the Education Act, for which purpose and to meet the expenses thereof a rate has been struck and sanctioned by the Local Government Board; whether he is aware that the said committee required for their meetings and were granted by the guardians the use of the board-room for the holding of such meetings provided that they did not clash or interfere with the ordinary meetings of the board; and, seeing that the Local Government Board refused to sanction the use of the boardroom for the meetings of the said educational committee, although such meetings are generally held in board-rooms throughout Ireland, whether he will take steps to have this refusal withdrawn?

The facts as-generally stated in the question are correct. A county council have power under Section 3 (5) of the Irish Education Act, 1892, to defray out of the poor rate the expenses of a school attendance committee in their county without the approval of the Local Government Board, and the reference in the question to the sanction of the board having been obtained to the rates struck by the Kilkenny County Council in this respect is not understood. The Urlingford Board of Guardians requested the Local Government Board to sanction the arrangement made by them with the Education Committee, and were informed that the board have no power or authority to sanction this use of the workhouse board-room, having regard to the fact that it has been judicially decided that workhouse premises cannot be used except for purposes connected with the administration of the Poor Law. The Local Government Board have never assented to the use of a workhouse board-room for meetings of a school attendance committee, and if, as stated in the question, such meetings are held in other workhouses in Ireland it is done without the authority or official cognisance of the Local Government Board.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he is aware that the Cloney-gowan, King's County, sub-committee granted a pension of 5s. a week to Mary Dempsey, Feoramona, Cloneygowan, Portarlington, on 1st May, 1911; that the applicant produced a certificate of her sister Sarah Gipson's baptism, which showed that the said Sarah Gipson was baptised on the 10th July, 1837, and further made a declaration before a magistrate that she, Mary Dempsey, was only one year and a half younger than her sister, which would leave her over seventy-two years of age; and if he will say upon what grounds this woman was denied a pension by the Local Government Board?

Claimant's name did not appear in the record of her family in the 1841 Census Return, and there was no trace of her family in the 1851 Census Return. An inspector of the Local Government Board, who investigated her case locally, was unable to report that from her appearance she was obviously over seventy. Accordingly, in the absence of any satisfactory proof of age, the Local Government Board were in August, 1911, unable to allow a pension. In the circumstances the Board have no power to reopen the consideration of her case, but it is open to claimant to renew her application for pension if she considers that the lapse of a year would strengthen her case.

asked the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland), whether he is aware that out of a total number of twenty-three students at present in the Department's training school, Stillorgan, county Dublin, there are only three Protestant students; can he give any explanation why so few Protestant students are admitted to this Government training school; is he aware that domestic teachers are much required in the technical schools of Ulster, which are mainly Protestant; and will he see that at least one-third of the vacancies for training students in the school will be reserved for Protestant students?

The Department have no knowledge of the religious beliefs of the students of the Irish Training School of Domestic Economy. Entrance to this institution is by open Competitive Examination, but candidates who have passed the Senior Grade Examination of the Intermediate Education Board or who are graduates of a university are given priority without examination. All applicants who have sought admission under this exemption have been admitted to the school.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether it is proposed to move the naval base in the Mediterranean from Malta to Gibraltar; and, if so, what will our naval strength then be in those waters?

My right hon. Friend stated in his speech introducing the Navy Estimates that it was proposed that the battleships now stationed in the Mediterranean should be based on Gibraltar instead of Malta. Malta will remain an important naval base. The constitution and strength of the Naval force in the Mediterranean has not yet been settled. It must not be assumed that the squadron based on Gibraltar cannot be regarded as part of our Naval strength in Mediterranean waters.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether his attention has been called to the report of the medical officer for Dunfermline to the district committee on 7th May, in which he stated that another epidemic had broken out amongst the men working on the new dock works, Rosyth, and that, as on a previous occasion, the West Fife infectious diseases hospital was unable to admit the case, that the Kirkcaldy burgh hospital also refused accommodation, and that the city of Edinburgh did not encourage making provision for such cases; and if he can say what ultimately became of this diseased workman, and what will become of such workmen in the future?

The report of the medical officer has not been received at the Admiralty. The workman referred to was accommodated at the Thornton Hospital, belonging to the county council of Fife, Kirkcaldy district, and the Dunfermline District Committee have secured a lien upon four beds at this hospital for future cases. They are also taking steps for the construction of further hospital accommodation.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether captains are to be promoted to admirals by selection and not by seniority, as at present?

There is no proposal before the Board for altering the system of promotion to flag rank, which is by seniority.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is aware that the North British Rubber Company and the Victoria Rubber Company, contractors to the Admiralty, are employing girl's to a very large extent on work that in previous contracts was done at Raunds by male labour at good wages, and that these girls are only paid from 12s. to 14s. per week; whether he is aware that these firms employ men at a wage of about 23s. a week, the district rate being about 30s.; and whether he will have inquiry made into the matter and secure strict compliance with the Fair-Wages Clause in the interests of the workpeople and for the protection of those firms who do observe the Clause in question and employ male labour at good prices?

No such information has reached the Admiralty, but in view of the statements now made by my hon. Friend, steps will be taken to investigate the question whether these two firms are complying with the Fair-Wages Clause in executing Admiralty contracts.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty if he is aware that an increasing number of men working in His Majesty's dockyard at Portsmouth live at the north end of that town; and if he will consider the possibility of opening a gate and a muster station at Flathouse, at the north end of the dockyard, for these men?

I believe it is the fact that an increasing number of the men live at the north end of the town. No application for the opening of a new gate and muster station at Flathouse has been received from the men, but the question has been considered by the local dockyard officers. It is possible that these additional facilities may ultimately be required, when the new works at present in hand in that portion of the dockyard are completed, and the question will be further considered at a later date.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what were the circumstances under which Miss Norah Lackey, a suffragette prisoner at Birmingham, was forcibly fed for three weeks, was kept in irons for twenty-four hours, and is kept apart from her fellow prisoners; and whether the circumstances will receive impartial investigation?

Norah Lackey refused to take her food on 31st March, and on 2nd April it was found necessary to feed her by tube. On the 3rd April she took food voluntarily; on the 4th she again refused and from that day until the 15th she was artificially fed, but she made no resistance. On the 14th she destroyed some of her cell furniture and bedding, and she was restrained for twenty-four hours in handcuffs to prevent her doing further damage. On the following day she was brought before a member of the Visiting Committee, who investigated the circumstances and ordered her to forfeit marks, and to pay for the damage out of her gratuity, if any. On the 16th she again refused her food, but on the 18th she resumed taking her food voluntarily and continued doing so until May 7th. On that day she was disturbing the quiet of the hospital by shouting to another prisoner. An infant child was seriously ill in the hospital, and as she would not desist when told that she was disturbing the child, her door was shut. She then again destroyed some of her furniture and refused her food. She has, however, now resumed eating. Like other prisoners in the hospital, she is necessarily kept apart from those who are not hospital patients.

asked the Secretary of State-for the Home Department what is the reason for differentiating between the treatment accorded to Mrs. Gatty, now a prisoner in Holloway Prison under sentence from the London Sessions, and that of other suffragists sentenced to hard labour at the same Sessions, by depriving her of letters, visitors, and a supply of food from outside the prison, which has been permitted in the case of other suffragist prisoners; under what conditions suffragette prisoners are or have been permitted to receive letters and visitors as well as a supply of food from outside the prison, and whether they are subject to general application or only to individual cases; and, if so, will he explain why this course has been adopted?

Some of the privileges under Rule 243A (such as receiving letters and visits) are dependent upon the earning of marks for industry and good conduct under the Progressive Stage system. Mrs. Gatty has refused to do any work, and she is thus depriving herself of the privileges which are free to her if she chooses to conform to the Regulations.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, under the Shops Act, 1911, the proprietor of a shop who employs no assistants is compelled to close his business on one day of the week, at not later than one o'clock in the afternoon; and, where the local authority has not fixed a day for the weekly half-holiday, whether he is compelled to affix a notice in his shop specifying the day on which the shop is closed?

The answer to both questions is in the affirmative, unless the trade or business carried on is one of those included in the Second Schedule to the Act, or has been exempted by an order of the local authority.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will state why, in selecting a naval officer to act as assessor in the "Titanic" Inquiry, he has thought it necessary to ignore all those who are already on the Home Office list?

In view of the great importance of this inquiry, I thought it right to add to the list the name of an officer who seemed to me better qualified than any other to assist in the investigation. The course taken involves no reflection on the ability of the officers already on the list.

asked the Prime Minister whether His Majesty's Government have been approached by the German Government as to the desirability of holding an international conference upon the question of the security of human life at sea; and whether, if such pourparlers have taken place, His Majesty's Government intend to summon a conference at which the leading shipping companies, the Imperial Merchant Service Guild, and the Seamen's Unions may be represented, with a view to drawing up proposed recommendations for the international conference?

His Majesty's Government have received a communication from the German Government proposing that international negotiations shall take place with a view to an agreement on the subject referred to in the question. A sympathetic reply has been returned to the German communication. I am not at present in a position to state the precise steps which will be taken to obtain the views of the interests affected, with regard to any of the matters which may come under discussion in the proposed negotiations.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what progress is being made with the harbour works at Kilindini and the railway for conveying the Magadi Lake soda deposits, for which provision was made in the Estimates for the British East Africa Protectorate?

The plans for the deep water pier at Kilindini have not yet been settled. The Magadi railway is not being built by the Government but by the company to which the concession of the soda deposits was granted. The money which is being provided by the Government is required for the improvement of the Uganda railway and for the purchase of new rolling stock, with a view to placing that railway in a position to deal with the additional traffic which will result from the working of the deposits.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the Government of the South African Union proposes to tax shares in and the results of industrial operations in South Africa held by persons outside the jurisdiction of the Union Government, including a large number of small investors in the gold industry scattered all over Europe; whether the result will be to drive capital away from South Africa and to make funds for the agricultural and industrial development of the Union difficult to obtain; and whether His Majesty's Government proposes to offer any advice on the subject to the Union Government?

I would refer to my replies to questions put by my hon. Friend the Member for Dumfriesshire on 30th April. The effect of such legislation is a matter of opinion. His Majesty's Government do not propose at present to offer any advice to the Union Government.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he has received protests from the Nyasaland Chamber of Commerce, and from other bodies, against the statement made by the late Governor of Nyasaland, Sir Alfred Sharpe, at the Geographical Society's meeting last December, to the effect that local requirements of the Protectorate require a labour force of from 10,000 to 15,000 and that a surplus supply of from 85,000 to 90,000 is available for labour in other parts of Africa; whether he is aware that the local chamber of commerce estimates local requirements at 94,600 out of a population of male adults capable of labour of 107,000; and whether he can make any statement calculated to allay the alarm caused by a positive statement upon a controversial subject made by a person lately occupying the position of Governor of the Protectorate?

I have not received any communication from the Nyasaland Chamber of Commerce or from other bodies on the subject of the statement; but, as I informed the hon. Member for Devonport in reply to a question on the 7th May, the statement does not represent the opinion of the present Governor of the Protectorate.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will state on what date Sir Percy Girouard returned to his post in East Africa; if he has not returned, on what date it is proposed that he should start; and for how long a period his governorship is to last?

Sir Percy Girouard is at present on leave in this country, and is due to return to the Protectorate early in August. As regards the last part of the question, it is customary to confine a Colonial Governor's term of office to six years from his assumption of the administration.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether free and compulsory elementary education is given in the district of Baroda, if so, for how long has that system been in vogue; how is the cost of it met; have the results been satisfactory; and is his Department prepared to recommend a similar scheme experimentally in any of the neighbouring districts?

Baroda is a native State under the suzerainty of His Majesty, not a "district." Compulsory free education was introduced into all districts of the State in 1905–6. The cost is met from the revenue of the State. An Education Commission appointed by His Highness the Gaekwar in 1909 was of opinion that compulsion was, to some extent, successful. The Chief Minister of the State, reviewing last year's work, said that "while it is by no means an assured success, it is a praiseworthy attempt, with an excellent chance of final success, if money is freely spent and vigilance ceaselessly exercised." Of the children enrolled, however, only 61 per cent, actually attended school, as compared with 77.6 per cent, in British India, and the fines for non-attendance amounted to Rs. 55,000, which means an incidence per head of population double that of the incidence of fees in British India. There is no present intention of acting on my hon. Friend's suggestion, and I would refer him to the Debates on the subject in the Viceroy's Legislative Council.

asked the Prime Minister whether the Government are prepared to give facilities for carrying the Religious Census (Wales) Bill through all its stages as quickly as possible; and if he can state when the Second Reading will be taken?

The answer is in the negative.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he has received a copy of a resolution passed at the annual meeting of the Association of Trades Protection Societies respecting the Railways Bill; and whether he will arrange to receive a deputation from the trades to put forward their views upon proposed legislation?

My hon. Friend has forwarded me a copy of this resolution. The Association of Trades Protection Societies have not asked me to meet a deputation, but any request they may make will be carefully considered.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been called to the fact that the scales in use by the Dublin Port and Docks Board will not register differences of weight less than seven pounds; whether he has received, particularly in regard to shipments from Liverpool, any complaints as to the inadequacy of these scales for the satisfactory conduct of business; and, if so, what action he proposes to take to cause them to be replaced by scales of greater commercial utility?

Certain complaints have been received with regard to the weighing at Dublin of consignments from Liverpool, but these complaints have reference not to the weighing machine belonging to the Port and Docks Board, but to one belonging to the Corporation of Dublin. The Board of Trade have been in correspondence with the corporation with regard to the complaints, and a further communcation will be addressed to them. The Board of Trade are aware that the 20-ton weighbridge belonging to the Dublin Port and Docks Board at the North Wall Quay Extension does not indicate differences of weight of less than 7 lbs. This degree of accuracy is customary with such large weighbridges, and the Board of Trade do not regard it as inadequate.

asked the Postmaster-General whether the telephone rate for unlimited calls on business premises is £5 5s. in Glasgow, £7 4s. 6d. in Aberdeen, and £10 in Edinburgh; and, if so, will he explain why so much larger an annual sum is demanded in Edinburgh than in Glasgow or Aberdeen for identical services?

The rates of subscription quoted by the hon. Member are obsolete; and no new subscriptions are accepted at those rates. The current rates are those stated in my answer to the hon. Member's question of the 16th ultimo. The rate of £5 5s. for unlimited service was that adopted by the Corporation of Glasgow for their system and did not cover communication with the much larger local system of the National Telephone Company. It is considered to be unremunerative and has not been quoted as a current rate since 1907. The rate of £7 4s. 6d. at Aberdeen was applied at private residences only in the case of persons already renting an installation for business purposes. The current unlimited service rate for private residences at each of the three cities in question is £8.

asked the Postmaster-General, whether the charge for an extension of telephones to subscribers on their limited rate has been raised since the National Telephone Company was absorbed by the Post Office; whether the Post Office decline to grant more than two extensions to a subscriber on the unlimited rate at Plymouth; whether this is now the general rule of the Post Office; and whether there is any reason why the Post Office should not be able to offer subscribers terms and facilities at least as good as those offered by the National Telephone Company?

The answer to the hon. Member's first inquiry is in the negative. As regards the number of extensions allowed on unlimited rate lines at Plymouth, the Post Office is only continuing the practice of the National Telephone Company. The effect of allowing a greater number of extensions on one unlimited rate line is generally to overload the line, a course which is detrimental to the telephone service of other subscribers. So far as I am aware, the Post Office is everywhere offering subscribers terms and facilities which are at least as good as those offered by the company. If the hon. Member has any information to the contrary, I shall be glad to have particulars.

asked the Postmaster-General whether the Post Office, by accepting messages for transmission by the Marconi system, guarantees that such cables are actually transmitted by that system and not by ordinary cable routes?

It is the practice of the Post Office to hand over telegrams to the particular company which the sender may indicate. In this respect the Marconi Company is treated in the same manner as any cable company, and I have no reason to think that the Marconi Company, any more than a cable company, does not forward by its own system the telegrams handed over to it.

asked the Postmaster-General (1) what is the minimum speed per minute stipulated for in the contract made with the Marconi Company for the Imperial wireless scheme; and (2) what is the revised estimated cost of each of the six wireless stations to be erected by agreement by the Marconi Company?

The contract with the company will be submitted to the House, and its terms will furnish the information required by the hon. Member.