asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether a boy over sixteen and under twenty-one who is apprenticed to a tailor, and receives the wage of 2s. per week has to become an insured person under the National Insurance Act; whether the boy has to pay 4d. per week and the tailor has to pay 3d. a week in respect of such boy as contributions under the Act; and, if not, what contributions have to be paid under the Act by or on behalf of such boy, and by whom?

The answer to the first two questions is in the affirmative; the third, therefore, does not arise.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether it is decided that a member of a friendly society who is not an insured person under the National Insurance Act can be a friendly society representative on a local insurance committee within the terms of the Act?

A representative of insured persons on an insurance committee need not necessarily be himself an insured person.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether attendants and employés on the staff of private hospitals for the care of the insane, who receive from their employers full wages and medical care during illness and who, if they are suffering from an infectious disease, are, at the cost of their employers, sent to a hospital for treatment, are compelled to become insured persons under the National Insurance Act; and, if so, whether there are any special approved societies which such attendants and employés can join in order to ensure that they get, under the Act or otherwise, benefits proportionate to the contributions made by them and their employers under the Act?

The attendants and employés in question are compulsorily insurable. If, however, a custom or practice is shown to the satisfaction of the Commissioners to exist in these particular institutions for the persons employed to receive full remuneration during sickness the Commissioners will make a special order reducing the rate of contribution payable by and in respect of these persons in accordance with the terms and conditions of Section 47 of the Act. If adequate provision is also guaranteed by their employers for sickness and for permanent disablement it may also be possible for such persons to come into some scheme for alternative benefits instead of sickness and disablement benefits under Section 13.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that the Crown has acquired the property of the next-of-kin of the late Mrs. Helen Blake, née Sheridan, intestate, by omitting to advertise for next-of-kin in Ireland, to which Mrs. Blake was known to belong and where the name of Sheridan is known to be common; whether the Crown, as trustee of the property so acquired for the owners, will examine their credentials without an action; if an action is necessary, whether the Crown will enable poor next-of-kin, on making a primâ facie case, to sue formâ pauperis; and, if the Crown, having acquired the property as described, refuse available opportunity to poor next-of-kin to establish their kinship, will he say on what grounds the refusal is based?

The advertisements for next-of-kin issued by the Crown were inserted in such papers as were prescribed by the High Court, and in the form settled by that Court. In addition to such advertisements issued by the Crown, advertisements were inserted in Irish and American newspapers in the year 1877 by Messrs. West, King, Adams, and Co., who had acted as solicitors to the late Mrs. Blake. It is also within the knowledge of the advisers of the Crown that extensive inquiries for next-of-kin were made in Ireland by next-of-kin agents and others. As all claimants, of whom there have been a very large number, are informed, the Crown cannot be advised to part with any part of the estate except under the order of some competent Court. The question as to whether a claimant would be entitled to an order to sue in formâ pauperis would be one entirely for the Court. The Crown would throw no obstacle in the way of obtaining such an order.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether the Stationery Office are prepared to supply all the notices necessary to be posted in shops explaining the provisions of the Shops Act; and is the Stationery Office the only source from which such notices can be obtained, or may they be printed locally in any district?

My right hon. Friend has asked me to answer this question. The only notice under the Act which is required to be prescribed by the Home Office is the notice fixing the day of the assistants' half-holiday; this is printed by the Stationery Office, and is on sale by the usual agents. Special arrangements were made to ensure that it should be readily obtainable throughout the country. The other notices under the Act are not required to be in any special form, and shopkeepers are at liberty to provide them in whatever way they please, but if there was a desire that forms for any of these notices should be issued by the Stationery Office, I should be quite willing to consider the matter.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he realises that the limitation of the amount of Exchequer contributions in respect of the salaries of Poor Law officers and the cost of drugs and medical appliances to the expenditure actually incurred during the financial year 1887–8 operates hardly in the case of those Poor Law unions in which improvements in administration have been effected during the last twenty-four years, especially in respect of sick persons and children, by throwing the whole burden of such improvements upon the local rates; and whether, seeing that the removal of such limitation has been recommended by the Royal Commissions on Local Taxation and Poor Law, he will consider the desirability of altering the basis of the above Grants so as to correspond with the efficiency of the actual service provided?

I will refer the hon. Member to the answer given to a similar question asked by my hon. Friend the Member for Leigh on 10th June.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in the event of the Government of Ireland Bill becoming law, the Irish Parliament will have the power to repeal Section 16 of the Finance Act of 1894 and the portions of Section 61 of the Finance (1909–10) Act, 1910, relating to the payment of Estate Duties in the case of small estates where the assets do not exceed £500?

Under Clause 15 of the Bill (in connection with which reference should be made to Clause 25) the Irish Parliament will have power to vary (either by way of addition, reduction, or discontinuance) any Death Duty so far as respects the levy of that duty in Ireland.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he has seen a resolution passed by the Roscommon County Council claiming that, as the county is admittedly in a peaceful condition, the charge for extra police should be discontinued; whether he is aware that within a recent period five police stations have been abolished; that the number of police in the county is 283, whilst the quota for the county is 279; whether he can explain why, in view of this fact, 14 extra police are being charged to the county; and whether, in view of the entire circumstances as set forth and of the fact that this county, from the 1st April, 1907, to the 31st March, 1912, has paid £12,931 9s. 4d. for extra police, he will at once relieve the county of any further burden in this respect?

I have seen the resolution referred to. The Inspector-General informs me that five stations have been abolished since November, 1910. The free quota for the county is 279, including at all times an average of nine recruits in training at the depot. The total free force at present in the county at any time is therefore only 270. In addition to this free force it is still necessary to maintain an extra force of fifteen men. The amount charged to the county for extra police in respect of the period mentioned is as stated. The extra force has been gradually reduced, but the responsible police authorities are not prepared to advise any further reduction at present.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he is aware that an undertaking was given on 2nd May, 1911, to the hon. Member for South Kerry, by the Estates Commissioners, that the application of Patrick Doyle, Kilgobnet, county Kerry, for a free grant for a dwelling-house and cattle would be duly considered when the estate was dealt with in its order of priority; and whether, in view of the fact that inquiries have now been instituted with respect to tenants on this estate, regard will be had to the application of Patrick Doyle?

As the hon. Member has already been informed in reply to his question on the 18th April, 1911, Doyle's application will be duly considered by the Estates Commissioners when they are dealing with this estate in its order of priority.

asked the Chief Secretary if the Estates Commissioners have approached the owners of the untenanted land on the Webb estate, at Elfin, Knocklong, county Limerick, with a view to its purchase for distribution among the deserving classes in the locality; and will steps be taken to acquire this place and open communications with the owner, Captain Webb, of Nenagh, county Tipperary, who has hundreds of acres on his hands in and around where he lives from which some local people were evicted not so long ago?

The Estates Commissioners are unable to identify the lands of Elfin, Knocklong, as the subject of proceedings for sale before them under the Land Purchase Acts.

asked whether, on the 9th November, 1907, the Commissioners of National Education called on their inspectors to furnish a reply to a query as to premiums paid by teachers to managers for appointments in national schools; and, if so, what was the result of that inquiry?

On the 9th November, 1907, a circular was issued by the Commissioners of National Education to their Inspectors asking them to report particulars of any cases in which premiums had been paid in connection with appointments to national schools. No such cases were reported. In the same year the Commissioners investigated the case of a teacher about to retire who inserted an advertisement in a public journal promising to secure an appointment in a school for the highest financial offer. This advertisement, it appears, was inserted with the knowledge of the manager of the school. The teacher was fined £10 by the Commissioners, and the manager resigned his position.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he is aware that an advertisement appeared in the "Irish School Weekly," a paper devoted to Irish education, on the 25th May, 1912, offering a principal assistantship, offered in what was called a splendid school, with reports V. G., £50 or £60 to be accepted and application to be made to S. H. office, I.S.W.; and will he say what steps, if any, were taken to bring to an end the sale of school appointments in Ireland?

The Commissioners of National Education inform me that the advertisement in question appeared in a recent issue of the "Irish School Weekly," and on the attention of the editor being at once drawn to it an assurance was given to the Commissioners that such advertisements would not be received for publication in future.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he is aware that tenants of labourers' cottages in the Macroom Rural District, in the Donoughmore district, are being sued for rents which have been increased without their knowledge or consent, and that Jeremiah Manning, Barracharing; Michael Regan, Kilcullen; Michael Coleman, Kilmartin, and Patrick M'Carthy, Kilmartin, have all had their rents increased by 10s. a year on becoming tenants in succession to other members of their families; is he aware that there is nothing in the tenancies to justify this increase, and can he state what is the amount of it in each of these cases and why it was made; have the rents of other cottages and allotments in the same improvement scheme been increased; and if not, what was the reason of the treatment meted out to these men; and whether the Local Government Board have given their sanction to the proceedings against these men?

Proceedings by rural district councils for the recovery of rents due by the tenants of labourers' cottages are taken quite independently of and without any reference to the Local Government Board, whose sanction is not required by law. The Board have no information before them respecting the particular cases mentioned in the question, but they have no reason to assume that the Macroom Rural District Council are taking proceedings for the recovery of rents other than those which are legally due.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is aware that Messrs. Ellis and Messrs. Binks, wire-rope manufacturers, of Mill-wall, Admiralty contractors, are paying wages to their wire-rope machinists in some cases 2d. per hour below the current district rate, which is 7½d. per hour, and that Messrs. Bullivants, Admiralty contractors, are paying their labourers in some cases 1½d. per hour less than the current rates of the district, which is 7d. per hour for labourers; and if he intends taking any action in the matter?

No complaints have been received at the Admiralty as regards the wages paid by these firms, but the matter will be inquired into.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty if he will state what is the substantive rate of pay of a lieutenant in the Royal Navy; and when was that rate of pay first authorised?

The substantive rates of pay of lieutenants, and the dates on which they were first authorised, are as follows:—

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether the workmen housed on board the "Calcutta," at Gibraltar, have had their weekly subsistence allowance reduced by 3s. 6d. per week; if so, will he say on what ground has the reduction been made; and when it is proposed to return to the men the amount deducted?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. As regards the second part of the question, the matter is not entirely in our hands, but I may say that the reduction has been made on the ground that the cost of living in Gibraltar is not sufficiently high to justify the continuance of the additional allowances authorised on a purely temporary basis since 1907. As regards the last part of the question, it will not be possible to revive the temporary increases of allowances in the absence of evidence that the revised rates are insufficient.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that a man named John Greaves was severely injured about the head and body at the Darlington forge, on the 10th June last, as the result of an emery grinding-wheel breaking; if he can state when this place was last visited by a factory inspector; whether any fencing or other precaution against accident was in use at the time of this accident; and whether any action has been taken in consequence of the accident?

My right hon. Friend has received a report on this accident. The last inspection prior to the accident was on 11th October, 1911. The wheel, which was a new one and had only been running a few hours when the accident occurred, was protected by a metal hood which, though partly displaced by the accident, in the opinion of the inspector prevented it from being of a more serious character. The inspector considers that all reasonable precautions were taken and the cause of the accident has not been ascertained. The firm are making the protecting hood stronger.

asked the Prime Minister if he will supplement the figures, recently given to a deputation, of the state of wages and the price of necessaries in certain years, by giving similar figures for the years 1850 and 1865, so as to show the effect of any of the gold discoveries in that period?

The Prime Minister has asked me to answer this question. I am unable to carry back so far as 1850–65 the figures quoted by the Prime Minister the other day from the 15th Abstract of Labour Statistics, but there is no doubt that prices and wages rose considerably in the period mentioned.

asked the President of the Local Government Board if his permission has been sought by the Penzance Board of Guardians for the use of the workhouse isolation hospital for the children now in the workhouse, while new accommodation for infectious cases is to be provided outside the workhouse; and if he will decline to sanction any such proposal, and, instead, require the guardians to find accommodation apart from the workhouse for the children?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. I have already communicated with the guardians urging them to provide accommodation for the children of school age entirely apart from the workhouse premises.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether he can now state the date of the introduction of the Milk Bill?

I regret that I cannot yet announce a definite date.

asked the President of the Local Government Board if he will state the number of children who live on canal boats; and, seeing that a canal boat cannot be considered a proper place for a child, either from an educational point of view or from a point of view of safety, can he see his way to remedy the evil by restrictive legislation?

It is not possible to state with any degree of accuracy the number of children who at present live on canal boats. Though their education, no doubt, presents difficulties, my information is that their condition is improving in this respect, and I have no evidence to show that the risks of accident to which they are subject are much greater than those of other children. I do not contemplate legislation at present.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether he has yet received the Report of an inquiry held by an inspector of the Board on the 16th, 17th, and 21st February last, into a petition against an order made by the Somerset County Council transferring the parish of Camerton from the rural district of Clutton to that of Bath; whether the Local Government Board has come to any decision on the matter; and whether he will communicate with the local authorities concerned?

I hope to come to a decision in the matter very shortly.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether he will consider the necessity of changing the limitation of the amount of Exchequer contributions in respect of salaries of Poor Law officers, and the cost of drugs and medical appliances, in view of the changes which have taken place during the last twenty-four years, and also that the removal of such limitation has been recommended by the Royal Commissions on Local Taxation and on the Poor Laws?

As I have previously stated, the whole question of Grants from the Imperial Exchequer in aid of local rates is now under the consideration of the Departmental Committee on Local Taxation.

asked the President of the Local Government Board what was the total amount and the amount per vehicle paid last year in rates (1) on the track; (2) towards road making and maintenance; (3) towards cost of road widenings by the London County Council tramways and the motor omnibus companies, respectively, in the administrative county of London?

I am informed by the London County Council that in the year ended 31st March, 1912, the amount paid by them in rates on the track of their electric tramways was £98,526, being £84 per car in use; that the estimated charge for road making and maintenance was £120,000, or £102 per car; and that the amount paid towards the cost of road widenings was £23,030, or £20 per car. I have no information as to the rates paid by motor omnibus companies. As my hon. Friend is aware, rates are not assessed on movable property.

asked the President of the Local Government Board if he will give the latest emigration Returns, together with the destination of those emigrating?

My right hon. Friend has asked me to answer this question. I am sending the hon. Member a copy of the Return, Cd. 6070—IV., issued to-day, in which the latest figures relating to emigration from the United Kingdom, namely, those for and including the month of May, are given.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will state the total exports of wheat and wheat flour (in equivalent of grain) in the years 1900 and 1911 from British India, Australia, Canada, and South Africa to the United Kingdom?

The following Statement gives the information desired:—

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether any increase has been made since the 22nd August, 1911, by any railway company in their fares, rates, or charges (including passenger fares and charges as well as other rates and charges); and, if so, by what railway company or companies, and in respect of what fares, rates, or charges such increase has been made; and what is the total amount in the case of each company which such increase has produced?

I am not aware that any of the railway companies have made

an increase in their fares, rates, and charges generally, although the price of certain week-end and other special kinds of tickets have been raised by a good many companies. The Board of Trade have not the information which would enable a reply to be given to the latter part of the question.

asked the Attorney-General whether the attention of the Director of Public Prosecutions has been called to the continued use by agents of the Colonial Mutual Life Assurance Society of Australia of their estimates of 1890 as inducements to persons to insure with them now, when they are repaying at the close of tontine periods not the sums agreed upon but only two-fifths of the

amount of paid premiums; on what grounds this particular method of obtaining money is allowed to be practised upon the public; and, as the society's practice of lending money to its own directors gives no right of action to the assured persons mulcted by it, whether the Director of Public Prosecutions will intervene?

The attention of the Director of Public Prosecutions has not been called to this society or to its methods of business, but he will willingly consider any complaint which involves the commission of a criminal offence.

asked the President of the Board of Agriculture whether any farms have been purchased for small holdings purposes by the following county councils, and, if so, how many, in each county, namely, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Dorsetshire, Essex, Lincolnshire (Lincolnshire Holland, Lincolnshire Kesteven, and Lincolnshire Lindsey), Norfolk, Oxfordshire, Somersetshire, Suffolk East, Suffolk West, Surrey, Warwickshire, Wiltshire, Worcestershire, Denbighshire, Merionethshire, and Montgomeryshire?

supplied the following statement, giving particulars of the land purchased by the councils of each of the undermentioned counties under the Small Holdings and Allotments Act, 1908:—

In some cases a complete farm has not been purchased, but only a part of a farm.

asked the President of the Board of Agriculture whether he can state the average expenditure per head of the population on agricultural education in the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, Germany, and Denmark, respectively?

The circumstances which affect the expenditure on agricultural education in the countries named differ so considerably that any attempt at a comparative statement would inevitably be misleading. In this connection I may, perhaps, be allowed to refer the hon. Member to the reply given to a similar question put by the hon. Member for the Newport Division on 12th August, 1909, a copy of which I shall be glad to send him.

asked the Secretary for Scotland if he will state the numbers of female persons in Scotland who exceed the age of twenty-one, twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-nine, thirty, and thirty-one years respectively?

The information desired by my hon. Friend will not be available until after the publication of the separate county parts of the Census Report has been completed.

asked the Secretary for Scotland whether he is aware that the resolution of the sub-committee on whose report the district committee recommended the Whitehills water scheme was carried by means of the votes of two members outside the water supply district, who are interested parties to the extent of having provided for them under the scheme a supply of water, free of charge, and that the factor for the Seafield estates, who imposed as a condition of granting wayleave rights that five private supplies should be given off from the main supply pipe free of charge to tenants on the estates, acted as Chairman of the district committee at the meeting at which the resolution of the sub-committee was adopted, and voted out of order a petition against the scheme signed by 137 ratepayers; and whether, in these circumstances, he will cause a new and impartial inquiry to be instituted?

I am not aware of the circumstances under which the resolution was carried, but as it reached the Local Government Board it was quite in order, and, as my hon. Friend has already been informed, the Board, after careful independent inquiry, were satisfied with the scheme as proposed. I do not consider that any good purpose would be served by a further inquiry.