asked the Secretary to the Treasury, if his attention has been called to the notice of the New Pisk Motor Company of Stamford, that wages will be reduced of piece-workers by 2½ per cent. and hours of labour of all employés increased by 1½ hours per week on account of the National Insurance Act coming into operation on 15th July; and whether the National Insurance Commissioners propose to take any action in the matter?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for North-East Manchester on the 1st July. Employers have no other right, or power, to reduce wages than they would have had if the Insurance Act had never been passed.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether, in view of the special conditions of outwork in South Somerset and the neighbouring districts, he will now cause an inquiry to be made before the National Insurance Act comes into operation?

Full inquiry on the subject in connection with Somerset outworkers was made by the Hatch Committee, who concluded that if the new system of paying with reference to the amount of work done, instead of by the week, was adopted, it would be desirable to put married women outwoorkers under the same conditions as widows and unmarried insured persons. Under the regulations as to outworkers employers are now being given the opportunity of paying with reference to the amount of work done. A draft -Special Order has therefore been prepared, in accordance with the recommendations of the Hatch Report and the Advisory Committee to bring the married women in question into insurance. The proceedings upon this Special Order will follow the ordinary provisions of Section 113 and the IX. Schedule. Under the Special Orders Acceleration Order made under Clause 78, a Provisional Order will be made identical with the draft Special Order, which will bring its provisions into operation from the commencement of the Act, and will remain in force until the substantive Order is made, unless previously annulled. While, however, the married women outworkers will be insured like widows and spinsters from the commencement of the Act, full opportunity will be given for inquiry into the special conditions in South Somerset or elsewhere if any person desires it, and the Order in its final and permanent form can be adapted to the necessities of particular localities as a result of such further inquiry. If, and so far as, any class of outworkers is excluded in the final Order after the inquiry, any contributions paid in respect of that class of outworkers, before the date at which this final Order comes into force, will be refunded.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury if he is aware that in the Manchester Unity alone there are 20,542 members resident in a country of the United Kingdom other than that in which the lodge to which they belong is situated; and whether, in view of the amount of inconvenience which will be entailed by making insurants leave their old lodges and join a lodge in the country of their residence, he will take steps to obviate these difficulties?

The Insurance Commissioners will be glad to discuss the matter with the representatives of the society referred to, and have invited the society to a conference.

asked the President of the Board of Trade upon what grounds the Registrar-General of Shipping and Seamen has not been nominated as a representative of the Board of Trade to serve upon the committee of management of the Seamen's National Insurance Society, seeing that his knowledge of seamen and the conditions of sea life would be of assistance in the management of the society?

I regret that I cannot enter into the question why any particular individual was not included among the Board of Trade's representatives on this committee. The representatives were chosen with great care, having regard, among other things, to the other calls upon their time.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the names and qualifications of the committee of management of the Seamen's National Insurance Society; whether Sir A. G. Chalmers, a pensioned official of the Board of Trade, has been nominated as a member of the committee; whether he is aware that this appointment will create dissatisfaction amongst seamen; and whether there are any emoluments attached to the appointment?

The following list shows the status of the representatives appointed by the Board 'of Trade and the bodies by whom the other representatives were nominated. It is to be understood that Section 48 of the National Insurance Act lays down that the numbers of representatives of the insured members, shipowners, and Board of Trade, respectively, shall be equal:—

Insured Members' Representatives.

Mr. Thomas Chambers, National Sailors' and Firemen's Union.

Mr. Joseph Cotter, National Union of Stewards, Cooks, etc.

Rev. Charles P. Hopkins, National Sailors' and Firemen's Union.

Mr. T. Lewis, British Seafarers' Union.

Mr. William Leo Marshall, Marine Engineers' Association.

Sir J. Wrench Towse, National Sea Fisheries' Protection Association.

Captain T. V. Walker, Imperial Merchant Service Guild.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether, in view of the methods being practised by the Prudential Insurance Company to obtain members for their approved society, such as inducing employers to bring pressure to bear on their employés, he will bring before the Insurance Commissioners the advisability of considering whether the approval of the Prudential Society should be withdrawn.

If my hon. Friend has any actual case in mind on which this suggestion is based, I will have inquiry made. The Company have met the wishes of the Commissioners when specific requirements have been made, and I know of no reason why I should take the action suggested in the last part of the question.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will arrange to place hospitals and kindred institutions in England, carried on by voluntary effort, in the same position as similar institutions in Ireland by exempting bequests to such institutions from Death Duties?

I regret that I do not see my way to accept the hon. Member's suggestion.

asked when the revised pension scheme for national teachers will come into operation; whether teachers now in the second grade, promoted to that class from the old first-of-second class, will have their pensions increased by it; and, if so, to what extent?

I am afraid that it will not be possible to make any definite statement On these points pending the result of the actuarial inquiry which has been found necessary.

asked the Chief Secretary if his attention has been directed to the case of Patrick J. Ryan, of county Kerry, who has been returned for trial in custody on the charge of having on the 25th March, 1912, at Ballygamboon, near Castlemaine, county Kerry, shot at with intent to murder Edward M'Donnell, Michael M'Donnell, and John Cournane; and will he consider the advisability of suggesting to the Law Officers of the Crown that the trial should not be held in the county of Kerry, especially having regard to the fact that in another agrarian case a Kerry jury acquitted Richard J. Walsh and eight other defendants on the charge of resisting and assaulting the sheriff's officers, in the face of proved facts wholly uncontradicted and which disclosed an organised defiance of the law, and that the learned judge who tried the case expressed his disapproval of the verdict and stated that it was a remarkably plain case of the most aggravated resistance to the sheriff?

I understand that in the case of Patrick J. Ryan referred to, the Grand Jury at the present Summer Assizes having found bills against the accused, the Court, on the application of the Crown, granted a postponement of the trial.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will state the amount of revenue derived from food taxes, other than tea,and sugar; how many articles are taxed; the rate each is taxed; and the revenue derived from each?

The following table contains the information asked for:—

asked the Chief Secretary whether the untenanted land at Gernonstown, county Meath, has been offered for sale by the governors of Simpson's Hospital, Dublin, to the Estates Commissioners?

Negotiations are pending for the purchase by the Estates Com-

missioners of the estate of the Governors of Simpson's Hospital, which includes 261 acres of tenanted land and 393 acres of untenanted land situate in the townland of Gernonstown, county Meath.

asked when the Estates Commissioners propose to deal finally with the Clonfin (Thompson) estate in North Longford?

The Estates Commissioners hope to be in a position to deal with this estate before the close of the current financial year.

asked whether any maps or plans have yet been prepared for the sub-division of the untenanted lands of Rhyne on the J. W. Bond (county Longford) estate; and, if not, when it is proposed to deal with this estate finally?

The owner has intimated that he is willing to sell to the Estates

Commissioners at their estimated price the untenanted lands referred to which are included in the proceedings for the sale of this estate under the Land Purchase Acts. The Commissioners hope to be in a position to deal with the lands at an early date.

asked the Chief Secretary the reasons which have induced the Estates Commissioners to refuse to pass the direct sale of the King-Harman estate, in the townlands of Derryhann and Derrygowna, parish of Newtowncashel, after agreements had been signed and lodged from September, 1905; whether he is aware that this decision involves loss and disappointment to the tenants; and whether in the proposals now being made to the tenants to sell to them under Section 6 of the Act of 1903, care will be taken that the rights guaranteed to them under the agreements signed in September, 1905, as to turbary and game will not be interfered with by the Commissioners?

The hon. Member appears to be under a misapprehension. The sale in this case is not a direct sale, but a sale to the Estates Commissioners in pursuance of the Orders of the Master of the Rolls, and the Commissioners were not asked to sanction a direct sale, nor were direct sale agreements ever signed and lodged with them. In the resale of the lands, under Section 6 of the Irish Land Act, 1903, the Commissioners will have due regard to any rights to which the tenants may be entitled.

asked why the holdings on the Mahon estate, at Ahascragh, county Galway, have not been vested in the tenants, though the sale took place in 1908; and how soon they may be?

Formal proceedings for the sale to the Estates Commissioners of the estate of Sir W. H. Mahon, county Galway, which includes the lands of Ahascragh, were instituted by the owner in August, 1908. The estate has not yet been reached in order of priority to be dealt with, but the Commissioners anticipate that it will be so reached during the financial year commencing 1st April next, when it will be dealt with as rapidly as practicable.

asked the Chief Secretary if, in view of the fact that the late Attorney-General failed to report to the Lord Chancellor of Ireland the case of Mr. J. K. O'Connor, of Castleisland, county Kerry, who was reported by an Election Court for corrupt practices, the Attorney-General for Ireland will now report the case to the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, and the evidence on which it was based, in accordance with the procedure prescribed by Statute?

The Attorney-General informs me that he has no cognisance of the case referred to, which occurred so far back as 1908. As the hon. Member is aware, Mr. O'Connor's name has been removed from the Commission of the Peace, and no further action appears called for.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he can give the names and addresses of the various persons appointed by the Local Government Board for Ireland to act as arbitrators in measuring the compensation for lands acquired under the Labourers (Ireland) Acts from the passing of the Act of 1906 to the 1st April, 1912, and showing the total amount of money paid to each such arbitrator in respect of remuneration, allowances, and expenses?

The information asked for is not available, and could not be procured without an expenditure of time and labour out of all proportion to its public utility. A separate appointment is made for each arbitration case that arises, and as regards the remuneration and expenses paid to arbitrators I will send the hon. Member a copy of the Labourers (Ireland) Order, 1912, which will give him the information.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he is aware that at a meeting on the 29th ultimo, of the magistrates of the Maghera and Magherafelt petty sessions districts, specially convened by the clerk of the Crown and peace and attended by twenty-eight of the thirty magistrates entitled to vote, it was decided by a majority of such magistrates that the present joint arrangement is inconvenient, and that the districts would be more efficiently served by the appointment of a clerk for each district; whether the Lord Lieutenant has received a petition from the magistrates in the same sense; whether, notwithstanding this expression of opinion the clerk of the Crown and peace has issued notice that appointment of a clerk for the joint district will be made on the 13th instant; and whether the Lord Lieutenant will direct the appointment to be postponed pending his decision upon the petition submitted to him by the majority of the magistrates?

The facts are substantially as stated in the question. The Lord-Lieutenant received the memorial referred to, but has been advised that in the absence of a representation from the Justices at Quarter Sessions, as provided in the Act 33 and 34 Vict., c. 64, he has no power to rescind the Order which declared that these two districts should be served by one and the same person as clerk. The memorialists have been so informed.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is aware that the Court of Verderers of the New Forest, after careful consideration of all the circumstances, came to the unanimous conclusion that as the area of the forest which had been used for several years for the training of the Royal Marine Artillery adjoined the boundary of the forest it should for a time remain undisturbed, as it was particularly desired that the commoners' animals in that area should not be made to stray along the lanes out of the forest and be impounded; and whether the area proposed by the Court of Verderers, to which the same objections did not apply, would be equally suitable for the proposed military training?

I have no reason to doubt that the Verders of the New Forest came to the conclusion stated; but it is the Commissioners of Woods and not the Verderers of the New Forest with whom it lies to permit or forbid the training of the Royal Marine Artillery in the forest, and there is considerable objection to the area proposed by the Verderers, because it is bisected by a range of the younger plantations in the New Forest. I also consider that the steps which have been taken by the Verderers are irregular. If they wished to suggest a different area from that covered by the permission given by me, they should have communicated their suggestion to me for consideration, and this they did not do. As I do not see my way to giving permission for the area suggested by the Verderers, it is not necessary to consider whether it would be as suitable for the proposed training as the area sanctioned by me. The latter area is, I understand, considered quite satisfactory by the Royal Marine Artillery authorities.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he has considered the desire of the Heston and Isleworth Urban District Education Committee to approach him by way of deputation regarding the Hounslow schools; and, if so, if he is now prepared to receive such deputation?

My right hon. Friend is certainly prepared to receive a deputation from the local education authority if they have any fresh facts which they desire to lay before him.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many girls and women were reported to the London police as having disappeared during the last twelve months; and in how many cases were the persons traced, and how many were found to have been lured out of the country?

During the last twelve months 1,118 girls between the ages of 10 and 16 were reported to the Metropolitan Police as missing. Of these 1,102 were traced; 2,676 women of all ages above 16 were reported as missing, and 2,540 of them were traced. In the case of the 16 girls and 136 women who were not traced, their absence is in many cases explainable for such reasons as their having absconded to avoid paying debts, having quarrelled with friends or husbands, and a variety of other causes. One woman is known to have gone abroad with a foreigner with whom she had been keeping company.

asked the Home Secretary if he will state by whose authority certain persons committed to prison in connection with suffragist agitations in October, 1906, were transferred from the second to the first division?

The persons referred to were placed in the first division by order of the magistrate who had committed them to prison, made under Section 6 (4) of the Prison Act, 1898. The matter was explained to this House by the Home Secretary in answer to questions on 31st October, 1906.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether the Government of India proposes to embark on a large scheme for providing female medical aid to the many millions of the women of India; and, if so, at what estimated cost, and how will such cost be met?

I would refer the hon. Member to the answers I have already given on this subject, and especially to my replies to the hon. Member for Sevenoaks on 15th May and to the hon. Member for Brentford on 1st July.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether he can give the House any information regarding the present position of affairs in Tibet; whether the Dalai Lama is again in power; and whether the Chinese Government has ceased to exercise any effective authority over the country?

According to reliable information from Lhasa, dated the 27th June, the general situation remains unchanged. The Chinese garrison is still holding out, and is stated to have obtained plentiful supplies. Both sides are said to be tired of fighting and anxious to come to terms. The Dalai Lama left Kalimpong on his return to Tibet on the 24th June. He reached Yatung on the 28th June, and left for Lhasa on 5th July. The answer to the last part of the question is in the affirmative, so far as our information goes.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether the Committee appointed to report on the site for the new Imperial city and cantonment of Delhi has left India; whether it will return next cold weather in order to make final recommendations; and, if so, where the Government of India will be located during the next cold weather, when no new winter capital will be available in the place of Calcutta?

The answer to the first two questions is in the affirmative. The Government of India are providing for themselves, their offices, and the Legislative Council temporary accommodation in what is known as the Civil Station of Delhi.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether the Secretary of State and the Government of India contemplate a cheaper style of railway construction in future in India in order that reasonable provision may be made for the urgent requirements of that Empire in this respect?

The Government of India have under consideration the question of the desirability of relaxing in some-cases the standards at present required in. the construction of railways in India, and the Secretary of State is awaiting their conclusions.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether the Secretary of State has created a new appointment, namely, the secretaryship for Indian students; and, if so, whether he can give the House any information regarding the pay, if any, and the duties of this office?

I hope to give the House the fullest information in my Budget speech, if the hon. Member will be so good as to wait till then.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India, with reference to the circular of the Commander-in-Chief, whether he can state more precisely if some of the officers marginally noted in the recent Army circular, who will not attain the age limit for two or three years, have a chance of being appointed to the Indian Army before they reach that age?

The Secretary of State for India has no such information as would enable him to forecast the prospects of officers so situated.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether his attention has been called to the injustice inflicted on senior officers of the Indian Army, principally in the Cavalry, by Indian Army Order 511, dated 18th July, 1904, under which some commanding officers in the Indian Cavalry have been superseded by upwards of fifty Infantry commanding officers, solely owing to the fact that Infantry officers have been attaining their commands on an average of about twenty-four years' service and Cavalry officers of about twenty-seven; whether he is aware that the promotion of officers to the rank of major-general depends on the position they hold on the Colonel's List, and that Indian Cavalry officers commissioned subsequently to 1880 are, in consequence, practically precluded from all hope of reaching that rank, to their great discontent; whether an attempt to remedy this state of affairs was made in the case of certain Cavalry officers commissioned between 1878 and 1880 by the Gazette of India dated 6th July, 1907; and whether he will consider the expediency of antedating officers on promotion to colonel to the position on the list they would have occupied if they had been promoted in accordance with the Royal Warrant of 1861?

Previous to the issue of Indian Army Order 511 of 18th July, 1904, officers of the Indian Army could not attain to the substantive rank of Lieutenant-Colonel until they completed twenty-six years' service. That Order made it possible for officers to reach that rank earlier if selected for the command of a regiment or battalion. Since 1904 promotion has, on the average, run more quickly in Infantry than in Cavalry, and thus a larger proportion of Infantry than of Cavalry officers have been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel with less than twenty-six years' service. I am not prepared to say that the advantage will always lie with the Infantry. That depends on the relative course of promotion in the two arms of the service which cannot be foreseen. Promotion to the rank of Major-General depends as stated on the position an officer holds on the Colonels' List, but I am not prepared to say that Cavalry Officers commissioned subsequently to 1880 are practically precluded from reaching that rank. An attempt was made in 1907 to readjust, on promotion to Colonel's rank, the relative seniority of all officers promoted at that time. The attempt could not be regarded as successful, since it only remedied one grievance by creating another. The Government of India will be consulted as to whether any change in the regulations which govern promotion to Lieutenant-Colonel is expedient.

asked the Secretary for Foreign Affairs how many slaves have been liberated and returned to the mainland of Angola by the Portuguese authorities of San Thome and Principe during the years 1908 to 1911, inclusive?

Some delay in obtaining the required information from the respective Governments is inevitable, but the Return will be presented as soon as possible.

asked whether there is any probability of the Report of the Divorce Commission being issued before the summer vacation?

The Prime Minister has asked me to reply to this question. I am informed that there is little probability of the Report being ready for presentation before the summer vacation.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether it is contrary to the Local Government Board Regulations for a member of a public body, such as a district or parish council, to resign on purpose to obtain a paid office under that body; and whether a public body can give a paid office to a person who has resigned from their body within twelve months of his resignation?

The Local Government Board have not made any Regulations on this subject, but in circular letters which they have addressed to local authorities they have intimated that they will not ordinarily be prepared to acquiesce in the appointment to any office, in respect of which approval or sanction on their part is required, of any person who is or has been within twelve months a member of the local authority making the appointment. Apart from cases in which their sanction is required, the Board have no control over district or parish councils in this matter, and they are not aware of any rule of law which would preclude such a council from appointing to a paid office a person who has resigned from their body.

asked the President of the Local Government Board, if, in view of the new tables of emigrants and immigrants given in Cd. 6070, showing a net loss by emigration of 88,086 persons in the two months April and May, 1912, he will state whether it is estimated that the population of the United Kingdom has declined in 1912?

The only official estimate yet prepared of the population of the United Kingdom is that published by the Registrar-General in his quarterly return relating to the first three months of the year. As this estimate refers to the middle of the year and is necessarily prepared in advance of the date to which it refers, it cannot take into consideration the returns of migration referred to in the question.

asked the President of the Local Government Board if his attention has been directed to the fact that, while the balance of passenger movement for May, 1912, shown in Cd. 6070, which has been hitherto accepted as giving an approximate estimate of population lost by emigration, shows a net loss of 22,247 persons in May, 1912, the new record of emigrants and immigrants given on page 5 of the same publication shows a net loss in the same month of 42,265; if the latter figure can be accepted as a true estimate of the loss of population by emigration; and, if so, how the disparity between the two records is to be explained?

My right hon. Friend has asked me to reply to this question. The figures representing the total passenger movement for a single month cannot be used to show the approximate volume of emigration for that month, since at certain seasons there is an exceptional flow of tourist traffic into or out of the country. Over a whole year the figure affords a better indication. The excess of emigrants over immigrants, as shown on page 5 of Cd. 6070, may be taken to represent the loss of population by emigration except in so fax* as errors may have arisen due to the introduction of a new form of passenger list. My hon. Friend will be aware that it is not unusual for misunderstandings to arise when changes are introduced in the form of statutory Returns.

asked the President of the Board of Agriculture whether, during the prevalence of foot-and-mouth disease, he will allow Government contractors who supply live cattle to send them in dead?

asked if permission could be given to the Government meat contractors who supply live cattle to send them in dead during the prevalence of foot-and-mouth disease?

The decision as to whether any departure from the contracts for the supply of live cattle should be allowed is one for the decision of the Department with whom the contracts are made; but it would depend, I should sup pose, upon whether or not deliveries could take place consistently with the requirements of the Orders actually in force in the particular locality concerned.

asked the President of the Board of Agriculture whether, having regard to the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease and the consequent shortage and rise in prices which will inevitably arise in the national meat supply due to the restrictive measures taken to arrest the spread of the disease, to the detriment particularly of the poorer classes, he will consider the advisability of removing the embargo now imposed on the importation of Canadian cattle?

There is nothing to prevent the importation of Canadian cattle at the present time, but, in pursuance of the Diseases of Animals Acts they are required to be slaughtered at the port of landing. I do not see my way to propose, nor do I think the House would agree to any Amendment of the law on the subject at the present time. My hope is that any serious effect either on the supply or the price of food may be avoided by the success of the measures we are taking to stamp out the disease.

asked the President of the Board of Agriculture how many of the officers of the Board who are normally employed in connection with swine fever are at present employed in connection with the outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease; and whether and how the Swine Fever Order and Regulations are being carried out in their absence from their normal duties?

Thirty-two inspectors who would under ordinary circumstances be engaged upon swine fever and other work done in the animals division of the Department, are at the present moment engaged in dealing with the outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease. Their normal duties are provided for in part by a considerable amount of extra work by the remaining members of the staff, and in part by the more extensive employment of local veterinary inspectors and the officers of the local authorities, whose readiness to assist us in a difficult situation I desire most cordially to acknowledge.

asked the Post master-General whether he is aware that at the village of Dunsdale, in Cleveland, the letter-box is only cleared once daily, namely, at 8.45 a.m., and that there is only one delivery daily, the delivery taking place at the same hour as the collection, thus making it impossible for answers to letters received in the morning to be collected till the following morning, and that, even then, the letters are not dispatched from the main office at Guisborough till 12 noon on the day following their receipt, and that on Sundays there is no collection or delivery, and at the neighbouring village of Kirkleatham there are two deliveries and two collections daily on weekdays and one collection and one deliveryon Sundays; and, seeing that the population at Kirkleatham is less than that of Dunsdale, and that Dunsdale is not situated farther from the main office than Kirkleatham, whether he can see his way to extending the same facilities for collection and delivery at Dunsdale as granted to Kirkleatham?

I am having inquiry made in the matter, and I will communicate the result to the hon. and gallant Member.

asked the Postmaster-General whether his attention has been called to the case of James B. Williamson, a native of Dublin, who joined the sea-going post office at Southampton on 10th April, 1911, and was lost in the "Titanic" wreck on 15th April, 1912; whether he is aware that this young man was the sole support of his mother and three young sisters; whether he is aware that for the one year in this service he contributed £90 towards their support; and whether, under the circumstances, a bulk sum of £150 is all that it is proposed to give the widowed mother in compensation for the loss of such a son who in one year nearly gave that amount out of his earnings?

I am aware of the circumstances of this sad case, and regard it with much sympathy. The sum specified by the hon. Member is that due to the executors of the late Mr. Williamson under the Superannuation Act of 1909, and is quite apart from any question of com- pensation for his loss. That question is-complicated by unexpected legal difficulties, which have rendered it necessary to consult the Law Officers of the Crown. I regret therefore that at the present moment I am unable to give a more specific answer.

asked the Secretary for Scotland how many testamentary trusts are now being administered by judicial factors; and how many testamentary trusts are now being superintended by the accountant of Court under Section 18 of the Judicial Factors (Scotland) Act, 1889?

There are 598 testamentary trusts now being administered by judicial factors, and twenty-two being superintended under the provisions, of the Section referred to.

asked the Secretary for Scotland in how many cases judicial factors were appointed for the administration of testamentary trusts during the year 1911; and in how many cases applications were made in that year for the superintendence of testamentary trusts by the accountant of court under Section 18 of the Judicial Factors (Scotland) Act, 1889?

During the year 1911 there were ninety-five appointments of judicial factors for the administration of testamentary trusts, and there were no applications during that year for the superintendence of testamentary trusts under the Section referred to.

asked the Secretary for Scotland the total number of applications for land under the Scottish Small Landholders Act received up to date by the Board of Agriculture for Scotland for the county of Aberdeen?

My hon. Friend will find the information which he desires, as regards applications up to and including 27th June, in the answer which I gave last week to a question relating to the various counties of Scotland, reported in Vol. XL. House of Commons Debates, pp. 1291–2.

asked the Secretary for Scotland the ground upon which the pension officer has refused to sanction the pension unanimously granted to Alexander Ralston, of 270, Main Street, Barrhead, in the county of Renfrew, Scotland, by the local pension committee, although Ralston alleges that he has produced satisfactory evidence of age based upon the Census of 1851; and if the Local Government Board will cause inquiry to be made into the circumstances of this case?

The Census Return referred to showed that in 1851 Alexander Ralston's age was seven years, and, in the absence of proof to the contrary, the Local Government Board for Scotland supported the view of the pension officer that he was not entitled to a pension. The Board have already made inquiry into the circumstances of the case, and can do nothing further in the meantime. If, however, the applicant makes a fresh application, with satisfactory evidence that he is of an age entitling him to a pension, his case will be considered again.

asked the hon. Member for St. George's-in-the-East, as representing the First Commissioner of Works, whether, in view of the dissatisfaction both expressed and suppressed with which the designs and accommodation of the more recent complete Government offices have been received by the public, he will arrange with the Government that the preparation of all plans for future public buildings shall be thrown open to public competition; whether, in the new buildings already contemplated, he will take steps to prevent any repetition of the mistakes which have so diminished the general comfort and convenience of large portions of so many of our more recent public offices; whether he will see that in any future plans the errors of internal planning, which are so palpable in the new offices of the Board of Trade and other buildings, insufficient lighting of many rooms, over-lighting of many corridors, lavish distribution of space on the one hand and cramped accommodation on the other, are not repeated; whether he will take steps to prevent the continuance of the present style of internal furnishing and so-called decoration of the interiors of our public offices; and whether he will, from this time forth, abolish the present system of only inviting designs for public buildings from a privileged panel of selected architects?

All these matters are receiving, and will receive, the most careful attention of the First Commissioner. While guarding against such defects in new buildings as the hon. Member indicates, the First Commissioner must not be understood to admit, as a whole, his sweeping indictment of existing buildings. It is not clear to what new buildings of the Board of Trade the hon. Member refers.

asked whether the hon. Member will in future give the Members of this House an opportunity of examining all competitive schemes for the erection of new or the alteration of old Government buildings before any such schemes are finally chosen and approved, and whether he will give Members an opportunity within the House itself of seeing any schemes which may be selected for final approval before the final choice is made; whether he will inform the House as to the method of appointment of architects and others to the panel from which the designers of our more recent buildings have been selected; whether all qualified architects are eligible for a place on the panel; whether architects may appoint themselves to the panel; and, if not, will he explain why in the past certain architects of merit have been left off the panel while others of less notoriety have been promoted to a place upon it?

As has already been promised, designs for all the most important building schemes will be exhibited to Parliament before final approval, but the First Commissioner is doubtful whether opportunity can be given for their inspection within this House itself, though he hopes to be able to arrange it. It was stated last year that, in recent cases, architects have been selected from a panel submitted to the First Commissioner by the Royal Institute of British Architects. The First Commissioner does not feel himself able to investigate the proceedings of the institute in drawing up the panel.