asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether, in view of misapprehensions which still exist, he will take steps to inform employers of labour that no additional trouble is caused by their employés belonging to different approved societies, and that in no case will it be possible for employers to hand over cards in bulk to any agent or representative of any approved society for stamping or otherwise?

The Pamphlet A issued last month to the principal employers of the country explains in detail the systems of stamping which are permissible. No arrangements would be permitted whereby an approved society, or any company or body which formed a separate section, or any company or body which directly or indirectly had formed an approved society undertook the duty of stamping cards on behalf of other employers. The Commissioners have also communicated with certain individual employers and societies on the subject, and I understand that the offers made by societies to undertake the stamping and custody of cards have in consequence been withdrawn. The Commissioners will make inquiry into any case in which it appears that their regulations are being infringed, and if necessary a special circular will be issued.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the chief engineer of a yacht who receives a higher salary than £160 per annum is compulsorily insurable under Part I. of the National Insurance Act?

The answer to this question depends on whether, in the circumstances of the particular case, the engineer is to be regarded as employed by way of manual labour; and it is impossible to give a definite answer without more specific information. The decision of the Commissioners on any specific case can always be obtained by means of an application submitted to them under Section 66 through the local Customs and Excise officer (who is usually the pension officer).

asked the Secretary to the Treasury when the London and Provincial Yearly Dividing Friendly Society, State section, was first registered; whether it has any connection with the London and Provincial Assurance Company, Limited; and, if it has, whether the official approval of it will be suspended pending further investigation of the character and management of the latter body?

The State Section of the London and Provincial Yearly Dividing Society was approved on 7th June last; it has not, according to my information, any connection with the London and Provincial Assurance Company, Limited.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether it is intended that the amended pension scheme for Irish teachers shall take effect as from April last?

I beg to refer to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Financial Secretary to the Treasury to the hon. Member for North Monaghan on the 25th instant.

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether the Commissioners of National Education have taken any action in reference to an advertisement in the "Irish School Weekly," of 13th April, 1912, for a female teacher, which stated that she must be able to train and conduct a choir; and do they allow school teachers to be penalised in applications for posts under the Board by allowing managers to require them to be qualified for extraneous and unremunerated employment imposed on them by managers as a condition of appointment?

The Commissioners of National Education have taken no action in regard to the advertisement referred to. The Commissioners do not permit School Managers to make it a condition of employment of National teachers that they are to perform extraneous duties. But should a manager desire to have a teacher for his school who would at the same time be qualified to train and conduct a choir the Commissioners can see no grounds forinterfering, unless the manager proposes to employ the teacher at the extraneous duty without the teacher's consent, and without special remuneration.

asked the Chief Secretary if he is aware that last year an inspector from the Local Government Board in Ireland made a report as to the Tralee Rural District Council's cottage scheme, in which 382 cottages were authorised and for which a loan of £65,750 was obtained, and reported that ninety-one cottages; were occupied, some of which were not finished; that fifteen more were supposed to be finished; that a further sixteen were in course of construction; and that over 200 had not been commenced; if he will state on what date the inspector made his report; will he state how many of the 382 cottages are still uncompleted; and if he proposes to take any steps in the matter?

:A report was made by the architect of the Local Government Board as stated in the question, but the amount of the loan was £65,700, and the number of cottages in course of erection was sixty-six. The date of the report is 10th April, 1911. On the 31st March last, the latest date for which Returns are available, there were 148 cottages returned as completed and 118 in course of construction under the scheme. As regards the last paragraph of the question, I would refer the hon. Member to my reply to his similar question, which appears later on the Paper.

asked the Chief Secretary if he is aware that an inspector from the Local Government Board in Ireland reported, with reference to the Tralee Rural District Council's cottage scheme, that of the 107 cottage contracted for up to January, 1910, ninety-nine had been proceeded with to the date of his report, and that out of the ninety-nine cottages proceeded with, thirty-seven were not in accordance with the drawings and specifications, that only thirty cottages out of the sixty-two cottages conforming to the plans had the kitchen floor of tiles or flags as specified, and that only twenty-five cottages had the window sills of stone as specified, and that out of the ninety-one occupied cottages forty-seven fireplaces or chimneys in the living-room were defective, that in seventy-seven cottages occupied or in the course of construction the floor levels were too low, and that in sixty-five of the examined cases the mortar used was bad and the masonry defective, that in twenty-four cases the mortar was worthless, that in sixty-nine occupied or completed cottages the walls were either damp or wet, and that the damp walls were partly from the use of bad mortar and partly from bad masonry work, and might also be partly attributed to the defects in the construction of the cottages; and if he will state how the matter now stands and what the Local Government Board propose to do about the matter?

The facts are as stated. The local engineer under whom the works were carried out, and who had been in ill-health at the time of the architect's inspection, has since died, and the rural district council have entrusted the completion of the scheme to a competent engineer of considerable experience of this class of work, who, it is expected, will take special care to secure the completion of the cottages in accordance with the approved plans and specifications. Further inspection of the cottages will be made from time to time by the architects of the Local Government Board as the works progress.

asked the names of any persons to whom compensation has been paid in connection with any works carried out on lands, foreshore, or premises acquired under the powers and provisions of the Donaghadee (county Down) Harbour Acts, the amount of the compensation so paid to each of such persons respectively, and the subjects in respect of which such compensation was paid?

I understand that no property has been acquired at Donaghadee since 1835, and that part of the harbour works were already in existence in 1820. Members of the Board of Works first became Commissioners of the Harbour in 1838, and the Board have no knowledge of the circumstances in which lands, etc., were acquired.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if he will lay upon the Table a copy of the evidence given in the Castleisland election petition and a copy of the judgment delivered by Mr. Commissioner Maxwell?

The Castleisland election petition was heard in August, 1908, and the proceedings were fully reported in the local Press at the time. No useful purpose would be served by laying these Papers on the Table of the House.

asked the Chief Secretary how many persons were reported by Mr. Commissioner Maxwell in the Castleisland election petition; if he will give their names, addresses, occupations, and particulars of the offences for which they were reported; if he will state what pro- ceedings were taken against them, and with what result; and if their names have been removed from the register of voters?

At the Election Petition referred to, heard in August and September, 1908, forty persons were reported as guilty of corrupt practices, particulars of which will be found in the report of the proceedings published in the local Press at the time. In connection with the matter criminal proceedings were instituted against one person; but the magistrates refused informations. The names of these persons have been removed from the register of voters.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he has completed his inquiries into the alleged violation of the Fair-Wages Clause by Mr. Wiggington, the contractor for painting the line of forts surrounding Portsmouth; whether the sub-letting of the work to Messrs. Fry had his sanction; if so, whether he is aware that the Portsmouth Town Council has struck Messrs. Fry off their list of contractors; and whether he will take similar action in the case of Mr. Wiggington?

The investigation of this complaint is not completed.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether, at the meeting arranged to take place at an early date between the Joint District Board for Warwickshire, formed under the Coal Mines (Minimum Wage) Act, and the chairman of that Board, Sir Walter Lawrence, for the purpose of considering the application of the North Warwickshire Miners' Association to receive adequate representation thereon, since on that Board at present they have no representation, arrangements will be made that representatives of the North Warwickshire Miners' Association shall be summoned to attend in order that they may be enabled to state their case and communicate their claims for representation thereon?

The secretary of the North Warwickshire Miners' Association has been informed of the meeting of the Joint Board in case the attendance of representatives should be required.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether any inquiry has been held into the accident which took place on the line of the Belfast and County Down Railway near Conlig on 20th June at a level crossing; and whether, in view of the danger of this crossing, any steps will be taken to recommend some alteration with a view to greater safety?

No inquiry into the accident has been held by the Board of Trade, as the circumstances of the case were clear. The Board have been in communication with the railway company in regard to the possibility of improving the view of approaching trains to be obtained from the road adjoining the crossing, and the company have arranged for the removal of some of the earthwork of the cutting in which the crossing lies. The Board have also suggested to the Irish Government that the owners of a hedge bordering the road should be asked to cut it. The Board of Trade have no powers in regard to the crossing, which is an accommodation one.

asked the President of the Local Government Board, if, in considering the use of motor-horns in London in regard to the safety of foot passengers, he will also, in the interest of the latter, consider the advisability of insisting that all motor and horse-drawn traffic be compelled equally to announce their approach by bell, whistle, or horn?

A Bill would be needed to carry out the hon. Member's suggestion, and, looking to the representations that have reached me on the subject of motor-horns, I am not sanguine enough to expect that it would pass.