asked the Secretary of State for War whether certain portions of Belfast, notably those in which Nationalist sentiment is predominant, have been placed out of bounds for soldiers stationed in Belfast; whether the safety of the men themselves necessitated the adoption of such an unusual course; and whether military funerals proceeding from the Victoria Barracks to the cemetery have been ordered to make a considerable detour in order to avoid a particular district owing to the state of Nationalist feeling?

The reply is in the affirmative. Since the riots in 1907 it has been found necessary to put certain portions of Belfast out of bounds, and the police are of opinion that in the interests of the soldiers these portions should still be put out of bounds, and that military funerals should not pass through the district in question.

asked if, in view of the decision in the Woodhall Spa Land Tax valuation case, it is proposed to give such instructions as will prevent the under valuation of property where the available information, as in this instance, makes it clear that an error has been made?

There are a number of decisions by Referees which tend to establish the fact that the price obtained upon a sale of real property is not necessarily identical with the market value. The extent to which the price realised is indicative of the market value is a matter for determination by qualified valuers in each individual case, and I am not prepared to issue instructions which would fetter the officers concerned in the exercise of their professional qualifications.

asked the President of the Board of Agriculture, whether under Clause 1 of the Bee Disease Bill it is intended that an Order may be issued by the English Board prohibiting the admission into England of bees and beekeeping appliances by post or otherwise from Scotland when no such Order has been issued by the Scottish Board, and vice versâ; and, if so, how is it proposed to carry such Order into effect in the absence of Custom houses on the Scottish border?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. No definite arrangements have as yet been made for giving effect to any Order which may be made by the Board under the Section, but I do not foresee any great practical difficulty in doing so.

In view of the difficulties that are bound to arise between England and Scotland in this matter, would it not be desirable to have a uniform area for both countries for the purpose of animal diseases, including bee diseases?

I do not think it is quite accurate to include bees under the heading of animals. My right hon. Friend the Secretary for Scotland will no doubt be able to adopt exactly the same form of definition as we in England.

asked the President of the Board of Agriculture if he has replied to the application of the gardeners and labourers employed at Kew Gardens for an increase of wage and a revision of the hours of labour; and, if so, will he state the nature of his reply?

I received a deputation on this subject recently, and I am now bringing the representations made to me to the notice of the Treasury.

Arising out of that reply may I ask whether, in view of the miserably low wages paid to the employés at Kew Gardens he will bring their wages at the least up to those paid to the employés at the other Royal parks?

asked the President of the Board of Agriculture if he has received a resolution unanimously carried by the council of the Bath and West and Southern Counties Society, namely, that the council views with profound regret and astonishment that Irish livestock are still allowed to be landed in this country alive, and urges the President of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries to take immediate steps to put an end to the practice, which is fraught with such grave and serious danger to our flocks and herds, and to place Ireland under the same restrictions as any other country where foot-and-mouth disease exists; and whether he proposes to take any steps in the matter?

I have received the resolution to which the hon. Member refers. In view of the circumstances of the last five weeks it is not unnatural that stock owners should wish that every possible precaution should be taken to guard against the introduction of foot-and-mouth disease into this country, and I shall certainly adopt every reasonable precaution necessary for the purpose. But, as I stated, in reply to the similar question addressed to me by the hon. Member for the Eddisbury Division on Tuesday last, I am satisfied, after careful investigation and inquiry, that there is no ground whatever for suggesting that the landing of Irish animals for slaughter at certain foreign animals' wharves has been the means of introducing the disease, or that it is attended, as stated in the resolution, with grave and serious danger to our flocks and herds.

What area of country does this Bath and West and Southern Counties Society cover, and if its request were acceded to how much would the price of beef be raised?

The Bath and West and Southern Counties Society is a very well-known agricultural society in this country, of quite a responsible nature. It covers eight or nine counties—[HON. MEMBERS: "More"]—or more.

Is it not the fact that at a slaughter port there can never be any adequate safeguard against the introduction of foot-and-mouth disease? Is it not the fact that the right hon. Gentleman would never have thought of admitting animals for slaughter at any port in the United Kingdom if it were known that foot-and-mouth disease existed in the country from which they came?

The arrangements I have made for the slaughter of fat animals at foreign animals' wharves only apply to three English ports, and there the most careful safeguards are taken, so that there can be no infection from the wharf, as far as it is possible for anyone to take precautions. The lairs are well isolated, and if the right hon. Gentleman would like to see the whole of the Regulations under which these foreign animals' wharves are being worked I shall be happy to submit them to him, and if he can suggest any modification or any tightening up of the restrictions I shall be only too glad to consider them. Up to the present I have not heard the least suspicion from anybody except the Bath Society that there was any chance of infection coming from the foreign animals' wharf, and up to the time of the first sign of the disease in Somerset there had been no animals landed at Bristol at all.

I am sorry to intrude again, but this is a very serious matter. Does not the right hon. Gentleman see that his reply to me gives the whole case away when he uses the words "so far as it is possible to do so"? Is it not known to his Department that this disease is so insidious and can be conveyed by such" a variety of different means that it is impossible to check it, and you can have no safeguard against the introduction of the disease if you once allow diseased animals to land within the country?

I am afraid the right hon. Gentleman is proceeding on a hypothesis which I cannot admit. We do not admit diseased animals at the wharf, but only animals which have passed the closest veterinary scrutiny. I am afraid I cannot take steps that would lead to a meat famine in the West of England. Every possible precaution is taken, and no risks. I believe, are run. That is my opinion and the opinion of my veterinary advisers.

I wish to ask only two more questions. [HON. MEMBERS: "Oh, oh!"] There is nobody who has had more experience on this subject than myself. I wish to ask the right hon. Gentleman whether, when he talks of a meat famine, the animals cannot be slaughtered on the other side, and the meat sent here; is he not aware, after his present experience at the Board of Agriculture, and after all he has heard, that what he proposes cannot be any guarantee whatever against the introduction of this fatal disease; and has he inquired into the past records of the Board of Agriculture, and, if not, will he do so, and ascertain what, happened with regard to Argentina when it was infected with the disease, and when two cargoes were allowed to come here?

I have inquired very fully into the past experience of this country and of the Board with regard to the introduction and dissemination of foot-and-mouth disease, not only in the past year, but in many years past, including the time when the right hon. Gentleman held the office I now have the honour to occupy. I see no reason whatever for supposing that the safeguards which are being taken are not sufficient, nor do my advisers think that they are insufficient. When the right hon. Gentleman states that the safeguards are no safeguards whatever, I can only say I totally and entirely disagree with him. I have taken every possible step to prevent the spread of the disease. Not a single case out of the sixty outbreaks which have occurred has been traced back to the foreign animals' wharves, either directly or indirectly, and I cannot see any reason whatever, merely on a suspicion which, I believe, originated in the West of England, on the theory that the Somerset outbreak was traced to Bristol, why I should alter the Regulations which have been in force for something like three weeks.

I wish to ask a question on a point of Order. On the Order Paper to-day there is a question standing in the name of the hon. Member for the Wilton Division of Wiltshire which has not been reached. In that question the statement is contained that foot-and-mouth disease has broken out among the children in Dublin. I have inquired into that statement, and I have found that there is no foundation for it.

The hon. Member is taking upon himself the function of a Minister in answering the question. What is the point of Order?

The question I was going to ask on a point of Order—and perhaps it may lead to an answer—was whether, under these circumstances, when an infamous question like this—

The hon. Member is not entitled to take advantage of this opportunity to apply an epithet to the question. The question is a perfectly plain one: to ask whether there are cases of this disease, and, if so, what steps have been taken to prevent it spreading, or whether the Minister will take steps to make the disease in its human form notifiable by doctors and so on. The hon. Member who puts down the question has apparently heard some rumour and asks for information.

He is asking every day.

May I ask whether this question under the circumstances which we have stated ought not to be orally asked now and orally answered?

The hon. Member will see that it would involve me in most terrible difficulties if I were to take out of the Questions every day those which I thought should be asked and answered at once. The hon. Member will be able to obtain in the space of two or three minutes the reply at the Table which he will be entitled to see if he wishes to see it, and in any event it will be published to-morrow morning in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

It has been on the Paper since Friday and there is no foundation for it.

asked whether the applications of the Sea Fisheries Committees of Devon and Cornwall to the Development Commissioners for a Grant to facilitate the provision of auxiliary motor-power in fishing boats will not be allowed to reach that body, though long since addressed to it in the manner officially prescribed?

Perhaps the hon. Member will allow me to refer him to the answer which I gave to his question on this subject on Thursday last. As to the inquiries which are being made with regard to the applications to which he refers, they were referred by the Treasury to the Board on the 1st and 5th ultimo respectively, and it is the statutory duty of the Board to submit them to the Commissioners with their report thereon. There can be no question of their being withheld from the consideration of the Commissioners, as the hon. Member appears to suggest.

Am I to gather that they will be passed on to the Commismissioners forthwith? I only ask because the matter has been so long delayed that there is some anxiety felt as to what is going to happen.

There is no question whatever of these being withheld from the consideration of the Commissioners.

asked the hon. Member for St. George's-in-the-East, as representing the First Commissioner of Works, the number of buildings erected by the Office of Works to the design of architects not connected with the Office of Works since the 1st January, 1907?

No new buildings designed by outside architects have been commenced since January, 1907, but several have been in course of erection which were commenced prior to that date as under:—(1) Victoria and Albert Museum; (2) Admiralty Buildings, Block IV.; (3) British Museum Extension; (4) Public Offices, Whitehall.

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that the Office of Works have spent over £4,000,000 in the last four years on the erection of new buildings, and apparently the whole of that work has been done by the official architects of the Office of Works; and will they see that in future outside architects are given a chance of competing with the official architects?

I cannot say, without reference, whether the figures given by the hon. Member are correct, but there is no reason why the Office of Works should change the course which they have adopted.

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that these are the figures which he gave me last week?

asked the Secretary for Scotland with reference to the Committee of Council on Education in Scotland, who are known as My Lords, and which is composed of the following Members, namely, Lord Morley, the Secretary for Scotland, Lord Haldane, Lord Shaw, Lord Reay, and Lord Elgin, the date of their appointments, and the number of meetings they have attended, respectively; as also the number of meetings of the Committee held annually since 1906; and the date of the last meeting?

The Committee of Council on Education in Scotland consists of the members named, together with the First Lord of the Treasury and the Lord Advocate. The Committee was appointed by Order of His Majesty in Council on the 2nd March, 1909; the present Secretary for Scotland being appointed vice-president by a similar Order dated the 29th February, 1912. No meetings have taken place since the date named.

Will the right hon. Gentleman consider the advisability of adding the Speaker of the Irish Parliament to this Committee?

The right hon. Gentleman did not answer the last part of the question as to the date of the last meeting.

asked if it is practicable to arrange for a popular course of lectures on art at the National Galleries, Edinburgh, this summer; or whether it will be possible to make arrangements in the near future?

I am not yet in a position to add anything to the answer which I gave my hon. Friend on this subject on 22nd July.

asked why there is no provision in the Continuation Class Code for Scotland to enforce the enactment of the Education (Scotland) Act of 1908, that it shall be the duty of the school board to make provision for the instruction of the pupils in continuation schools in the laws of health and to afford opportunity for suitable physical training?

The Department consider that the provisions of the Code relating to the approval of timetables and syllabuses of work are sufficient for the purpose indicated in the question, and it has been their practice to ask managers to add the subjects mentioned to their programme if they were not already included in it. But under Section 10(2) of the Education (Scotland) Act, 1908, the Department's power of enforcing the requirements as to these subjects is limited to cases in which a petition is received from not less than ten ratepayers.

Is it not a fact that the petition from the ratepayers relates only to the establishment of a continuation class, and has nothing whatever to do with the curriculum which is followed in that class, which is prescribed by the Act of Parliament?

I should like notice of that question.

You must get up your point.

I really must decline to answer without notice abstruse legal points.

Was not the question I put one which was perfectly plain on the face of it?

asked whether additional Grants have recently been made by the Treasury to the Imperial College of Science; whether applications for additional Grants to the University of London have been refused pending the Report of the Royal Commission of Lord Haldane; and whether one of the chief questions referred to that Commission was the question of the relationship of the Imperial College to the University of London?

The answer to all three questions is in the affirmative.

asked the Prime Minister why certain judges of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council receive, and others do not receive, salaries; and whether this matter is under consideration in view to uniformity of treatment?

There are no salaried members of the Judicial Committee, but under Section 30 of the Judicial Committee Act, 1833, two-members of the Judicial Committee who attend to hear appeals from India are paid certain sums of money as an indemnity for the expense they may incur. The answer to the second part of the question is in the negative.

asked the Prime Minister whether the Lord Chancellor of Ireland has informed him what action he took with reference to insurance policies held by the Irish Courts to be illegal when submitted to him as Attorney-General for Ireland in 1911 by the hon. Member for North Westmeath; whether Mr. Charles O'Connor, K.C., has informed him what action he took with reference to the same policies when submitted to him as. Attorney-General for Ireland by the same person; whether Mr. Moloney, K.C., has stated the date in June, 1912, upon which he advised the Law Integrity Insurance Company to evade trial; and whether he has been informed why three of these insurance bodies condemned by the Courts are nevertheless allowed to collect money in Ireland at the present time?

I have no direct knowledge of any of these matters, nor do they come within my official cognisance. I am informed that the matters referred to were inquired into by the present Lord Chancellor and the Master of the Rolls when they held the office of Attorney-General, but no information was obtained which, in their opinion, would justify proceedings being taken against anyone. Mr. Moloney, K.C., states that he did not at any time advise the Law Integrity Insurance Company to evade trial, and that no such advice was ever sought from him. Certain policies issued by the Irish Provident Insurance Company have been declared to be ultra vires by the Irish Court of Appeal, but the company is now in liquidation, and no insurance premiums are being collected.

asked how many men have up to the present been injured in connection with the dock strike in London and the labour troubles at the Belfast shipyards, respectively; what is the number of men affected by the Belfast dispute and the number of police available for dealing therewith; and what are the grounds on which the Government has- made use of troops in Belfast, while it has not only declined to do so in London, but has restricted the use of Metropolitan Police to the protection of men in a limited area?

May I ask whether, in common fairness to the people of London, he realises that this question makes a comparison between two entirely dissimilar events, and whether he also realises that the request for the use of troops in the Port of London came from persons associated with the party opposite?

The number of men actually assaulted at the shipyards at Belfast so far as is known to the police is thirty-one. The number who have lost their employment owing to violence and intimidation is believed to be about 2,500. With regard to the London dock strike, I am informed that up to and including the 21st July, fifty-eight private persons were treated at London hospitals for injuries received in connection with the strike. Of these the injuries of only ten persons were such as to necessitate detention in hospital. The number of police available in London was sufficient for the maintenance of order, but in Belfast the normal police force of the city was not adequate to deal with the serious state of affairs, and the assistance of the military was therefore obtained in aid of the civil power.

Are we to understand that 2,500 employés of the Belfast dockyard are now out of employment in consequence of disturbances?

Is not that in consequence of the disturbance preached in this House?

The figures I have given are supplied to me by the Irish Office.

asked the Prime Minister whether the Government propose to take no steps towards initiating a conference to deal with international disarmament until representations are made to this effect by other Powers; whether he will state what kind of intimation from such Powers would induce the Government to make some response; and whether, in view of the fact that since 1899, when this matter was considered at The Hague, there has been a continuous growth of expendi- ture on armaments, he will adopt some plan by which the policy of international disarmament may become a really live issue?

I do not believe that international disarmament, if by that is meant abolition of all armed force, is a practical question. His Majesty's Government have always been ready, as the other Powers are aware, to discuss internationally the question of the increasing expenditure on armaments, and any intimation from other Great Powers that they were prepared to consider the question would meet with a ready response from His Majesty's Government.

asked the Prime Minister whether, in order to secure that confidence in the impartiality of the Commission on the Indian Civil Service which is desirable on the part of that service, he is prepared to reconsider the nomination to that Commission of the hon. Member for Leicester?

As the hon. Gentleman will recognise, if he has studied the list of names, diverse opinions on many questions relating to Indian government and administration are likely to be held by different Members of the Royal Commission. I have no reason whatever to suppose that my hon. Friend the Member for Leicester, any more than his colleagues on the inquiry, will fail in the requisite impartiality of judgment on the particular matters to be reported on by the Royal Commission. I do not propose, therefore, to make any fresh submission to His Majesty on the subject.

Has any other Member of the Commission since his appointment expressed himself in violent and virulent terms?

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that those people who heard the passage in the speech to which the hon. Member refers—

On a point of Order—

We had better hear what the question is first.

took it to be a perfectly amiable piece of banter on the hon. Gentleman (Sir J. D. Rees)?

I put down a question which had reference to the speech of the hon. Member (Mr. Ramsay Macdonald), and I was informed at the Table that any reference to a speech by an hon. Member was out of order. I have to ask if the hon. Member (Mr. Wedgwood) is in order in referring to a speech of an hon. Member to which I was not permitted to refer in my question.

It is obvious that the hon. Member's question did refer to that speech.

The Clerks at the Table refused to receive a question with any reference to the speech, and the question now permitted was received in its present form.

The hon. Member (Mr. Wedgwood) asked a supplemental question.

Did the Prime Minister see the opinion telegraphed on Sunday from Bombay to the "Times"—

That requires notice.

I shall take the opportunity to refer to the matter on the Motion for the Adjournment.

May I ask whether my question was refused by the Clerk at the Table because it referred to the speech of the hon. Member for Leicester as an insult to the public service in India, and why the hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme was allowed to refer to the speech in a supplementary question?

If the hon. Member had to listen to every supplementary question and to make up his mind at once, he would find that it is not always so easy a matter to say whether a supplementary question is in order as in the case of a question that is on the Paper. One has more time to consider the questions on the Paper. The host way to avoid any difficulty of that sort is not to ask supplementary questions.

asked the Prime Minister whether his attention has been called to the intimidation which has been used in many places in Wales to prevent persons signing petitions against the Welsh Disestablishment Bill, in consequence of which the number of signatures is undoubtedly less than it would otherwise have been; whether he is aware that in some places leaflets were issued warning people that the names of the signatories would be obtained from London and published in the locality; and whether the Government will take steps to put a stop to such attempts to prevent people exercising their constitutional right of petitioning Parliament?

The Prime Minister has asked me to reply to this question. I have no information of any of the methods suggested by the hon. Member being employed. I gather from the hon. Member's question that there is considerable divergence of opinion as to the means used on both sides in connection with this petition.

May I ask the right hon. Gentleman whether, if I give him, as I can give him, proof of the methods I complain of in the question, which referred only to one side, he will investigate the matter and take steps to enable people in future to exercise their constitutional right without molestation?

When I have seen the proofs I shall be very happy to consider the question.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that pressure has been brought upon people to sign the petition by offers of clothes and blankets?

Yes, Sir, reports of that nature have also been made.

asked the Prime Minister whether, in view of the accusations which have been made against the Peruvian Amazon Company, particularly in foreign countries, the Government will consent to the appointment of a Select Committee to inquire whether any responsibility rests upon the British directors of the company for the atrocities on the Putumayo; and whether any changes in the law are desirable to prevent the machinery of the English company law being used for such nefarious practices?

The Government have considered this suggestion, and, in view of the exceptional circumstances of the case, they approve of the appointment of a Select Committee with some such reference as the Noble Lord suggests.

I presume it will not be appointed at this period of the Session, and that it will be appointed in October?

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in view of the fact that it has been decided to make sanatorium treatment available for all persons whether insured or not, and the injustice of making insured persons pay for benefits which uninsured persons also receive, he will consider the advisability of doing away with sanatorium benefit under the National Insurance Act, 1911, and substituting other benefits, such as paying sickness benefit from the first day of illness, sanatorium benefit being made available under a national scheme for all persons alike?

The hon. and learned Member states the case rather more broadly than the facts warrant. The matter depends on the conditions of administration of the Grant, which the county councils have not yet submitted. In the absence as yet of any definite proposals on this point I am not in a position to give an answer to the question.

Is it proposed that uninsured persons shall make the same payments for benefits as insured persons? Is there any real substance in this thing?

That is the question I have answered.

asked what is the position of an insurance committee which, acting under its statutory obligation in providing sanatorium benefit, exceeds the sums at its disposal; and will the committee be personally liable for the excess of expenditure, or will there be a reduction of sanatorium benefit or a levy on all insured persons in the area after the next valuation?

It will be the business of the insurance committees so to arrange their expenditure as to keep within the limits of the funds which they will have available. The alternatives referred to in the question will not therefore arise.

What will happen if they do not keep within their powers?

Any excess in regard to the expenditure of one year will be carried over and debited to another year.

asked whether any insured person in England has yet received sanatorium benefit, and, if so, approximately how many persons have received such benefit?

Arrangements have been made by a number of insurance committees for the immediate administration of sanatorium benefit, and I have no doubt that some cases have already been dealt with, but I am not in a position to give any estimate of the approximate number.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware of any case?

I cannot find out without circularising all the insurance committees, and it would certainly be premature to do that.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the Staffordshire County Council have been advertising for applications for sanatorium benefit for at least three weeks?

I think most insurance committees are now either receiving or dealing with cases.

asked whether, in making appointments under the National Insurance Act, preference has been given to persons with university training as against persons having a wide experience of friendly societies and trade organisations; and whether, in the making of further appointments, more regard will be had to the latter qualification?

The sole consideration in the selection of candidates has been, and will be, their suitability for the particular duties of the posts. The indoor staff has been recruited from trained Civil servants. In the ease of the outdoor staff a small minority only of those appointed and selected for examination (whether drawn from the Civil Service or outside) have had university training. The qualification referred to by my hon. Friend is receiving due weight in accordance with paragraph 25 of the Mowatt Report.

Have appointments been made without examination to the junior posts on the staff, and how is it proposed to deal with the 45,000 applications that have been made?

Appointments have been made from the Civil Service without examination.

Have appointments from outside been made without examination?

I do not think any appointments to the junior part of the staff have been made from the outside.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether the National Insurance Commissioners will by Regulation endeavour to prevent any approved society obtaining any advantage as compared with any other society in the collection of insurance cards in October next; and whether he will consider the possibility by Regulation of preventing employers handing the cards of any or all of their employés to any one organisation, or permitting the agents of any such organisation attending on or about the premises where the persons are employed, with a view to collecting or receiving the insurance cards which would, directly or indirectly, militate against the free choice of an approved society?

I do not think it would be possible, even if it were desirable, for the Commissioners to interfere with the arrangements which societies may make for receiving the cards of their members at the end of the quarter, but the Commissioners would take the most serious view of any attempt by a society to obtain credits in the National Health Insurance Fund upon cards to which it was not entitled. Such an offence might entail withdrawal of approval from the society, and penal consequences under Section 69 of the Act to persons implicated. Any employer who, instead of handing the card to the contributor on its expiry delivered it to an agent of an approved society would be guilty of a breach of the Regulations.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether he is aware that some firms in the furnishing industry in Sheffield are issuing insurance cards, to the workpeople which have spaces on the back, to be filled in, stating who the workpeople were recommended by on starting in the employ of a firm, and the reasons for leaving their employ; and, if so, having regard to the fact that such card partakes of the character note that, the men in the shipbuilding industry threatened to strike against, will steps be taken to declare illegal the issue of such cards?

No such practice as that to which the hon. Member refers has been brought to my notice. The only cards which can be legally used for the purpose of the payment of contributions under Part I. of the National Insurance Act are the cards issued for the purpose by the Commissioners, and accordingly any attempt by any employer to pay a contribution by affixing a stamp to any other kind of card is of no legal effect, and the employer is guilty of a contravention of the Act. It is a breach of the Regulations for any person to deface a proper contribution card by writing on it such particulars as those mentioned by my hon. Friend.

asked what benefits an employed person over sixty-five years of age on 15th July last, who is a deposit contributor, will be entitled to under the National Insurance Act; and which insurance committees have determined what these benefits are to be?

As the hon. Member is aware, the benefits to which a person over sixty-five on 15th July last who becomes a deposit contributor becomes entitled to are to be such as may be determined by the insurance committee. So far as I am aware, no insurance committees have yet come to any decision on this point, but the Commissioners propose to issue a circular letter making some suggestions in regard to these cases.

asked whether the chairman of the joint committee of Insurance Commissioners is present at meetings of the English Insurance Commission; and, if so, in what capacity he attends?

The Chairman of the National Health Insurance Joint Committee does not attend meetings of the English Commission except upon the invitation of that Commission.

asked how decisions of the joint committee, the advisory committee, and the several National Insurance Commissions are arrived at; and whether the chairman of each body, respectively, has a casting vote?

The Treasury Regulations governing the constitution of the joint committee provide that in the event of a vote being taken on any matter, the Chairman (or in his absence the vice-chairman), shall if the voting is equal have a casting vote. The advisory committee has no administrative powers, and does not proceed by resolution. The procedure of the several Commissions is governed by their own standing orders. The decisions of the joint committee, and of the several Commissions are almost invariably the result of general agreement after discussion.

asked whether the office of assistant secretary to the Welsh Insurance Commissioners is now vacant; whether a gentleman, previously employed at a salary of 30s. a week, has been appointed temporarily to fill the post and to supervise the work of experienced Civil servants drawing from £500 to £700 a year; and whether it is intended to convert this temporary into a permanent appointment?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative and to the second in the negative. The last two parts do not therefore arise.

asked what is the number of registered friendly societies existing on the 4th May, 1911, and the number of such societies which have become approved or formed State sections under the National Insurance Act?

The registered friendly societies in existence on the 4th May, 1911, including juvenile societies, burial societies, and others not giving sick benefit which have not applied for approval, numbered 6,797. Societies which have so far satisfied the requirements and become approved as separate societies or formed State sections number 662. Many, I understand, have become branches of the larger friendly societies. As I stated, in answer to the hon. Member on the 1st instant, the numbers, including branches, are: Number existing on 4th May, 1911, 27,458; number approved, 19,589.

asked approximately how many of the 10,500,000 members of approved societies under the National Insurance Act are members of approved societies being friendly societies existing on 4th May, 1911, or the State sections thereof or members of approved societies formed by trade unions, or members of approved societies formed by industrial insurance companies, respectively?

The approximate numbers are, respectively, 5,700,000, 1,000,000, and 3,500,000, making a total of about 10,200,000, not including members of new societies.

asked whether it is proposed to issue stamps of the value of 1s. 1d., and upwards, for the use of male voluntary contributors under the National Insurance Act; and, if it is not proposed to issue special stamps, whether the contribution cards can be revised so as to leave space for more than one stamp each week?

There is no necessity to issue stamps of the value named or to revise the contribution cards. In all cases in which more than one stamp must be used the cards provided contains two stamp spaces for each week.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether he is aware that 90 per cent. of the farmers of the United Kingdom have incomes of less than £160 a year; that the Insurance Tax represents 6 per cent. of the average farmer's income and a tax of a shilling an acre on agricultural land; that an impost of this description is in fact levied on oats, wheat, barley, beef, and mutton, and amounts to a preference in favour of Canadian wheat, Russian barley, and Argentine oats and meat; and what steps the Government propose to take in order to preserve equal conditions for British agriculturists?

I have no reason to doubt that, as the hon. Member implies, the great majority of farmers in the United Kingdom are exempted from Income Tax, more particularly as owing to the method of assessment under Schedule B, no farmer who pays a rent not exceeding £480 per annum is deemed to make a profit of over £160, even though he may in fact make a larger profit. A farmer's normal contribution towards the cost of his employé's insurance is 3d. a head per week, and if the hon. Member will compare this sum with the variations in the cost of labour in the various countries he names, I think he will admit that the last part of his question hardly arises.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether it is by his instruction that the divisional officer of the Cardiff Labour Exchange has written that health insurance stamps placed on unemployment books by mistake cannot be given credit for; and whether he will order a refund of the value of such stamps?

Health insurance stamps are not valid for the purpose of contributions towards unemployment insurance. As announced, however, in the Press on 27th July, temporary arrangements have been made, as a special concession, to give credit in cases where wrong stamps have been affixed to unemployment books. I am sending the hon. Member a copy of this announcement. I will see that any misunderstanding that may have arisen on this point at Cardiff is adjusted.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether, if a casual workman applying for work early on a Monday produces a health insurance card stamped with a 7d. stamp put on by himself in the belief that he will thus more readily obtain a job, there is any liability on the actual first employer to pay any part of the contribution?

The Act requires that contributions shall be paid in the first instance by the employer, and the employer is not relieved from his liability under the Act by the fact that an employé produces a stamped card. The proper course of action for the employer in the circumstances stated is to ratify the stamping as done for him by paying the value minus the amount he is entitled to deduct when he pays wages.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury if he will state how and when the 1d. a week payable by the State in cases of certain low- paid workwomen is to be obtained; and whether the workwoman or her employer is responsible for obtaining it?