asked the Secretary to the Treasury, if he is in the position to do so, the approximate date of the publication of the Report of the Highland Medical Commission presided over by the hon. Member for Inverness-shire?

The Highlands and Island Committee sat yesterday to consider their Report in draft, and it will be published at the earliest possible date.

asked the Home Secretary whether a trader who gives notice that, during the week ending 21st December next, he will alter his closing day from Wednesday to Saturday will be compelled to close on that Saturday and will be at liberty, under Sub-section (3) of Section 4 of the Shops Act, 1912, to revert to the Wednesday as his closing day in the succeeding week; and whether the position is the same and, if not the same, then in what way different, in the case where the usual closing day is Thursday instead of Wednesday?

I am advised that a shopkeeper would, on giving notice in the prescribed manner, be entitled to change the day of his half-holiday from Wednesday to Saturday in the week ending 21st December next, and to revert to Wednesday in the following week; but he would not in that ease be entitled to keep open on the afternoon of Saturday, 21st, as the half-holiday in Christmas week would fall on Christmas Day. The case is different where Thursday is the day of the half-holiday; in that case, Christmas not being the half-holiday, the shopkeeper, if he closes on Christmas Day, will be entitled to keep open on the half-holiday in the previous week. It is important to bear in mind the principle on which this provision of the Shops Act is based. If Christmas Day is not in ordinary course a half-holiday, then the closing of the shop on Christmas Day will be taken as a substitute for the half-holiday which comes either immediately before or immediately after; but if Christmas Day is itself a half-holiday, it cannot be substituted for any other half-holiday.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India what was the total amount of silver purchased through Messrs. Samuel Montagu and Company of which delivery was postponed; what was the additional amount of brokerage entailed by this transaction, and what was the additional cost arising from this postponement?

The total amount of which delivery was postponed was £661,000, and the additional amount of brokerage entailed by this transaction was £826 13s. 9d. The additional cost of repurchase was £4,087 7s. 1d. As a set-off there was a gain in interest on £661,000 which is estimated at about £3,030. There was also, it cannot be doubted, a considerable gain from the postponement of delivery, in its enabling further larger purchases to be made before attention was attracted to them, and consequently in their being made at a lower price than would otherwise have been the case.

asked from what port the sycee and British dollars referred to in the letter of 16th September from Messrs. Samuel Montagu and Company to the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation was shipped; and on what date and to what port it was originally consigned?

The sycee was shipped from Shanghai, and the British dollars from Hong Kong, on 10th and 14th September, respectively. The silver was consigned via Colombo for optional delivery at Bombay or Calcutta.

asked the Prime Minister whether, in view of the demands put forward by education authorities, boards of guardians, and other representative bodies of a non-party nature, that the further consideration of the Mental Deficiency Bill should be proceeded with and that the Bill should be passed into law this Session, he will give an assurance that the necessary time will be given for those purposes?

I am afraid I cannot add anything to the answers which I have already given on this subject.

asked the Postmaster-General whether, when a subscriber to the telephone system has two instruments in his house and desires two directories, he has to pay 2s. for the second; and, if so, why?

A subscriber is supplied free of charge with a copy of the Telephone Directory for each line which he rents to the exchange, but not as a rule for every instrument connected with his exchange line or lines. A small charge is made for additional copies, according to the size of the particular directory required. Two shillings is the charge for the London Directory, which is the largest issued.

asked the President of the Local Government Board if he will state what was the number of inmates relieved in Poor Law institutions on 1st January last; what was the approximate number of officials in or attached to the same; what is the annual cost of the total upkeep of the said institutions, including maintenance of the inmates and officials, salaries and superannuation allowances of the officials, and all other matters pertaining to indoor relief; whether the Order drafted or being drafted by a Departmental Committee for regulating these institutions, with their inmates and officials, will, if sanctioned by the President, have the same force as an Act of Parliament; and whether he will, before giving his sanction, permit the draft Order to be published and put on sale, so that Members of Parliament, boards of guardians, and other interested may have an opportunity of seeing it before it is finally enacted by the President?

The number of paupers relieved in Poor Law institutions in England and Wales on the 1st January last was 274,110. According to returns which I receive, the approximate number of officers of all classes employed in or attached to institutions belonging to Poor Law authorities other than the Metropolitan Asylums Board is 27,000. In a number of cases the officers are only employed part time. In the year ended 31st March, 1911, which is the latest year for which complete returns are available, the total expenditure of Poor Law authorities in England and Wales on indoor relief in Poor Law institutions was £7,744,000. Details showing how these figures are made up are given on page 178 of the last Annual Report of the Local Government Board, Part I. In reply to the latter part of the question, I may say that when the proposals of the Departmental Committee are before me, I will give careful consideration to the hon. Member's suggestion.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether he will state in tabular form the total deaths under five years in England and Wales for each year from 1891 to 1911, inclusive, taking the figures as given in the Annual Reports of the Registrar-General?

Total deaths under five years of age in England and Wales 1891–1911:—