asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is now in a position to state whether one of the new cruisers will be named after the city of Cardiff?

The names for the new cruisers have not yet been assigned.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether it is proposed to ask a selected number of firms to tender for the erection of the new pier at Killingholme, or whether it is proposed to publicly advertise for tenders from all contractors who choose to tender and to publish the amount of each tender submitted, as is done by all other public bodies?

A sufficiently large number of representative and competent firms on the Admiralty list to secure the fullest competition will be invited to tender for the erection of the new pier at Killingholme, and the usual procedure of publishing the name and address of the successful contractor will be followed.

asked whether the new system in regard to full pay and wages in the Royal Marines will have the effect that a major entered under the new system, and being of four years' seniority, will receive £27 7s. 6d. per annum more than a lieutenant-colonel entered under the old system, no matter how great his seniority may be; whether he is aware that similar inequalities are likely to arise in other ranks; whether he is aware that dissatisfaction is likely to be created by reason of the fact that officers entered before the 31st August, 1911, are excluded from the increase in pay; and will he take steps to put all officers of similar rank and seniority on the same footing of pay?

The answers to the first and second parts of the question are in the affirmative. These arrangements were made some time ago. As regards the third and fourth parts, the anomalies referred to will not begin to arise until the first officers entered direct complete their course of training in about three years' time, and it may then be necessary to review the scale of pay of officers entered under former conditions to prevent any injustice being done. At the same time it must be stated that a higher scale of pay for officers entered after August, 1911, was deliberately adopted in view of the naval qualifications which these officers will possess.

asked whether the right hon. Gentleman is aware that an officer entered in the Royal Marines shortly before the 31st August, 1911, and having the same rank and seniority as a brother officer entered shortly after the 31st August, 1911, will, by reason of the fact that the increased full pay and wages table of the new system is limited to officers entered after the date named, so operate that the former will, assuming similar progress in promotion, be at a disadvantage in full pay varying from about £65 per annum, when both are lieutenants with four years' seniority, to £246 7s. 6d., when both are lieutenant-colonels with four years' seniority; and whether he will take steps to remove this inequality of treatment?

The facts are as stated in the first part of the question. The second part of this question is covered by the answer I have just given.

asked why Marine officers were left out of the scheme for increasing the pay of officers and men of the Navy; if he is aware that cases exist under the new scheme where a lieutenant of the Royal Navy would be in receipt of 12s. a day, while a lieutenant of the Royal Marines would only receive 7s. 6d. a day; and if he will take this matter into consideration?

The matter is receiving consideration.

asked when it is proposed to place the orders for the three first-class armoured ships offered by the Canadian Government; and when it is estimated that they will be completed and ready for commission?

Questions on this subject appear to be premature. The assent of the Dominion Parliament has yet to be given to the measure now before it.

asked whether the right hon. Gentleman will assure the House that the gift by Canada of three heavy armoured ships to the British Government will be regarded as over and above the number the Admiralty consider necessary to construct for European waters?

In introducing the Supplementary Estimates on the 22nd July last, I said that it was the wish of the Canadian Government that the aid of Canada should be an addition to the existing British programme, and that any step which Canada might take should directly strengthen the naval forces of the Empire and the margin available for its security. To that I have nothing to add.

Is it the case that Canada is to be the judge of what is required for Great Britain's naval needs?

That is more a matter for argument.

asked the Prime Minister what conditions, if any, have been attached to the offer of the Canadian Government to provide three first-class armoured ships for the strengthening of the British Fleet; and is it to be understood that these ships will be in addition to the programme for several years ahead already adopted by His Majesty's Government and announced on 22nd July, 1912?

asked the Prime Minister (1) if the three "Dreadnoughts" to be presented by Canada will have the effect of relieving the British taxpayer in connection with Navy expenditure; and, if so, to what extent; and (2) if his attention has been called to the statement of the Prime Minister of Canada that the conditions disclosed in the Admiralty memorandum were such as rendered it imperative that the effective naval forces of the Empire should be strengthened without delay; and will he explain why the Government hand over that obligation to Canada?

Certain arrangements of a general character have been agreed to between the Admiralty and the Dominion Government with regard to the transfer of the Canadian battleships to the Royal Canadian Navy on notice sufficient to allow for their replacement if necessary being given, and with regard to the placing by the Admiralty of orders for some light cruisers in Canada, the training of Canadian Naval Cadets, and other minor and incidental matters. Papers on these subjects will be laid when the Bill now before the Dominion Parliament has received the Royal Assent. As to the second part of the question, it was stated by my right hon. Friend the First Lord of the Admiralty in introducing the Supplementary Estimates in July last, that any ships given by Canada at this juncture would be additional to the forecast of annual construction already announced, and that this was the wish of the Dominion Ministers.

had given notice to ask the Prime Minister whether in view of the interest felt throughout the country and the British Empire in the emergency contribution to the Navy proposed by the Dominion Government, he will, immediately upon official notification of the assent of the Dominion Parliament to the Right Hon. R. L. Borden's Motion, make a pronouncement to this House and give all its Members an opportunity of expressing their gratitude?

I understand it would be more convenient to answer this question to-morrow, and I therefore postpone it.

I also propose to-postpone a question on the same subject of which I have given private notice.

I am very much obliged to the right hon. Gentleman.

May I point out to the right hon. Gentleman——

Observations are not permitted at Question Time.

On a point of Order. I understood the Prime Minister to say he would answer Questions 62 and 63 along with 59, but he did not answer either of those questions.

The hon. Member ought to have asked a supplementary question.

I could not hear very well, and I thought I must have been mistaken. Surely I am entitled to ask those two questions?

I thought I had answered them. I gave the best answer I thought desirable under the existing circumstances.

asked what are the extra rates of pay of the Naval Flying Corps, and how many aviators have been definitely appointed at such increased rates of pay?

The extra rates of pay for Naval and Marine officers belonging to the Royal Flying Corps are as follows:—

Are these men university trained?

Does the right hon. Gentleman not think the fact that they are not university trained is a source of danger?

They have all been trained in the naval colleges and have entered the Navy in the regular way, which does not include training at a university.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will state how public notaries, who are at present appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, will be appointed after the passing of the Established Church (Wales) Bill?

The powers of appointment would appear to remain with the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Is it intended that the power should be retained?

Yes.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has now been able to review the sentences passed on certain dock labourers at the Essex Autumn Assizes; and, if so, whether he is prepared to make any remission?

I have now had an opportunity of carefully considering all the facts in connection with the convictions at the Essex Assizes for riot and endangering the safety of passengers in a railway train to which my hon. Friend refers, and I regret that I can find no sufficient ground for interfering with the sentences passed on the prisoners.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the men employed as speltermen in the Swansea district are employed in the only trade or avocation scheduled as a dangerous trade under the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1906, and regularly work seven days a week without a break the whole year round?

I am afraid I do not quite understand the first part of the question. Twenty-four industrial diseases in all have been scheduled for the purposes of the Compensation Act, and many of these, like lead poisoning, occur in a variety of industries. As regards the last part of the question, I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer which my predecessor gave him on the same subject on the 18th of November, 1910, and in which he stated that the process was one that required to be carried on continuously throughout the week and that the speltermen's hours of work averaged from fifty-six to sixty weekly.

Is there any other case where lead workers are employed for such excessive hours?

I could give many cases in which men are employed fifty-six to sixty hours.

But in lead works?

I could not say without special inquiry.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that there is one firm of manufacturers in the district who do not work continuously, and whose furnaces are idle at the week end?

I was not aware of the fact, but will make further inquiry.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has any power by way of regulation to put an end to the sacrifice of health and life resulting from the unreasonably long hours of employment in a poisonous atmosphere by the speltermen in the Swansea district?

This industry was made the subject af a careful inquiry in 1910, a Report of which was presented to Parliament, and regulations for the purpose of safeguarding the health of the workers were subsequently made and came into force in October of last year. The Report did not recommend any limitation of the hours of adult men, and it is too early yet to form any judgment on the working of the regulations, but the matter will be carefully watched.

asked the amount of compensation paid to the dependants of the four workmen who died of lead poisoning since the year 1907 whilst following their employment as speltermen in the Swansea district?

The Home Office is not in possession of this information.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will make inquiry into the seventy-seven cases of lead poisoning which have occurred since 1907 in the spelter trade in the Swansea district, with a view to ascertaining how many of those so suffering have been permanently disabled from following their usual employment; and whether he will inquire as to whether any cases of wrist-drop have occurred in the cases reported?

The information in the possession of the Home Office shows that ten of the cases were reported as severe, thirty as moderate, and thirty-seven as slight, and that wrist-drop was reported in seventeen. My Department has no means of ascertaining in how many cases the workman may prove to be permanently disabled from following his usual occupation.

Has the right hon. Gentleman ever had any figures showing the average life of those engaged at this work?

No, Sir, I have not.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware of the uncertainty which has arisen in the minds of small traders who usually have their half-holiday on Wednesdays as to their ability, under the provisions of the Shops Act, 1911, to keep their premises open after one o'clock on Wednesday, 18th December, being the Wednesday before Christmas day; and whether he proposes to issue a statement relating to the matter?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer which I gave to a question of the hon. Member for East Marylebone on the 20th November. A letter explaining the whole matter has been communicated to the Press and widely published.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether in the ease of William Beal, a boy of nineteen, who was convicted at the Central Criminal Court, on the 11th November last, of the murder of his sweetheart, Clara Carter, and who was strongly recommended to mercy by the jury, he is prepared to advise the respite of the prisoner in view of his youth, and the fact that two of the principal witnesses for the prosecution contradicted at the trial the evidence they gave at the coroner's inquest, and that the medical evidence showed that the prisoner's story that the girl committed suicide was not impossible?

The evidence referred to by the hon. Member was fully before the jury at the trial and the points raised in the question were specifically dealt with by the Court of Criminal Appeal. Neither tribunal appears to have had any doubt as to the prisoner's guilt, and I regret that I have been unable to find sufficient grounds to justify me in advising interference with the sentence.

Is there any modern precedent for a case in which the extreme youth of the convicted prisoner and a strong recommendation to mercy by the jury have been ignored and the execution of the sentence has been carried out?

Oh, yes, Sir, there are several cases in which convicted prisoners have been executed in circumstances not very dissimilar from this present case.

Is there any such instance as that of a youth of nineteen, with a strong recommendation to mercy?

Yes, Sir, there was a quite similar case in the last two or three years.

Will the right hon. Gentleman indicate it?

If the hon. Gentleman will give me notice.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he possesses any power to insist that, during at all events certain hours of the day, vehicles should stand, not in the main street, but in by-streets, in the case of certain notoriously narrow and congested London thoroughfares?

Directions to this effect may be given by the Commissioner of Police, when special circumstances in his opinion make it necessary to do so, under the provisions of Section 52 of the Metropolitan Police Act, 1839.

asked whether the returns form by coroners to the Registrar-General of inquests contains any column for cases of death by burning due to flannelette, or whether it is purely optional on the part of coroners to supply such information?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the negative and to the latter part in the affirmative.

asked whether, notwithstanding the figure of sixty-seven given from the Registrar-General's Returns as the number of deaths from flannelette clothes in 1910, the Coroners' Committee report that in the month of January alone in that year there were eighty-nine of such fatalities and a total of 176 in three months; and whether, out of the total of 1,681 deaths by burning in 1910, over 1,000 were due to the wearing of flannelette?

The figures eighty-nine and 176 which the hon. Member quotes are taken from tables given in evidence before the Coroners' Committee, and published among the appendices to the Committee's Report. These tables were prepared by the proprietors of "non-flam" flannelette from newspaper reports, and their accuracy was not investigated by the Committee. As regards the total number of deaths in 1910 due to the ignition of flannelette clothes, I have no information other than that in the Registrar-General's Report, to which I have already referred the hon. Member, and which gives the total number of deaths from burning clothes of all descriptions in that year as fifty-seven.

Had the Coroner's Committee any reason whatsoever to doubt the accuracy of these figures, and, if not, seeing how different they are from the Registrar-General's, will the right hon. Gentleman direct an inquiry?

I am unable to say whether the Coroner's Committee had any reason to doubt that because the Committee did not report upon that subject at all.

Will the right hon. Gentleman ask one of his clerks to make that investigation?

No, Sir.

asked the Prime Minister whether his attention has been called to the Report of the Coroners' Committee which inquired into the deaths from burning owing to the use of flannelette; and whether he will be prepared to propose legislation in this or the ensuing Session to prevent this loss of life?

The Prime Minister has asked me to reply to this question. The only recommendation of the Committee was that the Merchandise Marks Act, 1887, should be amended so as to make it penal to describe as non-inflammable material which will not stand certain prescribed tests. I understand this cannot be done in the way suggested, because the subject is entirely outside the scope of that Act; but I am ready to receive suggestions as to the prescription of practicable standards and tests with a view to the introduction of legislation.

asked whether the result of the inquiry, which commenced in May last, into the alleged violation of the Fair-Wages Clause by the North British Rubber Company and the Victoria Rubber Company?

The points raised by my hon. Friend were: (1) That these firms were employing girls to do work which had previously been done by men; (2) That the girls were underpaid; (3) That where these firms employed men they paid them less than the district rate. On these three points very careful and detailed inquiries have been made. As to the first, I understand that it has always been the custom in Edinburgh to employ women workers to perform the lighter and cleaner parts of the work, the heavier work being done by the men. As to the second point, it is difficult to determine how far the new Fair-Wages Clause is being fully satisfied inasmuch as for this class of woman labour there does not appear to exist any plan whereby agreement on the question of fair wages can be arrived at between employers and employed. So far as I can see, the piece-work scheme of the North British Rubber Company is more favourable to the employés than that of the Victoria Rubber Company, and I am communicating with the latter firm on this point With regard to the men, the standard which has been submitted to me as applicable to the case of Edinburgh is that of the Northampton trade. I do not think it would be competent, under the new Fair-Wages Clause, to impose that standard in this case. The whole matter will, however, continue to receive my careful attention in view of the possibility of placing other contracts.

Will the Admiralty consult the men directly affected?

An officer went down and made very careful inquiries, and that is what he reported.

Can the hon. Member say what district he intends to take as a standard for the men's wages?

I shall have to consider that.

Will the right hon. Gentleman take care, when he takes up this question, that it will be a levelling up and not a levelling down of wages?

asked if the right hon. Gentleman has seen the statement made by Captain Charlton, A.D.C, R.N., before the Marconi Committee that, in advertising for wireless telegraphy experts, it was stipulated that applicants should have a university degree; and whether this represents the settled policy of the Admiralty?

No, Sir. Captain Charlton's statement has not been fully reported and has been misunderstood. The advertisement was for a candidate with university education, and having a wide knowledge of electrical theory and of general electrical manufacturing methods. The candidate selected was educated at Nottingham High School, in the engineering schools of the University College, Nottingham, and obtained the degree of Bachelor of Science in Engineering (London).

Does the right hon. Gentleman consider that it is more important that an applicant should have a university degree than that he should be an efficient applicant?

I think the steps taken in this case have been admirably conceived to secure the most efficient men for the posts in question.

Can we have an assurance that such a qualification as this will not be included in the qualifications for any other posts under the Admiralty?

Certainly not. I could not give any assurance of that kind. I think in this case the right course has been followed, and I daresay there may be other cases in which a similar course may be followed. There is no question of limiting it to any particular university.

Are we to understand that these posts are kept entirely for university men, and only for those with a double first in lawn tennis?

Would the right hon. Gentleman not consider it preferable to stipulate that the applicants should be passed by the Electrical Institute rather than have degrees in science and arts?

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether it is an established practice that documents and forms required exclusively for use in Ireland and Scotland are printed in one or other of these two countries; and whether he will extend the same system to Wales?

Documents and forms required exclusively for use in Ireland and Scotland are printed, whenever practicable, in one or other of those two countries. The same principle will be applied wherever possible in Wales as circumstances permit.

asked what is the explanation of the small sum received under the National Insurance Act from insured persons in Ireland compared with the sums received from them in Scotland and Wales; if the contributions paid in Ireland will be kept distinct from those paid in England, Scotland, and Wales, and be applied only to benefits for insured persons in Ireland; and if the sanatoria benefits for the insured persons and their dependants will, under the circumstances, be possible for Ireland?

The comparative smallness of the receipts from contributions under the National Insurance Act in Ireland is partly due to the fact that the contributions are smaller, in the absence of provision for medical benefit, and partly to the fact that the proportion of persons working on their own account and therefore not liable to compulsory insurance to the total population is much higher than in Great Britain. The answer to the second question is in the affirmative, and that to the third is also in the affirmative so far as insured persons themselves are concerned. The extension of sanatorium benefit to dependants, if it takes place, will, of course, be governed by the provisions of Section 17 of the Act. The fact that a smaller number of persons are insured relatively to the population than in Scotland and Wales does not mean that the money available for sanatorium benefit for each of those persons is less.

asked if the thousands of leaflets, etc., issued by the National Health Insurance Commission (Wales) were translated by Mr. Evans, the late assistant secretary, who is a Welsh scholar, or if some other person was employed to do this work?

The leaflets in question were translated by Mr. Beriah J. Evans, the official translator to the Commission.

asked for the number of insured persons who are now members of approved societies; how many of them are women; and how many persons are now receiving the benefit of treatment in sanatoria?

Exact figures as to the number of male and female members of approved societies cannot be given until the first quarter's cards have all been scheduled, and this process will still require some time to complete. With regard to the latter part of the question I am obtaining a return from the Insurance Committees as to the number of persons who have already received sanatorium benefit.

asked if, under the National Insurance Act, an insured person coming from England to Ireland, after paying the higher contribution, and, taken ill, being debarred from medical benefit, must forfeit to the State the whole of the accumulated difference between the higher rate paid by him in England and the lower rate payable in Ireland, though he may have contributed for months or years at the higher rate?

If an English insured person moves his residence to Ireland there is no such "accumulated difference" as the hon. and gallant Member suggests between the higher rate he has been paying in England and the lower rate which he will at once begin to pay in Ireland. While in England he will have been insured for medical benefit and this insurance is fully equivalent in actuarial value to the extra 1½d. a week which he has been paying.

asked whether, under the Regulations of the Insurance Commissioners providing for the constitution of district committees, it is open to the insurance committee to provide in their scheme for representation of the county council upon district committees?

Yes, Sir. The Regulations require the insurance committee to provide for the representation of the bodies set out in the First Schedule to the Regulation, but it is open to them in addition to provide in their scheme for the representation of any other bodies that they may think can usefully be represented on district committees.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether his attention has been directed to the Resolution passed at a representative conference of Scottish county and burgh insurance committees, representing over 70 per cent. of the total insured persons in Scotland, held in Glasgow on the 2nd December, protesting against the proposal of the Government to allocate to the doctors for domiciliary treatment of consumption 6d. out of the 1s. 3d. provided by the National Insurance Act in respect of each insured person for defraying the cost of sanatorium benefit in each year, on the ground that such allocation will seriously affect the administration of the sanatorium benefit; and whether, having regard to the strong expression of opinion from Scotland and other parts of the United Kingdom, he will consider as to making other arrangements so as to avoid encroaching upon the sum assured under the Act for sanatorium benefits?

My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer is receiving a deputation from Scottish Insurance Committees on this subject this afternoon.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether his attention has been directed to the formation of workers' associations in connection with collieries and other large industrial works on the lines of the existing works' doctor system in order to provide medical attendance for dependants along with medical attendance to insured contributors under the National Insurance Act; and whether, as the matter is one closely affecting the administration of the medical benefit under the National Insurance Act, he will see that every assistance is given by the Insurance Commissioners in the formation of such associations and in securing their recognition by the Insurance Committees as providing proper medical attendance and treatment under Sub-sections (3) and (4) of Section 15 of the National Insurance Act?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. The attention of insurance committees has been called to the necessity for making provision for such cases as are referred to in the question, and model forms of application for approval have been issued.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury if he will state which of the private secretaries to the Chancellor of the Exchequer who received promotion was not already a member of the permanent Civil Service; what was his employment before becoming the Chancellor's private secretary; and what was the post to which he was promoted?

The gentleman referred to in the hon. Member's question is Mr. Rowland, who prior to his appointment as assistant private secretary in 1906 was an elementary school teacher. In January last he was appointed a Welsh Insurance Commissioner.

Are the qualifications of an elementary school teacher consistent with those of a Welsh Insurance Commissioner?

I should think there could be no better preparation.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether accommodation in a sanatorium has yet been provided for Mr. Branson, who applied for treatment in August last; and whether any additional accommodation has been placed at the disposal of the Essex Insurance Committee to enable the other nineteen applicants, who have been refused treatment owing to want of accommodation, to obtain the sanatorium benefit to which they are entitled under the National Insurance Act?

I understand that accommodation has now been provided and that Mr. Branson is being removed to-day. Additional accommodation for other cases has also been secured, and I am informed that a scheme for the provision of a temporary sanatorium for the treatment of about fifty cases is now under consideration.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the accommodation offered is in an infectious hospital, where there is no resident medical officer?

I will make further inquiry if desired.

asked whether the total cost of medical and sanatorium benefits under the German insurance scheme for sickness, invalidity, and accident insurance amounts to approximately 14s. per insured person per annum, inclusive of drugs and the treatment of the sick in hospitals and institutions; and whether the Government Memorandum said to be in course of preparation in July last, giving explanations on these questions, is yet ready for publication?

Any attempt to give the total cost of the benefits mentioned under the several German schemes would be misleading without further particulars than can well be included in an answer to a Parliamentary question. I hope to issue the Memorandum as a White Paper during the course of next week.

asked whether the right hon. Gentleman has become apprised that there is an increasing demand for coppers and threepences; and whether he will consider the issue through the Royal Mint of a neat nickel coinage for one, two, and three pence, respectively, thus relieving the public of the bulk and inconvenience of the present issue of copper coins and of the present threepenny silver coins?

I am not satisfied that there are any sufficient grounds to justify so vital and expensive a change. I greatly doubt whether the substitution of nickel coins for the existing bronze coins would be popular with the large majority of those who use small denominations.

asked whether the right hon. Gentleman is aware that, owing to the operation of the National Insurance Act and the paying of wages in an increased number of cases in odd money, there is a deficiency of copper coinage; and whether the Royal Mint will be instructed to issue low denominations of the coinage to supply the current needs?

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his attention has been drawn to the inconvenience caused by the scarcity of copper coins in circulation; is he aware that banks can only supply their customers with difficulty; and whether he will cause an adequate quantity to be coined forthwith to avoid this inconvenience to traders?

My attention has been drawn to the very large demand for bronze pence since July last. Special measures of an exceptional kind have already been taken to meet the difficulty, which, I trust, will only be of a temporary nature. The total issue of bronze coinage this year to date is nearly twice the amount issued during the whole of last year, no less than £202,555 of bronze having been issued since 15th July last, and every possible source of supply has been and is being utilised.

asked whether the right hon. Gentleman can state the number of farthings coined at the Mint in each of the last ten years; and whether he has any information showing those parts of the country where farthings are in common use and those parts where the use of them is comparatively rare?

I will circulate a statement showing such information as is available on this subject.

asked if the Imperial and Local Taxation Committee is carrying on the investigation for which it was appointed, and when its Report will be presented?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. I have no information as to the date when the Report may be expected.

asked the Prime Minister whether his attention has been called to the fact that Clause 28 of the Government of Ireland Bill, which substitutes the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council for the House of Lords as the ultimate court of appeal from courts in Ireland, was passed without any opportunity for discussion; and whether, as the result of this Clause, there will be two ultimate courts of appeal within the United Kingdom itself, the decisions of neither of which will be binding on the other, and which may both have to decide the same questions, and the question whether the ultimate court in any particular case is the House of Lords or the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council may depend on purely accidental and fortuitous circumstances?

Appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council formed the subject of various debates, during which this point as to the two ultimate Courts of Appeal within the United Kingdom was made. I hope there may an opportunity, if it is desired, to raise the question again on Report. Although the decisions of neither of the two courts will be technically binding upon the other, that is equally true at the present day in reference to appeals from the Oversea Dominions and the United Kingdom which might, and sometimes do, raise the same point. In practice there is little or no difficulty since the Lords of Appeal fit in the Judicial Committee as well as in the House of Lords, and on an appeal from Ireland Clause 28 (2) of the Bill provides that not less than four Lords of Appeal shall be present.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the particular point as to an appeal in all ordinary cases apart from constitutional cases has never been discussed at all, and does he not think the creating of so anomalous a position, as having two ultimate Courts of Appeal in the United Kingdom, is deserving of discussion?

We have already had a discussion as regards appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, and I have said, if an opportunity for further discussion is desired, I hope it will be found on the Report stage.

asked the Prime Minister whether he is aware that, although English Peers have no Parliamentary vote, they are able to take part in any public affairs by reason of their seats in the House of Lords, Irish Peers, under the terms of the Government of Ireland Bill, having neither vote for either House of the Irish Parliament nor the right to a seat in the Irish Parliament, are prohibited from taking any part in Irish affairs unless they are elected members of the Irish House of Commons or Irish Senate; and whether he proposes to remove this disqualification on Irish Peers by extending the franchise for election of Members to either House of the Irish Parliament to Irish Peers?

It is not proposed to make any change at present in the qualification of electors for the Irish House of Commons, but it will be open to the Irish Parliament to do so after three years from the passing of the Act.

asked whether, under Clause 1, Sub-section (2) of the Government of Ireland Bill, it would be possible for the British Parliament, on the Motion of any Member of that Parliament, to disallow any Act passed by the 'Irish Parliament; and, if so, would such Act in consequence become void and of no effect in Ireland?

It will be possible for any Member to move an Address to His Majesty praying His Majesty to withhold the Royal Assent from any Act passed by the Irish Parliament. It will also be possible for the British Parliament, at the instance of any of its Members, to pass an Act overriding any Act passed by the Irish Parliament.

asked the Prime Minister whether, under Clause 36 of the Government of Ireland Bill, officers of the Marlborough Street, Dublin, training college, including the principal and teachers of that college, will be deemed to be Irish officers, serving or employed in Irish service within the meaning of the Act?

The answer is in the affirmative.

asked the Prime Minister whether he is aware of the wish in all quarters of the House that the Christmas recess should be extended over the New Year; whether he has come to any decision in the matter; and whether, in the event of any prolongation of the recess being decided on, it is the intention of the Government to expedite the passage of measures of importance by taking the same on Saturdays in addition to Fridays on the reassembling of the House?

asked the Prime Minister whether he is aware that New Year's Day in Scotland is celebrated in precisely the same way as Christmas Day is in England; and whether, in view of that fact, he will consider the advisability of altering the date on which the House rises from the 20th to the 23rd or 24th December, in order to carry the resumption of business over New Year's Day, and so not only suit the convenience of all Members of the House, but make an equable concession to the national sentiment of all sections of the House?

I fear I can hold out no hope of an alteration of the arrangements already announced with regard to the Christmas recess.