asked how many insured persons there are in county Derry and in county Antrim?

It will not be possible to state the number of insured persons in the two counties referred to in the question until all the cards for the first quarter have been scheduled, and this process will still take some time to complete.

Have not these cards now been in the possession of the Insurance Commissioners at least six weeks?

I think they all are at present. As soon as I have the information I shall be only too glad to give it to the hon. Gentleman.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury if he will give an estimate as to the number of people insured in Ireland under the National Insurance Act up to 20th December, taken according to promises, and how many were Post Office contributors?

The number of cards received from deposit contributors in Ireland at present is 13,800. The number of persons who have actually joined approved societies cannot be stated until the cards have been returned from the societies and scheduled.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the number of workpeople, male and female, affected by the arrangement under Section 99 of the National Insurance Act operating in South Wales, the number of offices opened at the docks specially assigned to the scheme, giving the cost of any new buildings and the rents paid; the average weekly amount collected from employers and workpeople in respect of contributions under Parts I. and II. of the National Insurance Act for the first three months; the average weekly payments for the same period made by employers to the Board of Trade towards the administration of the Act, and the stamping of the workpeople's insurance cards; the number and status of, and the salaries paid to, the permanent staff engaged at the dock offices; the number of, and weekly salaries paid to, the temporary staff engaged at the dock offices; and the nature of he work performed?

I assume the hon. Member to refer to an arrangement under Section 99 of the Act, made between the Board of Trade and certain firms of ship-repairing employers at Cardiff, Barry, Newport, and Port Talbot, and covering between 8,000 and 9,000 persons. None of the Labour Exchanges affected is at present devoted exclusively to the work involved by the scheme and it is not possible to separate the cost of the premises and the staff required from the total vote for Labour Exchanges and Unemployment Insurance. The average weekly amount of contributions collected under the arrangement, during the quarter ending 12th October was £241 6s. 7d. The average weekly payment made by employers in respect of the keeping and stamping of the Health Insurance cards of the men employed by them was £2 16s. 6d. The work undertaken by the Board of Trade under the scheme includes, in addition to ordinary Labour Exchange work, the stamping of the contribution cards and unemployment books of the workpeople affected, and the keeping of the necessary records for this purpose.

Are the small sums mentioned the whole of the expense to which the State has been put by this scheme?

As I have explained, it is impossible to distinguish or to separate the expenses under that head from those of the general work of the office?

Will the hon. Gentleman try to so distinguish them, because the object is to find out what is the cost to the State of this scheme in South Wales and also a similar scheme at Liverpool, which is said to be extremely expensive?

asked whether, under the National Insurance Act, an insured person will be entitled to be treated by his own medical practitioner; and, if so, whether, in the event of a number of doctors refusing to accept service under the Act, any amendment thereof will be sought to meet the situation thus arising?

The insured person is entitled to a free choice amongst the doctors registered on the panel subject to conditions defined by Section 15 (2) of the Insurance Act. If, however, the doctor of his choice declines to go on the panel, the insured person is not entitled to claim as a right that he should be treated by his own medical practitioner at the expense of the insurance fund.

May I ask whether, in the event of private medical practitioners not coming on the panel, the insured person is to be at the mercy of the Insurance Commissioners or the insurance committee, and how does that really fit in with Section 15 of the Act and the promises he himself made?

If the hon. Member will take the trouble to read the Act he will see that there is only a right of choice amongst doctors on the panel, and that if any private arrangements are made with doctors outside they must be subject to the allowance of the Insurance Committee and the Insurance Commissioners.

May I ask the right hon. Gentleman whether, when he went into that question, he thought so many medical practitioners would not accept service under the Act?

Can the right hon. Gentleman say whether it is not practically certain now that sufficient doctors will come forward to work the Act?

I prefer not to express an opinion.

May I ask whether any objection will be made by the Insurance Commissioners to allowing insurance committees to permit private practitioners in counties to continue for individual patients under Section 15, Subsection (3), of the Act?

I think that would depend entirely upon circumstances?

Will the right hon. Gentleman make a general statement as to what he proposes to do in cases of counties where the whole of the doctors have refused to serve?

I should first of all have to wait and see whether there are any counties of the kind.

There are.

asked how many prosecutions have been instituted in England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, respectively, for non-payment of contributions under the National Insurance Act?

The numbers of prosecutions for non-payment of contributions under the National Insurance Act which have been instituted in England, Scotland, and Ireland are forty-five, ten, and sixteen, respectively. No prosecutions have yet been instituted in Wales, but proceedings in several cases may be taken in the immediate future.

How much latitude is to be given to those who refuse to pay their contribution—there are a great many—I -want to know what time they are to be given?

Friendly remonstrance is the first method adopted, but in any case I am afraid persistent refusal will mean prosecution.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury if he will state the valuation put by the pension officers on the living of an old age pensioner named Ballesty, of Edgeworthstown, Ballinalee sub-pension district, who has been deprived of his pension; and whether a Local Government Board inspector will be sent to inquire into this case before it is finally disposed of?

The pension officer estimated that this pensioner's means exceeded £31 10s. a year. The Local Government Board, on the matter being referred to them, sent an inspector to make local inquiry as to her circumstances, and on consideration of all the facts of the case decided that her means did not exceed £28 17s. 6d. a year, but exceeded £26 5s. a year, and accordingly determined that she was entitled to a pension of 2s. a week.

Will the right hon. Gentleman let me have a copy of that inspector's report?

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether in cases of alleged valuation of a man's means of living, in connection with an old age pension, by pension officers in Ireland, there is any scale drawn up by the Treasury to guide the officer in coming to his decision, or whether it is left to himself to put on his own valuation, against which there is no appeal; what qualification these men have for such work; and whether he will consider the desirability, in fairness to all parties, of having the items set out in the pension officer's report and a copy sent to-the local pension committee?

No scale has been drawn up by the Treasury as a guide to pension officers in Ireland in estimating the value of means for purposes of the Old Age Pension Acts. The officers' estimates are based in each case on the result of their investigations and on their general knowledge of the locality. I am not aware of any qualifications in which pension officers as a class are lacking for this particular part of their duties. I do not understand the suggestion that there is no appeal against the officers' estimates of means. In every case the decision rests with pension authorities, i.e., with the local pension committee or with the Local Government Board on appeal, and these authorities are in no way bound by the officers' estimates. As regards the last part of the question, officers in Ireland' already have instructions which ensure-that committees will be furnished with all the particulars requisite for forming their own opinion on the question of means; and I am assured that there is no necessity for further instructions in the matter.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the pension officers are in the main English officials sent over in. connection with his Department, and that they have no local knowledge whatever?

On what basis does the pension officer estimate the weekly rental value of a room in a mud-wall cabin?

I must have notice of that question.

asked for what special purposes, as provided by the Public Works Loans Act, 1912, do the Public Works Loan Commissioners require £6,000,000 for the year 1912–13, as compared with £5,000,000 only in previous years; and is the additional £1,000,000 ear-marked?

The additional £1,000,000 has not been ear-marked, but it was thought advisable to increase the maximum amount which the Commissioners might lend to meet possible expansion in the demands for loans.

Did the Commissioners give no reason for asking for the additional million?

They gave the reason I have already read out in the answer. I do not know any other.

asked the Post master-General whether provision will be made for telegraph facilities at Parknasilla, county Kerry, before the tourist season opens next spring?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer of the 5th of August last, to which, I regret, I have nothing to add.

asked what was the extent of the punishment inflicted on Mr. J. E. Taylor, staff engineer at the Post Office, owing to his purchase of Marconi shares; and were any other Civil servants similarly punished for dealing in these shares?

Mr. Taylor has been reduced from the rank of staff engineer to that of assistant superintending engineer, the respective scales being £520 by £20 to £700 and £420 by £20 to £500. His actual salary is reduced from £540 to £500. No other officer of my Department, so far as my right hon. Friend is aware, has dealt in these shares.

Would it not have been fairer to await the Committee's Report before reducing this man?

Were steps taken to find out whether or not there were any other members of the staff of the Post Office who had information in regard to the agreement, and, if necessary to punish them; or has Mr. Taylor been made a scapegoat for somebody else? May I ask for an answer?

"Answer" and "Put the Question down."

asked the Postmaster-General when he expects to have the trunk telephone system installed in Longford; whether he is cognisant of the fact that this installation was promised by the late Mr. Hanbury when Postmaster- General in this House; whether all the necessary formalities have been concluded and the people who signed guarantees were informed they would have the telephone by Christmas; and will he now definitely state when he hopes to have the system installed?

I am not aware that any definite promise has been made as regards the date of opening of the Longford Exchange. Owing to the pressing nature of other telephone work in Ireland, particularly the provision of the new Dublin-Mullingar trunk lines, on which the utility of the Longford service largely depends, I am sorry I cannot at present furnish an approximate date for the completion of the work.

asked if the Wexford and Dublin trunk telephone is now working satisfactorily?

I am glad to say that although occasional difficulties are still experienced, partly in consequence of unfavourable weather, the trunk circuit between Dublin and Wexford has been working more satisfactorily of late.

asked the Post master-General by what method the names and addresses of farm labourers and other humble people who are depositors in the Post Office Savings Bank in Ireland can be obtained otherwise than through a Post Office official, as the names and addresses of these persons cannot be found in any directory, British or Irish; and whether he will inquire how an outside agency obtained those addresses?

There is no such thing as a list of Post Office Savings Bank depositors; and no one, even at the Central Savings Bank Office, could make a list of Irish depositors without consulting nearly two thousand ledgers, each weighing from four to seven pounds. Even then the list would not contain the names of Irish depositors who had opened their accounts at any post office in England, Scotland or Wales. So many persons in Ireland, as in the rest of the United Kingdom, are Savings Bank depositors, that any circular distributed broadcast, as was this circular, must reach persons who are depositors.

asked the President of the Board of Education if he is aware that on the 7th November the head master of W. school, Kensington, reported a serious charge against an assistant master named M.; whether a number of boys had been debauched, and what steps, if any, have been taken to save these children from a life of vice; whether the offender has fled from the country; and whether a careful record of cases of this kind is kept, and proper steps taken to make it impossible for such persons to be again employed in teaching in this country, according to the Sub-Committee's Report dated 15th November?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. I am unable to answer the second, third, and fourth parts of the question. A careful record is kept of all cases in which charges of this kind are made against teachers and are not satisfactorily met, and the hon. Member may be assured that, so far as the Board's jurisdiction extends, teachers who are guilty of such conduct will never be permitted to teach again.

asked the President of Board of Trade whether he is aware that sugar in bags is carried from Hamburg to Goole in the steamers of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company, transhipped at Goole into the railway trucks of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company, and carried through out from Hamburg to Manchester at a rate of 15s. 1d. per ton; that the rate for the same class of traffic, sugar in bags, from Goole to Manchester is 15s. 10d. per ton; and that sugar and other imported articles can, by preferential rates, be conveyed from Hamburg into Manchester cheaper than the same traffic can be brought from Goole to Manchester; and whether he will take steps, by legislation or otherwise, to prevent this preferential treatment of the foreign importer?

I have communicated with the railway company with regard to my hon. Friend's question, and am sending him a copy of their reply.

asked the President of the Local Government Board if he is aware that the dead body of a girl, A. N., of Islington, was taken home from the infirmary on 5th May and remained in an unscrewed coffin for three days; that a woman and three children lived, ate, and slept in the same room; whether the medical officer of health for Islington investigated the circumstances and reported that no action could be taken under the Public Health Act; and if he will consider the desirability of holding an inquiry into the matter?

I have made inquiries in regard to this matter. The facts were not reported to the medical officer of health until twenty-two days after the child's death, and he then investigated the circumstances. I am informed that during the time that the body was awaiting burial the family had the use of a second room for domestic purposes. I do not think there would be any advantage in holding an inquiry into the matter.

If I supply my right hon. Friend with a copy of the printed agenda paper of the Education Authority bearing out the facts as I have stated them will he give the matter further consideration?

Certainly

asked the President of the Local Government Board if his attention has been called to the case of E. V. D., of Battersea, who has been rescued from a life of vice; whether he is aware that the officers of the Children Act reported that her father, mother, and five children under seventeen years, together with a married daughter, her husband, and two children, lived in a room with one bed; and whether he has instituted an inquiry into the housing condition of the neighbourhood and into the administration of the Health Acts by the local authority?

My attention has not been drawn to the case referred to. I have been in communication with the borough council of Battersea in regard to the question of my hon. Friend, but they have no information on the subject.

Will the right hon. Gentleman inquire from the officers referred to in the question, the officers administering the Children Act—passed by the present Postmaster-General—and see whether he cannot get full information from them?

Beyond the reply from the Battersea Borough Council, I have made application to the London County Council. So far I have heard nothing from them on the matter; but I am quite willing to make further investigation into this case.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is aware that in the Gold Coast Colony, recently, a white man named Evans, found guilty of stealing amalgam valued at £75, was sentenced to one day's imprisonment, and that a coloured man named Blisset, who had served the Government for twenty-three years, was sentenced to three years' imprisonment upon a charge of falsifying labour pay sheets for the sum of 25s., and the assessors in this case unanimously expressed the opinion that Blisset was innocent; and whether such contrasts of judicial decisions will receive consideration, with a view to the remission of Blisset's sentence?

:I am aware of the cases referred to by my hon. Friend, and have already had before mo the evidence in the trial of Stationmaster Blisset. I am making further inquiries, and shall give the matter full consideration when the reports for which I have called are available.

May the man be set at liberty, or allowed bail, pending inquiry?

No; I could not suggest that from what I have heard of the evidence.

asked whether any and, if so, what schemes of afforestation have been proposed for any districts in South Kerry?

The Department have not acquired any land in South Kerry for the purpose of their scheme of afforestation. Only one suitable block has been offered in this district, and the Department have at present under consideration the question of its acquisition.

asked how many applications have been received for the planting of fruit trees in South Kerry; and how many have been complied with?

No applications for loans for the purchase of fruit trees appear to have been received from residents in the Parliamentary Division of South Kerry. Three such applications (representing thirty-five individuals) have, however, been received from the districts of Milltown, Killorglin and Muckross, and all have been granted subject to the Regulations of the Department's loan scheme being complied with.

asked how-many applications have been made from the county Tyrone for fruit trees during the past year; and what is the present state of the fruit industry in that county?

No application for a loan under the Department's scheme of loans for the purchase of fruit trees has been received from county Tyrone. From information supplied by the horticultural instructor for that county it appears that over 5,000 trees were planted by residents in the county under his supervision in the past year. The area under fruit in county Tyrone in 1912 was 586 acres, an increase of 94 acres over the previous year, which relatively compares favourably with other counties. The fruit industry in county Tyrone is progressing, and the outlook is distinctly favourable.

asked who recommended Mr. William Ellison Macartney, late Deputy-Master of the Mint, for the position of a Governor of one of the Australian Colonies; was it done by any Australian State Government; and is it usual to confer such high appointments on gentlemen associated with opposite political parties?

Mr. Macartney was recommended by me to His Majesty as being an official of experience and capacity. I do not attach importance to the political opinions of those I select for Colonial Governorships.

How many "Molly Maguircs" applied for this job?

asked the number of officials in the Dominions Department of the Colonial Office; and what number of rooms is allocated to their use?

The number of officials in the Dominions Division is eight, and in the Dominions sub-registry seven, besides one of the confidential clerks, as the Noble Lord will see stated on pages xiv., v., of the Colonial Office List for 1912; to these officials nine rooms are allocated. This statement should be qualified by adding that a considerable amount of general business common to both the Dominions and Crown Colonies is dealt with by a staff common to both divisions.

Do I understand that these people belong not to a separate Department, but are detailed for duty from time to time; that they do other duty beside that appertaining to the Dominions?

No, Sir, they deal with the Dominion questions.

asked (1) the total number of women and children who have left this country for the Dominion of Canada under the auspices of the Imperial Reunion Association of Canada during the year 1912; (2) if he will lay upon the Table of the House particulars relating to the Imperial Reunion Association of Canada, showing where in Canada the association exists, together with the names of different committees in Canada associated therewith?

I have no official correspondence regarding the association, but I am informed that since the association was started by the Winnipeg Industrial Bureau in 1911 branches have been established at Vancouver, Nelson, Calgary, Edmonton, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Red Deer, Regina, Moose Jaw, Saskatoon, Yorkton, Brandon, Winnipeg, Toronto, Hamilton, Peterborough, Ottawa, Brant-ford, Montreal, and St. John (New Brunswick). I have not seen any complete figures for 1912, but I understand that up to August last 1,542 wives and children of men who had emigrated were assisted out to Winnipeg.

asked the President of the Board of Agriculture whether he is in a position to make any statement regarding the importation of Irish store cattle into Scotland and England?

asked whether the right hon. Gentleman is now in a position to withdraw the restriction imposing four days' quarantine on store cattle exported from Ireland to Great Britain; and, in view of the position of Munster and Con-naught in connection with the disease, will he at least take off the above-named restriction from those provinces?

I am in consultation with my right hon. Friend the Vice-President of the Irish Department on this subject, and for the present I am able to say that the restrictions on exports to British ports from counties Londonderry, Tyrone, Monaghan, and parts of Armagh and Fermanagh are being modified, and animals will be received here from these districts under the same Regulations as apply at present to the larger part of Ireland. From Meath the export of fat stock will be resumed on the issue of the necessary Order by the Irish Department.

May I ask when the right hon. Gentleman will issue Orders to enable those regulations to take effect—will he do so to-day or to-morrow?

When may we expect the port of Londonderry to be thrown open?

It is a question of preparing and issuing the necessary Orders. It is a dangerous thing to make any statement in the House, because, as I explained before, statements in the House are acted upon by the people, who begin to move their cattle.

Did not the right hon. Gentleman, in an interview, in Dublin, with the hon. Member for Fermanagh, intimate on Saturday last that the port of Londonderry would be open to-day?

No.

asked the Prime Minister whether his attention has been called to a resolution passed unanimously by the County Council of Donegal on 17th December, asking that a Commission be at once appointed to inquire into the present outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in England and in Ireland, and expressing the desire that such Commission should consist of persons not officially connected with Departments directly concerned; and whether any steps will be taken to comply with this request?

asked whether, if a desire is expressed by the majority of those representing the cattle industry in Ireland that a committee of inquiry be appointed to investigate the loss to that country consequent on the restrictions and conditions imposed upon the landing of its live stock in Great Britain during the Litter portion of this year, and to report upon the future prospect of cattle raising in Ireland in the event of a continuance of this year's regulations being enforced periodically, and to report generally upon what rules should regulate the transit of cattle from one country to the other, he will accede to their request?

I have considered the matter very carefully, but I still adhere to the opinion which I have already expressed that no useful purpose would be served at present by the appointment of such a Commission as is suggested.

asked whether, in view of the repeated expressions of opinion in the Dominions and the Dominion Parliaments that they, the Dominions, should be represented in the Councils of Empire, he will communicate officially with the Governments of the different. Dominions overseas?

My right hon. Friend the Colonial Secretary has recently sent to the Dominions a dispatch on this subject which we hope shortly to lay before Parliament.

asked the Prime Minister, whether, in view of the feeling which prevails throughout both this country and the Dominions overseas, some immediate steps can be taken with a view to the creation of a chamber to which all matters concerning the welfare of the Empire as a whole could be submitted; and whether he will, during the remaining part of the present Session, make some pronouncement as to the views of His Majesty's Government thereon?

As I recently said, I think it is premature to make any statement on this subject.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many applications under Section 5 of the Finance Act, 1911, for a reduction of Licence Duty have been received by the Commissioners of Customs and Excise; how many of these applications have been decided upon; how many of them have been granted; and how many refused?

One hundred and forty-two applications have been received, of which ten have been granted, seventy-four refused, fifty-four are still undecided, and four have been withdrawn.

Can the right hon. Gentleman take steps to see that this Clause of the Act is more generally applied in regard to the figures showing how it works?

I can only consider the cases as they come.

Having regard to the small number of applications, will the right hon. Gentleman take steps to see they are fully inquired into?

Certainly. They have been inquired into very carefully indeed.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his attention has been called to the bad minting of some of the new copper coins; and whether he will call the attention of the Mint authorities to the subject?

If, as I presume, the hon. Member has in mind the striking of coins where the impression of the obverse die is noticeable on the reverse, I would refer him to the explanations given by my right hon. Friend the Financial Secretary to the Treasury to the hon. Member for North Somerset in Debate on the 25th June last.

Will the right hon. Gentleman endeavour to have a few really minted coins placed in the tea room to show what the Mint can do?

asked whether a letter is being sent to many auctioneers and estate agents by the secret Land Inquiry Committee asking them to say whether, in the district in which their practice is most extensive, there is brisk, good, fair, slack, poor, or non-existent demand by tenants to occupy shops, offices, factories, work shops, and other manufacturing premises; and if this inquiry is made with his sanction and authority, either as Chancellor of the Exchequer or in any other capacity?

As I have repeatedly stated, it is for the Committee to determine its own procedure.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that until it is definitely known what Grant-in-Aid is to be provided by the Treasury, Irish county councils are reluctant to adopt Part II. of the Tuberculosis Act, 1908, with its financial responsibilities; and whether he will take an early opportunity of intimating the amount of the Treasury Grant?

The Irish Local Government Board are now preparing a circular explaining the distribution of the Grant, including the additional sum to be provided in connection with the provision for non-insured persons.

When may we expect the circular to reach the county councils?

I will inquire of the Irish Local Government Board. I think it is more strictly a question for the Irish Office.

Will it be in the hands of the Irish county councils at their next meeting, which is 10th January?

I will see.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if, with a view of inducing the best class of recruit to join the Regular Forces of the country, he can hold out any hope that he will, in the Budget for the coming year, make such provision as may be necessary to cover the expense which would be incurred if permission is granted by the Departments concerned for the non-commissioned officers and men of both Services, on leaving the Navy and Army and subsequently joining the Civil Service of the State, to count the years they have given their services to the country in the former to count for pensions in the latter?

I fear that I cannot undertake to make provision for the purpose suggested.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether he has yet made his promised in- quiry in reference to the memorandum on Indian soldiers' leave?

The memorandum was addressed only to general officers commanding brigades in the Secunderabad Division and related only to furloughs in 1912–13 for non-commissioned officers of the Unattached List—i.e., in non-regimental employ—in that division. It made no change in the regulations which require six years' service in India before furlough can be taken, and had no bearing on soldiers' furloughs generally. Unattached List furloughs are allotted to each division in proportion to the number of men eligible, and in the Secunderabad Division there were eight furloughs for forty-six men. In view of the claims of senior men-the general officers of brigades were informed that applications of men under ten years' service need not be forwarded in 1912–13 as they could not be successful.

asked by whom the cost of cabling to England summaries of Indian Press comments in: the speech recently delivered at Cheltenham by the Secretary of State for India was borne?

The Secretary of State, following the practice of his predecessors, is in daily telegraphic correspondence; with the Viceroy on matters of public interest affecting India, and the charge for the telegram referred to, as for all similar communications, was borne by Indian revenues.

May I ask the hon. Gentleman whether he thinks the expenses of telegrams for political purposes should be debited to the public service?

The hon. Member is not entitled to ask the opinion of a Minister.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether his attention has been called to proposals for securing the sanitation and amenities of the new Delhi by damming the River Jumna made by Sir Bradford Leslie; and whether they will be brought before the new Delhi Town-Planning Committee for their consideration and assistance?

The hon. Member no doubt refers to a paper on Delhi read by Sir Bradford Leslie at a meeting of the Royal Society of Arts. A copy has been sent to the Government of India.

Will the Secretary of State put them forward? Will he support these proposals?

I will convey the hon. Member's desire in that respect to the Secretary of State.

asked whether it is proposed to publish the Report of the Committee appointed to advise on the site and planning of the new Delhi?

A copy of the Report will be placed at once in the Library. But it should be understood that until the Committee make their final recommendations the Report does not bind in any way either the Government of India or the Committee.

asked whether it is intended to set aside a site in the new Delhi for a cathedral; if so, whether the site has already been decided upon; and whether the building to be erected will be entirely raised by voluntary donations?

The sites for buildings at Delhi have not yet been allocated. It may be assumed that a site will be set apart for a church. The questions whether it will be a cathedral church, and the funds out of which it will be built, have not, so far as the Secretary of State is aware, yet arisen.

asked the Chief Secretary whether the Congested Districts Board has recently approached the land lord of the Myles O'Mahoney estate, near Beaufort with a view to its purchase; and, if not, whether negotiations will now be reopened?

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given to his question on this subject on the]7th October, to which I have nothing to add. Mr. Myles O'Mahoney is only a trustee for the owners of the Sugrue estate.

asked whether the farm of Leabeg, with turbary attached to same, is included in the proposed sale to the Congested Districts Board of the estate of Sir N. R. O'Conor, Dundermott, Ballymore, county Roscommon; and, if not, whether the attention of the Con- gested Districts Board will be called to the necessity of including it,in view of the amount of turbary, and to the fact that there are two tenants upon it whose valuations are, respectively, 10s. and 15s. per annum?

The town land referred to has not been offered for sale to the Congested Districts Board. The owners have been asked to sell a portion of the town land, and negotiations are pending in the matter.

asked whether the Congested Districts Board has received a memorial from the tenants on the estate of Mr. C. M. O'Conor, of Mount Druid, Bellanagare, county Roscommon, requesting the Board to exercise their powers for the purchase of this estate; and whether, in view of the fact that seventeen out of twenty-two tenants on this estate occupy holdings valued under £7, the Board will take all the necessary steps to have the estate purchased as soon as possible?

The Congested Districts Board have received memorials asking them to purchase portion of this estate, and they are now in communication with the owner on the subject.

asked whether, seeing that the tenants of the Hayes estate, county Donegal, signed agreements to purchase their holdings at a reduction of 7s. in the £, to take effect immediately upon the completion of the agreement, he will explain why the Congested Districts Board are now collecting the old rents from the tenants up to the 4th January- next, as the tenants regarded the immediate reduction of their rents as one of the chief inducements to the sale?

The hon. Member appears to be under a misapprehension. One of the conditions of the undertakings signed by the tenants was to the effect that if the Congested Districts Board purchased the estate the tenants would, when required by the Board, purchase their holdings, if unaltered, at prices which would give them certain specified reductions on their present rents. The Board have purchased this estate, and have not yet decided what holdings require alterations, and the prices of those holdings cannot therefore be fixed. The Board are collecting the old rent from the tenants this year as provided for in the undertaking which the tenants signed. All tenants on estates purchased by the Board are required to pay full rent during the first year's collection.

asked whether the right hon. Gentleman will explain why the holding of James Harrington, Garryandrew, Edgeworthstown, on the estate of Barry Fox, a minor, for which he signed an agreement to purchase on the same terms and at the same time as the other tenants, has not been vested in him; whether all the other tenants have now got their vesting orders; and will he cause an inquiry to be made into the case with a view to the immediate vesting of this man's holding in him?

This estate is the subject of proceedings for sale direct by the owner to the tenants. The majority of the purchase agreements were lodged in October, 1908, but the agreement signed by James Harrington was not lodged until December, 1910. The proceedings for sale were instituted by the trustees for the owner who was a minor at the time. He came of age before Harrington's agreement was lodged, and the agreement was signed by him as owner. The vesting of Harrington's holding will be carried out as soon as the necessary legal steps continuing the proceedings for sale in the name of the present owner have been completed.

Am I to understand that this tenant is not being excluded?

No, he is not being excluded. The delay is owing to the fact that the owner of the estate became of age between the time the estate first became the subject matter of a sale and this particular tenant coming to an agreement.

asked if the right hon. Gentleman can give a Return of the estates, if any, which have been purchased since the passing of the Land Act of 1909, under the provisions of Section 60 of that Act; and can he state why this Section has been ignored in numerous cases in which landlords refused to sell their estates through the Board or in which agreements as to price, etc., were not arrived at?

The Congested Districts Board have not acquired any estates compulsorily. Final offers under the provisions of Section 60 of the Irish Land Act of 1909 have been made by the Board in twenty-two cases, of which ten have been accepted by the owners and the remaining cases are still pending.

Have the Estates Commissioners acquired any estates there compulsorily?