asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether, in Ireland, in the case of a woman whose husband is an insured person and who, in her confinement, procures the attendance of the dispensary doctor or dispensary midwife under the provisions of the Medical Charities Acts, there is any liability, under Section 18 of the National Insurance Act, to deduction from the maternity benefit of any payment for such doctor or midwife; and, if not, whether the entire sum of 30s. will be payable without deduction?

Under the Medical Charities Acts only "poor persons" are eligible to receive a dispensary ticket from a guardian or relieving officer requiring the attendance of a dispensary medical officer free of charge. The question of whether a particular applicant is a poor person is one that would require to be determined by reference to the circumstances of the particular case, and though the receipt of maternity benefit might be a relevant consideration, no general answer which would apply to all cases can be given beforehand. I would refer my hon. Friend to an answer given by my right hon. Friend the President of the Local Government Board on the 23rd instant with regard to a somewhat similar question under the English Poor Law.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many claims for unemployment benefit have been received up to 25th January throughout the United Kingdom and for each district separately; if he can state how many of these had been granted and refused, respectively, in each division and the time generally taken to come to a decision; and, if any, how many cases have been referred to the Courts of Referees or Umpire?

The following is a statement showing the total number of claims to unemployment insurance benefit made up to and including 25th January, 1913: London and South-Eastern Division, 53,847; South-Western Division, 9,697; West Midlands Division, 8,071; Yorkshire and East Midlands Division, 15,948; Northwestern Division, 20,233; Scotland and Northern Division, 17,970; Wales Division, 2,918; Ireland Division, 9,538. Total-United Kingdom, 138,222.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) whether he is aware that the only gentleman whose name appeared on the panel of chemists for Dovercourt, Essex, at the time of the coming into operation of the National Insurance Act had then and still has no dispensary and no drugs to dispense, and, moreover, refuses to dispense or to supply drugs; whether the gentleman in question made any application to have his name put on the panel, and, if so, when and to whom was the application made; whether it is necessary for any forms or papers to be filled up and signed by a person desiring or consenting to be put on the panel; if so, which of such forms were so filled up and signed by the gentleman referred to; whether it is intended to take any steps to secure for the Dovercourt district a panel of chemists able and willing to dispense; whether steps will forthwith be taken in the interests of insured persons to remove from all panels of chemists the names of a gentleman not in a position to dispense or supply drugs; and (2) whether the insurance committee for Dovercourt, Essex, reported to the Insurance Commissioners, in accordance with the directions contained in Memorandum 132/lc, the number of acceptances received from chemists, etc.; when such report was made; how many acceptances did such report notify; whether the committee in such report expressed their opinion as to the adequacy of that number for the service of the area; and whether the Commissioners considered the circumstances satisfactory, and immediately authorised the committee to proceed to print their lists of chemists for circulation in the manner indicated in paragraph 23 of Memorandum 131/lc?

I am informed by the Essex Insurance Committee that there is no separate panel for Dovercourt; that the gentleman referred to in the question was placed on the first list as he had accepted the invitation to join the panel, but that as he has not signed the formal agreement required to be signed by persons desiring to supply medicines for insured persons, his name will be taken off the revised list, which is now in proof. The Essex Insurance Committee reported the number of acceptances received from chemists, etc., on the 1st January. This report showed eleven acceptances for the rural district of Tendring, in which Dovercourt is situated. As this number appeared to be adequate for the services of that district, the Commissioners authorised the committee to proceed with the necessary arrangements. An additional chemist has now joined the, panel, and there are at the present moment eleven chemists in the Tendring Rural District, including one in Harwich, of which Dovercourt is practically a suburb, and the committee are of opinion that insured persons living in Dovercourt will, therefore, have no difficulty in obtaining medicine.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether, under Section 21 of the National Insurance Act, the Commissioners are prepared to make grants for the support of nurses who are attending persons insured in friendly societies, as well as for the support of those nurses who are attending deposit contributors; if not, what practical means can a district nursing association take to make arrangements for remuneration for nursing insured persons; does any machinery exist by which an agreement can be made by a local nursing association with the multitude of approved societies collectively; and if, now that arrangements with doctors are completed, he will undertake that serious consideration shall be given to the need of making financial and other arrangements for the nursing of insured persons as provded in the Act?

The Commissioners have no funds from which to make any grant for the support of district nurses. Under Section 21 of the Act an approved society or an insurance committee may subscribe for this purpose, and experience of the working of the Act is necessary to show what will be the effect of this provision.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury why an old age pension of 5s. per week granted by the Foxford sub-pension committee, county Mayo, to Mary Roache, Fisherhill, has been reduced to 3s. per week; and can he give details of the pension officer's latest estimate of her means?

I am making inquiries in this case, and will communicate the result to the hon. Member in due course.

asked the Chief Secretary whether his attention has been called to a meeting of the county Kerry old age pension committee in reference to the resignation of the Ardfert pension committee; whether he agrees with the views of the pension officer, as stated in this report, in estimating the means of applicants; whether it is the policy of the Local Government Board for Ireland that the sons of Irish farmers should not get married and take over their father's farms until their fathers die; and whether, under all the circumstances, he will order a public inquiry into the whole matter?

I have seen a newspaper report of the meeting referred to. In the three cases which led to the resignation of the Ardfert pension committee the Local Government Board agreed with the pension officer that the value of the maintenance and other privileges enjoyed by the claimants exceeded £31 10s. a year. The failure of these three people to obtain pensions is not, in the Board's opinion, likely to interfere with the matrimonial prospects of the young people in Kerry. If marriages are arranged and farms transferred with the object of securing pensions for the owners, the Old Age Pensions Act expressly precludes the old people from securing any advantage by the transfer. As I have already informed the hon. Member, there does not appeal to be any necessity for a public inquiry in this matter.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland how many evicted tenants in county Meath were provided with their own or equivalent holdings, and how many are still unprovided for?

Eighty-four county Meath evicted tenants have been reinstated in their former holdings, or provided with others. One application has been noted for consideration in the allotment of untenanted land acquired by the Estates Commissioners, and five applications will be further considered when the Commissioners are dealing with the estates on which the applicants' former holdings are situated.

also asked whether the Estates Commissioners have acquired the lands of Footstown Great, near Lobinstown, Slane, county Meath; and, if so, whether it is intended to divide the lands between deserving local applicants who are occupiers of uneconomic holdings?

The reply to the first paragraph of the question is in the affirmative. When the Estates Commissioners are preparing a scheme for the division of the lands they will have due regard to the wants and circumstances of the small holders in the locality.

asked the Chief Secretary how far the negotiations with reference to the sale to the Congested Districts Board of the Boyton, Burton, and Colquhoun estates, in the parish of Inver, county Donegal, have proceeded; and what steps, if any, have been taken to bring these proceedings to a speedy termination, having regard to the injury and disappointment to which the tenants of these estates have been subjected by the prolonged delay of a definite settlement?

The Congested Districts Board have been in communication with Mrs. C. M. Boyton, but the maps and documents necessary for a preliminary inspection of the estate to be made with a view to a sale have not so far been lodged with the Board. The Board have made an offer for the purchase of the estate of Colonel B. J. Barton, and they are still in correspondence with the owner's solicitors regarding it. The maps and documents necessary for a preliminary inspection of the Colquhoun estate were lodged with the Board in November last, and a decision will be arrived at regarding purchase as soon as practicable. No avoidable delay has taken place in the negotiations which have been proceeding for the purchase of these properties.

asked the Chief Secretary whether the Estates Commissioners propose giving to Robert Sanders, J.P., of Charleville, county Cork, portion of a property which they have acquired at Dunboyne, county Meath, in consideration of his surrendering an evicted farm to enable them to restore the evicted tenant to his holding; whether the Commissioners are aware that Sanders holds a number of other evicted farms for which he may claim more of the untenanted lands of Meath; whether he is aware that Sanders is a landlord, and that it was not the intention of Parliament by the Purchase Act to enable Irish landlords to enlarge their land properties; whether the rumoured intention of the Commissioners in this instance is irrevocable; and, if not, whether they can secure other land which is not so needed for local demands as are the lands at Dunboyne by the people in their immediate vicinity?

The Estates Commissioners have allotted to Mr. Sanders a holding in county Meath, in lieu of a holding surrendered by him in county Limerick, at the request of the Commissioners, to facilitate the reinstatement of an evicted tenant. The Commissioners are aware that Mr. Sanders holds other lands, but they cannot say whether these include evicted lands. When the Commissioners consider it desirable to reinstate an evicted tenant in his former holding, it is in a number of cases practically impossible to induce the holder to surrender the holding without allotting him other lands in exchange, and if any obstacles are placed in the way of this being done, the difficulty of reinstating evicted tenants will be greatly increased. Mr. Sanders has signed a purchase agreement for the farm in question and has been given possession, and the matter cannot be reopened.

asked what powers the Committee appointed to inquire into the system of inspection under the National Education Board has to safeguard those who give evidence before it?

The Committee has no statutory powers in the matter, but I hope that the chairman will be in a position to make a statement which will be satisfactory to the teachers at the first sitting of the Committee.

asked the Chief Secretary the number of bankruptcies and arrangements in each of the four provinces in Ireland for each of the past five years, giving the figures for both the High Court and local Bankruptcy Courts?

submitted the following statement showing the number of bankruptcies and arrangements in Ireland for each of the five years, 1907–11, in the King's Bench Division (in Bankruptcy), Dublin, and the local Courts in Belfast and Cork:—

asked the Secretary for War if he is aware that a contract for painting at Borden Camp has been given to Mr. Wigginton, of Portsmouth; and whether, in view of the fact that this contractor violated the terms of the Fair-Wages Resolution when carrying out a contract for the War Office at Portsmouth, he will cancel the present contract and remove this firm from the list of contractors invited to tender for work for his Department?

The firm mentioned do not hold a contract for painting at Borden. I may, however, take this opportunity of stating that they have been warned that they will not be invited to tender for further contracts until they produce satisfactory evidence that the complaints brought against them of infringement of the Fair-Wages Clause cannot be substantiated.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if any commercial concessions in African Crown Colonies or territories have been granted by the Government during the last two years, or are under consideration; and, if so, if he will give particulars of the same?

The following concessions in the East Africa Protectorate have received the approval of the Secretary of State during the years 1911 and 1912. Except in four cases, they were transfers or modifications of previous grants, or were referred to me by the Governor for my decision, in view of the area of land already held by the applicants, the power of the Governor to sanction the acquisition of land by an individual, whether acquired by original grant or transfer or both, being limited to a maximum of 15,000 acres.Leases of land for the cultivation of fibre were granted to Mr. C. Hirtzel, the Deutsche Englische Ost Afrika Company, Mr. F. Shelford, and Mr. G. P. Stevens, on the same conditions in each case. The leases were for twenty-five years at a rent of £50 a year, for an area of fifty square miles, subject to a royalty on produce.An agreement was entered into on 26th January, 1911, with Messrs. M. Samuel and Co., in supplement of the original concession of the 20th of September, 1909, for the working of the soda deposits of Lake Magadi. Lake Magadi and an area of about eighteen square miles near the north end of the Natron Lake were leased to this company on the 12th of April, 1911, and a further contract was entered into with the same company on 13th April, 1911, for the construction, maintenance, and working of a railway to the lake as a branch of the Uganda Railway. The land referred to is leased for a term of ninety-nine years, subject to the payment of a royalty of 2s. on every ton of raw soda, and a royalty of 3s. on every ton of soda, soda products, or soda contained in manufactured soda. As regards the railway to the lake, the company is to construct the line at their own expense and equip it with all necessary works, apparatus, and conveniences other than rolling stock necessary for the handling of the traffic. The railway is to be handed over to the Uganda Railway Administration to be worked and maintained in working order, and the Government will provide and maintain all necessary rolling stock.In March, 1911, an agreement was entered into for the transfer to Voi Plantations, Limited, of the fibre concessions previously held by the London and South African Agency, which had gone into liquidation. The area thus transferred consists of about 200 square miles in the Teita district of the Seejidie Province. The term of the lease is twenty-five years from the 1st September, 1906, the yearly rental is Rupees 3,000, royalties are paid to the Government on all produce of the land leased, and the company is required to expend £5,000 on permanent improvements within five years from the date of transfer.In May, 1911, approval was given for the transfer of a farm of 5,015 acres held by Mr. A. B. Duirs in the Fort Hall distrist—to Sisal, Limited.In October, 1911, approval was given for the transfer of 14,000 acres of land held by Messrs. Atkinson Brothers to Lord Cranworth. Of this holding, 5,000 acres had been granted to Messrs. Atkinson Brothers direct by the Crown and 9,000 acres had been purchased from Mr. A. M. Ortlepp.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will lay upon the Table the instructions to the British delegates to the International Opium Conference, held at The Hague in December, 1912, to January, 1913, in continuation of the instructions to the British delegates to the International Opium Commission at Shanghai in 1909, which were published in Parliamentary Paper [Cd. 4898.]

I am prepared to lay the instructions when permission to publish a note from the United States Government, contained in them has been received.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many times railway companies have been challenged to show before the Railway and Canal Commission the justification of a rise of rates or withdrawal of facilities since the Railway and Canal Traffic Act of 1894 became operative; and in how many cases were the railway companies able to prove justification?

A large number of complaints under Section 1 of the Railway and Canal Traffic Act, 1894, were withdrawn or settled before the hearing. Of the twenty-seven cases actually heard by the Railway and Canal Commission sixteen were decided in favour of the railway companies, and six against them, and in five cases the judgment was partly for the companies and partly for the complainants. Separate complaints which appear to have related to the same matter have been counted as one case in these figures.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been called to the inquiry into the case of the steamship "Apollo," with Captain J. N. Shearlaw, master, recently held in Glasgow, in which the master and officers were exonerated from blame at the Board of Trade inquiry, but nevertheless were required to pay the costs of the defence; whether there is any provision in the Board of Trade rules as to the costs in such inquiries being borne by the Board of Trade in such cases; and whether he will instruct the solicitors to the Board of Trade in such cases not to oppose applications for costs on the part of masters and officers who are so exonerated from blame, as the result of the inquiry, in future?

I have not yet received the Official Report of this Inquiry, but I understand that the master and officers were not found in default. An application made to the Court by the master's representative for the payment of his costs was opposed by the solicitor representing the Board of Trade, and the Court declined to make any order. Under the Rules made by the Lord Chancellor under Section 479 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, the Court may order the costs and expenses of the investigation, or any part thereof, to be paid by the Board of Trade or by any other party. It has not been the practice of the Board of Trade to agree to bear the costs incurred by parties to such inquiries, and as at present advised I am not prepared to alter the practice in the manner indicated.

asked the Secretary for Scotland the weight of fish of all kinds delivered in Aberdeen during the year 1911?

The quantities of wet fish and shell fish landed at Aberdeen in 1911 and 1912 were as follows:—