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, is legally entitled to 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?

If, as a matter of fact, the wife of an insured person has received attendance on confinement from a dispensary doctor or midwife free of charge under the provisions of the Medical Charities Acts, the maternity benefit in respect of her husband's insurance under the National Insurance Act would be payable, under the ordinary conditions, without deduction.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether the widow of a man deceased, who had paid the first quarter's insurance premium fully, is entitled to maternity benefit for the birth of a posthumous child?

Maternity benefit in respect of the husband's insurance is not payable unless and until the husband has been insured twenty-six weeks and twenty-six contributions have been paid by or in respect of him. In the case mentioned if the widow were herself an employed contributor she would be entitled to sickness benefit on the usual conditions in respect of the incapacity caused by the confinement.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether a roadman employed by a rural district council to do guttering at so much per rood and to break stones at so much per yard is treated by the National Health Commissioners as an employed person within the meaning of the National Insurance Act?

The conditions of employment vary so widely in different districts that it is not possible to make any general statement. Where any doubt arises a case may be submitted through the local officer of Customs and Excise for the decision of the Commissioners under Section 66 of the Act.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will state the estimated amount of money which will be expended upon insured persons for benefits and cost of administration of benefits under the National Insurance Act during the months of January, February, and March, 1913, treating one-fourth of the cost of medical benefit for the year 1913 as being expended in those months?

The expenditure on insured persons for benefits and the cost of administration during the months of January, February, and March, 1913, estimated as nearly as the circumstances of the case permit, is £3,970,000.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether two-ninths and one-fourth of the cost of benefits obtained under the National Insurance Act by the expenditure of the £1,825,000 to be provided by the Supplementary Estimate will be payable out of moneys provided by Parliament; and, if so, when the Estimate for this additional charge will be presented?

The answer is in the negative. The proposed new Grants are outside the Act altogether. The obligation under the Act to pay two-ninths (or one-fourths) of the cost of benefits out of moneys provided by Parliament is combined with that of paying seven-ninths (or three-fourths) out of contributions. Where nothing is paid out of contributions, nothing is payable out of moneys provided by Parliament under Section 3 of the Act.

asked how much of the Supplementary Estimates in Class II., No. 16, Friendly Societies Registry, and in Class II., No. 24, Stationery and Printing, and in Class II., No. 26, Office of Works, are due to the National Insurance Act?

The additional work undertaken by the Chief Registrar of Friendly Societies in connection with the Insurance Act has been dealt with as a part of the general work of the office. No part of the Supplementary Estimate, which is required mainly for the payment of the increased staff, can, therefore, be allocated to the Insurance Act, and the whole of the increased staff will be required for the future work of the office after the extra work under the National Insurance Act has come to an end. Of the Supplementary Estimates for the Votes of the Stationery Office and the Office of Works, about £139,500 and £2,000, respectively, are due to work in connection with the Insurance Act.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether the four doctors engaged by the Isle of Ely Insurance Committee to give medical treatment to insured persons in the district of Chatteris and Wisbech are also permitted to undertake private practice?

Yes, Sir.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury what provision is made for paying the travelling expenses incurred by an insured person ordered to proceed to a town eighteen or twenty miles distant from the town in which he resides in order to be medically examined in connection with a claim for sanatorium benefit; and whether arrangements can be made for the examination of insured persons claiming sanatorium benefit by a local doctor?

I am advised that the payment of travelling expenses in the circumstances referred to in the first part of the question may properly be treated as expenses incurred for the purpose of administering sanatorium benefit, and that, if the circumstances of the applicant warrant it, such expenses might properly be defrayed by the insurance committee. With regard to the second part of the question, it rests with the insurance committee concerned to decide what arrangements shall be made to ascertain whether applicants are in fact suffering from tuberculosis.

asked the Postmaster-General to what positions under the National Insurance Act officers belonging to the supplementary establishment of the Post Office have been promoted or transferred, the scales of pay attaching to those positions, and the office to which these officers were attached when serving in the Post Office; and whether, before selection was made, opportunity was given to all officers on the supplementary establishment to apply for those posts?

Seven supplementary clerks in the Post Office have been transferred to positions created under the National Insurance Act, namely, four from the Secretary's Office, two from the Stores Department, and one from the Engineer-in-Chief's Office. One of the officers from the Secretary's Office obtained a post on scale £300—£400; the other officers received appointments on scale £100—£350. The number of appointments offered was too few to justify any general invitation to apply.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if he is aware that the doctors of Wexford town and county have refused to sign certificates under the National Insurance Act, 1911, for employed contributors under that Act who are sick because no satisfactory arrangements have been made with the doctors by the Commissioners for their remuneration; will he say whether the Commissioners have power to sanction proper remuneration for the doctors for the supplying of the certificates; and, seeing that under this Act the poor people who are sick cannot obtain relief until these certificates are furnished every week by the doctors, will he say what steps the Commissioners intend to take to prevent a deadlock in the county Wexford?

The Irish Commissioners have no information to the effect that the doctors of Wexford have refused to sign certificates for employed contributors claiming sickness benefit. Societies are not bound to require medical certificates as evidence of sickness for the purpose of giving sickness benefit, and the alternatives which may be adopted under their rules are fully explained in the Approved Societies' Handbook which has recently been issued to all societies and branches in Ireland. A further circular calling special attention to these alternatives is being issued in addition to all societies and branches.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury why it is that the county insurance committee for Middlesex has not yet made arrangements at post offices and other places for issuing such particulars as are necessary to bring to the notice of insured persons their right to select a practitioner on the panel and their rights with respect to obtaining treatment in some other manner?

The Middlesex insurance committees have issued notices containing lists of medical practitioners to the post offices and other places in their area, and these notices draw special attention to the right of any insured person in Middlesex to apply to any of such medical practitioners, and a notice has been issued by the committees as to applications from persons desiring to make their own arrangements.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether it is proposed in the month of July to issue a revised edition of the Handbook to the Administration of Sickness and Maternity Benefits by Approved Societies; and, if so, whether he will consider the advisability of adding an Index to the revised edition?

Yes, Sir. An Index to the provisional edition and to certain circulars, which were in course of preparation when the Handbook was published, has been prepared, and will be issued in a few days, and this Index will be included in the revised edition of the Handbook, which will be issued about the middle of this year.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if women employed in subsidiary work in trades included under Part II. the National Insurance Act are to be compulsorily insured against unemployment; and if ho is aware that in the Coventry workshops where women are employed 2½d. a week is being deducted from their wages for unemployment insurance?

Female workpeople, as well as male workpeople, are included within the scope of the scheme of unemployment insurance if they are employed in an insured trade. The question whether in any particular case they are so employed is one to be determined by the Umpire.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether a bricklayer, who is an insured person under Part II. of the Act, who is thrown out of work owing to stress of weather, is eligible for unemployment benefit?

My right hon. Friend has asked me to answer this question. The answer to the question is, speaking generally, in the affirmative, but of course the workman must comply with the statutory condition that ho is unable to obtain suitable employment, and he must be prepared to take such employment if available.

asked the Secretary to Treasury whether the taking of responsibility for an insured person by a doctor, who has joined the panel, dates from the time when the doctor signs the insured person's card; whether he is aware that in some districts insured persons not in immediate need of treatment are taking no steps to have their cards signed and are unaware of any necessity to have them signed, and doctors are thereby suffering loss; and whether he will take the necessary steps to induce such insured persons to have their cards signed?

The doctors upon a panel which is adequate have collectively taken responsibility for all the insured persons in the district, and unless any doctor's list is closed an insured person may come on it by selection and acceptance at any time before allocation by the insurance committee. The total amount available for insured persons, well or ill, in the area will be divided amongst the doctors who have thus accepted responsibility for them; and the allocation of patients will carry payment in respect of them as from 15th January.

asked the Secretary to (he Treasury if he is aware that many employers are approaching the insurance committees with a view to obtaining the right to themselves provide the medical man for their employés, and in return they are demanding from the insurance committees the money which has been allocated to the committees by the societies for the medical treatment of their members; and whether this action will, in the best interests of the men, be sanctioned, seeing that the doctor will then be virtually in the employ of the employer?

It would be contrary to the spirit and intention of the National Insurance Act and the Regulations for an insurance committee to allow insured persons to make their own arrangements for medical attendance and treatment and to contribute towards the cost thereof in circumstances such as those to which the hon. Member refers. Perhaps my hon. Friend would inform me of any cases of the kind which he may have in mind.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury (1) how many insured persons there were in Ireland on the 31st December last; and how did the number compare with the official estimate; and (2) how many insured persons there were on 31st December in Belfast, Dublin, and Cork, and the counties of Down, Antrim, and Londonderry; and how did the respective numbers compare with the official estimate?

The number of first quarter's cards returned to the Irish Commissioners is approximately 694,500. The original estimates of the actuaries in Cd. 5681 gave 1,040,000 insured persons in Ireland. This figure, however, included an estimate of over 200,000 voluntary contributors, which was, as they pointed out, necessarily very conjectural as the actual number depends on the exercise of individual options. The main reductions in the figures shown by the return of cards as compared with the original estimate are in the number of voluntary contributors who joined during the first quarter and in the number of deposit contributors. The figures for the second quarter and for particular districts in Ireland are not yet available, but I hope to be in a position to give them early next month.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether the Government is in a position to guarantee to medical men who have gone on the panels not only 1s. 9d. for the quarter but 7s. for the year as capitation fee; and whether insured persons have been warned that such selections of doctors as they have made are not of any avail beyond the 14th April, 1913?

One of the purposes for which the special Grants-in-Aid, for which a supplementary estimate has been put down, are required is to make provision for additional payments for the cost of medical attendance and treatment so that the amount available for the remuneration of doctors on the panel will be equivalent to a sum of 7s. per head per annum, including the 6d. sum payable in respect of the domiciliary treatment of tuberculosis. If this money is voted the insurance committees will be in a position to make contracts with the doctors on a. 7s. basis for the remainder of the year.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury if he will quote the sentence in the letter from the ploughman in Perthshire, dated 27th November, 1912, to the Scottish National Insurance Commissioners, in which the writer is alleged to have asked to be provided with forms or other means for the purpose of informing upon any of his neighbours who might be evading the. National Insurance Act?

submitted the following letter:—"To the Secretary, National Health Insurance Commission (Scotland), Edinburgh."Sir,—It may interest you to learn that a great many of my 'mates' (farm workers) in this district are still outside the pale of friendly societies, neither are they Post Office depositors. They openly boast that they won't 'come under' the conditions, or 'bother themselves' about the Insurance Act. Up to time of writing, no inspector has visited the individuals I refer to, and to-morrow (Martinmas) they (or at any rate many of them) will remove to new quarters 'scot free.' Now, is this sort of thing fair to those of us who as loyal and law-abiding subjects are conforming to the conditions (as we understand these are compulsory) of the State insurance scheme? But, probably we are in error in so doing. Probably the National Insurance Act is framed to exclude farm workers from participating in its benefits. If so, you might kindly let me know. It seems mighty hard that a few of us should contribute, and the 'great bulk' be allowed to go, as I have already said, 'scot free.'—I am, etc."

asked the Secretary to the Treasury if he will state, in reference to the refusal of the Development Fund Commissioners to recommend a Grant for the improvement of the harbour of Skerries, county of Dublin, on the ground that there were no resident fishermen there and that the value of the fish landed there was only about £500 per annum, on what evidence those allegations are founded; whether any steps and, if so, what steps, have been taken to test the truth of those statements; whether the Commissioners know that they have been publicly denied at a meeting in Skerries in the presence of the Vice-President of the Irish Department of Agriculture; and whether any of the Commissioners or any of their officials has ever visited Skerries and inquired there into those allegations?

The information to which the hon. Member refers was obtained from the Government Department concerned, and the Development Commissioners felt entitled to rely on its being correct. As I stated in reply to a question of the hon. Member on the 3rd instant, the vice-chairman and secretary of the Commissioners visited Skerries early in July, 1911, but no formal inquiry was held, nor is one considered necessary.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury the amount of the moneys received by the Treasury from merchants for the attendance of officers of the Customs and Excise service before and after the legal hours during the month of December, 1912; and whether he will state the amount actually received by the officers of Customs and Excise who gave such overtime attendance during the month of December, 1912?

The figures for which the hon. Member asks are not available.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury with reference to the Royal Commission on London Traffic, the total cost incurred by that Commission, showing separately the cost of printing?

The estimated expenditure o nthis Commission was £26,672 (gross) and £24,572 (net). The net cost of printing and lithographing was £5,900, namely, cost of printing report and appendices, £6,380; other printing, £120; cost of lithographing certain maps, £1,500; less estimated proceeds of sale of publications, £2,100.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the age-limit for promotions to second division clerkships in His Majesty's Customs and Excise?

There is no regulation on the subject.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether ho can explain the disparity between the two reports signed by F. Goggins, pension officer, Rath-downey, Queen's County, copies of which have been submitted to him, in which he refuses a pension to Mary Fitzpatrick, whose income he computes to exceed £31 10s., while he recommends a pension of 3s. per week to William English, whose income he makes out to be £49; and can he say upon what grounds the pension officer divides the latter figure by one-half and refuses to sanction any pension to Mary Fitzpatrick, to whom the Roscrea (No. 3) sub-committee granted a pension of 5s. per week?

The disparity to which the hon. Member refers arises from the operation of the rule laid down in Section 2 (2) of the Old Age Pensions Act, 1911, namely, that "in calculating the means of a person being one of a married couple living together in the same house, the means shall be taken to be half the total means of the couple." This rule applies in the case of William English, and the pension officer rightly divided the total estimated means by two in order to arrive at the rate of pension to be granted. It does not apply in the case of Mary Fitzpatrick, whose means were held by the Local Government Board on appeal to exceed £31 10s.

asked the Chief Secretary whether his attention has been called to a resolution passed by the Birr (No. 5) old age pension committee protesting against the manner in which cases of old age pensioners in the district are treated by pension officers and the Local Government Board on appeal, and referring particularly to the cases of William Conway, Kinnitty, and Mary Tierny, Pound Street, Birr; and whether he will direct that before rejecting such cases in future an inspector of the Local Government Board will inquire into each case specially, so as to prevent clashing between the committee and the pension officer's decision?

My attention has been tailed to the resolution referred to. In the cases of William Conway and Mary Tierny the claims for pension were disallowed by the Local Government Board on appeal on the grounds that there was no sufficient evidence of age. The claimants had no evidence to furnish in support of their claims, and as the onus lay on them of submitting sufficient proof of age the Board had no option but to disallow the claims. The Board have no power to reopen consideration of these cases, but in the event of these persons considering that they have further evidence to submit in support of their claims, and if the cases come before, the Board on appeal, they will consider, before deciding the claims, whether it would be of any use to have the cases investigated locally by one of their inspectors. It would be obviously impossible for the Board with their existing staff to send inspectors to investigate every such case which comes before them on appeal.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland the present position of the estate of A. D. D. Kelly, situated at Mucklow, Ballyforan, county Galway; whether he is aware that many of the tenants on this estate are in a deplorably, congested condition; and will he see that the land is divided among them without any further delay?

This estate is the subject of proceedings for sale to the Estates Commissioners under the Irish Land Act, 1903, and the owner has agreed to sell it to them, and it will be dealt with in order of priority.

asked the Chief Secretary whether the Estates Commissioners received an application from John Ward, an occupier of an uneconomic holding and farm labourer, of Cooltomin, in the parish of Coolcappa, in the county of Limerick, for portion of the untenanted land on the Dickson estate, at Creeves, Shanagolden, adjacent to his residence; and whether they will take his claim into consideration when they acquire the land and before they apportion it?

The Estates Commissioners are unable from the particulars given to identify this estate as the subject of proceedings for sale before them under the Land Purchase Acts.

asked the Chief Secretary whether his attention has been called to the fact that two of the gentlemen appointed to act on the Committee of Inquiry into the Irish education system were formerly national teachers and, as such, identified with the Irish teachers' organisations, and that one of these gentlemen was for many years central secretary of the said teachers' organisations and that his wife was a national teacher; whether he is aware that the other gentleman is at present a professor in one of the Irish training colleges, and that his work in that capacity is subject to criticism by the inspectors of the National Board; whether he will explain how these gentlemen can be unprejudiced judges of the matters in controversy between the National Board and the teachers; and whether he will reconsider those appointments or, as an alternative and inasmuch as the teachers have now two representatives, will he appoint two representatives of the school inspectors on the Committee?

Two of the members of the recently appointed Committee appear to have been at one time of their lives national school teachers. One of them was once secretary of the teachers' organisation, but for the last twelve years has been a Local Government Board inspector, and the other has been a Professor in the Kildare Place Training College for more than twenty-five years. The past experience of these gentlemen will, I am sure, prove of great service to the Committee, and I see no reason for reconsidering their appointment. To put representatives of the inspectors on the Committee would, in my opinion, having regard to the terms of reference, be most undesirable.

asked the Secretary of State for War why only two officers are now serving with AA Battery and only three with BB Battery of the Royal Horse Artillery; whether he proposes to fill up this deficiency in officers; and, if so, when?

The other officers of these batteries have been transferred to other batteries to fill existing vacancies.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he has received an application from the urban district council of Heston and Isleworth requesting that the public may be admitted to Hounslow Heath; and whether he would be able to give such a request his favourable consideration?

The application referred to has been received and is receiving careful consideration.

asked the President of the Board of Education how soon he expects to be able to lay before the House the large scheme of educational reform, or any portion of the scheme, for which the Lord Chancellor, after consultation with the Prime Minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the President of the Board of Education, announced on the 10th January that the time had now come?

It is at present premature to name any date.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been drawn to a case at Leicester, on 16th January in which two boys, aged ten and twelve, respectively, who were feeble-minded and were in attendance at a special school for defective children, were charged with housebreaking and ordered to be birched; and whether he proposes to take any action in the matter?

On my attention being called to the case by my hon. Friend I made inquiry, and I find that the magistrates, before they dealt with the case, had a report from the medical officer of the education authority which showed that the boys were "quite responsible for their actions and amenable to ordinary discipline." Owing to the want of proper parental control, their conduct outside school is very bad. They have been concerned in more than forty cases of housebreaking and theft, and have caused damage and loss to the extent of more than £100. I am glad to learn that arrangements have now been made by the education authority for their being sent to special industrial schools.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will consider the desirability of in- creasing the fines and penalties in connection with motor offences so as to make them really effective?

This would be a question for the consideration of the House in the event of the amendment of the Motor Car Acts. As I pointed out on the 31st of December, in reply to a question by the hon. Member for Blackburn, a person convicted for the first time of dangerous driving can be ordered to pay a substantial fine, and on a second conviction can be sentenced to three months' imprisonment without the option of a fine In the event of his causing the death of a person he is of course, liable to prosecution for manslaughter. I have recently issued a circular to justices, calling their attention, among other things, to the importance of imposing an adequate punishment when offences under the Motor Car Acts are of a serious character.

asked the Prime Minister whether he has considered the suggestion made from the Front Opposition Bench that a Committee might be formed on quasi-Cabinet lines to draft a Bill on a subject outside the usual limits of party controversy; whether he is aware that the suggestion was accepted by the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the right hon. Member for the City of London; whether he is prepared to propose new Standing Orders to regulate such a procedure; and whether, if the subject be not deemed ripe for such action, means will be taken to consult the opinion of hon. Members upon it?

As was recently stated, the formation of such a Committee is a question for those interested in the particular matter, and not for the Government.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether it is the practice to dispose of the carcases of calves which have been used for the propagation of vaccine lymph as human food, provided they pass the examination by the officers of the Corporation of the City of London; whether the carcases of the sixty-three calves which had been discovered by the veterinary surgeon of the Board during the years 1900–12 at his autopsy to exhibit evidence of tubercular lesions were passed by the inspecting officers of the Corporation of the City of London as fit for human consumption; and, if not, in what manner were they destroyed?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. I am not in possession of records referring to the sixty-three individual calves mentioned in the question, but I am informed that it is the practice of the authorities at the Meat Market to condemn and destroy all vaccinated calves which show any signs of tuberculosis. The usual method of destruction is by burning.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether his attention has been called to the complaints made by local authorities and others as to the state of the law relating to the disposal of trade effluent; and whether he is proposing to take any steps to carry out the recommendation of the Royal Commission on this subject?

The recommendations of the Royal Commission are receiving my consideration, but I cannot at present say when I shall be in a position to introduce legislation on the subject.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether, in view of the damage done to roads, both main and district, by motor lorry and traction engines, he will take an early opportunity to introduce legislation providing that the wheels of such engines and vehicles shall be of such a width, varying proportionately to their maximum tonnage when laden, as he may be advised will cause the minimum of damage to the road's surface?

The width of the wheels of the engines and vehicles referred to is already required to vary according to the weight borne, either by Statute or by Regulations made by the Local Government Board. Perhaps I may refer the hon. Member to Section 28 of the Highways and Locomotives (Amendment) Act, 1878, and the Heavy Motor Car Order, 1904.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware that small shipowners often insure in mutual clubs and that they consider their interests are in danger under the Pilotage Bill; and whether he will undertake to consider representations from marine underwriters before sanctioning the new by-laws contemplated by the Bill before the House?

The Board of Trade will be prepared to consider any representations from underwriters or other bodies interested on the subject of by-laws that may be submitted to them for confirmation as contemplated in the Pilotage Bill. Full opportunity will be given for such representations to be made, by publication of proposed by-laws.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether British motor-car chassis, motor-car tyres, and motor-car bodies are admitted into Portuguese territory on the same terms as French and German makes; and, if not, will he say what is the reason of this disparity and whether it can be altered?

Motor cars, chassis and tyres of French or German manufacture are dutiable on importation into Portugal at special rates of duty by virtue of agreements between the Portuguese Government and the French and German Governments. The benefits of these reduced rates are not accorded to similar manufactures of the United Kingdom in the absence of any treaty or agreement which would secure most-favoured-nation treatment to our goods. Negotiations for the conclusion of such a treaty have for some time been in progress. So far as I am aware, there is no discrimination in force in respect of motor-car bodies.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what payments were made by his Department during the financial years 1905–6, 1906–7, 1907–8, 1908–9, 1909–10, 1910–11, 1911–12, and the expired portion of 1912–13, to Members of Parliament being barristers, giving the name and amount in each case?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to a similar question on the 3rd instant by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury.

asked the Postmaster-General what payments were made by his Department during the financial years 1905–6, 1906–7, 1907–8, 1908–9, 1909–10, 1910–11, 1911–12, and the expired portion of 1912–13, to Members of Parliament being barristers, giving the name and amount in each case?

The following is a statement of the payments made:—

asked the Postmaster-General why the postal authorities have refused the request of the Kilfinny Co-operative Agricultural and Dairy Society, Limited, to have a letter-box place at Kilmacow Cross and an evening collection of letters there with the view of having greater postal facilities for the sale of their dairy produce between them and purchasers in different parts of England, having regard to the fact that the chairman and other members of the society undertook to enter into an agreement whereby they would pay annually to the Post Office any Joss occasioned by the change; and whether he is aware that if those facilities were granted a larger revenue would accrue to the Post Office which would more than counter-balance any extra expense occasioned thereby?

I am quite willing to give the letter-box and evening collection if the cost is borne locally and does not fall on the Post Office. The society desired to set against that cost the postage paid on all the letters for the evening collection, but as the greater number of such letters would probably be transferred from the morning collection, the result would merely be to increase the existing loss on that post.

asked the Postmaster-General whether his attention has been drawn to the special circumstances attached to the case of Miss Florence Houghton, a sorting clerk and a telegraphist at Leeds, who early in 1912 secured a transfer to Grimsby, and, in doing so, forfeited 2s. per week of her wages; whether he is aware that on account of changed domestic circumstances she sought and secured a retransfer to Leeds in the same year, but is still suffering the loss which her first transfer entailed; whether, in view of Clause (d) of Staff Rule 176, it was right to reduce this officer; and whether Miss Houghton is worth as much per week to the Leeds telegraph department in the year 1913 as she was in the year 1912, despite the fact that domestic circumstances have necessitated the double transfer referred to?

The course taken in the case was in accordance with the existing regulations, but I am communicating with the Treasury on the subject.

asked the Postmaster-General on how many days between 18th December and 25th January the mails were not landed for or were not delivered on the proper day to the inhabitants of South Harris, in the Hebrides; what was the extent of each of the delays; were they due to stress of weather or to the breakdown of the mail steamer; and will he, in future mail contracts for this neighbourhood, make it a condition that the steamer allocated to carry these mails shall not be under a certain tonnage and shall not be more than twenty years old?

The particulars are not available, but I will make inquiry and communicate with the hon. Member. Mails for South Harris have been delayed recently both by stress of weather and by the breakdown of the mail steamer. I am informing the contractors that the Post Office cannot acquiesce in the replacement of the regular boat by any boat unable to maintain contract speed in boisterous weather.

asked the Post master-General if any answer has now been sent to the request of the Australian Government that a subsidiary conference should be called to consider the question of laying a State-owned Atlantic cable in order to complete the All-Red cable route?

An answer has not yet been sent, but will be dispatched shortly. The matter has been delayed by the collection of statistics to show the effect of the new rates on the traffic.

asked the Postmaster-General whether all the exchanges opened and operated by the National Telephone Company were open continuously, night and day, Sundays included; whether any exchanges opened by the Post Office are not continuously opened but are closed when the post office where they may be located is closed for postal business, which generally includes the night hours and most of Sunday; how many exchanges are not open continuously; whether he proposes to continue this system of installing telephones which will only be open during post office hours; and what distinction, if any, does he make in the charges for this limited service and for the whole-time service?

The exchanges of the National Telephone Company were all open continuously, and are still so kept open. At post office exchanges also, it is the rule to give continuous service, but in the case very small exchanges with less than twenty subscribers an increased charge is made if continuous service is desired. This additional charge does not generally exceed £l a year per subscriber.

asked the Postmaster-General what are the total gross receipts from telegraphic traffic for the last year in which accounts have been filed in the case of the Eastern Telegraph Company, the Indo-European Telegraph Company, and the Pacific Cable Board; and what is the aggregate of their receipts?

The particulars are as follows:—

asked the Postmaster General if he is aware that on two days in last week the mail which should have reached Dunfanaghy, county Donegal, at about 9 a.m. was not received there until about 3 p.m.; and whether any steps can be taken to prevent a recurrence of these delays?

I am having inquiry made in the matter, and I will communicate with the hon. Member.

asked the Postmaster-General when persons who lost registered packets carried by the Royal mail steamer "Oceana" are to be paid compensation; and what is the reason for the delay in the Post Office paying its contracted liability?

Claims in re-and what is the reason for the delay in the "Oceana" are now being paid, in accordance with the Regulations. I am sorry that it has not been possible to settle the claims earlier. There were legal questions involved, and considerable correspondence was necessary.

asked the President of the Board of Agriculture whether, in connection with the creation of the new path by the lake side in front of South Villa (Bedford College), Regent's Park, he will give instructions for avoiding the clearance of trees, shrubberies, etc., which at present serve to partially screen the new buildings; and, if any have to be transplanted or removed, he will cause others to be planted, so that the new path may not be a bare open space?

The First Commissioner of Works will see that all possible steps are taken to preserve the trees and shrubberies.

asked the President of the Board of Agriculture the assessment for rates of the Skidby estate, East Riding of Yorkshire, and the East Heddon estate, Northumberland, before and after acquisition for small holdings; and if any complaints have been addressed to him regarding the increase in assessment resulting from the operations of small holders?

submitted the following figures:—