asked the Secretary to the Treasury what is the total sum collected under the National Insurance Act in respect of employers and employed contributions, respectively, and down to what date do the figures extend; how and in whose names is the sum at present invested or under whose control is the investments or any uninvested portion; and in what public accounts do the figures relating to these matters appear?

The sums received from the sale of stamps and other sums received in respect of contributions of employers and employed persons and paid into the National Health Insurance Fund up to 5th April amounted approximately to £6,056,000 and £7,127,000, respectively, making a total of £13,183,000. As regards the investment of these moneys, I would refer the hon. Member to the reply to a similar question by the hon. Member for Eastbourne on 21st January last. The sums in the National Health Insurance Fund not invested remain under the control and management of the Insurance Commissioners as provided in Section 54 (1) of the National Insurance Act. The accounts of the National Health Insurance Fund, together with the Report of the Comptroller and Auditor-General thereon, provided by Section 54 (5) of the Act will be presented to Parliament in due course.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury the number of assistant clerks, new class, employed in the Statistical Office, Customs and Excise; also the number of assistant clerks in that office who, during the past five years, have been certified as suffering from phthisis or any other tuberculous disease?

The number of posts of assistant clerk, new class, in the Statistical Office is 186. Out of 327 such clerks who have been employed in these posts in the past five years five have been certified as suffering from phthisis or other tuberculous disease while employed in the office.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether, since the Old Age Pensions Act came into operation any change has been made in the estimated value of maintenance, or in the mode of estimating it or the circumstances affecting it, for the purposes of that Act; on what scale it is now estimated in urban districts and in rural districts in England and in Ireland, respectively; with whom rests the power of discrimination to alter the scale according to the prevalent standard of living; whether he is aware that this power of discrimination is, in effect, a power to overestimate the value of maintenance when the person resided with is comfortable and to underestimate the necessaries of life when the claimant decides, on grounds of affinity, to reside with a very poor person, in both cases reducing the pension from the normal scale; will he state how these results are reconciled with a common standard of living; whether the opinion of the medical officer is obtained in all cases before the scale pension is diminished; what is the actual scale of pensions in cases in which this discrimination has been exercised in England and in Ireland, respectively; whether in either country the rental or valuation of the home in which the claimant resides affects the amount of the pension; and if, to illustrate the effect, he will give, without names, the rent or valuation and pension in ten sample cases in each country in which the discrimination in question has been exercised?

The yearly value accruing to a claimant for an old age pension in respect of free board and lodging enjoyed by him is, and always has been, determined by the pension officer in accordance with the provisions of the Old Age Pension Act of 1908, and is estimated by reference to all the facts bearing on the standard of living of the person with whom the claimant resides. No change has been introduced since the Act came into force in the general principles on which the value of such maintenance is estimated, though the experience of four years' administration has naturally led to modifications of practice in matters of details from time to time. The rest of the points raised in the hon. Member's question appear to be based on the incorrect assumption that a scale is in force for general application in assessing the value of maintenance.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what, up to the end of the last financial year, was the total amount of relief granted to agriculturists under the Agricultural Rates Act, 1896?

The total sum issued to the Local Taxation Accounts for England, Scotland, and Ireland under the Agricultural Rates Act, 1896, and consequential Acts up to the 31st March, 1913, inclusive, was £25,220,615. This total includes £299,934 issued to the Local Taxation (Ireland) Account in the financial years 1896–7, 1897–8, and 1898–9 prior to the coming into force of the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a Grant to encourage the building of technical schools in Ireland on the basis of an equal contribution by the State to contributions raised on the security of Irish local rates?

I am not satisfied that any case has been established for such a Grant.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland how many Royal Irish Constabulary district inspectors' districts there are in Ireland with only three, four, five, and six stations in each, and how many stations in Galway district, in county Galway, and Thomastown district, county Kilkenny; and, as the Royal Irish Constabulary is overmanned with district inspectors, will steps be taken to stop recruiting in that branch of the service, and, as vacancies occur, to include all districts with six stations and under with adjoining ones so as to reduce the cost of command?

There are two constabulary districts in Ireland, with four stations in each, nineteen with five stations in each, and forty-seven with six stations in each. There is no district with less than four stations. There are fourteen stations in Galway district and thirteen in Thomastown district. The present number of district inspectors is necessary for the proper supervision of the police districts under their command, and I am advised by the responsible police authorities that the suggestion contained in the latter part of the question could not be carried out without detriment to the interests of the public.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that on 1st September, 912, eighteen companies, Royal Garrison Artillery, were deficient of a captain, and that by the end of May, 1913, there will be eighty-one subalterns, Royal Garrison Artillery, with thirteen years' service; and, if so, why eighteen have not been promoted to the rank of captain?

All vacancies available for promotion are filled at the earliest opportunity. There are usually a number of vacancies in the Royal Artillery that have to be kept open for some time to allow the restoration of officers under Article 78 of the Pay Warrant. There are also a number of unposted officers, attending courses, etc., who cover vacancies in companies. On the date in question there were twenty vacancies among the captains, but there were then seventeen unposted captains. The other three vacancies had to be kept for captains returning from the seconded list, but became available later on for promotion and were so filled in due course.

asked the President of the Board of Agriculture whether an official guide has been appointed at the Royal Gardens, Kew; if so, will he state why such an appointment was necessary; what remuneration is paid; whether the employés in the gardens had the opportunity of applying for the position; and, if so, whether one of them secured the appointment?

In consequence of representations made to the Board an official guide has been appointed experimentally for one year at the Royal Gardens, Kew, at a salary of £150 (non-pensionable.). The qualifications of present employés were considered. The officer appointed to the post was formerly on the Kew staff. In 1903 he joined the Colonial Service as Superintendent of the Botanical and Forestry Department at Hong Kong, and in 1910 he returned to Kew in order to devote himself to botanical research.