asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, now that he has a surplus in his Budget of £185,000, he can grant the £80,000 necessary to prevent a large increase in the elementary education rate in necessitous areas?

I can add nothing to the reply which I gave on the 21st instant to my hon. Friend the Member for Merthyr Tydvil.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he will give, under the various sub-heads for which Grants are payable out of the Local Taxation Account, the amount deducted each year from the county Kerry in 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912, 1913; the loss each year suffered by each district and urban council on account of these deductions; whether it is proposed to recoup the county for these losses; and when is the Report of the Commission of Inquiry expected?

I have forwarded to the hon. Member detailed statements regarding the deductions or abatements from the Grants payable to county Kerry from the Local Taxation (Ireland) Account during the years mentioned. I am not in a position to make any statement with regard to the last two paragraphs of the question.

asked the Chief Secretary why Sergeant John Redmond, Royal Irish Constabulary, Killavullen, county Cork, is allowed, contrary to the rules of the force, to be stationed in a police county where he has intermarried; and whether he is aware that this officer married a lady at Conna, county Cork, and gives preferential treatment to certain local publicans, whilst others are subject to continual visitations?

The Inspector-General informs me that Sergeant Redmond was married in county Cork in April, 1900, but as his wife is a native of county Wexford his transfer from county Cork was not considered necessary, and he has been allowed to remain there ever since. Sergeant Redmond does not give preferential treatment to any publicans in his district, and his superior officer is satisfied that he does his duty properly and fairly.

asked the Chief Secretary whether 150 of the agricultural labourers' cottages in the Lurgan rural district have been condemned as unfit for human habitation, and as both dangerous and insanitary; whether the Local Government inspector was afraid to enter some of these cottages, lest they should fall in upon him, and expressed his astonishment that human beings were obliged to live in such wretched hovels; whether the inspector recommended that 150 new cottages should be built forthwith and the old cottages demolished; whether the Lurgan Rural Council proposed to erect sixty-three new cottages at £220 each, whilst the Local Government Board would only sanction £170 each; whether of 213 applicants for cottages, 118 of whose applications were approved by the Lurgan Rural Council, not a single one has had a house provided, although the applications were made as far back as November, 1905; and whether he will use his influence with the Local Government Board to expedite the erection of the necessary cottages?

An inquiry was held in February, 1912, into a scheme adopted by the rural district council in September, 1911. Several representations were made to the council for cottages on the ground that the existing houses of the labourers were unfit for human habitation, and were adopted by the council but were not included in the scheme above referred to. The inspector in his report stated that "the necessity for a very large number of additional houses to replace insanitary dwellings is adequately proved by the very numerous cases in which medical officers have not hesitated to grant the necessary certificates"; but he made no reference in his report to the alleged reluctance on his part to enter the cottages in question. This council have made three improvement schemes since the passing of the Labourers Act of 1906, and orders have been made confirming those schemes and authorising the council to provide 160 additional cottages, forty-six others having been provided under Acts prior to 1906. Ninety-seven of these 160 cottages have already been built, leaving sixty-three, as stated, still to be erected. The council proposed to allow £220 for each of these cottages, but the Local Government Board, in accordance with their settled policy, could only sanction £170 per cottage out of the million provided by the Act of 1911, having regard to the limited scope of that fund and the numerous pressing and necessary schemes that have to be financed out of it. Of the representations received by this council, 118 have, as stated, been approved by them but have not been included in any of their schemes. In view of the limited nature of the fund available, the Board do not feel that they can properly at this juncture bring any pressure on this rural district council in particular in the matter of making a fresh improvement scheme.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether, in view of the petition signed by every householder in the parish of Watchfield, Berkshire, against the closing of the infant school in that parish, he will ascertain whether, in view of the distance to the school at Shrivenham, something can be done to prevent its being closed?

The average attendance at the school referred to has declined from thirty-seven in 1900 to eleven in 1912. The local education authority gave notice to the Board on 8th February of their intention not to maintain the school after 31st May, and stated that they were prepared, in the event of the school being closed, to convey from Watchfield village to Shrivenham school, where the older children from the parish already attend, the children from West Hill Farm Cottages and the younger children from Watchfield. After consideration of all the circumstances of the case, I am not prepared to object to the proposal of the local education authority if the authority will undertake to convey the children to the Shrivenham school not merely during the winter but throughout the whole year, and I have so informed the authority.

asked the "Under-Secretary of State for India whether the Secretary of State in Council has received any communication from the Government of India regarding the resolution of the All-India Moslem League in favour of self-government for India?

A copy of the draft constitution of the league subsequently adopted at its Lucknow meeting has been forwarded to the Secretary of State.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if a Bill for the defence of the Union of South Africa has been introduced in that Dominion; and, if so, if he could state the main principles of that measure?

An Act to provide for the defence of the Union and for matters incidental thereto was passed last year. It imposes a liability on all citizens between the ages of seventeen and sixty to render personal service in time of war and to undergo a course of peace training. It provides, however, that only a certain proportion shall actually undergo training.