asked the Secretary to the Treasury the Irish Department through which a drainage committee, formed under the provisions of the Irish Drainage Acts, may make application to the Development Commissioners for a grant or loan to carry out drainage works in their district?

Applications for advances from the Development Fund must be made to the Treasury in accordance with the Regulations under the Development and Road Improvement Funds Act, of which I am sending the hon. Member a copy.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury the amount paid out of public funds, in addition to salary, to each Law Officer of the Crown in England and Ireland in the financial year 1912–13, and the titles of the cases in respect of which those extra fees were paid?

The fees were as follows:—

England—	£
Attorney-General	9,764
Solicitor-General	6,415
Ireland—	£
Attorney-General	1,272
Solicitor-General	1,156

I do not think I could give a list of all the cases for which fees were paid, but the most important were the "Titanic" Inquiry, the "Hawke" and "Olympic" case, the Peerage cases, the Gibson Bowles case, the Seddon case, the prosecution of Mrs. Pankhurst, and others, and the matter of the Eagle Public-house

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether he has given a promise with regard to finding a place during the present Session for the Industrial and Provident Societies (Amendment) Bill; and what prospects he can hold out of the early allocation of time to that measure?

I hope to present this Bill immediately.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the total yield since the Land Taxes came into operation and up to 31st March, 1913, of Increment Value Duty, Undeveloped Land Duty, Reversion Duty, and Mineral Rights Duty, respectively; what has been the total cost of the valuation up to the same date, including the cost of issuing Form IV. and of offices and stationery; and what was the total number of officials engaged in the work of the Valuation Department on 31st March, 1913, and the total figure of their annual salaries?

The total yield of the Land Values Duties up to 31st March, 1913, is as follows:—

	£
Increment Value Duty	23,254
Reversion Duty	70,878
Undeveloped Land Duty	129,298
Mineral Rights Duty	1,234,483
The total cost of valuation (including cost of collecting above duties and of certain incidental services, and cost of issuing Form IV. and of offices and stationery) up to the same date has been	1,393,000

The total number of officials engaged in the Land Valuation Office on 31st March, 1913, was 4,151, and the total figure of their annual salaries was £492,626.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what were the total receipts in Ireland for the year 1912–13 from Mineral Rights Duty, Undeveloped Land Duty, Increment Value Duty, and Reversion Duty, respectively; and what is his estimate of receipts from such duties, respectively, for the year 1913–14?

The net receipts of the various Land Value Duties in Ireland in 1912–13 were as follows:—

	£
Increment Value Duty	160
Reversion Duty	3,100
Undeveloped Land Duty	1,500
Mineral Rights Duty	500

The estimated receipts for 1913–14 are as follows:—

	£
Increment Value Duty	500
Reversion Duty	2,000
Undeveloped Land Duty	10,000
Mineral Rights Duty	500

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the total loss sustained by the Treasury consequent upon the reduction, by the Finance (1909–10) Act, 1910, of the taxes on small incomes, and on agricultural and cottage repairs during each of the financial years 1909, 1910, 1911, and 1912.

It is estimated that the cost of the relief, granted by the Act, in respect of the earned income of taxpayers with total incomes exceeding £2,000 and not exceeding £3,000, and in respect of children, and the maintenance, repairs, insurance and management of lands and cottages was as follows:—

Year.	£
1909–10	227,000
1910–11	347,000
1911–12	373,000
1912–13	394,000

asked the Chancellor why the salaries of surveyors of Customs and Excise, formerly supervisors of Excise, were not revised on the new scale as from the date of the amalgamation of the services; whether promotion from the second class to first class supervisors was delayed in many instances as a result of the pending amalgamation; how many such surveyors are now in receipt of salaries less than they would have received as first class supervisors of Excise, and to what extent they have already sustained financial loss; and whether he can see his way to revise the reassessment of their salaries on the new scale to meet their claims for fair treatment?

The Customs and Excise services were administratively amalgamated by Order in Council as from 1st April, 1909, but actual amalgamation of the general services was not commenced until 16th August, 1911, from which date the arrangements recommended by the Amalgamation Committee as to the salaries of the new surveyor grade were brought into operation. Up to that date promotions were made on the old lines from second to first-class supervisor of Excise, and the latter part of the question does not, therefore, arise.

asked the Chief Secretary whether the Board of Works is responsible for keeping the hall of the Four Courts, Dublin, clean; and, if not, who is; and why are the statues in the hall in such a dirty state?

The Board are responsible for cleaning the hall of the Four Courts, but not the statues, which are the property of the benchers.

asked the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland) what was the degree of merit attained by Mr. R. Walsh, Kilmurry, Cordal, county Kerry, at the agricultural winter classes held in Castleisland in 1910–11, and conducted by Mr. J. Scully, county agricultural inspector; had Mr. Walsh an extensive and thorough knowledge of agriculture and agricultural operations on joining this class; is Mr. Walsh an evicted tenant on the Kerry property of Mr. Pierce Gun Mahony; and is he aware that Mr. Reidy, technical instructor, gave a certificate in carpentering and technical knowledge to Mr. Walsh on the termination of the technical class held at Cordal in 1909?

Mr. Richard J. Walsh attended a course of instruction held under the Department's winter agricultural classes scheme at Castleisland during the winter of 1910–11. At the conclusion of the course, which was of an elementary nature, the Department's inspector reported that Mr. Walsh's answering on the subjects dealt with during the course was satisfactory. Mr. Welsh's ability to carry out farm operations was not tested in the field. The Department have no information as to whether Mr. Walsh is an evicted tenant. There was no technical class held at Cordal in 1909. In 1910 a six weeks' course in manual training (woodwork) was conducted by Mr. Reidy at this centre, and was attended by a Richard Walsh. The Department are not aware whether Mr. Reidy gave a certificate in carpentry and technical knowledge to Mr. Walsh at the close of this course. Such a certificate, if given, would, however, be a certificate of attendance only and would not be a certificate of competency in the subject.

asked the Chief Secretary whether his attention has been directed to the claim of Nora Harrington, whose father was evicted from his holding on the Colomb estate, Dunkerron, near Kenmare; and what steps have been taken to secure her reinstatement?

The Estates Commissioners received an application from Patrick Harrington for reinstatement in a holding formerly occupied by him at Dunkerron on the estate of Sir John Colomb, county Kerry, and, after inquiry and consideration, decided to take no action in the matter of his application.

asked the Chief Secretary if he is aware that Patrick W. Daly, John Clifford, and Richard Foley were arrested for conspiracy to shoot some persons near Castlemaine, county Kerry, on 2nd January last, and after several remands were returned for trial to the Assizes for the county Kerry in March last, and that at the said assizes an application was made for an adjournment so that an application might be made on behalf of the Crown to change the venue, which motion was granted, bail being refused; and what steps, if any, have been taken to change the venue, seeing that these men have been detained for months in prison without being brought to trial?

The facts are as stated. The Attorney-General has directed that the necessary steps be taken to have the venue changed in this case from the county of Kerry, and the case will be tried at the next Assizes.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if his attention has been directed to the sale of the farm at Tooreenamult, county Kerry, held by the executors of the late Mrs. M'Sweeney, and to the fact that this holding adjoins a number of small holdings not exceeding five acres, the occupiers of which have for years past had a milch cow or two grazing on Mrs. M'Sweeney's farm; and, seeing that the farm is in the congested district of Coon, county Kerry, will steps be taken by the Congested Districts Board or Estates Commissioners to acquire this farm and have it divided between the adjoining small farmers and lot holders?

The attention of the Congested Districts Board has been called to the fact that the executors of the late Mrs. M'Sweeney propose to sell by auction, on the 30th instant, the tenancy interest in the farm referred to. The Board have decided that they will not bid for the purchase of farms at auctions, and they do not propose to depart from their usual practice in this instance.

asked the Chief Secretary if he will state what progress has been made by the Estates Commissioners in connection with the purchase of the town holdings on the Lord Gough estate at Gort, county Galway; whether the maps and documents necessary for a preliminary inspection have been lodged with the Commissioners; whether an inspection of the holdings has taken place and the present position of affairs; and what explanation is offered for the delay in entering into purchase agreements with the occupying tenants, considering that Lord Gough and the middlemen have left the price to be fixed by the Commissioners on the occupying tenants to whom the sale is proposed to be made?

Lord Gough has lodged with the Estates Commissioners the maps and other documents relating to the town holdings in Gort. The Commissioners have had a preliminary inspection made, and, having regard to the nature and character of these holdings, they do not propose to make an offer at present for their purchase.

asked the Chief Secretary the number of estates which have been sold under the Land Purchase (Ireland) Acts, 1903 and 1909, respectively, in county Cavan; and will he state the average price paid in years' purchase, giving also the highest and lowest number of years' purchase paid on any of the estates referred to?

I would refer the hon. Member to Tables XXXIV. and XXXVI. of the Appendix to the last Annual Report of the Estates Commissioners, which give by counties the number of estates sold under the Irish Land Acts, 1903–09, together with the purchase money advanced. Tables XVI. and XVIII. of the same Appendix give by counties in direct sales the number of years' purchase of the rent which the purchase money represents. The information asked for in the last paragraph of the question could not be obtained without a detailed examination of the papers connected with each estate.

asked the Chief Secretary whether his attention has been called to the eviction of Timothy Leary by Mr. Simon White, of Glengarriffe Castle; whether he is aware that the Poor Law valuation of the holding is £1 10s. and rent £6, which was paid by labour given two to three days a week, rendering it impossible for Leary to get other employment, and that the total number of days per year required of Leary were 120, reckoned at 1s. a day without food; and, seeing that Leary offered a money payment in lieu of labour for rent prior to and after the eviction and that such payment was refused by Mr. White, whether provision will be made in the coming Land Bill against a tenure-by-labour service, so as to prevent a recurrence of such a case?

From the information before me it would appear that Leary was not evicted from the holding on account of non-payment of rent, but because his interest in the holding had determined, that the decision of the County Court Judge in the ejectment proceedings was affirmed on appeal by the Judge of Assizes, and that Leary has been reinstated in the holding as caretaker. As at present advised, I do not see that the very peculiar circumstances of this case are such as to call for legislation.

asked the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland) whether, seeing that the Crown brand has been so advantageous to the cured herring industry, he will have it extended to cured mackerel?

The question of a brand for Irish cured mackerel was thoroughly gone into by the Department in the year 1907, and a Report was published giving the result of the inquiries then held. It any fresh information comes under the notice of the Department indicating that a Crown brand for cured mackerel could be advantageously introduced, and would be availed of by the trade, the Department would be prepared to reconsider the matter without delay.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether his attention has been called to the case of Robert Healy, who was a private in the 2nd Battalion East Lancashire Regiment, regimental No. 9,026, B company, who was invalided from the Army as being medically unfit, after serving four years and 214 days, of which two years and 160 days were spent in India, where he contracted pulmonary tuberculosis; is he aware that this soldier has been an inmate of the union hospital at Limerick since October, 1911, after his discharge charge from Netley Hospital, in April, 1911, as unfit for further service, on a pension of 7d. per day for one year; and whether, taking all the circumstances of his case into account, something will be done to help him by an extension of the pension?

The medical board on whose report Private Healy was invalided from the service were of opinion that his disability, tuberculosis of the lung, was not the result of his Army service, and this view was confirmed by the Director-General, Army Medical Service. In these circumstances the temporary pension of 7d. a day for twelve months, which has been awarded to him by the Commissioners of Chelsea Hospital is the maximum for which he is eligible under the Regulations, and I regret, therefore, that it is not possible to grant him any further pension.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he is aware of the use made by the education authority of Munich of the municipal tramway service, whereby special trams are run to take children to school and bring them home, thus relieving districts with overcrowded schools and filling the schools in uncongested districts, also permitting easy access of children to special schools and central institutions for instruction; and whether he will recommend this use of tramways and other means of conveyance to local education authorities in this country, which maintain overcrowded schools in some parts of their areas and schools with many empty places in others.

I have not previously had my attention called to the special use of the tramway service in Munich, but the suggestion that the local education authorities should use the tramway service for the purpose of relieving schools in congested districts has been made occasionally. The hon. Member will find some discussion of the suggestion and of the difficulties in the way of its general adoption in the Report of the Departmental Committee on School Playgrounds [Cd. 6463 of 1912], pages 40, 142, 150, and 153.

asked the President of the Board of Agriculture whether he is aware that the authorities at Merklands, Glasgow, have, without the approval of his Department, insisted upon charging 3s. per head on 175,448 Irish cattle landed there between the 8th July last and the 19th April, involving a total payment of over £26,000; are the services rendered at Merklands in all respects the same as are rendered by the authorities at Birkenhead for a charge of 1s. per head; and, if so, whether he intends taking steps to have the large sum overcharged, fully £17,000, repaid without delay?

With regard to the first part of the question the facts are as stated by me in my answers to questions addressed to me on Wednesday last. The services rendered by the Glasgow Corporation in providing a landing place for Irish animals are not, for the purposes of the question of reasonable charges, identical with those rendered by the authorities at Birkenhead. Repayment of any overcharges which may have been made by the Glasgow Corporation could be enforced only by the persons overcharged, and the Board cannot intervene.

asked the President of the Board of Agriculture what were the sums voted for his Board in the years 1911–12 and 1912–13 and the net expenditure, and the surplus unexpended, if any, and under which Department was saving made?

Year.	Sums Voted.	Net Expenditure.	Surplus unexpended.
	£	£	£
1911–12	206,314	199,717	6,597
1912–13	317,111	317,000*	111*
*Approximate.

The surplus in the year 1911–12 represents the aggregate of savings under various sub-heads of the Vote, particulars of which are given in the Appropriation Accounts for the year (House of Commons Paper No. 475). The Accounts for the year 1912–13 are not yet complete.

asked the President of the Board of Agriculture whether he has considered the Report of the Committee appointed to inquire into the application of the Devon and Cornwall Fisheries Committee for the establishment of credit banks to assist fishermen to obtain the most modern equipment; and whether, in view of the findings of the Report that distress exists in an acute form at Porthleven and other West Cornwall ports, he will take immediate steps to carry out the recommendations of the Committee?

The Report to which my hon. Friend refers has already been brought by the Board to the notice of the Development Commissioners, and I have no doubt that it will help them greatly to decide upon the applications made to them by the Devon and Cornwall Sea Fisheries Committees. I recognise fully the seriousness of the problem, and the Board will do everything in their power to assist the Development Commissioners to arrive at a satisfactory solution.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will give the amounts of rubber exported from Iquitos in the years 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911, and 1912?

The following statement of the exports of rubber from Iquitos in the years in question has been furnished by His Majesty's Acting-Consul at that place. The Report from which these figures are taken will be published shortly in the annual series of Diplomatic and Consular Reports:—

Year.	Kilogrammes.
1907	2,896,407
1908	2,385,152
1909	2,522,066
1910	2,294,191
1911	2,081,887
1912	2,813,964.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the number of employed persons whose net weekly output per head, according to the Report of the Census of Production, is 30s. or under; over 30s. and under £2; over £2 and under £3; and over £3, respectively; and if he can give any estimate of what proportion of the net output represents capital charges, profits, and salaries?

Returns were made to the Census of Production Office in respect of establishments in which the average number employed in 1907, either as wage earners or as salaried persons, but not including outworkers, was 6,984,170. For the purpose of the classification desired by the hon. Member, it is necessary to omit those employed in Government and other establishments whose returns were on a cost basis, and thus not comparable with the returns on a profit basis. The remaining 6,478,794 were employed in trades in which the average net output per head in 1907 for the entire trade fell within the limits shown in the following statement, which correspond approximately to those specified in the question:

Average net Output per head in the Trade in 1907.	Average Number Employed in the Trades.
Under £78	1,619,016
£78 and under £104	2,197,032
£104 and under £156	2,237,237
£156 and over	425,509

As was stated on 25th March by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade, in reply to a similar inquiry by the hon. Member for Nottingham, I am unable to supply the information asked for in the last part of the question.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether his attention has been called to the case of three naturalized Canadians, formerly Russians, who, upon a visit to Russia, have been sentenced to Siberia for life on a charge of evading military service; whether, as stated in the Canadian House of Commons by Sir Wilfred Laurier, on 16th April, the British authorities have declined to interfere, or whether, as the late Canadian Prime Minister asserted, it is the right and duty of the British Government to protect persons possessing Canadian naturalization?

His Majesty's Government have no information on the subject. They could not, however, claim to protect Russian subjects, when within the limits of the Emperor's Dominions, from any consequences attaching to them for breach of the laws of Russia, whether they had been naturalised in Canada or in this country. The law of Russia would, in such cases, be the governing law, and no question of difference between British and Canadian nationality would arise.

asked the Prime Minister whether he is aware that petitions have been presented to this House by representatives of women's societies containing over 100,000 members, asking to be heard at the Bar of the House by so many of them as the House shall direct; and whether he will give time for discussion of the Motion by the hon. Member for North Somerset to the effect that such petitions be granted?

There is no time at the disposal of the Government between now and next Monday which could be given for this purpose.

asked the Prime Minister whether he will, on some day before Friday next, move the suspension of the Eleven o'clock Rule in order that the House may discuss and vote upon the Motion (Enfranchisement of Women) standing in the name of the hon. Member for North Somerset, it being understood that hon. Members will signify to the Patronage Secretary their readiness to attend in sufficient numbers to prevent a successful counting-out of the House?

I fear I do not see my way to accede to my hon. Friend's suggestion.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the amount which has been spent on buildings in connection with the Labour Exchanges from the commencement of the Act to the present time; the amount provided for that purpose in the Civil Service Estimates, 1913–14; and if he will state the amount provided in the Estimates to defray the cost of the administration of the Act?

The amount expended on the purchase of sites, the erection or purchase of buildings, the rental of hired buildings, the adaptation of such buildings, and the furniture and equipment provided for them, in connection with the administration of the Labour Exchanges Act and Part II. of the National Insurance Act, from the initiation of the Labour Exchanges Act in 1909 to the 31st March, 1913, is approximately £441,348. The amount provided for these purposes in the Estimates for the financial year 1913–1914 is £175,889. The amount set down in the Estimates for the financial year 1913–1914 for the combined administration of Labour Exchanges and Unemployment Insurance is £562,025. Against the above sum must be set an Appropriation-in-Aid out of the unemployment fund of £247,500, making the net cost to the State £314,525. It is not possible accurately to separate the cost of the two Services, as they are carried on in the same buildings, and to a considerable extent by the same officers.

asked the Postmaster-General the percentage of female telephone operators employed at telephone exchanges in London who have been absent from duty through illness during the last six months, and how this percentage compares with those of other branches of the Post Office where female labour is employed?

Sixty-nine per cent. of the female telephonic employed in London exchanges have been absent from duty through illness for one day or more during the past six months. Similar figures cannot be obtained as regards other branches of the Post Office without considerable trouble, but the accompanying Returns for the year ended 31st December, 1912, may afford the hon. Member the information that he requires:—

Class.	Average number employed.	Percentage of sick absentees.
Telephonists, London Telephone Service	3,569	86
Female Telegraphists, Central Telegraph Office	910	94
Female Counter Clerks and Telegraphists, London Postal Service	868	84
Female Sorters, Money Order Department	401	83
Female Sorters, Savings Bank Department	360	88

asked the Postmaster-General whether, in view of the facts that the effect of the strain imposed upon the clerical staff of the Controller's Office, London Telephone Service, by the continuance of the amount of overtime has resulted in officers having to absent themselves from duty for prolonged periods owing to nervous breakdown, and that in spite of an increase in the number of subordinate appointments in this office a considerable amount of overtime still has to be performed, he is taking steps to draft in such staff as will provide for the complete cessation of overtime and for an increase in the number of higher appointments, so that the work may be more efficiently organised?

My right hon. Friend has now before him proposals for a large increase of force in the Controller's Office, London Telephone Service, and, pending settlement at, he hopes, an early date, he has given instructions for the employment of whatever temporary force may be necessary—such force to be obtained through the Labour Exchange.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he has had complaints from the North-West Division of Glasgow as to the inconvenience caused to the public by the closing of sub-post offices for weekly half-holidays, and particularly in the New City Road district; and, if so, whether any arrangement can be made to prevent members of the public having to walk either to Otago Street, Hillhead, or to St. George's Road in order to telegraph or post letters for the English and Irish mails on the day when the sub-post offices are closed?

A complaint has been received as regards the early closing of the New City Road T.S.O. on Tuesday, which is the general early closing day in Glasgow. There is a pillar-box within 200 yards of that office, and within half a mile there are two telegraph offices, both of which are open when the New City Road office is closed for the weekly half-holiday. My right hon. Friend does not consider that the circumstances warrant the withdrawal of the concession enjoyed by the sub-postmaster in the matter of a weekly half-holiday.

asked the Postmaster-General to what extent the telegraph wires to the North and West of England and Scotland are underground; how long have these underground wires been so carried, stating how many cases of breakdown have occurred during the period referred to; are any telegraphic wires to Ireland carried underground; if so, which; and will he state the number of cases of breakdown which have occurred, respectively, to the system known as underground and overland?

The length of the underground cable from London to Liverpool, Edinburgh, and Newcastle, is 764½ miles, of which 133 miles are in Scotland. The length of the cable from London to Plymouth, Porthcurno, Weston, and Cardiff is 406½ miles, and from Birmingham to Berkeley Heath, 65½ miles. The construction of the first section of an underground line between Birmingham and London was begun in 1897, and the system has been extended gradually since that year. The number of circuits in the northern and western underground cables varies in different sections, ranging from seven in the short section between Penzance and Porthcurno, to about one hundred between London and Birmingham. Twelve important Irish circuits are carried for considerable distances in the underground cables. The statistics for which the hon. Member asks in connection with breakdowns are not available.