asked the President of the Local Government Board on what day domiciliary treatment for persons entitled to sanatorium benefit and recommended for that form of treatment was legally available, as specified in accordance with Clause 16, Sub-section (b), of the National Insurance Act, for insured persons?

Domiciliary treatment for insured persons recommended for sana- torium benefit was legally available on the 15th July, 1912, the date on which the National Insurance Act came into operation.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury what sums were paid by the Treasury to barristers who were Members of the House during the financial year 1912–13 for legal services?

As far as I am aware, the total fees paid by the Treasury to Members of this House, other than the Law Officers, for legal services in the year 1912–13 amounted to £840.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether the Treasury have any objection to the publication, in whole or part, of the evidence of Sir George Murray before the Committee on Irish Finance?

The answer is in the negative.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether, in view of the fact that, in the opinion of the medical officer to the Board of Customs and Excise, the conditions under which assistant clerks are employed in the Statistical Office are considered satisfactory, he will state the reason attributed for the contraction of phthisis or other tuberculous disease by five assistant clerks in that office; the average salaries received; and the average number of years served by these five assistant clerks?

The medical certificates furnished by the five assistant clerks in question do not state in what manner the tuberculosis disease was contracted. The service period ranges from two years seven months to eleven years five months, and the salaries from £65 to £113 10s.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the number of former Excise districts and collections actually vacant, and the number of officials of Excise origin now eligible to be appointed to the permanent charge of such districts and collections; how long the officials in question have served in their respective grades; and whether the former practice of appointing Excise supervisors and collectors to fixed positions in strict order of their seniority in their respective grades will be maintained in the future?

The number of vacancies is continually changing. At the present moment eighteen districts and seven collections which were formerly Excise are technically vacant, but are filled by temporary appointments in the usual course. It is not possible to state the number of officials of Excise origin who would be considered eligible for permanent appointment to these posts. In selecting officials for such appointments consideration is given to all the circumstances of the case. No right to appointment in strict order of seniority has ever been recognised.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give the amounts received for duty in 1912–13 on sugar, tea, coffee, cocoa, currants, raisins, and each other article of food, separately?

The amounts of duty (provisional figures) are as follows:—

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give a tabular statement comparing the official estimates of the yield of Super-tax given to the House at the time of its introduction with the actual yield that has been realised?

The yield of the Super-tax was at the time of its introduction estimated at £2,300,000. The actual yield for the year 1909–10, the only year for which full figures are available, is approximately £2,645,000.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, while shareholders of a limited company are charged with Super-tax in respect of the amounts actually received by way of dividend in each year and not in respect of sums set aside as reserve, members of a partnership are held liable to Super-tax in respect of their share of the whole profits of the year, including profits not divided but carried to reserve; and, if so, whether he will consider a proposal for putting partners and shareholders in a position of equality in this respect?

The point now brought forward by the hon. and learned Member was the subject of a question put by the hon. Member for Wandsworth on the 31st May, 1911, to which I replied that it was fully considered during the Committee stage of the Finance Bill of 1909; and that I did not consider that any alteration of the law is necessary.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give in tabular form for the latest date for which figures are available a statement of the graduated rates of Income Tax now levied for State purposes by the kingdom of Prussia, and the aggregate amounts of income assessed at each rate?

I will have a statement prepared and will send it to my hon. Friend.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether an inspection of property for the purpose of ascertaining its value under the Finance Act, 1910, sometimes takes place years after the owner has made a return of its value; whether in such a case it is, as recently alleged by a district valuer, the practice of the Valuation Department to refuse to give the owner an opportunity of referring to his return with a view to its discussion with the valuer; and, if so, on what ground such a reference is refused?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. There is no practice such as indicated by the hon. and learned Member in the second part of the question, and I should be glad to have details which would enable me to identify the particular case to which he refers.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland the number of women in Ireland who have attained the age of twenty-five years who, if they were men, would be entitled to be registered as Parliamentary electors in respect of a household qualification within the meaning of the Representation of the People Act, 1884, and who are the wives of men entitled to be registered in respect of such household qualification?

This information is not available.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury if he will state, as from the partition of the Irish Constabulary Force Fund into two branches, the aggregate income of the benefit branch from subscriptions, the total increase by interest and appreciation, the total loss by inopportune sales and depreciation, the total cost of management, and the number of subscribers whose entire subscriptions have, from any cause, gone to swell the capital without payment of benefit out of them to any person?

The total income of the benefit branch of the Constabulary Force Fund from deductions from pay and pensions from 1st April, 1891, when the benefit branch was formed, to 31st March last was approximately £182,000, and the interest on investments received to 5th instant amounts to £216,920. The gain from appreciation or loss through depreciation can only be definitely determined when the whole of the securities have been realised, and in this connection I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given to his question by the Secretary to the Treasury on 12th February last. As the sales of stock which have so far taken place have been to meet demands on the fund they can scarcely be classed as inopportune. No charge is made against the fund for cost of management. It would be impossible to state in how many cases subscriptions have gone to swell the capital of the fund without any benefit to the subscriber. I would, however, remind the hon. Member that but for the number of cases of this kind it would not be possible to maintain the present liberal scale of grants to the widows and children entitled to benefit.

asked the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland) if he can give the quantities of potatoes exported from Ireland to England and Scotland in 1911 and in 1912; and can he say, approximately, how many were re-exported to foreign countries?

The total quantity of potatoes exported from Ireland to England and Scotland in the year 1911 was 173,026 tons. The figures for the year 1912 are not yet available. The Department cannot say what proportion of the potatoes shipped from Ireland to Great Britain are re-exported to foreign countries.

asked the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland) whether, in view of the loss to Irish farmers resulting from the prohibition by the United States of America of the importation of potatoes from the United Kingdom owing to the prevalence of black scab in certain parts of England and Scotland, and in view of the fact that there has been no case of black scab in Ireland for two years, he will approach the American Government with a view to the removal of the prohibition so far as Ireland is concerned; and whether, as an additional guarantee and inducement to the American Government to remove the prohibition as regards Ireland, he will undertake to prohibit the importation into Ireland of potatoes from England, Wales, and Scotland?

In December last the Department caused representations to the Government of the United States to be made through the Foreign Office with a view to the relaxation of the restrictions on the importation of Irish potatoes to the United States. A reply has been received to the effect that the chance of any relaxation of the existing law is at present remote, even if Scotland and Ireland were completely free from wart disease, inasmuch as there are two other diseases of potatoes both prevalent in the United Kingdom against which quarantine regulations would operate. It is not proposed to take the steps suggested in the latter part of the question.

asked the Chief Secretary what are the amounts of the advances made respectively by the Board of Works and the Land Commission under the Labourers (Ireland) Acts since the 31st March, 1907, exclusive of advances made by the Board of Works which had been sanctioned before that date?

The total advances made by the Irish Land Commission under the Labourers (Ireland) Act, 1906, up to 31st March, 1913, was £3,872,031. The Board of Works have made no advances under the Labourers Acts since the date referred to.

asked the Chief Secretary for what reasons the Congested Districts Board proposes to evict Mr. Exham Morony from a farm on the Palmer estate, in county Mayo, held by him and his father since 1881; and whether the Congested Districts Board will consider the possibility of providing farms for tenants with uneconomic holdings on the Palmer estate out of lands held by the Board elsewhere in Connaught, and so avoid the eviction of a tenant who has been in occupation of this farm since 1886?

The Congested Districts Board propose to determine the tenancy in the non-residential grazing farm referred to on the Palmer estate, which is held as a future tenancy, because there are large numbers of tenants on this estate in occupation of uneconomic holdings, and there are no other lands available for the enlargement of these holdings except those in the hands of graziers. The untenanted lands purchased by the Board elsewhere in Connaught are required for the relief of congestion in the districts in which they are situate. Mr. Morony has other lands besides the farm on Sir Roger Palmer's estate.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he can take steps to expedite the sale of the Hague estate, at Cornamaddy, Elphin, county Roscommon; and whether he is aware that about two years ago an agreement was made between the landlord and tenants for the sale and purchase of this estate?

The Congested Districts Board have not come to terms with the owner as to the purchase of this estate. The Board are aware that some of the tenants agreed with the owner in 1911 to purchase their holdings.

asked the Chief Secretary what steps it is proposed to take to carry out the recommendations of the Commission which recently investigated the salmon fisheries; and whether he is aware that the future supply of fish is endangered by over-netting at the mouths of the rivers?

The Department have prepared notes for a Bill giving effect to most of the recommendations of the Departmental Committee on inland fisheries. This Bill I hope to introduce on the first suitable opportunity. The Department are aware that in late years there has been an increase of drift netting for salmon in the sea, and in certain districts they have made by-laws restricting this class of fishing off the mouths of rivers.

asked the Chief Secretary if he will urge the Treasury to increase the Grant for primary education in Ireland, so as to place Ireland on an equality with Scotland in this matter?

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given to a question asked on this subject by the hon. Member for East Down on 12th December last.

asked the Chief Secretary whether his attention has been called to an advertisement appearing in the "Irish School Weekly" newspaper, 4th January, 1913, for a trained female assistant teacher for a mixed school who must be competent to conduct a choir and play the organ; whether the Commissioners permit school managers to make it a condition of employment of national school teachers that they perform extraneous duties; and, if not, what steps they have taken to ensure that the teacher consents to discharge such duties and is duly remunerated for the same?

The Commissioners of National Education have taken no action in regard to the advertisement referred to. They do not permit school managers to make it a condition of employment of national teachers that they are to perform extraneous duties, but, should a manager desire to have a teacher who can conduct a choir, the Commissioners can see no grounds for interfering unless the manager proposes to employ the teacher at the extraneous duty without the teacher's consent and without special remuneration.

asked the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland) what steps he is taking, or contemplates taking, to prevent the intro- duction into Ireland of the Isle of Wight bee disease?

It is hoped to obtain the necessary powers for dealing with the disease mentioned by an amendment of the Bee Disease Bill now before Parliament.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty if he is aware that the men employed in booking and receiving goods at the repair workshop attached to the survey department of His Majesty's ship "Vernon" at Portsmouth are only in receipt of labourers 'wages; and, as this is contrary to the instructions contained in the Admiralty's letter of 26th October, 1912, whether he will give instructions that these men be paid in accordance with the terms of that letter?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. I am making inquiries into the subject.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether the non-commissioned officers and men, as well as the officers in the Eastern and Aldershot commands will be deprived this year of the opportunity they have been looking forward to, to obtain the usual holiday facilities at Whitsuntide in common with and at the same time as Civil servants and other employés of the Government; or, if any officers, non-commissioned officers and men in the Regular Army are unavoidably prevented by their ordinary routine duties from enjoying a holiday at Whitsuntide itself, that is, from Friday till Tuesday in Whitsun week, at the same time as their friends and the rest of the community, whether those who may wish to avail themselves of the privilege will be granted leave for an equivalent period at one of the earliest convenient week-ends following?

There is no intention of departing from the usual practice in regard to holidays. Whenever it is possible, non-commissioned officers and men are granted week-end passes if they apply for them, and if the exigencies of the Service permit.

asked the Secretary for War whether, in the case of James Lynch, late a pensioner clerk in the War Office, York, any official inquiry has been made into the circumstances of his dismissal; and, if so, why Lynch was not given an opportunity of attending and stating his case?

In September, 1910, Mr. Lynch was informed by the officer commanding, records, that his work in the office was unsatisfactory, and that unless he showed marked improvement during the next quarter he would have to be discharged. At the end of the December quarter he was again informed that his work was unsatisfactory, but that he would be given three months more to enable him to tide over the winter. On the 1st April he was given one month's notice in accordance with the terms of his engagement. The case was the subject of inquiry by the War Office in July, 1911, and Mr. Lynch was informed that the Army Council considered that he had been treated with consideration, and that he had no reasonable ground for complaint.

asked when and where the various Territorial Battalions will go into camp for their annual training this summer?

This information will shortly be published, and I will send the hon. Gentleman a copy.

asked whether any reply has been given to the petition presented to the Army Council by the civilian subordinates employed at His Majesty's Gun Wharf, Portsmouth?

Answers on certain points were given to the deputation which presented the petition on 24th March last. A reply to the remaining points is now under consideration.

asked whether Army Order 144, re overtime rates, applied to men employed as crane drivers at His Majesty's Gun Wharf, Portsmouth?

The men in question are paid inclusive rates, covering overtime, and the order therefore does not apply directly. The inclusive rates are under revision.

asked the names of the principal manufacturers of airships and aeroplanes in the United Kingdom?

About twenty firms are noted upon the War Office list, but as the lists of firms to be invited to tender for Army requirements are invariably treated as confidential, in this, as in other cases, I am unable to give the names.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has received a memorial from the National Traders' Defence League of Manchester with regard to amending the Shops Act of 1912 by with-drawing the Exemption Clause; and whether he proposes to take any action with regard to it?

Yes, Sir, I have received such a memorial. The exemption provision in Section 4 was a part of the compromise arrived at in Committee on the subject of closing for a weekly half-holiday, and it is much too soon to consider the question of legislation for its repeal.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he can give the names of the members of the Commission appointed by the British South Africa Company to supervise the preventive measures now being taken against the spread of sleeping sickness in Southern Rhodesia?

The Commission of Inquiry appointed last autumn by the British South Africa Company, when it was found that a case of sleeping sickness had occurred South of the Zambesi, was constituted as follows: Dr. Fleming, the Medical Director; Mr. Carbutt, of the Native Department; Mr. Jack, the Government Entomologist; and Dr. Stohr, of the Northern Rhodesian Administration, who had been engaged in sleeping sickness work in North-Eastern Rhodesia.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is aware that an assistant engineer at Lagos Harbour works named Kirkwood, employed tem- porarily there, has recently been notified by the Crown Agents that he cannot be considered by them for further employment in any part of the world; whether he is aware that the conduct of this engineer was certified as satisfactory by the resident engineer at Lagos Harbour works; that when such notification was made to the assistant engineer he asked for an interview with the Crown Agents and asked that the resident engineer, at present in this country, should be present at that interview, and that such interview was refused, and, if so, will he say why this course was adopted; and whether this is the recognised method of the Crown Agents' Department to permanently bar from their employment efficient engineers without giving them an opportunity of expressing their views?

The facts are not correctly stated. The decision of the Crown agents not to offer re-employment to Mr. Kirkwood was taken after consultation with the resident engineer, who, although he had stated in a certificate of service given to Mr. Kirkwood that his general conduct had been satisfactory, did not report favourably on him in certain other respects. Mr. Kirkwood, on being informed of this decision, requested that a meeting should be arranged, not with the Crown Agents, but with the resident engineer and the consulting engineers for the harbour works, in order that the latter might decide as to the justice of the resident engineer's report. The consulting engineers were referred to, and expressd the opinion that in such matters the resident engineer was best qualified to judge, and, as they saw no reason to disapprove his action, it was considered that no useful object would be served by the proposed interview.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs when the Return on Foreign Income Tax Systems, granted on the Motion of the hon. Member for East Northants on 29th May, 1911, will be published?

It is hoped that the Return will be published in the course of the summer. The Report will be sent to the printer by the Inland Revenue Department very shortly, but my hon. Friend will understand that reports on a subject of this kind require careful revision in order that the facts may be presented in the most convenient manner.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether, in view of the fact that owners of farm buildings now used, but not originally intended, for the accommodation of milch cattle are, in consequence of the provisions of Clause 16 of the Milk and Dairies Bill, in doubt whether they should take steps, by notice to quit or otherwise, to prevent their tenants from continuing their present user of such premises, he will state whether it is intended by Departmental Order to increase the minimum cubic air space for cows beyond the 500 cubic feet commonly accepted as sufficient, or to vary the cubic requirements according to the sufficiency or deficiency of effective ventilation of the cow-house?

No decision has been arrived at in regard to the particular point mentioned, but I may say generally that in framing the Regulations care will be taken to see that any requirements which are prescribed are reasonable and practicable.

asked the President of the Local Government Board if his consent has been asked to the expenditure by the St. Pancras Board of Guardians of £592 on making additions to the Leavesden Poor Law schools, which already accommodate nearly 400 children; and whether, in view of the condemnation of this barrack-school method of rearing the young, he will refuse his sanction to any enlargement of the buildings?

The alterations to which the Noble Lord refers will not increase the number of children that can be accommodated at the school.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether his attention has been drawn to the last report of the county medical officer of health for Bedfordshire, in which he draws attention to the insanitary condition of the cottages in the county of Bedford, and the overcrowding which exists, resulting not only in a high death rate from phthisis among young adults, both male and female, but also in the evident demoralisation in many villages; and, seeing that the only rural district council to take action in the whole county is that of Bedford, which has erected six cottages at Sharnbrook, let at a rental of 4s. a week to gardeners and mechanics, that the district medical officer states that agricultural labourers are unable to pay this rental, and that if the erection of cottages is to become more general some means must be provided for letting the cottages at a lower rental, will he say what action he proposes to take?

My attention has been drawn to the general observations in the report for the year 1911 of the county medical officer of health for Bedfordshire in regard to housing conditions in rural areas. He does not in any way indicate the particular rural areas to which he refers, but in dealing with the reports of the medical officers of health for the various districts in the county for the year 1912 I am considering what action I can take. The Noble Lord and the county council are, of course, aware of the provisions of Section 10 of the Housing, Town Planning, etc., Act, 1909. In addition to Bedford Rural District Council, Biggleswade Urban District Council have applied for sanction to a loan for a housing scheme, and I understand that Biggleswade Rural District Council are also taking action.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether he is aware that the medical officer of health for the West Riding County Council, in his annual report for 1911, has drawn attention to the fact that in certain instances he has not received copies of representations in compliance with Section 69 (1) of the Housing, Town Planning, etc., Act, 1909; and what steps, if any, will be taken to ascertain the reason for these omissions on the part of those responsible for making the Returns?

I am aware of the statement in the report for 1911 to which the Noble Lord alludes, but I am glad to be able to inform him that the report also records an improvement in the matter during 1912. I gather that the local officials were not fully alive to the new requirement.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether he has received a complaint from Mr. Chapman, the husband of one of the victims in the small-pox outbreak at Newhaven this year, that his wife was removed from her bed at home when very dangerously ill from complications following a serious ailment quite apart from small-pox; that she was driven eighteen miles by road in a horse ambulance to the infectious hospital; that these circumstances materially lessened her chances of recovery; and whether he has any observations to make on the case?

I have obtained from Dr. Farrar, the medical inspector of the Local Government Board, who investigated the recent small-pox outbreak at Newhaven his observations as regards the complaint referred to in the question. It appears that Mrs. Chapman died in the hospital from a severe attack of small-pox which had induced a miscarriage before she was removed to hospital. I am informed that the removal took place in a properly equipped two-horse ambulance carriage with good springs and that there is no reason to believe that the removal lessened her chances of recovery.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether a medical inspector has been delegated to investigate the possible causes of the recent outbreak of small-pox at Newhaven; whether the centre of infection was in close proximity to the sewage outlet; whether the unsatisfactory drainage arrangements have often resulted in an objectionable and unhealthy condition of sanitary affairs in the town; and whether any proposal has been made to carry the sewage further out to sea in future?

An investigation has been made by one of the medical inspectors of the Local Government Board into the recent outbreak of small-pox at Newhaven, and it was found that the outbreak was due to infection from person to person. There is no evidence that it was caused by defective drainage arrangements or methods of sewage disposal. The nearest sewer outfall is stated to be a quarter of a mile from the infected houses. I am not aware of any proposal to carry the sewage further out to sea.

asked the President of the Local Government Board the number of women in England and Wales who have attained the age of twenty-five years who, if they were men, would be entitled to be registered as Parliamentary electors in respect of a household qualification within the meaning of the Representation of the People Act, 1884, and who are the wives of men entitled to be registered in respect of such household qualification?

I am afraid there are no data on which to base an estimate of any value. I can only say that at the Census of 1911 the number of women in England and Wales returned as of the age of twenty-five years or upwards was 9,750,264. Of these 6,206,112 were returned as married. The number of male occupation voters in England and Wales in 1912 was 5,507,134, but it is impossible to say how many of these were married.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether any and, if so, what security has been lodged with the Government by the United National Collecting Society, of 108, Douglas Street, Glasgow?

No deposit under the Assurance Companies Act, 1909, has been made by the United National Friendly Assurance Collecting Society, which is registered under the Friendly Societies Act. The Assurance Companies Act does not apply to friendly societies.

asked the Attorney-General if the attention of the Government has been directed to the case of Lind v. Saleeby and the "Pall Mall Gazette," which occupied a judge and jury sixteen days; what has been the cost to the State of this trial and how much will be recovered from the plaintiff, who herself occupied several entire days; and whether any means exist or will be devised by His Majesty's Government to make it impossible to convert the Courts of Justice into theatres for the discussion of abstract issues and places of advertisement for the professors of particular scientific or other beliefs?

I have seen the reports of this trial in the public Press. No extra cost has been caused to the State by this trial. If the Court had not been occupied with that action it would have been engaged in the trial of other cases. It is for the learned judge who presides at the trial to decide whether the opinions of professors are relevant to the issue and should be given in evidence.

asked the Postmaster-General what is the avenue of promotion for those officers transferred from the ex-National Telephone Company, Limited, who have been classified as clerical assistants on the engineering branch of the Department?

The ordinary line of advancement for clerical assistants in the Engineering Department who were transferred from the National Telephone Company is to third-class clerkships in superintending engineers' offices.

asked the Postmaster-General if further evidence of unreasonable delay in delivering Shetland mails from Aberdeen has been submitted to him; and, if so, will he take such steps as will prevent the further occurrence of such delay?

I have before me reports on the recent working of the mail service in the Shetland Islands, and I am taking up the matter with the contractor.

asked the Postmaster-General the names by which the twelve important Irish telegraph circuits, carried partly in underground cables, are known, giving the lengths of the cables referred to?

The circuits and distances to which the hon. Member refers are:—

• Two London—Belfast circuits for 314½ miles each.
• One London—Waterford circuit for 146½ miles.
• One London—Dublin circuit for 43 miles.
• Two London—Cork circuits for 146½ each.
• One Leeds—Belfast circuit for 178 miles.
• One Manchester—Belfast circuit for 135 miles.
• One Glasgow—Dublin circuit for 182 miles.
• One Bristol—Cork circuit for 64½ miles.
• One Liverpool—Belfast circuit for 134 miles.
• One Edinburgh—Belfast circuit for 94½ miles.

asked the Secretary for Scotland the amounts received from public sources by each of the three Scotch agricultural colleges, year by year, from 1900–01 to 1912–13, both inclusive.

The information desired by my hon. Friend is as follows:—