asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether his attention has been called to the fact that a workman in the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, who receives a compensation allowance, has been refused sick pay under the National Insurance Act, although the weekly allowance is an old arrangement, thus depriving the man of 10s. a week, the understanding being that in such cases the men should not be at any loss and that the Department would pay if the Insurance Commissioners refused; and whether he proposes to take any action in the matter?

If the hon. Member would let me know the name of the workman referred to, I shall be pleased to have the case inquired into.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether the Estates Commissioners have had their attention drawn to the immediate necessity of drainage on the Reddick estate, situated at Killavackan, Curraghroe, county Roscommon, and to the importance of an immediate division amongst the people of the district of the turbary situate upon the estate; and, if so, whether action will soon be taken in regard to these matters?

The Estates Commissioners propose to have inquiries made at an early date as regards the matter referred to in the question.

asked whether the Estates Commissioners have agreed with the Congested Districts Board that the estate of Major O'Hara, situated near Collooney, county Sligo, should be dealt with by the latter body in order that the uneconomic holdings of the tenants might be approved; whether objection has been taken to this course by the landlord or any other parties interested; and what action the Chief Secretary proposes to take in the matter?

This estate is not the subject of proceedings for sale to either the Estates Commissioners or the Con- gested Districts Board. It is the subject of direct sale proceedings by the owner to the tenants under the Irish Land Act, 1903, and will be dealt with by the Commissioners when reached in order of priority on the principal register of direct sales (all cash). The Commissioners have no power to transfer the sale of this estate to the Congested Districts Board without the consent of the owner, and they understand that it is not his wish that there should be any interference with the direct sale proceedings already instituted by him.

also asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether the Owen Phibbs estate, Abbeytown, county Sligo, has been offered by the proprietor to the Congested Districts Board; whether he will state what steps have been taken to complete the purchase; and when it is expected to have the sale and transfer carried into effect?

The Congested Districts Board have no information regarding Mr. Owen Phibbs estate at Abbeytown. The estate of Mr. Owen Phibbs at Carricknagat has been offered for sale through the Board, and they have decided to make an offer for purchase which will shortly be issued.

next asked whether the Congested Districts Board have acquired the estate of Colonel Campbell, situated at Carricknagat, county Sligo; and, if the purchase has not yet been completed, will the Chief Secretary state the stage which the negotiations for purchase have at present reached?

The Congested Districts Board have no information regarding Colonel Campbell's estate at Carricknagat. Colonel Campbell's Abbeytown estate has been offered for sale through the Board, and a decision will be arrived at regarding purchase as soon as practicable.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the case of John Smith, who lost his pension for stealing the clothes in which he escaped from the Chell workhouse, whether he was informed that a memorial sent to him from the old age pension committee was submitted to Mr. Brough, the stipendiary magistrate who tried the case; that he approved of it and promised that if applied to again by the Home Secretary that he would recommend a free pardon; whether he was informed that the board of guardians unanimously passed a resolution in support of the memorial; and whether, if these facts are as stated, he will reopen the case with a view to giving Smith a free pardon?

I have already answered several questions about this case. My decision not to advise the grant of a free pardon was arrived at after a careful consideration of all the facts and after communicating with the magistrate, and no new circumstances have been brought to my notice which would justify my reopening the case.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether, in view of the evidence given in 1907 by Mr. W. H. Power, the Board's principal medical officer at that time, before the Royal Commission on Vivisection (Cd. 3462, question 4478), that since obtaining lymph from Cologne the Board's supplies have been renewed again and again, and always from the Continent, he will give a list, from the year 1898 to the present time, showing the date of each renewal, from whence obtained, and whether each such fresh strain was of cow-pox or small-pox origin?

In the year 1899 two supplies were obtained from Tours, two from Paris, one from Dresden, and one from Cologne; in 1900, three from Tours, and one from Cologne; in 1901, one from Dresden and one from Cologne; in 1902, one from Tours, one from Dresden, and two from Cologne; in each of the years 1903, 1904, and 1905, one supply was obtained from Cologne, and in 1907 two from Cologne. Since that year no further supplies have been obtained. I have no exact information as to the origin of the supplies.

asked the Prime Minister whether, having regard to the dissatisfaction expressed by Irish stockowners trading with Great Britain as to the application of the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act, 1894, by the President of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, he will, in deference to the request of all Irish traders, grant an inquiry into its administration; and, if not, will he state his reason for refusing?

I must refer the hon. Member to the reply which I gave him on 9th June, to which I can add nothing.

asked the Postmaster-General whether, in connection with the decision to staff the Portsmouth Dockyard branch office with men drawn from the postal side, he is aware that the whole staff of telegraphists, from which side the office was formerly staffed, are capable of performing the duties at the branch office, and that for about eight months in the year no overtime would be incurred by these withdrawals; whether there is now abnormal and almost continuous overtime performed on the postal side, and careful selection has to be made to find postal men with a knowledge of telegraphy; and whether he is satisfied that the administrative convenience was not influenced by the demand from the telegraphists for a regulation meal relief?

I am fully aware of the circumstances of this case, and I see no reason to depart from the view expressed in my reply to the hon. Member's question on 2nd June. The large amount of overtime on the postal side has been due mainly to exceptional conditions at the head office, and constitutes an additional reason for affording the postal officers a share in the more favourable branch office duties. The regulation meal reliefs have been granted to the branch office star, and the decision to man the office from the postal side was not influenced by any question of meal reliefs.

asked the Postmaster-General whether a general rule exists in the Post Office service which prohibits the appointment of the son of a postmaster to his father's post office; whether in the Yeovil office a son of the postmaster was employed for two and a-half years, during which period he did not rotate on the ordinary cycle of duties; whether a second son has now been installed for a period of six months; and whether he will take steps to prevent preferential treatment being introduced at the expense of the remainder of the staff employed at that office?

It is the general rule that no established male officer should be employed at an office where he would be under the supervision of a relative. One son of the postmaster of Yeovil was employed at that office for 2½ years in an unestablished capacity. His prolonged employment was due to certain changes in the telegraph arrangements at that office. He has now been appointed to the establishment at another office. The second son, who is an established officer, has been temporarily transferred to Yeovil for a few months on account of his health. He takes his share of the duties allotted to junior sorting clerks and telegraphists and is not treated preferentially either as regards his hours of duty or in any other way.

asked the President of the Board of Agriculture the number of persons directly dependent upon agriculture for a living in Great Britain in each of the following years: 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901, and 1911; the number of men employed for wages in agriculture in each of these years in England, Wales, and Scotland, respectively; and the acreage under the plough, under wheat, and in permanent pasture?

The Census figures for 1911 are not yet available, but the following statements give so far as possible the information desired:—