asked the Secretary to the Treasury the total amount paid into the Sinking Fund by purchasers under the Irish Land Acts of 1903 and 1909 to the 31st December 1913; the rate at which that money is invested; the annual revenue from that amount at that rate; to what purpose the revenue is applied; and the effect on the duration or amount of purchasers' annuities under the two Acts mentioned, respectively?

The answer is as follows:—

1. Advances under the Acts of 1903 and 1909, repayable by a 3¼ per cent. annuity. —The Sinking Fund repayments and the interest earned by Sinking Fund investments are invested in further advances under Section 36 (2) of the Act of 1903. Such investments are made at the rate of 2¾ per cent. interest, being the same rate as was assumed when the annuity was fixed:— The total amount of Sinking Fund repayments to 31st December, 1913, was £1,160,174 And the interest earned and capitalised has been 100,296 £1,260,470 The annual revenue at 2¾ percent. on £1,260,470 is £34,663

2. Advance under the Act of 1909 repayable by a 3½ per cent. annuity.—These advances being made in Guaranteed Three per Cent. Stock at its face value, the Sinking Fund repayments are invested in that stock, and for the present are assumed to accumulate at 3 per cent. The total amount of Sinking Fund received to 31st December, 1913, was £14,311, and the interest earned for reinvestment £335. The Guaranteed Three per Cent. Stock purchased for the Sinking Fund amounts to £8,876, on which a year's interest at 3 per cent. is £266, and £7,313 remained uninvested.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury at what dates the final notices for collection of Income Tax, giving seven days for payment, are to be issued in London and England generally; whether, in such respect, London is treated as one district; and whether distraint under these notices will be resorted to at exactly the same time as under the seven days' notice already issued in the Greenock district in Scotland?

The final notices for London and for England generally have been in process of issue since the 20th instant. It is impossible to fix beforehand the actual dates of issue either in London, which comprises numerous collecting areas and cannot be treated as a single district, or in other parts of England. It is likewise not possible to fix exactly the dates when distraint proceedings will actually.commence in the various districts.

asked on what grounds the claim of Charles McLafferty, Downings, county Donegal, to an old age pension has been disallowed?

Charles McLafferty's claim for an old age pension was disallowed by the Local Government Board on appeal in March, 1913, on the ground that there was insufficient evidence that he had attained the age of seventy.

asked the Secretary for War what has been, approximately, the total expenditure on the Army airships up to the date of their being handed over to the Navy; and what sum, if any, the Navy paid to the Army in respect thereof?

The expenditure on the Army airships dates back over some years, and I am unable to give its total. It has been agreed to value the property transferred to the Navy at £65,000, but the hon. Member will understand that no payment is made from Navy to Army Funds in respect of the transfer.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury if he will furnish the House with copies of the latest accumulation tables relating to Irish land purchase supplied by the National Debt Commissioners to the Irish Land Commission?

presented the following table, showing the amounts to which the annual sum of 10s., paid half-yearly, will accumulate at the end of the respective periods mentioned below, with half-yearly interest at the rate of 2¾ per cent. per annum:— Term of Years for which Instalments have been paid. Amount Accumulated by 10s. a year and 5s. half-yearly. Term of Years for which Instalments have been paid. Amount Accumulated by 10s. a year and 5s. half-yearly. ½ .25 25½ 18.30295 1 .50344 26 18.80461 1½ .76036 26½ 19.31317 2 1.02081 27 19.82873 2½ 1.28485 27½ 20.35138 3 1.55252 28 20.88121 3½ 1.82386 28½ 21.41832 4 2.09894 29 21.96283 4½ 2.37780 29½ 22.51481 5 2.66050 30 23.07439 5½ 2.94708 30½ 23.64167 6 3.23760 31 24.21674 6½ 3.53212 31½ 24.79972 7 3.83069 32 25.39072 7½ 4.13336 32½ 25.98984 8 4.44019 33 26.59720 8½ 4.75124 33½ 27.21291 9 5.06657 34 27.83709 9½ 5.38624 34½ 28.46985 10 5.71030 35 29.11131 10½ 6.03882 35½ 29.76159 11 6.37185 36 30.42081 11½ 6.70946 36½ 31.08910 12 7.05172 37 31.76657 12½ 7.39868 37½ 32.45336 13 7.75041 38 33.14959 13½ 8.10698 38½ 33.85540 14 8.46846 39 34.57091 14½ 8.83489 39½ 35.29626 15 9.20637 40 36.03159 15½ 9.58296 40½ 36.77702 16 9.96472 41 37.53271 16½ 10.35174 41½ 38.22878 17 10.74408 42 39.07539 17½ 11.14181 42½ 39.86268 18 11.54501 43 40.66079 18½ 11.95375 43½ 41.46987 19 12.36812 44 42.29008 19½ 12.78818 44½ 43.12157 20 13.21401 45 43.96449 20½ 13.64571 45½ 44.81901 21 14.08334 46 45.68527 21½ 14.52698 46½ 46.56344 22 14.97673 47 47.45369 22½ 15.43266 47½ 48.35617 23 15.89486 48 49.27217 23½ 16.36341 48½ 50.19855 24 16.83841 49 51.13878 24½ 17.31994 49½ 52.09194 25 17.80808 50 53.05820

Term of Years for which Instalments have been paid. Amount Accumulated by 10s, a year and 5s. half-yearly. Term of Years for which Instalments have been paid. Amount Accumulated by 10s. a year and 5s. half-yearly. 50½ 54.03775 60 75.43231 51 55.03077 60½ 76.71950 51½ 56.03744 61 78.02439 52 57.05796 61½ 79.34723 52½ 58.09251 62 80.68825 53 59.14128 62½ 82.04772 53½ 60.20447 63 83.42587 54 61.28228 63½ 84.82298 54½ 62.87491 64 86.23929 55 63.48257 64½ 87.67508 55½ 64.60545 65 89.13962 56 65.74378 65½ 90.60616 56½ 66.89776 66 92.10200 57 68.06760 66½ 93.61840 57½ 69.25353 67 95.15565 58 70.45577 67½ 96.71404 58½ 71.67453 68 98.29386 59 72.91006 68½ 99.89540 59½ 74.16257 69 101.51896

Table showing the amounts to which the annual sum of 10s., paid half-yearly, will accumulate at the end of the respective periods mentioned below, with half-yearly interest at the rate of 3 per cent. per annum:— Term of Years for which Instalments have been paid. Amount Accumulated by 10s. year and 5s. half-yearly. Term of Year which Instalmets have been paid. Amount Accumulated by 10s. a year and 5s. half-yearly. ½ .25 14½ 8.99968 1 .50375 15 9.38467 1½ .76131 15½ 9.77544 2 1.02273 16 10.17207 2½ 1.28807 16½ 10.57465 3 1.55739 17 10.98327 3½ 1.83075 17½ 11.39802 4 2.10821 18 11.81899 4½ 2.38983 18½ 12.24628 5 2.67568 19 12.67997 5½ 2.96582 19½ 13.12017 6 3.26030 20 13.56697 6½ 3.55921 20½ 14.02048 7 3.86260 21 14.48079 7½ 4.17053 21½ 14.94800 8 4.48309 22 15.42222 8½ 4.80034 22½ 15.90355 9 5.12234 23 16.39210 9½ 5.44918 23½ 16.88799 10 5.78902 24 17.39130 10½ 6.11763 24½ 17.90217 11 6.45989 25 18.42071 11½ 6.80629 25½ 18.94702 12 7.15838 26 19.48122 12½ 7.51576 26½ 20.02344 13 7.87849 27 20.57379 13½ 8.24667 27½ 21.13240 14 8.62037 28 21.69939

Term of Years for which Instalments have been paid. Amount Accumulated by 10s. a year and 5s. half-yearly, Term of Years for which Instalments have been paid. Amount Accumulated by 10s. a year and 5s. half-yearly. 28½ 22.27488 47½ 51.90154 29 22.85900 48 52.93006 29½ 23.45188 48½ 53.97401 30 24.05366 49 55.03362 30½ 24.66447 49½ 56.10912 31 25.28443 50 57.20076 31½ 25.91370 50½ 58.30877 32 26.55241 51 59.43340 32½ 27.20069 51½ 60.57490 33 27.85870 52 61.73353 33½ 28.52658 52½ 62.90953 34 29.20448 53 64.10317 34½ 29.89255 53½ 65.31472 35 30.59054 54 66.54444 35½ 31.29980 54½ 67.79261 36 32.01930 55 69.05950 36½ 32.74959 55½ 70.34539 37 33.49083 56 71.65057 37½ 34.24320 56½ 72.97533 38 35.00684 57 74.31996 38½ 35.78195 57½ 75.68476 39 36.56867 58 77.07003 39½ 37.36721 58½ 78.47608 40 38.17771 59 79.90322 40½ 39.00038 59½ 81.35177 41 39.83538 60 82.82205 41½ 40.68292 60½ 84.31438 42 41.54316 61 85.82909 42½ 42.41631 61½ 87.36653 43 43.30255 62 88.92703 43½ 44.20209 62½ 90.51093 44 45.11512 63 92.11860 44½ 46.04185 63½ 93.75038 45 46.98248 64 95.40663 45½ 47.93721 64½ 97.08773 46 48.90627 65 98.79405 46½ 49.88986 65½ 100.52596 47 50.88821 66 102.28385

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland why in three cases at the last Munster Winter Assizes, two from Kerry and one from West Cork, all being cases of crimes with which there could be no popular sympathy, where the prisoners could challenge only forty-six of the jurors on the panel, the Crown ordered ninety-seven, nearly all Catholics, to stand aside; whether there was any evidence that those ninety-seven jurors, comprising some of the most respected men in the community, either sympathised with the crimes or had been successfully canvassed on behalf of the prisoners; on what ground the system of jury-packing, officially condemned during Lord Morley's Chief Secretaryship, was revived in this instance; and whether he will give the House the details of the sheriff's expenditure on the jurors selected by the Crown to try these cases?

I am informed that in these three cases the jurors were ordered to stand by as there was reason to believe that a searching canvass had been made of the jurors on the panel. In no case were any inquiries made as to the religious or political opinion of those persons. The Crown Solicitor acted on his own responsibility and in the letter and spirit of the rule established in Lord Morley's time. The sheriff's expenditure on the housing and feeding of the jurors is regulated by rule, and in the cases from county Kerry, which took two nights and three days, the expenditure was in one case £27 4s., and in the other £28 14s. In the case from West Cork the expenditure was £1 10s.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether the question of the destruction of the majolica columns in the Old Ceramic Gallery of the Victoria and Albert Museum was referred for their opinion and advice to the Advisory Council of Art of the Victoria and Albert Museum; and, if so, with what result?

The Advisory Council of the museum, in considering sites for the permanent exhibition of the Jones Collection, had before them the Report of the Committee which I appointed to advise me ( inter alia ) as to the treatment of the columns, and expressed an opinion in favour of their removal if structurally possible.

asked the President of the Board of Education if lie is aware that the majolica columns in the central refreshment room at the Victoria and Albert Museum are coloured brown, yellow, and white with broad encircling bands of dancing figures and garlands, designed by the late Francis Gamble, and that the majolica columns in the museum which have recently been destroyed were in tints of grey and white with broad encircling bands of figures and letters, designed by the late Godfrey Sykes; and whether, in view of this important difference, students desiring to study this latter class of work will be afforded any opportunities for doing so?

Examples of the lettering designed by Godfrey Sykes surrounding the columns in the Old Ceramic Gallery have been preserved, and are available for any students desiring to study them. This class of work can also be studied in the refreshment room, where there is a frieze consisting of letters, also from the designs of Godfrey Sykes, most of which are identical with the letters which surrounded the columns referred to. The designs themselves may be seen on application to the Department of Engraving, Illustration and Design.

asked the Home Secretary whether any and, if so, what steps are being taken to deport Miss Zelie Emerson; whether she is an American citizen; and whether there has been any case hitherto of an American citizen being deported from this country as undesirable?

No steps are being taken at present for Miss Emerson's expulsion, but, if she should again commit an offence which would bring her within the provisions of the Aliens Act, the question of applying to the Court for a recommendation for her expulsion will be considered. She is an American citizen. During the eight years since the Aliens Act came into force, 143 persons of American nationality convicted of crime have been ordered to be expelled.

asked the Secretary for Scotland if the price of £3,270 17s., which the Cathcart school board paid to. the Pollock estate, was only for the site or if it included payment for the construction of 148 yards of street, the fencing, planting, and maintenance of an additional area of ground, and the preservation of the river bank; if the school board took over an option for the site already obtained from the estate by a third party; if the school board ever asked the estate for any other or cheaper site; and how many yards of street the school board had to construct themselves?

In reply to a question by the hon. Member for Dulwich on 17th instant, I gave the particulars which were supplied by the school board when applying for sanction to a loan. I have no other official information on the subject.

asked the Secretary for Scotland whether the Scottish Board of Agriculture publishes weekly agricultural returns for Scotland, or whether Scottish farmers have to wait every week for the returns published by the English Board?

The Board of Agriculture for Scotland publishes a weekly "Return of Market Prices." I am sending to the Noble Lord a copy of the latest issue of it.

asked the Secretary for Scotland if he can give figures for the last fourteen years, setting out in o detail the increased expenditure on education, roads, police, and other matters in Scotland, the amount contributed by local taxation, and the amount received from the Treasury towards such expenditure?

If my right hon. Friend will refer to Tables Nos. 21 and 22 on page 48 of the last annual Statistical Abstract for the United Kingdom (Cd. 7022, 1913), he will find tabulated for fifteen years figures showing the particulars he desires in considerable detail. Further particulars for individual years are given in the introductions to the annual volumes of Local Taxation Returns for Scotland.

asked the Lord Advocate, with reference to the conviction of John Douglas, at Jedburgh, by the sheriff-substitute, on the 13th February, for cruelly illtreating a lame horse by walking it at Kelso towards the railway station, whether, as a sentence of twenty-one days' imprisonment was passed without the option of a fine, he will make inquiry into the circumstances, the youth of the offender, the absence of previous conviction, and the fact that the cruelty consisted in merely leading the animal, with a view to a possible reduction of the term of imprisonment?

I am making inquiry as requested by my hon. Friend.

asked the President of the Board of Agriculture whether, in the case of any of the 178 pigs which were slaughtered in Midlothian in the last six months because of swine fever, full value was paid or compensation of them, and subsequently the carcasses, or any of them, were sold in the Edinburgh or other market to the double advantage of the owners?

Full compensation was paid for all the pigs to which my hon. Friend refers, and the carcasses thereupon became the property of the Board, who disposed of them in accordance with the provisions of Section 20 (2) of the Diseases of Animals Act, 1894. No advantage accrued to the owners of the pigs by the sale of the carcasses.

asked the Secretary for Scotland if he will give a definition of the term fair rental used in the Board of Agriculture and Land Court Reports; and what is the basis upon which it is decided?

I would refer the Noble Lord to the terms of Sub-section (1) of Section 6 of the Crofters' Holdings (Scotland) Act, 1886.

asked the Postmaster-General whether, in view of the recommendations of the Select Committee with regard to adult night messengers in the service of the Post Office, it is proposed to place these men on the establishment or to increase their rate of pay?

The answer is in the negative. The Select Committee did not recommend that the class should be established or that their rate of pay should be improved.