asked the Secretary to the Treasury the reason why Scotland got so small a sum as £120 out of the million and a-half pounds provided in the Finance Act of 1911 for sanatoria while England, Wales, and Ireland drew respectively £26,784, £15,000, and £17,094; and will a sum equal to a fair proportion be given to Scotland as a compensation for this abstinence?

The sums to which the hon. Member refers represent merely the amounts which came in course of payment by 31st December last. The total Grant of one million and a-half pounds is, under Section 64 (1) of the National Insurance Act, 1911, distributable between the several parts of the United Kingdom on a population basis. It follows that the reply to the last part of the question is in the affirmative.

asked the hon. Member for St. George's-in-the-East, as representing the Insurance Commissioners, (1) whether any councils of counties or county boroughs have agreed, under Section 17 of the National Insurance Act, 1911, to pay half of any expenditure on the treatment of tuberculous insured persons over and above the money provided for sanatorium benefit under Section 16 of the same Act; if so, whether he will give the names of those authorities in England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, respectively, who have agreed to such expenditure; and (2) whether any insurance committees have, under Section 17 (2) of the National Insurance Act, 1911, transmitted to the Treasury and the councils of counties or county boroughs any communication or account showing that the amount available for defraying the expenses for sanatorium benefit to insured persons resident within their area was already or was likely to be insufficient to meet such estimated expenditure; and, if so, whether he will give their names?

With the hon. Member's permission I will answer Questions 89 and 92 together. As the hon. Member is aware, the arrangement by which the Treasury is prepared to meet one-half of the annual net cost to a local authority of a scheme for the treatment of tuberculosis among the whole population of the area has provided an alternative to procedure under Section 17 (2) which has been widely adopted by local authorities. In England, though procedure under Section 17 (2) has in a few instances been at first suggested, the alternative method of a Treasury Grant towards the cost of a comprehensive scheme is generally preferred, and in no case has Section 17 (2) been put into operation. A Grant under the Sub-section has been sanctioned in the case of three counties and nine burghs in Scotland and in the case of one county in Ireland. All the counties and county boroughs in Wales, with one exception, have agreed to contribute out of rates to the Welsh National Memorial Association.

asked whether any insured persons suffering from non-pulmonary tuberculosis have applied for sanatorium benefit; and, if so, how many were given treatment in residential institutions and how many were treated otherwise?

The sanatorium benefit return in course of preparation will show the number of insured persons suffering from non-pulmonary tuberculosis who have applied for and received treatment.

asked whether persons insured under the National Insurance Act can obtain board, lodging, and medical attendance in a Poor Law infirmary and also draw 10s. a week for the period of their stay in such infirmary; whether the Local Government Board has ruled that in such cases the superintendent of the infirmary is bound to give the certificate necessary to the drawing of such insurance money; and, if so, what action the Government propose to take in order to safeguard the tax and ratepayers from this double exaction?

Under the Insurance Acts, the sickness benefit accruing while an insured person is in an infirmary is paid to, or used for the benefit of, his dependants or himself. With regard to the conditions under which persons may obtain assistance from the Poor Law or any instructions issued by the Local Government Board, I must refer the hon. Member to the President of that Department. I cannot, however, accept the suggestion that public bodies should withhold evidence of incapacity in order to prevent societies from paying to their members the money due to them under the Acts.

asked whether an insured married woman, whose employer is paying reduced contributions under Section 47 of the National Insurance Act, is entitled to claim wages in full from her employer for four weeks after a confinement; and whether she is entitled to claim two maternity benefits from her society, or from her husband's and her own society?

The point raised in the first part of the question is under consideration, and I will communicate with my hon. Friend when a conclusion has been arrived at.

asked the hon. Member for St. George's-in-the-East if he can give the reasons for the delay of about a month by the approved society concerned in granting maternity benefit in respect of the wife of Mr. St. Jacobs, of Lympsham, Somerset, who gave birth to a child early in February; and if, as the object of such benefit is largely neutralised by such delay, steps will be taken to ensure early payment of maternity benefit even in cases in which some point of interpretation of the Act may arise, provided contributions have been paid?

I am informed by the approved society that when the application for benefit was made the insured person was not employed, but was working on his own account. The society, therefore, made inquiries as to whether he had permanently given up employment, and on being satisfied that he had not, but was still to be treated as an employed contributor, they paid the benefit.

asked whether an employer who has been paying reduced contributions under Section 47 of the National Insurance Act must pay contributions in respect of a man to whom he is paying wages in full during the first six weeks of illness?

Section 47 (4) ( e ) provides that contributions shall not be payable in respect of any period of disease or disablement during which full remuneration is payable under the Section if the prescribed notice has been given.

asked, in the case of a domestic servant who is drawing sickness benefit and whose employer is also paying her wages for a month in lieu of notice, whether the employer is obliged to pay insurance contributions in respect of the domestic servant during that month?

The Commissioners are advised that the payment of a month's wages in lieu of notice is in the nature of liquidated damages, and that the employer is not required to pay contributions in respect of any week after the week in which the employment terminates.

asked whether any consumptive insured person has received residential institutional treatment for more than eight months; and, if so, how many have received such treatment for this or a longer period?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. The precise number of consumptive insured persons who have received more than eight months' residential treatment cannot, however, be stated without obtaining a special return from all insurance committees in the United Kingdom.

asked the hon. Member for St. George's-in-the-East, as representing the Insurance Commissioners, if he will inquire into the case of Mrs. G. E. Ward, of 77, Corinne Road, Tufnell Park, London, N., who, when red medical tickets were issued, applied to the Insurance Committee for the county of London for Form 21, enclosing her medical ticket, so that she might retain the services of the doctor who had attended her family for over twenty years; is he aware that she has never received the form asked for or been able to get back her original medical ticket; that she has regularly paid her contributions for medical benefit, and was obliged to seek medical treatment during August to November last, and received it from the doctor who had previosuly attended her; that she has applied to the London committee for payment of her doctor's bill, charged on a very moderate basis, and that they refuse to make her any payment; and will he take such steps as are necessary to try to save Mrs. Ward from pecuniary loss arising from the payment both of contributions for medical benefit and her doctor's bill, especially having regard to the difficult position in which she was placed during her illness owing to some apparent oversight on the part of the staff of the London Committee?

My right hon. Friend is informed that no communication from the insured person referred to can be traced by the London Insurance Committee prior to an application from her dated 30th January, 1914. It is not, therefore, open to them to allow her to make her own arrangements for the year which had then expired.

asked the hon. Member for St. George's-in-the-East, as representing the Insurance Commissioners, whether any tuberculous persons are being or have been treated in workhouse infirmaries; and, if so, whether he can give any approximate estimate of the numbers so treated?

According to a special Return obtained in November, 1911, there were at that time 6,908 cases of pulmonary tuberculosis, and 1,946 cases of other forms of tuberculosis, under treatment in Poor Law institutions in England and Wales. There aye no later figures available.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury in how many sanatoria provided under the National Insurance Act for the treatment of tuberculous patients non-insured persons are being or have been treated; and where the said sanatoria are situated?

My hon. Friend has asked me to reply to this question as regards England. All the sanatoria, the provision of which is being aided by Grants from the Local Government Board, will be available not only for those insured under the National Insurance Act, but also for the non-insured; and the other sanatoria which have been approved under the Act for the reception of insured persons are also generally being used for noninsured persons as well. In the regard to the last part of the question, perhaps I may refer the hon. Member to the Return of approved sanatoria presented to Parliament last autumn. The information contained in the Return was brought up to date at the end of January, and I am sending the hon. Member a copy of the revised list.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether in some institutions in which tuberculous patients are being or have been treated under the National Insurance Act, patients suffering from other and infectious diseases are or have been treated at the same time under the same roof, and not only in separate pavilions; and, if so, which are these institutions?

Proposals were submitted to the Local Government Board in the case of five institutions to use for the treatment of tuberculosis, under the National Insurance Act, a portion of a building, the other portion of which might be required in emergency for the treatment of other infectious diseases. In these cases temporary approval was given, either on condition that the tuberculous patients would be removed if cases of other infectious diseases were received in the building, or on other conditions which, I am advised, sufficiently safeguarded the patients against risk of infection. The institutions in question are the infectious diseases hospitals belonging to the corporations of Blackpool, Winchester, Hastings, and Hove, and the urban district council of Barnes. In the case of the last three hospitals arrangements have now been made whereby a whole pavilion is set aside for the treatment of tuberculosis.

next asked the Secretary to the Treasury if he will state, in cases where the whole or part of existing hospitals have been taken for the treatment of tuberculous patients under the National Insurance Act, how much per head is paid to the owners of the hospitals, or what other arrangements are made to reimburse those who have built the hospitals for infectious diseases other than tuberculosis?

The terms on which insured persons suffering from tuberculosis are received into hospitals which have been approved under the National Insurance Act are in each case a matter for agreement between the owners of the hospitals and the insurance committee, subject to the condition that the arrangements must be to the satisfaction of the Insurance Commissioners.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury if he will state what was the total amount accumulated during the first six months of the National Insurance Act, and how much thereof has been spent to date upon the provision of sanatoria for tuberculous patients; how has the balance been expended or invested; and what is to be done with it?

As regards the receipts and expenditure of the National Health Insurance Fund and the amounts available for investment, I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given to-day to the hon. Member for the Ludlow Division. The cost of providing sanatoria is not met out of the National Health Insurance Fund, but out of the capital Grant of £1,500,000 made available under the Finance Act, 1911.

asked the Secretary for Scotland What was the total amount made available for Scotland by the Finance Act, 1911, for providing institutions for the treatment of tuberculosis; and how much of this has been spent in providing new dispensaries, sanatoria, and hospitals for the treatment of tuberculous patients; and if he will give the names of those authorities who have already spent this money and also of those who have not yet spent any of the money which had been provisionally allocated to them?

The amount referred to in the first portion of the hon. Member's question is £157,919. Except for the nominal sums after-mentioned Grants will not be paid by the Local Government Board for Scotland to the local authorities pending final approval of their schemes which, in a number of instances, are practically complete. Meantime, several authorities have already made institutional provision, with the approval of the Board, for the treatment of persons suffering from tuberculosis, and the Board have made nominal Grants to the county councils of the following counties in order to place them in a position to exercise their powers under Section 64 (2) of the National Insurance Act, namely: Ayr, Berwick, Dumfries, Fife, Forfar, Haddington, Inverness, Kirkcudbright, Linlithgow, Midlothian, Peebles, Renfrew, Roxburgh, Selkirk, and Wigtown. In reply to the final inquiry in the question, I may say that no provisional allocation of the sum apportioned to Scotland has been made.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury (1) whether he is aware that Samuel Rayner, of Sedgeford, Norfolk, forfeited his old age pension by going into the Docking Union from the 26th September to the 17th October, 1913; that immediately on his leaving the union he sent in a claim for the renewal of the pension; that he received no answer till the 20th November, which was to the effect that he was disqualified from 26th September to 17th October; that it was not till the 9th January that he received his first payment; that he was then required to pay back the week's pension he had received on the day that he went into the union; that he was precluded from applying for the relief he much needed by the expectation held out to him that he would receive the pension as from 17th October; and that payment was delayed through no fault of his, but through the system which requires the sub-committee to refer to the head committee, and for the head committee to report back to the sub-committee; whether he will consider the possibility of preventing a claimant entitled to a pension being deprived of it for reasons over which he has no control; whether the payments of which he was so deprived will be made good to him; and (2) whether he is aware that Hannah Barlow, of Stoke Ferry, Norfolk, has just been deprived of her old age pension because under a medical certificate the board of guardians contributed 2s. 6d. a week for her maintenance, the contribution being sent to a neighbour to be expended for her benefit; whether he is aware that the said Hannah Barlow is 77 years of age and quite helpless, and that the extra allowance was given because the case was urgent; and whether there is any means by which a little assistance can be given in a case of necessity without loss of pension?

I am making inquiries into these two cases, and will communicate with the hon. Member as soon as I can.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, under the amalgamation scheme an officer of Customs and Excise cannot reach a salary of £160 per annum until he is at least thirty years of age; and, if so, whether he will consider the possibility of a more adequate salary, taking into account the importance and responsibilities of such officer's duties?

Under the new scale of salary an officer attains £163 after eleven years' service, or approximately, at thirty years of age. The new scale (£80, rising by £7 10s. to £160, thence by £10, to £300) is a considerable improvement on the old, and I see no reason to improve it further.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury when the last payments were made to pension clerk in Cork county; how many quarters are now in arrear; and whether he has any power to compel the more regular payment of the accounts of these officials?

Payment of fees due to pension committee clerks in county Cork in respect of the quarter ended September, 1913, was made by the Board of Customs and Excise on the 22nd December last. The only quarter for which payment of such fees has not yet been made is the quarter ended December, 1913, for which no accounts have, as yet, been received by the Board of Customs and Excise from the clerk of the County Pension Committee. As explained in reply to questions put by the hon. Member last year, the punctual payment of these fees depends on circumstances over which the Treasury have no control, namely, on the promptness and regularity with which the accounts are rendered to the Board of Customs and Excise by the clerks to the county pension committees.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he is aware that the national teachers of the county of Down have adopted a resolution to the effect that the recent labour troubles in Ireland were partly due to the want of instruction of the youth of the country in citizenship, and that the teachers are prepared to give, without remuneration, lessons on civic matters provided that they themselves are granted civil rights; whether this offer of the teachers has been considered by the Commissioners of National Education; and, if so, what decision has been come to by them on the matter?

A resolution to the effect stated has been received by the Commissioners of National Education, and will be considered by them in due course.

asked the approximate number of milch cows in Ireland during either 1912 or 1913?

The number of milch cows in Ireland on the 1st June, 1913, was 1,533,517.

asked the President of the Board of Agriculture the approximate number of milch cows in England Wales during 1912 or 1913?

The number of milch cows (cows and heifers in milk or in calf) returned in England and Wales in June, 1913, was 2,264,403.

asked the Chief Secretary if his attention has been called to an article published in "Irish Freedom," with the object of discouraging recruiting for the Army in Ireland; if he is aware that the article in question describes the English Army as the most immoral and most degraded force in Europe; and if it is proposed to take any action against the publishers or printers of this journal?

The answer to the first and second paragraphs of the question is in the affirmative. The publication containing these libels is of no account at all, and I do not propose to take any action which would only gain for it the notoriety it desires.

asked the Secretary for War what were the numbers of cases of and deaths from small-pox amongst the children of soldiers serving in India in 1912; where did the cases and deaths occur; and what was the age and vaccinal condition of each child attacked?

There were fifteen cases with one death, as follows:—Jell-under, 1; Lahore, 9; Nasirabad, 1 (death); Secmuch, 1; places not known, 3. No information is available as to the ages and vaccinal condition of these children, ex-cent that one was stated to have been recently vaccinated and two others bore marks of vaccination at some antecedent period.

asked how many horses belonging to the railway companies of the United Kingdom were registered for mobilisation purposes at 10s. per horse in the years 1911, 1912, 1913, and 1914, respectively?

The figures are: In 1911, 2,570 horses; in 1912, 1,380 horses; in 1913, 1,545 horses; in 1914, 1,220 horses. Since the year 1913 there has been a scheme of subsidy at £4 per horse for the special purpose of Field Artillery Reserve. The numbers under this scheme have been 498 from the railway companies.

asked the Secretary for War whether he can give the figures of recruiting and also of discharges in the East Lancashire Territorial Association for the last two years amongst the non-commissioned officers and men, and for each month of the present year; and can he state whether it is possible to take further steps to make the force better known, and to increase the numbers for recruiting the Territorials in East Lancashire?

The figures are as follows:—

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether any suitable design has been submitted to the Admiralty of a suitable device for enabling men to leave a submerged submarine in cases of accident; and, if so, whether he will consider the advisability of adopting such a device as being more satisfactory than a detachable buoy?

Many designs and suggestions have been submitted to the Admiralty for enabling men to leave submerged submarines in case of accident. These have been carefully examined by the technical officers of the Admiralty and the Submarine Service, and in their opinion nothing has yet been received of practical value. All submarines (including A7) are provided with life-saving helmets which, under favourable circumstances, should enable the crew of a submerged submarine to escape.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he can now inform the House as to what is being done with regard to the island site in Cromwell Road opposite South Kensington Museum; whether the plans have been prepared and how soon rebuilding is likely to take place; and when the College of Art may expect to be properly housed there?

As my right hon. Friend has already announced, it is proposed to utilise the island site for a new building for the Royal College of Art. He is at present in communication with His Majesty's Office of Works on the subject of the plans. It is not possible yet to state the probable date of the completion of the new building.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether the Departmental Committee is empowered under its reference to recommend a constitution for the University of London, securing the external work as now carried on, and not in accord with the principles laid down by the Royal Commission?

I have nothing to add to the answer given by my right hon. Friend to the hon. Member on 5th March. I may also refer him to my right hon. Friend's answer to the hon. Member for Islington East on 9th March, in which the terms of reference to the committee were given.

asked the President of the Board of Education what provision has been made for increased Parliamentary Grants for the year 1914–15 to the local education authorities?

My right hon. Friend has nothing to add to the answer given on Monday last by the Financial Secretary to the Treasury to the hon. Member for St. Pancras West.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether not more than half of the students in training colleges are receiving any religious instruction; and whether he will give the number of students, whether in denominational or other training colleges, who are receiving religious instruction and of those who are not?

My right hon. Friend has no information which would enable him to give the numbers asked for in the second part of the question or to verify the estimate contained in the first.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the forcible feeding of prisoners who refuse to take food is carried out in accordance with any obligation on the part of the prison authorities to prevent, by all means in their power, prisoners from committing suicide?

Yes, Sir. The late Lord Chief Justice laid it down in the case of Leigh v. Gladstone that it is the duty of the prison authorities to do what they reasonably can to keep prisoners in health, and, still more clearly, to save them from death. Where, therefore, a prisoner persistently refuses to take food, and where forcible feeding is the only means reasonably calculated to keep him alive, it becomes the duty of the prison officers to feed him forcibly.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department the number of women who have been convicted since 1st January, 1909, for offences connected with the agitation for the enfranchisement of women; the number who have practised the hunger strike on one or more occasions; and the number released under the terms of the Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill-health) Act, 1913, with particulars of their rearrest, and of the period of sentence served in each case?

For the reasons given in a reply to a question asked on 5th August last by the Noble Lord the Member for the Newton Division of Lancaster, it is not possible to give the number of convictions. Information as to the number of women imprisoned in prisons in England and Wales for offences in connection with the suffragist agitation for the years 1910, 1911 and 1912 was given in reply to a question put by the hon. Member on 7th April last. The number received into prison during 1913 was 163; and since 1st January 23 have been received. The number who have refused their food for longer or shorter periods could not be ascertained without prolonged search. The number temporarily discharged under the Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill-health) Act up to 16th March was 42. Their offences and the number of times they were discharged and rearrested were as follows: One woman has committed seven offences and has been released under the Act five times. She has been brought back five times under fresh charges, and is now in prison. One woman committed four offences. She was released under the Act five times, and brought back twice under fresh charges and twice under the Act. On one occasion she paid her fine. One woman committed three offences. She was released under the Act three times, and was brought back once under the Act and once under a fresh charge. Five women committed two offences each. Two of them were released three times under the Act, and were brought back once under the Act and once under a fresh charge. Two of them were released twice under the Act, of whom one was brought back once under a fresh charge and once under the Act, and is still in prison, and the other was brought back once under a fresh charge. One was released once and brought back once under the Act; she served one sentence in full and is now in custody under the second sentence. Thirty-four women committed one offence each. Seventeen were released once under the Act and have not been arrested; two of them paid their fines after release. Three were released once and brought back once under the Act; one of them served her sentence in full, and the other two paid their fines. Three were released twice and brought back once under the Act; in one of these cases the remainder of the sentence was remiitted on a promise not again to break the law. Six were released three times and brought back twice under the Act; in one of these cases the sentence was served in full. One was released four times and brought back three times under the Act; she served her sentence in full. Two were relased five times and were brought back four times under the Act. One was released six times and brought back five times under the Act. One was released seven times and brought back six times under the Act.

asked the Home Secretary what is the number of licensed houses for the sale of liquor which have been closed with compensation under the 1904 Act?

The number down to the end of 1912 was 8,167. The figure for 1913 (not yet finally corrected) will probably be 831. Total, 8,998.

asked the Home Secretary whether his attention has been drawn to the prosecution in Cardiff under the Shops Act, 1912, Section 4, Sub-section (3), in which a shopkeeper was convicted and fined for altering his notice as to the weekly half-holiday, from Wednesday to Saturday, owing to the Christmas holidays, and altering it back again to Wednesday the following fortnight, despite the fact that the defendant had followed this course under the shelter of the official memorandum issued by the Home Office, in which it is expresly stated that such a course constitutes one change only, and is therefore permissible; whether he is aware that the stipendiary magistrate at the hearing of the case described this official statement as valueless and absurd, and has subsequently refused to state a case for the opinion of the King's Bench, on the statutory ground that he is of opinion that the application of the defendant is merely frivolous; and whether, in view of the reliance placed upon the official memorandum by shopkeepers throughout the country and also the difficulty and confusion experienced in applying the provisions of Section 4, Sub-section (5), to the Christmas holidays, he will introduce legislation at an early date so that the spirit and intention of the Act may operate unhindered?

I have asked the stipendiary magistrate to furnish me with particulars of this case, and will carefully consider the matter on receipt of his report.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Government has decided to found an institute for research into the diseases of animals; and, if so, whether such research will include experiments on living animals?

My right hon. Friend has asked me to answer this question. The Board have already a laboratory for research into diseases of animals, and the work necessarily involves experiments on living animals. The question of providing more suitable premises for the purpose is under consideration.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that the annual Return of vivisectional experiments has for the past two years been published too late to allow of prosecution for breaches of the law by vivisectors; and whether he will arrange for its publication this year not later than the month of May?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the replies which I gave to similar questions by my hon. Friend the Member for Peterborough on 21st July last, and 8th July, 1912. Much labour is involved in the preparation of the Return, and I cannot promise more than that it shall be published as early as possible. The date of the publication of the Report does not in any way affect the power to institute proceedings for contravention of the Act, so far as the Home Office is concerned, as they are reported to the Secretary of State as soon as they are discovered.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why a member of a society whose main objects are to promote the practice of vivisection and to protect the interests of the vivisectors is a fit and proper person to protect from cruelty animals subject to experiment, and to check and report on the work of licensed vivisectors; whether he will say why, having regard to the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Vivisection, Mr. W. P. G. Graham, a member of the Research Defence Society, has been recently appointed an inspector?

Mr. Graham is not now a member of the Research Defence Society. He informs me that he subscribed to it formerly for the purpose of obtaining certain of its literature bearing on his work as head of the Public Health Department in Egypt, but he took no part in its proceedings, and he resigned his membership on appointment as inspector under the Cruelty to Animals Act, 1876. The recommendation of the Royal Commission on Vivisection was that the inspectors should be qualified medical men of such position as to secure the confidence both of their own profession and the public, and I had regard to that recommendation in appointing Mr. Graham.

asked the President of the Board of Agriculture whether he can now remove the restrictions on the export of fat cattle from Londonderry and the North of Ireland generally?

I regret that I can add nothing at present to the answer which I gave to the similar question addressed to me by the hon. Member for North Leitrim on Monday.

asked the Secretary for the Colonies whether he has any information to give to the House on the subject of the military expedition now being conducted in Jubaland?

The origin and object of the expedition were stated in my reply to the hon. Member on the 24th of February. From information which I have received since that date it appears that the expedition has traversed the Marehan country from south to north, and is now working hack along the Juba River. As a measure of precaution some additional troops were sent from Nairobi to Jubaland a short time ago, and steps have been taken to strengthen the transport service by borrowing three companies of baggage camels from India, which were due to arrive at Kiamayu on the 16th of this month.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether samples of milk supplied for sale within the county of London are analysed with a view to ascertaining their bacterial content; whether the Local Government Board have laid down any standard of bacterial content for the guidance of sanitary authorities; and, if so, what standard?

The London County Council and the Corporation of the City of London take samples of milk for the purpose of bacteriological examination, but no total bacterial count is usually made. The answer to the second part of the question is in the negative.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether he will state the number of samples of imported cream and imported milk respectively that have been analysed during 1913, or any other convenient period; and what percentage was found to contain tubercle baccili?

Fifty-one samples of imported cream and twenty-five of imported milk were obtained by the Local Government Board's inspectors during 1913, and were examined bacteriologically. None of the samples were found to contain tubercle baccili. During 1913 only two or three consignments of milk were imported.

asked the President of the Local Government Board what applications the Board received asking that the draft Poor Law Institutions Order should not be sanctioned until Parliament had had an opportunity of considering it, and by whom were such applications made; whether he will now amend the Order so that either the whole Order or Article 47 of it, which enables guardians to make regulations as to the hours of work for inmates, bathing of inmates, and disposal of some of the inmates' property, and the portion of Schedule C of the Order, which rescinds Article 100 of the General Order of 1847, which forbids overcrowding either workhouse or ward beyond the limit fixed by the Poor Law Commissioners or the Local Government Board, shall not come into operation; and the minute of instructions as to bathing issued by the Local Government Board in 1886 and the special Regulations for bathing idiots and lunatics in workhouses framed by the Lunacy Commissioners, and recommended by the Poor Law Board in 1890, shall not be suspended until Parliament has had an opportunity of discussing the new Order?

Applications to the effect referred to in the question were received from twelve boards of guardians and between 400 and 500 bodies, such as branches of trade unions, etc. After these representations were received considerable modifications were made in the draft Order prepared by the Departmental Committee. With regard to the second and third parts of the question, I would refer the hon. Member to the answers which I gave an Monday and yesterday to the hon. Members for Durham and Woodstock.

next asked the President or the Local Government Board whether he will state how many dwelling-houses have been found to be in a state so dangerous or injurious to health as to be unfit for human habitation as a result of inspections made by local authorities, pursuant to the provisions of Section 17 of the Housing, Town Planning, etc., Act, 1909?

In the year ended 31st March, 1910, the number represented to be in such a state was 6,429; in the year ended 31st March, 1911, 24,429; in the year ended 31st March, 1912, 47,429; and in the year ended 31st March, 1913, 56,318.

asked what was the actual increase in the number of the rural population in England and Wales between 1901 and 1911, the figures being based in both cases on the rural areas existing in 1911.

The total population of rural districts as existing at the date of the Census of 1911 showed an increase of 730,831 as compared with the population of those areas in 1901. It may be of interest to the hon. Member if I add that the increase of classes of the male population engaged in agriculture in the same period was 69,475.

asked the number of houses in England and Wales which are overcrowded on the basis of more than two persons to a room?

The number of separate houses overcrowded has not been ascertained, tenements being the correct basis for an inquiry of this kind. The Census figures of 1911 show the numbers of separate families and the population overcrowded, on the basis of more than two persons to a room, as follows:—

asked the number of town-planning schemes submitted by local authorities to the Board for each of the last three years?

In the year 1911 authority was given for the preparation of ten schemes. In the year 1912 authority was given for the preparation or adoption of fourteen additional schemes, and three schemes were formally submitted for approval. In the year 1913 authority was given for the preparation of twenty-eight additional schemes, and two schemes were formally submitted for approval.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he can furnish a Return showing the number of deaths which occurred among Asiatics serving in British ships, under both European and Lascar agreements, in each of the years 1880, 1891, 1896, 1901, and 1906, inclusive, from the following causes: suicide, supposed suicide, missing, heat stroke, heart failure, consumption, and beri-beri?

I am sending my hon. Friend a statement giving the information he desires, so far as it is available.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what is the number and description of the promotions and special increments awarded since the 1st January, 1907, to each of the various grades serving in the Patent Office; and what is the number of officers in each grade on the establishment of the office referred to?

The information desired by my hon. Friend will be sent to him.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware that thousands of wage earners in London pay between 2s. and 3s. per week train fare in going to and from work; if he is aware that there has been no general legislation on the subject of cheap workmen's trains since the passing of the Cheap Trains Act, 1883; if he is aware that in 1907 the then President of the Board of Trade promised a deputation of trade unionists that he intended to introduce a Bill to amend the Cheap Trains Act, 1883; and whether he will carry out the pledge then given?

My right hon. Friend is afraid that he is not in a position to promise any legislation on this subject at present.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will give figures showing the weight and value of imports into the United Kingdom for home consumption in each of the past three years of raw cocoa, manufactured cocoa, and chocolate?

The quantity of raw cocoa entered for home consumption was 500,000 cwts. in 1911; 552,000 cwts. in 1912; and 543,000 cwts. in 1913. The corresponding quantities of preparations of cocoa, a heading which includes manufactured cocoa and chocolate, were 151,000 cwts. in 1911; 214,000 cwts. in 1912; and 236,000 cwts. in 1913. The value of dutiable goods entered for home consumption is not ascertained, but I shall be glad to let the hon. Member know the quantity and value of the total imports of these goods if he so desires.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware that workmen who are members of a trade union, and who have been discharged from their employment since the lock-out in the building trade in London commenced, have, in a number of instances, had great difficulty in getting the unemployed benefit provided under Part II. of the National Insurance Act, and in some cases have failed to get it, while workmen who were discharged from the same job at the same time, but who were not members of a trade union, got the unemployed benefit without any difficulty; and whether he will issue instructions that will secure equal treatment to the workman whether he is a member of a trade union or not?

I am assured that no preferential treatment has been accorded to direct claims, as distinct from association claims, to benefit, but if my hon. Friend can give me any specific instances, I will have them investigated. I should add that, in view of the very large number of claims which have been received during this dispute, amounting in all to 12,962, it was inevitable that there should be some small delay in dealing with claims generally.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware that a wood-cutting machinist named Higginbottom, who was discharged from his employment owing to slackness of trade on the 3rd February, and who registered as unemployed at the Labour Exchange, 284, Holloway Road, N., on 4th February, was refused unemployed benefit by the insurance officer on the ground that he was out of work through the lock-out in the building trade; that when he appealed to the Court of Referees they endorsed the decision of the insurance officer; and whether he will make an inquiry into this man's case with the object of securing for him the benefit he is entitled to?

It is the fact, as stated in the question, that the Court of Referees endorsed the decision of the insurance officer to the effect that benefit was not payable in this case. My right hon. Friend has no power to interfere with this decision.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the quantity and value of fresh fish caught by British fishing boats during the year 1913 and exported abroad; the names of the various countries to which the fish was exported; the quantity sent to each; and the amount of duty levied in each country on fresh fish?

The following statement shows the quantity and value of the various descriptions of fresh fish of British taking exported from the United Kingdom in 1913, distinguishing the four principal destinations to which such fish was exported:—

The following statement shows the rates of duty leviable on fresh fish on importation into the four countries named above:

asked the Postmaster-General whether his attention has been called to the interruption of the telegraphic service between Alderney and Guernsey; how long this interruption has continued; and will he say what is the reason of the delay in repairing the cable?

The cable between Guernsey and Alderney has been interrupted since the 12th February. Several other cables are also now interrupted; and one of the two Post Office cable ships has been temporarily disabled. My right hon. Friend has accordingly chartered the "Oersted," belonging to the Great Northern Telegraph Company, as well as the "Telconia," belonging to the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company. Every endeavour will be made to press forward the work of repair as fast as possible, but it is impossible to repair cables in weather such as we have been having of late.

asked the Postmaster-General whether his attention has been called to the inconvenience caused in the parish of Dacre Banks, viâ Leeds, by the recent abolition of the sub-post office; and whether he will consider the desirability of restoring the former facilities?

I have received a complaint respecting the closing of the Dacre Banks post office, but, as very little business was done there and the Summer-bridge post office is only 650 yards distant, I do not think that the abolition of the office can have caused any serious inconvenience. Two offices so near together in a rural district are not warranted, and I do not see my way to re-establish an office at Dacre Banks, but a letter box has been placed there and a licence to sell stamps has been issued to a local tradesman.

asked the aggregate cost of raising the rate of payment to sub-postmasters 10 per cent. on their present unit scale?

I presume that the hon. Member alludes to the remuneration warranted on the unit scale recommended by the Parliamentary Committee of 1906–7, not including the increase recommended by the recent Parliamentary Committee or the separate allowances made for telephone and other work. If so, the cost would be £125,000 a year.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that Mr. R. Lomas, of Ashbourne, Derbyshire, recently telegraphed from the Ashbourne Post Office to Mr. P. Claridge, of Dersingham, Norfolk, the sum of £2 10s.; that it was not till eight days afterwards that Mr. Claridge discovered, and then through the remitter and not through the Post Office, that a telegraph money order had been dispatched; and that it was not till twelve days afterwards that authority was sent to the Dersingham Post Office to pay the amount; whether he is aware that the delay caused a loss of business to Mr. P. Claridge; and whether he will consider if in this case some compensation can be paid on account of the negligence of the Post Office from which the loss of business resulted?

The telegraph money order in question was not paid in due course because the telegram of advice failed to reach the office of payment. This was the fault of a telegraphist, and I have taken disciplinary action in the matter. I am sorry that Mr. Claridge suffered loss through the delay in payment, but I am not empowered to offer him any monetary compensation.

asked the Postmaster-General what was the length of service of Mr. J. Warrior, surveyor's clerk, third class, prior to his appointment to the postmastership of South Molton, as announced in the Post Office Circular of the 25th February; and what annual increase in salary he became entitled to on receiving the appointment?

Mr. Warrior has had twenty-three years' service in all, including three and a half years' service in an unestablished capacity. He was in receipt of a salary of £162 10s, (on a scale rising to £185 a year) at the time when the post-mastership of South Molton (salary £180 a year) was conferred on him.

asked the Postmaster-General whether his attention has been drawn to the case of Mr. A. Searle and Mr. J. J. Smith, who have been in Government employment since 1893 and 1891, respectively, but who were transferred in September of last year, while working at Mount Pleasant, from the position of foremen to that of ordinary mechanics at the bench; and whether, in view of the length of service in their case, it is his intention to employ them in a manner and position more equal to that from which they were transferred and with due opportunities of promotion?

Owing to the reorganisation of the Factory Department there is now no regular work proper to foremen available for the two men in question. They have, however, been allowed to retain their scale of pay as foremen, and are employed on foremen's duties as opportunity offers. Their prospects of promotion remain unaffected.

asked the Postmaster-General why the recent Departmental revision of the staff at Dublin, so far as it relates to the storemen class, is being withheld; whether he contemplates the further importation of store-men from Great Britain to fill vacancies at Dublin; and what is the cause of delay in filling the existing vacancies at this depot?

There is no question of withholding the revision of staff at the Dublin depot of the Stores Department, and there has been no avoidable delay in carrying out the revision. In cases of promotion it is necessary to consider equally the claims of all the eligible officers, whether in London, Dublin, Edinburgh, or Birmingham, and to select the officers who are regarded as best qualified to fill the vacant appointments.

asked the hon. Member for St. George's-in-the-East, as representing the First Commissioner of Works, whether any plans have been pre- pared for the erection of buildings on the Mall approach site; if so, whether he will consider having them placed in one of the rooms of the House, where they can be inspected by Members; and whether the Government or the London County Council a-re to have the final decision as to the suitability of the design of the buildings referred to in Clause 1, Sub-section (1), of the Mall Approach Improvement Bill?

Provisional block plans and model of elevation for the-buildings to be erected under the Mali Approach Improvement Bill have been prepared and the model was exhibited in the Tea Room in August last. The hon. Member will see from Clause 4 of the Bill that the approval of the Commissioners of Works must be secured for the designs of the buildings.