asked the Under-Secretary of State for War if he will explain what is meant by the expression that an officer may under circumstances disappear; if an officer disappears is another officer appointed to replace him temporarily, and does the disappearing officer lose any seniority during his temporary disappearance; what scale of pay does he draw during the time of his disappearance; and is he ordered to leave his address with the War Office during the period of his disappearance?

The instructions given were that in the exceptional cases referred to the officers might be allowed to remain on leave or with the details. The ordinary conditions as to pay and seniority would therefore apply.

Will this new status be embodied in a new Army Order?

No new status is created.

Who was the originator of the term "disappear" in this connection?

I am quite unable to say.

asked whether orders under the Official Secrets Act were issued to all or any of the Reserve officers of the Army during the first fortnight in March; and for what purpose were the orders issued?

No orders were issued other than the ordinary routine orders given to officers in the Reserve.

Is it not the fact that many of those officers received orders to report themselves on receipt of a telegram, and some of them were ordered to be prepared to take on such duties as embarkation officer, and mobilisation of Reserve?

No, Sir; no orders were given of any exceptional kind whatever. The orders that were given were in the ordinary way of routine service.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War what reductions in small-arm ammunition and general stores for the Territorial Army are alluded to upon page 3 of the Army Estimates, 1914–15?

The reductions mentioned do not refer to the Territorial Force. I am sorry if the necessarily condensed form of the note in question has misled the hon. Member.

Am I to understand that no deductions, as indicated in this question, in the Territorial Force are intended?

Not in the Territorial Force.

asked whether the bonus of £1 which is to be given to every Territorial soldier who attends camp in future will be given to every man attending camp this year?

The bonus to be given to men attending camp for fifteen days will be issuable this year to all who fulfil the conditions of efficiency. These conditions include the completion of the full number of annual drills before going to camp, and a musketry qualification. The latter, however, will not be insisted upon until next year.

Is the bonus this year on precisely the same footing as in future years?

No. That appears with the answer which I have given.

Why is the musketry qualification not insisted on?

Because it has only come into force, and this is a relaxation.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he has yet cabled to India to ascertain the reason of the delay in replying to the claim of C. Cooper, of Knutsford, put forward on 3rd December, 1913, for a war medal, and whether he has a reply; and when exactly he hopes to be able to get this question, which is of urgent importance to an old soldier, settled?

I have communicated with the India Office, who do not see their way to cable. A written reminder has already been sent, and there is no reason to think that there will be any unnecessary delay.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War when he will issue the Report of the Committee on the Industrial Training of Soldiers?

I would refer the hon. and gallant Gentleman to the reply given to the hon. Member for the Stoke Division on the 25th March.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War if the discharge certificate of a soldier leaving the Army owing to physical disability contracted on service contains a statement to the effect that the man has been found medically unfit for further service; and, if so, whether the form of certificate would be modified so as to prevent it being a hindrance to discharged men seeking civilian employment?

the Regulations with regard to this certificate have recently been altered. The formula now used is: "No longer physically fit for war service," to which, if the disability is not such as to interfere with the soldier's fitness for civil employment, there is added the words: "although fit for employment in civil life."

Would the hon. Gentleman state when that came into operation?

I think in December.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether, having regard to the hardship in the Service arising from the fact that 40 per cent. of the sergeants leaving the Army at the end of twenty-one years' service are not entitled to the maximum pension appropriate to their ranks as non-commissioned officers, and that this—hardship is due mainly to the difficulty in many regiments of a private being raised to the rank of sergeant in any period less than nine years, the question of rearranging the scale of pensions during the last few years of service so as to rise by ld. per day in each year instead of by 3d. per day in each three years will be reconsidered; and what would be the approximate cost of such a change if applied to the last three years only?

The concessions suggested could not be confined to sergeants. To give a figure for the cost of its general application would necessitate a laborious actuarial calculation, but the sum would certainly be large, and I am not prepared to make this addition to the already heavy non-effective cost of the Army.

asked by whom the order for the seizure of the rifles of the Officers' Training Corps at Queen's University and Campbell College, Ireland, was given; what were the reasons for taking this step; and why a similar course was not adopted in regard to the arms of the North Irish Horse, which are also Government property?

The rifles referred to were removed on the suggestion of the adjutant of the Officers' Training Corps at Queen's University and Campbell College and by the order of the major-general in charge of administration in the Irish Command. The commanding officer of the North Irish Horse was communicated with as regards the security of the arms in the possession of his regiment, and he replied that he did not think any special precautions were necessary.

May I ask if it was necessary to send half a battalion to guard nothing at Newry, would it not have been necessary to send a whole brigade to guard the arms of the North Irish Horse?

The hon. Gentleman must argue the question for himself.

I thought the right hon. Gentleman would have been in a better position to inform the House.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is now in a position to state the instructions which were given to General Sir Arthur Paget between the 17th and 20th March last, and by whom?

As I have stated before, these instructions were given orally by the Secretary of State to Sir Arthur Paget, and I have nothing to add to the numerous statements which have been made and to the documents which have been laid in this House.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that no statement has yet been made with regard to the instructions given to Sir Arthur Paget between 17th March and 20th March, nor are they in any of the Papers?

I think the hon. and gallant Gentleman must have overlooked the fact that the statement has been made, and it is repeated now that the instructions were oral only, and that there were no written instructions. I have also stated, yesterday I think it was, the facts as to the interviews between Sir A. Paget and the Secretary of State on the 18th and the 19th March, and I have nothing to add to the statement which I have made.

May I ask the right hon. Gentleman to state what were the oral instructions, which have not yet been published?

The oral instructions were the same as the written instructions of the 14th March; there was no variation.

Was it at the interview on the 18th March or at the interview on the 19th March that the instructions were given to Sir A. Paget?

Partly on one date and partly on the other. As I stated yesterday, on the 18th March the answer was given to Sir A. Paget as to the despatch of ammunition from certain places in Ulster to Dublin. That occurred on the 18th. A general conversation took place, both on. the 18th and on the 19th, but it did not vary the original instructions.

The instructions as to domiciled officers being allowed to disappear, and so forth—when were they given?

They were given on the 19th.

Did the instructions suggest that any active operations would have to be initiated by the troops in Ireland?

No.

Then how was it— [HON. MEMBERS: "Order!"]

I beg to give notice that having regard to the—

The hon. and gallant Gentleman can give notice later. He has already exceeded the number of supplementary questions allowed.

asked if there is, in addition to the letter of the 14th March already published, another letter in existence to General Sir Arthur Paget, signed by the late Secretary of State for War, giving instructions to General Sir Arthur Paget to take certain action in Ireland, and also a letter from General Sir Arthur Paget objecting to a part of the instructions above referred to?

No, Sir.

Who invents all these interesting rumours?

Does the right hon. Gentleman make any difference between official and formal communications and unofficial and informal communications?

I have not the slightest idea to what correspondence the hon. Gentleman refers in his question. I believe that correspondence to be a pure myth.

Will the right hon. Gentleman make inquiries?

I have done so.

asked the Attorney-General whether the circular letter issued by the hon. Member for South Shropshire to a non-commissioned officer of the Grenadier Guards and others differs in principle from the handbill distributed by one Crowsley among soldiers at Aldershot; and, if not, will he consult the Public Prosecutor with a view to his deciding whether similar proceedings should be instituted against the hon. Member as were instituted against Crowsley?

The terms of the circular referred to, however reprehensible, differ in important respects from the handbill in question; and in view of such differences, I do not propose to consult the Public Prosecutor?

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that sergeant-majors have votes? May I ask if there is any law to prevent a Member of Parliament from calling the attention of voters to a letter which appeared in the public Press, the envelope being bought in the usual way at the House of Commons Post Office; may I further ask whether the right hon. Gentleman can say whether the Government will take proceedings to prevent the "Army against the People" being advertised as a party cry?

I am sorry that I do not think it is possible to deal with all those issues in an answer to a question.

What are the actual differences between this case and the Crowsley case?

The most important difference is this: Crowsley was prosecuted for inciting to mutiny because he appealed to those who were serving to disobey orders while they were serving. The hon. Member's letter may perhaps be construed as being an appeal to those who are serving to resign rather than to continue to serve.

Will the right hon. Gentleman not answer my question as to whether there is any law to prevent a Member of Parliament calling the attention of voters whether soldiers or not, to a letter which appeared in the public Press? What harm is there in that?

If the Member of Parliament had written the letter I should not think he improved it by calling attention to it.

asked the Chief Secretary whether, seeing that all the places to which reinforcements were recently sent in or near Ulster are in districts that are for the most part Nationalist, he had any reason to fear an attempt on the part of the Nationalists to raid the stores of small arms and ammunition?

The assumption which underlies the first part of the question is inaccurate. The answer to the second part of the question is in the negative.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether any revenue has yet been received as a result of the valuation under the Finance (1909–10) Act, 1910, of churches and churchyards?

No, Sir.

Will the hon. Gentleman say whether he does not think that, as there is no revenue arising from these, it is worth while continuing the valuation?

It is a necessity in the valuation of all lands.

asked the total revenue from taxation in Scotland for the last complete year; and the amount spent on all Scottish services?

The last complete year for which figures are available is 1912–13. They will be found in the Revenue and Expenditure (England, Scotland and Ireland) Return, House of Commons Paper 200 of 1913.

Can the hon. Gentleman say whether Scotland is worked at a profit to the Imperial Exchequer?

asked the Secretary for Scotland whether the order issued for the closing of 150 houses at West Benhar, Lanarkshire, on 28th May is to be enforced on that date; and what provision has now been made for the accommodation of the 700 displaced inhabitants?

I am informed that the District Committee of the Middle-Ward of Lanarkshire have prepared a scheme to be laid before the county council for the provision of 100 houses, and that, pending such provision being made, the Local Government Board have advised the District Committee to apply to the sheriff to suspend the closing order.

asked if the attention of the Local Government Board for Scotland has been drawn to the need for providing proper housing accommodation for miners and other industrial workers in Lanarkshire; how many housing schemes have been framed and are in course of being carried out under the Town Planning Act in the county of Lanark; in how many cases colliery owners have initiated such schemes; and what steps have been taken by the County Council of Lanark and by the Local Government Board for Scotland to deal with the situation?

The reply to the first portion of my hon. Friend's question is in the affirmative. The Board informs me that in the landward areas of the county two housing schemes—Harthill and Cleland respectively—have been framed by the District Committee and await the consent of the county council to the financial proposals involved. No schemes under the Housing Acts have been initiated by private owners, but a private scheme for the provision of houses is at present being carried out. The Local Government Board for Scotland are in communication with the Upper and Middle Ward District Committees, who are the housing authorities, with a view to assisting them in their efforts to deal with the situation.

asked if the Local Government Board for Scotland have received any information as to the steps which the County Council for Lanarkshire are taking to provide housing accommodation at West Benhar, where over 150 houses are to be closed by order of the sheriff on the 28th of May; whether the colliery proprietors, whose employés are occupying the condemned houses, have taken any action in the matter with a view to providing suitable housing accommodation in the district; and whether the occupiers of the condemned houses will be permitted to remain in them until other suitable accommodation is provided for them?

I am informed that while the proprietors of the colliery in which the majority of the occupiers of the houses referred to are employed are not taking any steps to provide accommodation in substitution for the condemned houses, provision is being made by one employer which will be available for a certain number of these people. As regards the remainder of the question I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply on the same subject which I have just given to the hon. and gallant Member for Midlothian.

asked the Secretary for Scotland whether he can now say when it is contemplated to make a beginning with the new Scottish prison at Saughton Mains?

A beginning has already been made with the construction of main sewers and drains, and the erection of fencing for the new prison at Saughton. These are nearly completed and further work will be taken in hand shortly.

Is the building being erected by some Department of the Government or are the plans being given out competitively?

I would require notice of that question.

asked the Secretary for Scotland whether he can now give particulars of schemes for the extension of small holdings in Sutherlandshire that on the 24th March had been or were about to be settled?

The schemes referred to were (1) Shegra (parish of Eddrachillis), where seven holders were granted enlargements extending to 1,280 acres; (2) Skelpick (parish of Farr), where application has been made to the Land Court for an order to constitute five new holdings and forty-nine enlargements on 10,540 acres; and Dalchork (parish of Lairg), which is the subject of a similar application for two enlargements on 149 acres. The two latter cases have been heard by the Court, but a final order has not yet been received.

asked the Secretary for Scotland whether he can now give any information with regard to the applications for the farm of Achaphris, Shinness, Lairg, Sutherlandshire?

I am not in a position to add anything to the reply which I gave to my hon. Friend on 24th March.

asked the Secretary for Scotland Whether he will endeavour to induce the Board of Agriculture (Scotland) to carry out a scheme whereby the applicants from Durness, Sutherland, may acquire the farm at Balnakiel, Durness, as proposed by a Sub-Commissioner and supported by the Commissioners for Small Holdings?

My hon. Friend is in error in supposing that the Commissioner for Small Holdings has yet reported finally on the scheme. It is true that it has been under careful consideration, but the compensation involved amounts to a very large sum, and I cannot make any promise at present.

asked the President of the Board of Agriculture whether, in the opinion of the Board, contagious abortion in cattle is on the increase throughout the country generally, or in what county or counties in particular; whether inoculation with either live or dead bacilli is being advantageously carried out for the purpose either of immunisation or of cure; and whether its extensive use can now be confidently recommended by the veterinary advisers of the Board?

Stock-owners are naturally somewhat reluctant to admit that the disease in question exists in their herds, and I am not prepared to say whether or not it is on the increase, but there is no doubt that it is prevalent. From the nature of the case the experiments conducted by the Board must extend over some years before a confident opinion can be formed as to the value of preventive inoculation, but up to the present the results are encouraging.

Do I understand that the Board favour the inoculation process pending a final decision on the matter?

They are conducting experiments extensively.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he has now received full Reports on the raid made on Berbera by the followers of the Mad Mullah; if ho can state how it was that the raiders were enabled to penetrate within the defences of the town; and if it is now secured from similar raids?

I have just received a Report, from which it appears that it had not hitherto been considered necessary to provide for the defence of the native town. The Commissioner has now taken steps to prevent the recurrence of similar raids, which, in his opinion, will sufficiently meet the present needs of the situation.

Will any Report be laid upon the Table with regard to the disconcerting and alarming news which has come over? Shall we have any statement in regard to it?

It would be very undesirable to lay any Report as to the suggested precautions against future raids. I will consider later on whether any papers can be laid.

When is Burao likely to be occupied?

As soon as the forces have been obtained and are ready to move up there.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he can state the total number of women and children who have left this country for the Dominion of Canada, under the auspices of various branches of the Imperial Reunion Association of Canada, during the year 1913?

No, Sir, I regret that I have not this information.

Will the right hon. Gentleman make inquiries from the Dominion of Canada?

reply was inaudible in the Reporters' Gallery.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether it is the policy of the Road Board and Development Fund Board, in spending the accumulations of their funds at a time when employment is scarce, only to make Grants to local authorities when those authorities are willing to raise money from the rates for the same purpose?

Since the establishment of the Development Commission and the Road Board, employment has been generally good, and it is impossible at present to make any general statement as to the policy to be pursued in different circumstances.

Can the hon. Gentleman point out to the Road Board that the effect of carrying out such a policy would be to help rich districts and to leave poor districts alone?

I will convey the hon. Member's suggestion to the Road Board, but I have no control over that body.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will allocate a time on which matters relating to postal and telegraphic communications throughout the British Empire can be discussed?

These questions are usually and properly discussed on the Post Office Estimates.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether F. J. Long, a draper, of Market Square, Lichfield, has been illegally deducting under the National Insurance Act sums from the wages of Florence Palmer, an assistant in his shop, whose remuneration did not include board and lodging and did not exceed 1s. 6d. per working day; and, if so, whether he proposes to take any steps in the matter?

Mr. right hon. Friend has made inquiry into this case, and finds the facts to be as stated by the hon. Member. He is satisfied, however, that the irregularity arose from a mistake as to the employed person's age. He understands that her whereabouts are not at present known, but every effort is being made to trace her and to repay her the amount of the excessive deductions.

asked whether a dependant of an insured person who is treated for tuberculosis by a local authority undertaking treatment of tuberculosis for the whole population with the aid of the Hobhouse Grant from the Treasury, is entitled to the same domiciliary treatment as may be given if sanatorium benefit is extended under Clause 17 of the National Insurance Act to dependants of insured persons?

Dependants are not entitled as of right to domiciliary treatment even if an insurance committee has extended sanatorium benefit to such persons. The matter is within the discretion of the insurance committees. Local authorities generally have not so far included domiciliary treatment in their schemes; the view which has been acted on is that the institutional side of these schemes should be fully developed before the question of providing domiciliary treatment is considered.

Is the treatment of dependants the same under the Hobhouse Grant as under the Insurance Act in respect of domiciliary treatment?

It depends in both cases upon the view taken by the competent authority, which is the local health authority in one case, and the insurance committee in the other. It is legal for both of them to give or to refuse dimiciliary treatment to dependants.

asked what is the number of deposit contributors under the health section of the National Insurance Act; and how many of these have been notified of entire suspension of benefits?

The number of deposit contributors on 12th January, 1914, was approximately 360,000; 60,200 contributors have been notified of suspension of benefits, but it is not at present possible to state how many of these are still deposit contributors, as in a large number of cases, of which the Commissioners have not yet been notified, suspension is due to the contributors having ceased to pay contributions into the Deposit Contributors' Fund, because they have either joined approved societies or gone out of insurance.

Have some of these deposit contributors now ceased to receive benefits under the Act because the amount of their contributions have been exhausted after the deduction of expenses?

Yes, I have no doubt that is so in some cases.

Do they therefore get 9d. for 4d.?

Yes, Sir, the deposit contributor is precisely the person who does get 9d.

asked the hon. Member for St. George's-in-the-East, as representing the Insurance Commissioners, whether he is aware that insured persons, members of the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union Approved Society, were certified as suffering from tuberculosis and were passed for sanatorium treatment twenty-six weeks ago and have not yet received the treatment; whether he is aware that other members of this approved society have waited from ten to twenty weeks without getting admission to a sanatorium; and whether any effort is being made to provide the necessary accommodation?

I am informed that of the eight applicants for sanatorium benefit to which it appears that my hon. Friend refers, one has already received treatment in a residential institution but was discharged for breach of the rules, one is not in a suitable condition for this form of treatment, but will be sent to a hospital as soon as a bed is available, and the remaining six are being sent to a sanatorium at once.

asked what subsidy, if any, has been given by His Majesty's Government towards the building of the royal mail steamer "Aquitania"; whether His Majesty's Government have received any communication from the Dominion Government of Canada suggesting that ships subsidised by the British Government plying between here and America shall, in return for such subsidy, make alternate calls at Canadian ports; and if the Government will endeavour to make this stipulation should any further subsidies be granted in this connection by His Majesty's Government?

This vessel belongs to the Cunard Company. Under the Cunard agreement, in return for a subsidy for building the "Lusitania" and the "Mauretania," the company undertook, under certain conditions, to make modifications in the plans of new ships (of which the "Aquitania" is one) to render them suitable in certain respects for service as auxiliaries. Some work of this sort is now being done in the "Aquitania." The question of whether this work is wholly or partly in excess of what the Admiralty can claim to have done under the agreement is now under consideration. I have no information in regard to the second part of the question. I suggest that this and the third part should be addressed to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Colonies.

Has the right hon. Gentleman received any communication at all for a similar subsidy as that granted to the Cunard Line from such services as the Canadian Pacific Railway or other lines plying between this country and Canada; if so, will he favourably consider them?

I cannot recall any.

asked the President of the Local Government Board what is the statutory authority for the amended regulations recently issued by the Registrar-General on the subject of uncertified death; whether the regulations have been advertised in the "London Gazette," in pursuance of Section 44 of the Registration Act, 1874, and, if not, why were they not so advertised; and whether the regula- tions forbid registrars to register such deaths until they have been dealt with by the coroner, or whether it is intended that the registrar should register such deaths as heretofore, and then report them to the coroner, if this has not been done already?

The statutory authority for the regulations referred to is Section 5 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act, 1836, which does not require their publication in the "London Gazette." As regards the last part of the question, the new regulations follow the previous regulations in providing that in all cases in which the registrar reports to the coroner he must await the coroner's decision before registering the death.

Can we get a copy of the regulations?

I will send the hon. Member a full memorandum on the whole subject.

asked the President of the Local Government Board if he is considering the question of the damage done to the macadamised country roads by the user of these roads by services of motor omnibuses; and if he will cause an inquiry to be made into the cost of repair and upkeep of these roads before and after such user?

The circumstances vary so greatly in different cases that I do not think it would be possible to draw any useful conclusion from such an inquiry.

Could not a specimen road be taken and the cost of repair previously to the user by the motor omnibuses, and an estimate of the present cost of repair be made?

In the first place it would be exceedingly difficult to distinguish between the amount of user of the road by omnibuses and other vehicles; and, in the second place, no generalisation could be drawn from a single instance, or even from half a dozen instances.

asked what is the greatest radius of an area scheduled by the Department round an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease; and why any such radius ever exceeds 15 miles?

The principle of the 15 miles radius, on which the procedure in Great Britain is also based, is observed in Ireland as a rule. It is, however, sometimes necessary in the absence of suitable natural boundaries to adopt a boundary which at particular points exceeds the 15 miles limit. The furthest point in any existing boundary is approximately 18 miles from the infected place.

Does not a line drawn across Ireland from Oranmore, Galway, to Drogheda constitute the whole of the South of Ireland a scheduled area so far as the export traffic is concerned?

That is a general question, and one that scarcely arises on the question.

asked the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland) whether he will state why, in drawing a line across Ireland dividing the country into two areas under different regulations, when he reached Mullingar he swerved from the straight course and drew it directly north for a distance, and then south-east, forming an acute angle; whether he will state if the line so drawn, to be effectively guarded by the Constabulary, would require three times more men than if he continued in a straight course from Mullingar to the sea viâ Trim, Duleek, to the outlet of the Delvin at Gormanstown; whether, as cattle cannot be shipped from the port of Drogheda, although they can be trucked from its railway station, the area around the port is to be considered as the neutral measure of Irish territory enjoying neither the advantages of being the northern side of the line nor the disadvantages of the southern; and whether there is any and, if so, what prospects of Drogheda port being opened?

The consent of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries to the opening of certain northern ports for the shipment of animals for slaughter was conditional on the boundary line being drawn as it is at present defined. The circumstance that about the time of the outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease in Cork City animals were known to have been moved thence as far north-east as the counties of Meath and West- meath accounts for the deviation of the line from Mullingar. When the general position becomes somewhat more reassuring, the Department will make suitable representations to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries as regards the adoption of a new boundary line favourably affecting Drogheda, but they do not feel that the present position warrants them in pressing for immediate resumption of shipments from Drogheda Port.

asked the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland) whether it was his Department or the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries which drew the line prohibiting the shipping of cattle to certain ports in this country for immediate slaughter from King's and Queen's Counties; and, considering that a case of foot-and-mouth disease has not occurred in these counties for the past thirty years, he can say when this prohibition shall be removed?

At present the orders of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries allow of the shipment of animals for immediate slaughter from certain northern ports only, and the Board's consent to shipments from these ports was made conditional on the movement of animals being prohibited by the Department out of the part of Ireland south of a line drawn from Drogheda on the east coast to Oranmore on the west. I am unable to say when the Department will be in a position to modify this prohibition, but as the general situation improves suitable representations in the matter will be made to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries. Apart from this prohibition some parts of both King's and Queen's Counties are included in an area which has been scheduled by the Department on account of the existence of the disease within a fifteen miles radius, and out of which the movement of animals is prohibited.

asked the Postmaster-General if he is aware of the necessity of reducing to the lowest possible minimum the postal rates on magazines and newspapers between this country and the Dominion of Canada and other parts of the British Empire?

I would refer the hon. Member to the answers given to similar questions yesterday.

asked the Home Secretary whether it is the practice of the Metropolitan Police, after instituting proceedings for offences under the Children Act, to hand over the case to the charge of Officers of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children; whether this procedure is governed by any definite arrangement to secure that the prosecution should be continued; and under what statutory powers is the arrangement authorised?

It would not, generally speaking, be the practice of the Metropolitan Police, after instituting proceedings, to hand over a case to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, but it has been their practice for many years, when information is received of alleged offences against certain provisions of the law relating to children, to notify the society. The society can then often take measures for remedying the evil which are more effective than a prosecution, and avoid the breaking up of the home, which is liable to result from a prosecution. When a prosecution is desirable, proceedings are taken either by the police or by the society, as the circumstances of the case indicate. The arrangement with the society in no way abrogates the power of the police to prosecute when a prosecution is desirable.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that cases have happened—I am told very frequently—in which the police have handed cases over to the society, after they themselves have instituted proceedings—as mentioned in the question?

It may have happened in certain cases—I will inquire further—but it is certainly not the practice.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he will have further inquiry made into the claim of John Cray, Clahananoe, Ballinskelligs, for an old age pension, in view of the fact that he has attained the statutory age and that his absence for a time in America was for the purpose of seeing his children who had emigrated?

As I have already informed the hon. Member, John Cray's claim for an old age pension was dis- allowed by the Local Government Board on appeal, on the ground that the statutory conditions as to residence in the United Kingdom were not complied with in his case. The alleged reason for his residence in America does not affect the case. The Board have no power to reopen consideration of a case already decided.

asked the Chief Secretary whether, with a view to expediting the sale of the Ballinskelligs portion of the estate of Mr. Daniel O'Connell, of Darrynane, the landlord will be requested to furnish the necessary maps and documents; and whether, in view of the fact that there are only eleven tenants on this portion of this estate, of which the total rateable value is only £31, efforts will be made to bring about a speedy purchase?

As I have already informed the hon. Member, the owner is not prepared to negotiate for the sale of the Ballinskelligs section of his estate until the purchase of the lands which he has agreed to sell to the Congested Districts Board is completed. The Board do not, therefore, propose to take further action in the matter at present.

asked the Chief Secretary if he will state in what stage the sale of the Caledon estate, county Tyrone, under the Land Purchase Acts now is: whether any demesne or untenanted land is included in the sale; if so, whether it has been sold to persons occupying uneconomic holdings or landless people, and what information the Estates Commissioners have on this point; and will he further state the area of the demesne or untenanted land so dealt with?

The lands referred to, which were the subject or direct sale proceedings before the Estates Commissioners, have been vested in the purchasers. No demesne lands were included in the property sold, which comprised tenanted lands and some 91 acres of untenanted lands. Sixty-eight acres of this untenanted land was sold by the owner to an evicted tenant, and the remainder to two tenants on the property under the provisions of the Purchase of Land Amendment Act, 1889, and the Purchase of Land (No. 2) Act, 1901. Under the Evicted Tenants Act, 1907, the Commissioners acquired 167 acres of untenanted land on the Caledon estate, and have allotted them to five evicted tenants.

I beg to give the right hon. Gentleman notice that on the Motion for the Adjournment to-morrow I shall call attention to the question of land purchase in Connemara.

asked the Chief Secretary whether the Congested Districts Board have yet made an offer for the purchase of the O'Flaherty estate, Ardnasella, Oughterard, and for the O'Flaherty estate, Ballyconneely, near Clifden; and, if not, will he state the cause of the delay in the purchase of those estates, which were valued three years ago?

The Congested Districts Board have made an offer for the estates referred to, and negotiations are proceeding. There has been no avoidable delay in dealing with the matter.

asked the Chief Secretary what is the policy of the Estates Commissioners in cases of direct sales of estates under the Irish Land Purchase Acts when there are parcels of untenanted land or demesne land included in the sale; whether inquiries are made as to whether there are any evicted holdings or uneconomic holdings on such estates which ought to have first consideration in the distribution of such lands; what precautions are adopted to prevent parcels of land being given to persons who are already possessed of large holdings; and whether any special investigation is made in cases where the purchase agreement discloses the fact that the letting of the land to the purchaser is a recent one?

In the case of an estate which is the subject of proceedings before the Estates Commissioners for sale by the landlord direct to the tenants under the Irish Land Acts, 1903–4, where there is any untenanted land or demesne lands included the practice of the Commissioners is to have inquiries made as to any evicted holdings on the property, or holdings which in their opinion should be enlarged. If the Commissioners acquire land in the landlord's occupation they either allot them to persons coming within Section 17 of the Irish Land Act, 1909, or they resell the lands to the vendor under Section 3 of the Act of 1903. Section 17 (2) of the Act of 1909 limits the amount of the advance which can be made to occupiers of holdings for the purchase of parcels of untenanted land. As regards any recently created tenancies due inquiry is instituted, and no advances are made where such tenancies have been created after the date mentioned in Section 16 of the Act of 1909.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he can state why Mrs. Mary Riordan, Dromin, Listowel, a tenant on the Raymond estate, who signed her purchase agreement and paid interest on the purchase, will not be allowed to complete her purchase the same as the other tenants on the estate; and whether the Estates Commissioners will reconsider her case with a view of allowing her to become a purchaser subject to an annuity under the Land Purchase Act?

The holding referred to comprises some 3 roods, and the Estates Commissioners, after having the plot inspected, did not consider that it afforded security for any advance under the Land Purchase Acts; and, as the tenant could not see her way to pay the purchase money in cash, the purchase agreement was dismissed and the holding was not included in the sale of the estate. The Commissioners cannot see their way to alter their decision in this case not to make an advance.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that it is a great injustice to many small tenants who cannot produce the money in cash that their farms will not be taken as security?

I cannot help that. If the holdings do not afford security, there is an end of the matter.

The labourer's cottage with a half-acre of land is security, and why not the small holding?

It is a question for the Commissioners entirely whether or not the holding is security. In this case it is not.

asked the Chief Secretary whether his attention has been called to the resolution adopted at the last meeting of the Evicted Tenants Association held in Kilarney; and whether the case of Mr. Jeremiah O'Riordan, Ashgrove, has been considered by the Congested Districts Board?

I have seen the resolution referred to. The Congested Districts Board have no information regarding the case of Mr. Jeremiah O'Riordan.