asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether the cost of printing the various official publications contained in List 2, revised to 31st January, of the official publications of the National Health Insurance Commission (England) and the National Health Insurance Joint Committee is included in the sum of £119,000 expended in printing documents issued under the National Insurance Act?

The answer is in the negative. The publications referred to were either ordered to be printed by Parliament, the cost being charged against Sub-head K of the Stationery Office Vote, or were published as Stationery Office Publications, the cost of which falls on Sub-head L of the Stationery Office Vote.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if the grazing lands at Castle Hill, Crossmolina, the property of Mr. E. C. Walshe, are included in the lands offered by Mr. Walshe for sale to the Congested Districts Board; if not, why they are not included; and wall he state the cause of the delay in the Board's acquisition of this estate?

The lands of Castle Hill, referred to, were offered for sale to the Congested Districts Board and for repurchase by the vendor. Most of these lands are demesne, and the Board's offer stipulated that about 60 acres which are outside the demesne wall should be sold to them. The Board's offer has not been accepted.

asked the Chief Secretary what progress has been made in the negotiations for the purchase by the Congested Districts Board of the following estates in Ennis, county Mayo, namely, E. C. Walshe, George S. Bournes, Richards now Barley, Rendall, and Morrell; when were these estates offered; when were the surveys completed; if offers have yet been made; if so, with what result; in the case of refusals have the Board decided to apply their compulsory purchase powers; and, if not, why?

The estate of E. C. Walsh was offered for sale to the Congested Districts Board in August, 1910, and a valuation completed in December, 1913. The Board's offer for purchase has not yet been accepted. The Bournes and Barley estates were offered for sale to the Board in April and August, 1913, respectively, and the valuation was completed in February and March last. The Board have decided to issue offers for the purchase of these estates. Mrs. Rendall's estate was offered for sale in October, 1912, and the valuation was completed in September, 1913. The Board's offer for its purchase has been refused and the matter will be-further considered. The Morrell estate has not so far been offered for sale to the Board.

asked the Chief Secretary if he is aware that five police officers have recently been stationed at Castle Hill gatehouse, Crossmolina; why has this innovation been made; and if the people of the district in question are peaceable and law-abiding?

A protection post consisting of four police has been established at Castle Hill owing to a number of cattle drives which have taken place on the estate. The constabulary authorities, who are responsible for the peace of the district, consider this step necessary.

asked the Chief Secretary if, in the recent past, Mr. Macdonnell, patron of Ballyucan national school, in the county of Antrim, retired from its management in favour of the parish priest of Culfeightrin, and in consequence of threats that the school would be boycotted by that cleric if the patron persisted in managing it, though the school, an attached endowment, and a residence and farm for the teacher were provided by the Macdonnell family; if the new manager superseded the existing teacher, thereby compelling him to emigrate; and if the Commissioners of National Education have taken any and, if so, what steps to prevent the repetition of such an injustice in the future?

The Commissioners of National Education inform me that Mr. W. D. Macdonnell, who was joint manager, but not patron of the Ballyucan school resigned in March, 1909, and the parish priest of Culfeightrin was recognised in April, 1909, as manager on the nomination of the Misses Macdonnell, who were the patrons. The Commissioners are not aware of any such threats as those referred to. The teacher resigned from 31st March, 1909, that is before the parish priest was recognised as manager.

asked how many women have, according to the information of the police, disappeared during every year for the last ten years?

I have no information as regards the provinces. As regards the Metropolitan police district, I gave the figures for twelve months in reply to a similar question on 12th July, 1912. To obtain the figures for ten years would involve an expenditure of time and labour which would seem to be out of proportion to any purpose which the figures could serve.

asked the Home Secretary the number of fatal and serious accidents, respectively, to young children by burning and scalding which have occurred in Great Britain and Ireland, respectively, since the passing of the Children's Act, 1908; in how many cases have inquests been held; and how many persons have been made amenable to justice in respect of such accidents?

The Reports of the Registrar-General for the years 1909, 1910, and 1911, show that the deaths of children under five years of age from burns and scalds in England, Wales, and Ireland, are as follows:—

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether the student Roy, who has been twice acquitted by a Calcutta jury in connection with the murder of Inspector Ghose, is to be tried a third time on the capital charge; and, if so, will he be tried before the same judge as before or before some judge whose mind is uninfluenced by the previous trials?

As I have twice informed my hon. Friend, he is mistaken in thinking that Roy has been twice acquitted on any charge. On the charges on which he was tried twice the jury disagreed on both occasions. The Government of Bengal has now entered a plea of nolle prosequi.

asked the President of the Board of Agriculture whether, in view of the loss being incurred from day to day by the closing of the Greenore route to cattle intended to be slaughtered at Holyhead, he will see that temporary lay inspectors be forthwith appointed?

The hon. Member appears to be under a misapprehension. The restrictions to which he refers are necessitated by the prevalence of foot-and-mouth disease in Ireland, and would not be rendered less necessary by the appointment of additional inspectors by the Board.

asked the President of the Board of Trade (1) whether he will obtain information as to the nature of the proceedings which have been instituted against certain directors of the Union Life Assurance Company of Canada; whether he will inquire into the constitution and proceedings of the London advisory board of this company; whether this assurance company had a banking account in this country, had all their shareholders in this country, and that meetings of these shareholders were held here; whether he is aware that it was through the instrumentality of Mr. A. M. de Beck, acting as chairman of the investigation committee of the shareholders, that the frauds perpetrated by this company on the British public were exposed; what assistance he is prepared to give to the shareholders to recover some portion of their property and to bring to justice the several persons in London who knowingly assisted in defrauding them; and (2) whether he has seen the prospectus of the Union Life Assurance Company of Canada; whether his attention has been called to the fact that it contained several statements in connection with which certain directors are at present being prosecuted in Canada; is he aware that there are 745 shareholders of this company in Great Britain who subscribed £157,000; if the criminal law will be put into operation in this country against any person who has assisted in the preparation of a fraudulent prospectus here; and what steps he proposes to take to bring to justice those who assisted in defrauding 745 British shareholders out of £157,000?

As I have previously informed my hon. Friend, the Union Life Assurance Company of Canada was not registered in this country, and, so far as I am aware, did not carry on any business here. In these circumstances, the Board of Trade have no information as to whether meetings of the shareholders were held in this country, and they have no jurisdiction to conduct an investigation into the constitution or proceedings of any London advisory board of the company. The only information which the Board of Trade have as to the number or residence of the shareholders is contained in a report of the Superintendent of Insurance of the Dominion of Canada, according to which shares to the nominal amount of 982,500 dollars were held by a Canadian company, the great majority of the remaining shares being held by persons with addresses in the United Kingdom. I have seen a copy of the prospectus advertised in the "Times" by the company in the year 1910, and as that prospectus contained the names of bankers in this country to whom the deposits in respect of applications for shares were payable the company no doubt had a banking account in this country at one time. I have no information as to the action taken by the chairman of any investigation committee of the shareholders, and I have no power to assist the shareholders to enforce any claims which they may have to recover money subscribed by them. I will have inquiries made as to the nature of any proceedings which have been instituted against any of the directors of the company in Canada, but if my hon. Friend considers that he has evidence that a criminal offence has been committed in this country in connection with the affairs of the company, he should, as my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade stated last Wednesday, lay such evidence before the Director of Public Prosecutions for his consideration.

asked the Postmaster-General how many telephone lines there are at present between the Victoria exchange and the Hammersmith exchange; what is the average hourly number of calls on these lines during the busy hours of the day; and whether the question of increasing the number of lines between these exchanges is now under consideration?

There are sixteen telephone circuits between the Victoria exchange and the Hammersmith exchange. The maximum number of calls per hour from Victoria to Hammersmith recorded during the busy hours of the day is seventy-three, while the corresponding number of calls from Hammersmith to Victoria is sixty-eight. The number of circuits between these exchanges is in excess of the requirements of the traffic, and consequently there is no question of increasing the number at present.

asked the Postmaster-General if he will give a list up to date of the telephone advisory committees which have been formed in the country, giving the names of the members of each committee?

The following is a list of towns at which telephone and telegraph advisory committees have been formed:—

As the list of members of the committees is of considerable length, I am sending it to the hon. Member personally.

asked the Postmaster-General whether the Marconi Company have already started work on the provision of equipment for the second three stations for the Imperial chain; and whether, in view of the fact that the Report of the Committee on Radio-telegraphic Research on the various systems has been prepared and will shortly be presented to the House, he will consider the desirability of preventing such work being undertaken by the Marconi Company at this juncture, and so avoid, in the event of another system being declared preferable to that of the Marconi Company, the waste of public money which would necessarily arise if the contract is amended?

The Marconi Company have been informed that they are at liberty to proceed with their preparations for the erection of the second three stations of the Imperial chain provided that in accordance with Clause 2 of the contract of the 30th of July, 1913, they give notice before incurring heavy expenditure on any class of material for use in connection with these stations. Up to the present time they have only given such notice in respect of the mast material. The Committee on Radio-telegraphic Research to which the hon. Member refers was appointed merely to consider how far and by what methods the State should make provision for research work in the science of wireless telegraphy, and I cannot conceive that their report can have any bearing on the question of the contract for the Imperial stations.