asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will grant a Return showing the number of tobacco manufacturers who took out licences in the United Kingdom for the fiscal year ended 31st March, 1914?

The information asked for by the hon. Member is not at present available.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether he will state the assessment made for maintenance rate by the Garristown and Delvin Drainage District Board in each of the years since the formation of the board, the gross expenditure in each year, and the amount spent in direct labour in each year, respectively, down to last year?

According to information furnished by the secretary to the Drainage Board no maintenance rate was struck from the constitution of the district until the end of the year 1901. The following is an account of subsequent assessments and also a record of the gross expenditure in each year and the amount spent in direct labour:—

asked the Secretary to the Treasury the cause of the delay in the steam-rolling of the road from Ballina to Crossmolina, county Mayo; has the Road Board any engineer in charge or superintendence, and is there any report from him as to why the road has been kept in an almost impassable state since October last, and only a small part of the steam-rolling yet done; will the Road Board consider whether, under the circumstances, it would be better to let the work to a contractor, as was done in the case of the Barna to Spiddal road, in county Galway; have funds been provided by the Board for the Ballina-Cross-molina work sufficient to complete it; and has any delay arisen from financial causes?

1. The Road Board are informed that the cause of the delay in the steam-rolling work on the road from Ballina to Crossmolina, county Mayo, is due to the non-delivery of plant caused by the Dublin strike, and latterly to trouble between workmen and the county council as to the rate of wages. 2. The work is under the direct control of the county council. A Road Board engineering inspector visits the work from time to time, and reports with regard to the progress thereof. No report has been received from him to the effect that the road is impassable. 3. Whether the work should be carried out by direct labour or by contract was carefully considered by the county council, and the former method was adopted with the approval of the Road Board. 4. The whole of the money for the proposed improvement has been provided, partly by grant from the Road Board and partly by the county council. 5. So far as the Board are aware, no delay has arisen from financial causes.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether the Commissioners of National Education have yet replied to the joint letter sent to them on 31st January by Messrs. Edward Byrne and Thomas McAlindon, of Burren, Warrenpoint; and whether steps will be taken to expedite the matters referred to?

The Commissioners of National Education inform me that a formal acknowledgment has been sent to the letter referred to. "With regard to the latter part of the question, I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the question asked on this subject by the Member for East Down on the 27th February.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he has received representations from the retired national school teachers of Ireland claiming to be included in whatever benefits the new pension scheme may give; whether he intends pressing the claims of these teachers upon the Treasury; and when is a decision likely to be come to in the matter?

I have received representations to the effect stated. I am not at present in a position to make any statement on the subject.

asked whether the Estates Commissioners can arrange without further delay to deal with the case of Mr. Patrick Dowdall, of Tynan, county Armagh, who was evicted from his holding on the Thompson estate in county Down?

The Estates Commissioners have inquired into and considered Patrick Dowdall's application for reinstatement in a holding on the Thompson estate, county Down, formerly occupied by him jointly with his brother, and have decided not to take any action in the matter.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he is aware that in the case, of the Baldwin estate, county Cork, certain of the tenants have had their holdings vested in them, whilst a number of others have not yet had vesting orders made in their behalf; can he explain the reason of this; and when those exceptionally treated will be admitted to the full benefits of purchase?

The holdings which have been vested are those in which the rulings of the Estates Commissioners have been complied with. The remaining holdings are being dealt with, and will be vested as soon as the Commissioners' requisitions have been discharged.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he is aware that six labourers on the Gulland estate, near Ballinagree, county Cork, have made a claim for portion of the turbary; whether the Estates Commissioners have investigated their claim; if not, will they do so; has any portion of the turbary been allotted by the Commissioners; if so, in what manner; and, if not already done, will the Estates Commissioners acquire this turbary for the benefit of the people in the neighbourhood?

The Estates Commissioners cannot from the particulars given in the question identify the estate referred to as being the subject of proceedings before them under the Irish Land Acts.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he received resolutions from the Irish Land and Labour Association demanding fixity of tenure for tenants of labourers' cottages; and, if so, what action he intends to take in reference thereto?

I have not received the resolution referred to. No action appears to be necessary in the matter, as the tenants of labourers' cottages have for all practical purposes fixity of tenure at present, as they are not likely to be disturbed by the rural district councils as long as they pay the very moderate rents charged for the cottages and keep the plots reasonably cultivated.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he is aware that, in the allocation of the additional million voted for the purposes of the Labourers (Ireland) Acts in 1911, the Local Government Board exercised a discretion which was unfair and unjust to those district councils who had been doing their duty to the labourers for twenty years previously; and whether he intends to introduce legislation to prevent any such improper discrimination in the future?

As I have frequently stated the policy of the Local Government Board in their allocation of the additional million voted for the purposes of the Labourers (Ireland) Acts in 1911, has been to secure as far as possible that the money should be applied towards providing labourers' cottages in those districts where they appear to be most needed, having regard to the number of cottages already provided and the number of agricultural labourers in such districts.

also asked the Chief Secretary how the additional million provided for the purposes of the Labourers Acts in 1911 has been expended; whether any portion of it remains still unallocated; how many schemes of labourers' cottages have been promulgated by district councils for which no moneys are at present available; what is the number of cottages for whose erection the sanction of the Local Government Board has been obtained; how many further schemes have been promoted by district councils into which local inquiries have not yet been held; what is the number of cottages comprised in them; is he aware that the operations of the Labourers Acts are at a standstill for want of money, and that the further million which it is proposed to grant under the Irish Land Bill is entirely insufficient to meet existing claims; and, having regard to the urgency of the matter, what steps does he propose to take to complete the settlement of the labourers' question?

Out of the additional million provided by the Labourers Act of 1911, loans have been sanctioned amounting to £572,770, and £235,960 will be required for cottages passed by the Local Government Board's inspectors. A sum of £81,430 is estimated as the cost of further schemes which have been inquired into, or in which inquiries are still pending. The unallocated balance of £109,840 would only provide about 647 more cottages at the usual rate of £170 per cottage. The Board have no details as to the number of schemes which have been framed by rural district councils for which no money is at present available. Loans have already been sanctioned for the erection of 3,369 cottages, and thirty further schemes, involving 4,582 cottages, have been prepared, but have not yet been inquired into. Additional funds, will, therefore, be required to carry through the schemes already lodged with the Board, but it is not clear that the additional million proposed in the Irish Land Bill will be entirely insufficient.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if it is proposed to provide lavatory accommodation in first and second-class railway carriages on the Trinidad Railway; and, if so, whether he will make such representations as may be necessary to the Trinidad Government to induce them to provide similar accommodation in third-class carriages?

I am not aware what arrangements it is proposed to make in this matter, but I feel confident that the Colonial Government can be relied upon to make such provision as is most suitable for local requirements.