asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether any additional provision of a temporary character has been made, or will be made, at the ports, especially Goole and Boston, for increased accommodation to store goods liable to duty which may be affected by the forthcoming Budget?

The answer is in the negative.

asked the Under-Secretary for India whether members of the Indian Civil Service Family Pensions Fund who have contributed in the past to the excess, ascertained in 1911 to be £601,909, have participated in the advantages granted whereby that excess has been reduced to £17,000; and, if not, why they, who supplied the surplus, have been excluded from their share thereof?

The remission of subscriptions after retirement absorbs the greater part of the excess referred to by the hon. Member, and the older subscribers, including officers on the retired list, to whose contributions the surplus is mainly due, have thus largely benefited by the advantages recently given.

asked when the Report of Mrs. Tennant on the conditions of service of the non-commissioned officers and men married off the Strength in the Army will be published as a White Paper?

I hope to be able to do so shortly.

asked the President of the Local Government Board which day or days in the week is or are the most general for the early closing day in the United Kingdom?

My right hon. Friend has asked me to reply to this question. The return which was presented to Parliament last year (Cd. 7032) of the Orders made by local authorities during the first year the Act was in operation shows that of the shops for which the day of the weekly half-holiday had been fixed by Order, the majority have Wednesday as the day. Thursday comes next, and applies to a large number. The other days of the week only count for a small minority. It must be remembered, however, that in all cases where a day other than Saturday is fixed the shopkeeper has the option of substituting Saturday if he prefers it. In the case of the shops for which Orders have not been made, the shopkeeper is at liberty to fix his own day, and I have no information as to the day most frequently chosen.

asked the hon. Member for St. George's-in-the-East, as representing the First Commissioner of Works, with reference to the semi-circular space surrounding the site occupied by the Victoria Memorial, if he will consider the advisability of opening to the public the raised terrace inside the enclosing stone parapet by substituting for the present grass border a flagged or gravelled path with suitable benches to which access would be obtained by the existing stone steps?

The First Commissioner regrets that he does not see his way to adopt the course recommended.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he has noticed the recommendations of the Departmental Committee on Local Taxation, and especially the increased Grants recommended for elementary education in paragraphs 82 to 90 of the Final Report (Cd. 7315); whether he has observed that the proposed increased Grants approximately equal 75 per cent. of the total loan charges, and that column seven of the table given in paragraph 88 shows for the selected local authorities an aggregate excess of Grants over existing Grants as given in column five, which is about equal to 75 per cent. of the aggregate loan charges of the local authorities selected in this table; and whether he can give, in the form of a new table, the effect of a Grant of 75 per cent. of the loan sharges for each of the same local authorities, so that it may be known in detail whether a Grant as proposed by the Departmental Committee or a Grant in aid of loan charges will secure the desired reduction of existing inequalities in the local rates for elementary education?

The Report of the Committee is under the consideration of the Government. The table for which the hon. Member asks is as follows:—

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether he is aware of the circumstances attending the death of Mrs.

My right hon. Friend has been in correspondence with Mr. Simpson and the Town Council of Leeds with regard to this matter. The medical officer of health states that the nuisance consisted of a stopped sink drain and an overflowing cesspool, which was situated in a field some distance from the farm buildings. The unsatisfactory sanitary condition of Pasture Farm was observed by the sanitary officials in the latter part of 1911, but, in deference to the wishes of Mr. Simpson, who wished to arrange the matter himself with the agent of the estate, the issue of statutory notices was postponed. Notices requiring the owners to carry out certain drainage works were issued on the 6th June, 1912, and the works were commenced on the 16th June, and completed on the 4th July, 1912. Mrs. Simpson was notified as suffering from typhoid on the 27th June, and died on the 7th July, 1912. The medical officer of health is of opinion that the occurrence of typhoid fever, though coincident with, was not consequent upon, the condition of the drainage. My right hon. Friend sympathises very much with Mr. Simpson in his misfortune, but he does not think that such an inquiry as is suggested would serve any useful purpose.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether he will give the names of the urban districts in which, as the result of formal complaints under Section 10 of the Housing, Town Planning, etc., Act, 1909, or of inspections by the Board's officers, the councils had, prior to the 1st January last, been urged by the Board to build houses under Part III. of the Housing of the Working Classes Act, 1890, and have not yet agreed to do so; and whether, as regards cases of formal complaints, a mandamus has been applied for in any instance; and, if so, with what result?

The names of the urban districts are:—Northam, Pwllheli, Bridgnorth, Margam, Stowmarket, East Cowes, Barnoldswick, and Tenby. The last named is the only one in which there has been a formal complaint under Section 10 of the Housing, Town Planning, etc., Act, 1909, and in which action or a promise of action has not been secured. It has not yet been thought necessary to make application for a writ of mandamus in that case. In the case of Northam, it is right that I should add that the council have stated that they are looking for a site for houses, but I am afraid they have been a long time finding it. The Margam Council have made some provision, but not as much as the Local Government Board think necessary, and, as regards Stowmarket, it must be admitted that the circumstances have changed somewhat since the Board recommended the council to build.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the number of trade disputes in which the assistance of the Board of Trade has been employed under the Conciliation Act of 1896; and the number of workpeople directly concerned in such disputes for the years 1911, 1912, and 1913?

The following statement gives the information so far as available:—

asked the Postmaster-General the number of money order, postal order, registered letter, and telegram transactions at the Preston post office during the month of January last, or the last month for which returns are available; the number of clerks employed on counter duty; and the number employed on telegraph duties during the same month?

The latest month for which the figures are available is March last, and the figures are as follows:—

asked the Postmaster-General, whether he is aware that, through the pressure of work in Bolton at Christmastide, the postmen performed many hours overtime which has not yet been paid for; and whether he will expedite the payment?

I am aware that a number of postmen at Bolton exceeded the authorised limits of overtime during last Christmas season. The question of allowing payment of the claims is under consideration, but the matter is rather a complicated one and some further inquiry is necessary. No time will, however, be lost in arriving at a decision in the matter.