asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the total amount that has been paid as political pensions under the Political Pensions Act, 1869, during each of the last ten financial years?

:The figures, which are given in the annual finance accounts, are as follows:—

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer under which head in Schedule 11 of the Finance Bill is included£750,000 proposed to be granted for expenses incurred in connection with tuberculosis laboratories, and nurses?

:These Grants are not scheduled to the Finance Bill, but will be provided for by a Vote to be submitted to Parliament in due course.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if his attention has been drawn to the eviction of Mr. Chambers, an agricultural labourer on Lord Lilford's Northamptonshire estate, as the result of his having joined a trade union; and whether the Government propose to introduce legislation that will enable agricultural labourers to exercise the right of combination?

:The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. As regards the latter part, I cannot at present say more than that the matter is receiving careful consideration.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the total amount of taxes for Undeveloped Land and Increment Duty wrongly levied, and subsequently refunded, in each of the years 1911, 1912, and 1913?

:No separate records are available of repayments under assessments incorrectly made. The total amounts of Undeveloped Land Duty and Increment Value Duty repaid from all causes in each of the years referred to were, however, as follows:—

asked the hon. Member for St. George's-in-the-East., as representing the Insurance Commission, whether persons working in the employments mentioned in Schedule A of the National Health Insurance (Subsidiary Employments) Provisional Order, 1902 (No. 2), namely, hop picker, fruit picker, pea picker, potato picker, and flower picker, must be compulsorily insured if, prior to their employment in any of the above capacities, they have at any time been employed in an insurable capacity?

:The answer is in the negative. The effect of the Order is to except from compulsory insurance persons engaged in the employments specified who are not insured persons at the time of entering upon such employment. A person who had ceased to be insured prior to engaging in any of these employments would not be insurable in respect of them.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will state what sums were issued from the Treasury during the insurance year ending in January, 1914, out of moneys provided by Parliament in payment of the State's contribution to sickness, medical, and maternity benefits paid to persons insured under the National Insurance Act, showing the amounts separately for each commission, and for each benefit, and for each different proportion of contribution by the State?

:The information asked for is given as far as possible in the following statement:—

The foregoing issues have been made by way of advances. The final charges in respect of the several benefits cannot be ascertained until the accounts of the expenditure by approved societies and insurance committees out of the National Health Insurance Fund for the period have been made up and audited.

asked the Prime Minister when it is intended to take the discussion upon the proposed investment on behalf of the Admiralty in shares of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company?

:This will be to-morrow.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will obtain from the Excise authorities who collect in their respective districts the compensation charge from the holders of intoxicating liquor licences a return of the total amount collected in the Tower Division of the county of London on that account for each of the years since the Licensing Act, 1904, came into operation?

:I regret that I am unable to comply with this request. As indicated in the answer which I gave to my hen. Friend on 20th May, the scheme of the Act is that the compensation charges should be levied and utilised over the county as a whole.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Truck Bill will be introduced?

:The Bill will be introduced at the earliest possible moment. I

hoped at first to introduce a combined consolidating and amending Bill, but I am now satisfied that the amendment to the law should appear in a separate Bill.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department the number of accidents, fatal and otherwise, which could reasonably be ascribed to mistakes or accidents in shot-firing, that occurred in coal mines and quarries during each year from 1903 to 1913, inclusive, and the total amount of compensation under the Workmen's Compensation Act paid in each year?

:The particulars are as follows:—

Note—The table includes all explosions of firedamp or coal-dust due to shot-firing by which persons were killed or injured. This cause accounted for 121 of the deaths in 1905 and for 103 of the deaths in 1908, and for 316 in all out of the total of 517.

The tables gives the number of accidents due to all causes connected with shot-firing. It is impossible to distinguish those accidents which were due to mistakes on the part of the shot-firer.

asked the Secretary for Foreign Affairs in what position the Boxer Indemnity due to Great Britain stands?

:The payments due by China in respect of the Boxer Indemnity have been punctually paid up to date.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if the Central Mining Company, Limited, of South Africa, is registered in this country; if he is aware that the- assets of the company include certain mining claims originally known as the Lark Syndicate, transferred

to the central company when it absorbed the City Deep Company, and that these claims were the subject of legal proceedings in South Africa in 1904 and 1905; and if he will take steps to ascertain the views of the Law Officers of the South African Union on the subject of the present ownership of the claims?

:If the company to which the hon. Member refers is the Central Mining and Investment Corporation Limited, that company was registered in this country on the 9th May, 1905. So far as the Board of Trade are aware City Deep, Limited, which is registered in South Africa has not been absorbed by any company. The Board of Trade have no information as to whether the assets of the Central Mining and Investment Corporation, Limited, include the mining claims referred to in the hon. Member's question, or as to any legal proceedings in connection with those claims, and I am not aware of any grounds which would justify me in asking that the Law Officers of the South African Union should be requested to state their views as to the ownership of the claims.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the greatest number of passengers which the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company are permitted to carry on any one steamer between Liverpool and the Isle of Man, and what is the proportion of passengers for whom lifeboat accommodation is provided?

:The greatest number of passengers which the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company are permitted to carry on any one steamer is 2,549, this being the number of passengers for which the steamship "Ben-my-Chree" is certified. This vessel carries twelve lifeboats sufficient to accommodate 548 persons and buoyant apparatus in the form of deck seats for 2,132. In addition, there are life-jackets for 3,155 adults and children, and twenty-four lifebuoys.

asked the President of the Board of Agriculture the names of the local authorities in England and Scotland who have prohibited the importation of cattle from Ireland into their respective areas?

:Local authorities in England and Scotland respectively who have made regulations prohibiting the importation of cattle from Ireland into the areas named in the following table:—

asked the President of the Board of Agriculture if he is aware that there is a society of approved applicants for small holdings at Porthcawl, Glamorganshire, who for over six years have applied and have been appealing for small holdings to the authorities, and who for two years have been pressing the Board of Agriculture to take some effective steps to secure land for small holdings for them; is he aware that land which the county council had intended for small holdings has now been leased, under a scheme approved by the Board of Agriculture, to large farmers, and that a sale of land is to take place near to Porthcawl at the end of this month which is suitable for small holdings; is it the intention of the Board of Agriculture to try to secure some of this land for such a purpose; if not, what steps his Department intends to take to secure land for small holdings for the members of the Porthcawl Small Holdings Association; and, if the present Act does not give him the necessary power to deal with this problem effectively, is it his intention to ask Parliament to amend the existing law during this or the next Session?

:I am fully acquainted with the circumstances of this case, into which an inquiry has recently been held by the Board. It is not the case that the land acquired by the county council has been let to large farmers, and the scheme was not approved by the Board until they were satisfied that the tenants were eligible for small holdings under the Act. The council have undertaken to try to find land for the society, and if my hon. Friend will supply me with particulars of the land to be sold near Porthcawl I shall be glad to bring it to the notice of the council, and to press them to acquire it for the society.

asked the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland) whether, in making further inquiries into the provision of a lime scheme in the parish of Tuogh, he will have investigation made with a view to the provision of lime in the Kenmare district?

:The district in question has been noted for inspection.

asked the Secretary for Scotland whether any member of the Scottish Departmental Committee on North Sea Fisheries was interested directly or indirectly as a shareholder or lender in loans to steam drifters; and, if so, to what extent?

:I have no information on the matter dealt with in the question.

asked the Secretary for Scotland what principle was adopted in selecting witnesses to give evidence before the Scottish Departmental Committee in respect to the question of State loans to fishermen; whether the various fishery associations were invited to nominate witnesses; from whom did nominations come apart from those made by fishery associations; and who was responsible for naming witnesses in the Banff and Buckie districts of the Moray Firth?

:I am informed that the aim of the Committee was to select witnesses from all the sea fishery districts of Scotland, and to obtain evidence from fish salesmen and curers and other persons interested in the sea fishing industry as well as from fishermen. Some fishery associations were invited or allowed to nominate witnesses. Nominations were also made by a Committee of Scottish Members of the House of Commons. The selection of witnesses for the Banff and Buckie districts was undertaken by the Departmental Committee after consulting persons familiar with the conditions of the industry in those districts.

asked the Secretary for Scotland what is the reference to the Committee on Reformatory and Industrial schools in Scotland; and whether they will consider the question of superannuation for teachers other than those certificated in the technical sense and also for workers in these schools?

"To inquire into the constitution, control and inspection, management, discipline, education, staffing and remuneration of the staffs of reformatory and industrial schools in Scotland; into the provision made for different types of children; into the number and character of committals; into the care of boys and girls after leaving the schools; into the financial position of the schools, including the cost of maintenance; into the proportion borne by the Exchequer and local authorities respectively of the expenditure on assistance from public funds; and into the extent to which a proper contribution is obtained from parents."

The subject referred to in the latter portion of the question appears to be covered by the terms of reference.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland on what grounds the old age pension claim of Michael Murphy (No. L.L. 300), having been sanctioned by the Belmullet pension subcommittee, county Mayo, has been refused on appeal by the Local Government Board; if on the grounds of means, will he state how the income of Murphy has been calculated; and is he aware that property belonging to Murphy's sons has been improperly included in the calculation?

:Michael Murphy's claim was disallowed by the Local Government Board on appeal, as they were not satisfied that his yearly means calculated in accordance with the provisions of the Old Age Pensions Acts were less than the statutory limit. His claim for a pension was based on the ground that he had in February, 1912, assigned two large farms, well cropped and stocked, to his unmarried son, reserving no benefit to himself, without any other apparent object than to qualify for a pension. Having regard to all the circumstances of the assignment, the Board decided that the case was one which came within the meaning of Section 4 (3) of the Old Age Pensions Act, 1908.

asked the President of the Local Government Board the number of houses closed or demolished under the Orders of the Board during the years 1909 to 1913, respectively; and under what Acts they were so closed or demolished, and the number dealt with under each Act?

:The Local Government Board do not make closing or demolition orders. If the hon. Member wishes to know the number of houses which were the subject of closing and demolition orders confirmed by the Board on appeals to them under Section 39 of the Housing, Town Planning, etc., Act, 1909, the figures are as follows:—