asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware of the omission in the Regulations concerning national health insurance of any means of deciding and adjusting unfounded claims made upon an employer; whether his attention has been called to the case of Agnes Cain, a domestic servant with Mr. J. F. Taylor, of Queen's Drive, Mossley Hill, Liverpool, of which the reference number with the National Health Insurance of Buckingham Gate is 30,180/14, in which case the servant, being a married woman who lived out, claimed that she was entitled to have 1d. only deducted out of her wages and that her employer was to pay 4d.; whether the Insurance Commissioners have no power, nor is there any other power or authority in the State which can under any circumstances remit or waive the necessity for the employer paying the whole of the weekly contributions, notwithstanding the fact that the insured domestic servant has made an unfounded claim; and whether it is proposed to take any action in the matter?

Section 66 of the National Insurance Act, 1911, and the Regulations made thereunder make full provision for the determination of any question between an employer and an employø as to the rates of contribution payable, and had the employer, in the case to which the hon. Member refers, submitted the question to the Commissioners a decision would have been given. But whether any such question arises or not, it is the duty of the employer in the first instance to pay the whole amount of the contribution, and the right to recover from the employø's wages lapses unless the contribution is paid before the payment of wages. I am sending the hon. Member a leaflet, obtainable from any officer of Customs and Excise, which explains the precise steps to be taken by an employer where such a question arises.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the estimated amount in a full year of the small school Grant proposed in the Second Schedule of the Finance Bill?

My right hon. Friend has asked me to reply to this question. The provisional estimate is £372,358.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether he is aware that delay frequently arises in. obtaining a supply of stamped forms for use as proxies, and as allotment letters; and whether arrangements can be made for the holding of an ample stock of blank forms bearing 1d. or 6d. impressed stamps (to be used as allotment letters), also of postcards bearing £d. impressed stamps on the one side and 1d. impressed stamps on the other side (to be used as proxy forms), so that the same may be available to those desiring to purchase the same without any delay?

The time occupied in stamping the forms to which the hon. Member refers is, as far as I am aware, not such that any inconvenience should arise therefrom. A stock of blank forms of proxy stamped 1d. is already kept at Somerset House. It is thought that the demand for blank forms of allotment letter and postcards printed for use as proxies would be insufficient to justify a stamped stock being maintained.

asked the Prime Minister whether, in the event of this country becoming engaged in an international war, it is still the intention of the Government to dispatch from these islands an Expeditionary Force of 160,000 men, or thereabouts?

No change has been made in the organisation of the Expeditionary Force. As regards the general question, I would refer the hon. and gallant Member to the reply which I gave on 24th March, 1913, in which I stated that the use that would be made of the naval or military forces if the Government and Parliament decided to take part in a war was, for obvious reasons, not a matter about which public statements could be made beforehand. This statement, as the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs recently pointed out, remains as true today as it was a year ago.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether his attention has been drawn to the Report of the Vice-regal Commission on the Irish Poor Law; and whether it is the intention of His Majesty's Government to legislate upon the Report and, if so, when?

At present there is no opportunity for introducing legislation in the United Kingdom Parliament to reform the Irish Poor Law. It is a subject which may well be dealt with by the Irish Parliament.

asked the Chief Secretary whether it is intended to legislate this Session on the Report of the Irish Police Inquiry, 1914; and whether it is intended that the Bill on the subject, whenever introduced, will propose the reforms to date from the date of the Report?

The Report was only recently published and is still under my consideration, but I trust that it will be possible to introduce a Bill on the subject at an early opportunity.

asked the Chief Secretary whether the Estates Commissioners have considered the case of John Flynn, of Kiltyclogher, an evicted tenant on the Tottenham estate, county Leitrim; and whether they will reinstate him or provide him with an economic farm elsewhere?

No application for reinstatement appears to have been lodged with the Estates Commissioners by the persons referred to in the question.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he is aware that Francis M'Geever, of Kiltyclogher, and his mother were evicted from their holding on the Tottenham estate In 1895, which is now in the possession of William Collum, of Kiltyclogher; and whether the Estates Commissioners will reinstate Francis M'Geever or provide him with a suitable farm elsewhere?

The Estates Commissioners received an application from Francis M'Geever for reinstatement in a plot described as containing two small houses, and an Irish rood of land on the Tottenham estate, county Leitrim, formerly occupied by his deceased mother, Rose M'Geever, now in the possession of another tenant, and the Commissioners decided not to take any action in the matter.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he is aware that the pension officer appealed against the decision of the Manorhamilton Sub-committee in granting a pension of 5s. per week to James Keegan, of Gortnacarkogue, Killarga, on the ground of means; and whether, having regard to the fact that Keegan's income does not exceed £21 per annum and that he is completely blind from old age, he will be allowed the full pension?

A question has been raised by the pension officer that James Keegan is not entitled to a pension of 5s. a week, and the case is at present under consideration.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he has equipped an efficient laboratory for the examination and testing of oil for the various requirements of hydroplanes, submarines, and large ships; whether he can state the names and qualifications of the officers at the head of the laboratory; and whether from time to time a report of the results of tests with various grades and kinds of oils will be published?

The reply is in the affirmative. For some years past an oil fuel experimental station has been in existence at Portsmouth, and has been developed as the use of such fuel extended. The establishment is under the immediate charge of an Engineer-Commander, and is closely supervised by an Engineer Rear-Admiral on the staff of the Engineer-in-Chief of the Navy, who has been intimately associated with the oil fuel question for some years, and who has served on an Admiralty Committee on the subject. The chemical work is in close co-ordination with the practical and engineering experiments, and is carried out in the Admiralty laboratory at Portsmouth, which is in charge of the Admiralty chemist, a scientific officer who has carried out for the Admiralty very valuable research work in regard to fuel oils as a member of a committee under the direction of the late Royal Commission on oil fuel and engines. In reply to the second part of the question, the experience of the Admiralty gained in experimental tests and in actual use finds expression in the Admiralty specifications for oil fuels which are issued to the trade. The specifications for heavy oil fuel has been laid on the Table of the House. As the standard of test is purely for naval purposes, it is not proposed to issue periodical reports, but the Admiralty will continue its present practice of affording as much information as possible to all persons whose co-operation is in any way likely to promote Naval interests.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether his attention has been drawn to the case of a girl of nineteen, who was seduced when sixteen years of age by a man now a soldier of the regular forces and stationed in South Africa; whether the correspondence shows that the paternity of the child is admitted and that money has been both paid and promised in respect of the child; whether payments have now ceased; and whether he is in a position to cause effective steps to be taken in the matter?

I have seen some correspondence relating to the case which the hon. Member has in mind, and the facts appear to be substantially as stated in the question. If by "effective steps" the hon. Member means that the man should be put under a compulsory stoppage, I regret that I can only say that that is not within the power of the Army Council.

asked the Secretary of State for War what is the present deficiency in the establishments of the Regular Army, the Special Reserve, and the Territorial Force?

The deficiencies in the Regular Army and the Special Reserve on the 1st June were 11,084 and 15,049 respectively. The deficiency in the Territorial Force on 1st April was 51,097. Later figures are not available.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether his attention has been drawn to the practice of His Majesty's inspectors issuing circular suggestions to teachers in their districts with regard to the curriculum; whether the practice has his sanction; and whether such circulars possess the force of an instruction from the Board of Education?

I am not aware that His Majesty's inspectors as a body have any practice of the kind suggested, but individual inspectors may occasionally find it convenient to communicate with teachers upon some matter of general interest with regard to the curriculum by means of a circular letter.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India if he will give particulars of the employøs showing nature of the work, age limits, holiday allowances, superannuation rights, and rates of pay, working at the India Store Depot, who receive less than 30s. a week?

The numbers of employøs at the India Store Depot who receive less than 30s. per week are at present as follows, namely:—

Seven of the labourers at 25s. 6d. per week receive extra weekly allowances for special work, but their total wage does not exceed 30s. in each case. The nature of the labourers' work is generally the packing of stores for shipment to India. The limit of age is sixty-five. In addition to the following public holidays (Good Friday, Saturday before Easter, King's Birthday, Coronation Day, Christmas Day, and the four Bank Holidays) leave with pay is granted as uader:—

To men in receipt of not less than 27s. 6d. per week—Three days per annum.

To men in receipt of 28s. to 30s. per week—Six days per annum.

Men appointed prior to 2nd August, 1878, are entitled to pension according to the conditions of the Superannuation Act, 1859. Men employed subsequently to 2nd August, 1878, may be granted, on dis- charge, a gratuity under Section 4 of the Superannuation Act, 1887, if they have rendered satisfactory service for not less than fifteen years. The gratuity is £l, or one week's pay, whichever is the greater, for each year's service.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether any local authorities in England and Wales, and, if any, which, have acquired land by the application of the compulsory powers contained in the Housing and Town-Planning Act, 1909; and whether he will state what prices were asked and what awards made in each case?

The only local authorities by whom land has been acquired under the compulsory powers in question are Erpingham Rural District Council and the Corporation of Weymouth. In the former case the award was for £332 for about twelve and a quarter acres of land, but I have no information to show that the land was offered to the council at a price. In the Weymouth case the land was offered at £1,000. The award was for £831.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether his attention has been drawn to the insanitary housing conditions prevailing in the Eastern Valleys of Monmouthshire; and whether he will instruct a medical inspector of the Board to report thereon?

I am in possession of the information contained in reports of medical officers of health in regard to housing conditions in East Monmouthshire, and I have recently directed an inspection to be made by one of the housing inspectors of the Board as regards the parishes of Penallt and Trelleck, in the rural district of Monmouth, and this will be made at an early date. If the hon. Member has information showing the desirability of an early inspection of any particular parish or district I should be glad if he would furnish me with it.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he has received a request from the Bexhill Commercial Association to extend the scope of the local agency of the unemployed fund so as to include uninsured trades; and whether, in view of the fact that at present employers and employed have to travel to Hastings to get into touch with each other, he will grant this request?

I have just received the request referred to. The proposal raises points of some difficulty, and I cannot now say more than that the matter will receive careful consideration.

asked the Secretary for Scotland when the Report of the Scottish Housing Commission may be expected; whether it is intended to issue an interim Report; and what power at present exists to vary the rate of interest on loans to public bodies for housing purposes?

I am informed by the Royal Commission that they cannot, yet indicate when their Report may be expected and that they do not intend to issue an interim Report. The rate of interest payable on loans from the Public Works Loan Commissioners to local authorities for the purpose of the housing of the working classes is fixed by Section 3 of the Housing and Town-Planning Act, 1909, at the minimum rate allowed for the time being for loans out of the Local Loans Fund, and those rates are fixed by the Treasury from time to time, under Section; 1 of the Public Works Loans Act, 1897, at such amounts not less than 2¾ per cent. as in the opinion of the Treasury are sufficient to enable such loans to be made without loss to the fund.