asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many cases of transfer, at the Crown's expense, affecting officers, indoor and outdoor, and watchers have occurred during the last twelve months in which the Board of

Customs and Excise have invited applications from the grades concerned, and have intimated that a preference would be given to unmarried men; and will he grant a Return of these cases, setting forth in each instance the nature and date of the transfer, the grade affected, and the special circumstances which rendered it preferable that an unmarried man should be selected for transfer?

I am informed by the Board of Customs and Excise that cases of the nature refrred to are few in number, amounting to perhaps a dozen out of some 600 transfers made during the last twelve months. To give the Return asked for by my hon. Friend would necessitate a scrutiny of each individual

case, and would involve a greater expenditure of time and trouble than would, I think, be justified. I may mention that the Board of Customs and Excise have received no complaints on the subject.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what is the staff of the Road Board; and (2) how many meetings of the Road Board were held in 1913–14, and whether he will give a list of the attendances of the members?

The permanent staff of the Road Board is as follows, namely: Secretarial and clerical, 20; engineering, 7. There are also two consulting engineers, one of whom is employed for Scottish work, and a temporary staff of nine, employed mainly on the classification of roads. Seven meetings of the Board were held in the year ended 31st March, 1914. The chairman and one other member attended all of the seven meetings, two more attended five each, one, who was only appointed in July, 1913, attended four, while Sir Charles D. Rose attended the only meeting held before his death.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will state the increase in the year 1913–14 in the number of houses under and over £20 annual value, respectively?

I regret that the information asked for by the hon. Member is not yet available.

asked the Prime Minister whether His Majesty's Government has now received and considered the Report of the National Defence Committee upon the projected Channel tunnel; and, if so, whether His Majesty's Government are now prepared to reverse the decision announced on their behalf by Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman to the House of Commons in 1907, that the Government's view of the public interest leads them to be opposed to the project, and that even supposing the military dangers involved were to be amply guarded against, there would still exist throughout the country a feeling of insecurity, which might lead to constant demands for increased expenditure, naval and military, and to continual risks of unrest and possible alarm, however unfounded; and whether the Government still consider these risks would be most injurious in their effects, whether political or commercial?

The matter is still before the Committee of Imperial Defence. All relevant considerations will be taken into account.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether, seeing that the principal officials in the National Education Office of Ireland are paid their salaries monthly, there is any reason why the national teachers should not be paid in the same way; whether he can state what is the reason that a different system of payment should be continued to those employed in the same service; whether he is aware that this delay in paying national teachers causes financial loss and personal inconvenience by their being obliged to have recourse to credit for all their necessities?

I would refer the hon. Member to my reply to the question of the hon. Member for East Down on this subject on 13th February, 1913, to which I have nothing at present to add.

asked the Chief Secretary when the Government will introduce a measure to carry out the recommendations of the Irish Police Committee of Inquiry; and, having regard to the delay in meeting the claims set forth in the memorials sent in by the rank and file by the Royal Irish Constabulary over a year since, will the Bill, giving effect to the recommendations of the Committee of Inquiry, be made to take effect from the 1st of January, 1914, so as to allay the discontent now existent in the force?

As I have already stated the Report was only recently published, and is still under my consideration. I am fully alive to the importance of immediate action, and no effort on my part will be wanting to secure that the matter, which is one of urgency, shall be dealt with at once.

asked the Chief Secretary whether any offer has been made by the Congested Districts Board to purchase the Blake and French estates at Cloonshanville; and, if so, whether the negotiations are proceeding?

The Congested Districts Board made an offer for the purchase of this property, which was not accepted, and negotiations are not now proceeding.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he is aware that the sale of the Clancarty estate, situate at Granagh, Aille, Dalyston, near Loughrea, to the tenants has been registered for the past six years; is he aware that general dissatisfaction prevails among the tenants on account of the extraordinary delay in carrying out the sale of this estate; and will he state, approximately, when the Estates Commissioners expect to be in a position to deal with this estate?

Proceedings for the sale to the Estates Commissioners of the Clancarty estate, situate near the town of Loughrea, were instituted by lodgment of an originating request by the owner in June, 1908. The estate is being dealt with in order of priority in accordance with the Regulations made under Section 23 (8) of the Irish Land Act, 1903, and Section 4 of the Irish Land Act, 1909, and the Commissioners have recently made an offer for the purchase of the estate, which has not yet been accepted.

asked the Chief Secretary whether any representation was made to him regarding the action of the resident magistrates officiating in the Arran Isles, county Galway; is he aware that a complaint was addressed to the Under-Secretary by the parish priest of the islands; was the matter of the complaint investigated; and, if so, is it customary to communicate the result to the complainant, and will this be done?

The parish priest has recently written to the Under-Secretary with reference to the action of the resident magistrate in a case of assault heard at the Petty Sessions in Arran on the 28th ultimo. The Lord Lieutenant has no power to control or interfere with justices in the exercise of their judicial functions, but inquiries are being made into the circumstances of this case, and the reverend gentleman will be duly informed of the result.

asked the Chief Secretary whether he is aware that an application for reinstatement to his father's holding was received by the Estates Commissioners from Martin Moloney, Church Street, Gort; was the application considered, having regard to the fact that Mr. Moloney's father was evicted out of a small holding on the estate of Lord Gough; and will the Commissioners, in allocating the lands on this estate, consider the claim of this evicted tenant?

Martin Moloney made application in June, 1911, for an allotment of land stating that he had been evicted from a house and a few acres on the Gough estate. The Estates Commissioners understand that his father had been employed at one time as a smith on the property, and when removed from that position he lost the privileges of grazing and tillage accommodation which were attached thereto. In any event the application was not lodged within the period prescribed by the Evicted Tenants Act, 1907. The reply to the last paragraph of the question is in the negative.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether any. Territorial non-commissioned officer or man can be excused from the annual training on production of a letter from his employer stating that the man's services cannot be spared?

The general rule is that an officer commanding may grant leave from the whole or any portion of the annual training on account of sickness or for any other urgent reason which he may consider sufficient. Representations to grant leave are often successfully made to employers.

asked the President of the Board of Education if he has received information to the effect that on the occasion of a recent vacancy in the headmastership of the Townsend Road council school, Chesham, Buckinghamshire, the school managers decided to exclude from consideration those candidates for appointment who had obtained their certificates otherwise than by passing through a training college; that one of the managers said that this was an easy way of reducing the number to be considered; and that one of the managers stated that it was to save time and trouble to the sub-committee appointed to go through the applications that this resolution was carried; whether he is aware that this is one indirect result of a paragraph in Circular 709, issued by the Board of Education; and whether he can take further steps to withdraw, cancel, or otherwise undo the improper effect of the paragraph in question?

I have no information as regards this matter. The particular facts, however, as stated by the hon. Member, do not seem to me to warrant the conclusion which he draws from them. In reply to the last question, I have nothing to add to the answer which I gave to the hon. Member for North Islington on the 11th June last year.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will request the administrative department of the British South Africa Company to furnish him with the complete records of the compulsory sequestrations of the estate of Peter Donald M'Guffie, and the partnership estate of P. D. and Frederick M'Guffie, trading as M'Guffie Brothers, farmers, Insiza, Southern Rhodesia?

A petition was received from Mr. M'Guffie, through the High Commissioner for South Africa, in 1910, from which it appears that a judgment was given against him in the High Court of North-Western Rhodesia, in consequence of which he was subsequently sequestrated by an Order of the High Court of Southern Rhodesia. Mr. M'Guffie petitioned to be allowed to plead his cause before the Privy Council. A considerable amount of correspondence followed, and ultimately in 1912, his application for special leave to appeal was heard and rejected by the Privy Council. The matter appears to be a purely legal one, in which the Secretary of State has no power to interfere.

asked the Under-Secretary for India whether he is aware that the revision of the Income Tax law, as suggested in Section 5 of the Finance Bill, will compel British traders who are partners in a limited liability company trading in India to pay Income Tax on the whole of the profits paid to them in the form of dividends, even though a proportion of such profits paid as dividends are not brought to England but, as is usual, reinvested in the business for the purposes of that business, while, in the case of foreign firms practically domiciled in the United Kingdom and doing similar business in India, the members of such firms, many of which are to be found in our Northern cities associated with cotton and other trades, escape all liability for the payment of Income Tax in respect to similar profits earned in India in a similar manner; and whether he will endeavour to secure the prevention of this handicap to British traders and take steps to prevent an undue preference being given to the foreigner in respect of our Indian Empire?

The Secretary of State has received certain representations on the effect of Section 5 of the Finance Bill, and is considering them.

also asked the Under-Secretary for India whether he is aware that Section 5 of the Finance Bill as drafted will prevent the flow of capital from this country to India, and therefore handicap the financing of the Indian Empire, inasmuch as it proposes that Income Tax should be computed on the full amount of the income whether the income has been or will be received in the United Kingdom or not, and will therefore nullify the advantage of Indian investment hitherto accruing to insurance companies and other large corporations required to retain large sums in shares of a character easily realisable, which companies and corporations, after paying to the Indian Government an Income Tax of about 2½ per cent. on all dividends, usually regard the balance of dividends as capital funds for reinvestment in Indian Stocks, and do so reinvest them, and who, under the proposed revision, would have no incentive to reinvest in this matter, and would therefore avoid Indian Stocks to the detriment of Indian finance; and whether he will take steps to secure the amending of Section 5 of the Finance Bill so as to prevent this hardship to India?

I would refer the hon. Member to my reply to the preceding question.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women inspectors are in the service of the Home Department?

The number of women inspectors in the service of the Home Office is twenty-four.

asked the Home Secretary if he will give consideration to the case of Miss Rose Linley, at present confined in Colney Hatch Asylum, in consequence of a mental disturbance alleged to be of a temporary character; is he aware that she is ordinarily a highly intelligent young woman, with a refined and sensitive nature; that she had been regaining health and strength, and her brother, Mr. T. Linley, of 433, Caledonian Road, Holloway, N, had promised repeatedly to look after her if she were let out on a month's trial or released, but that this request was refused; is he aware that the associations of asylum life and the fear of perpetual restraint in a lunatic asylum have recently had a very injurious effect mentally; if she cannot be released to the care of her friends, will he consider her transfer to a hospital for nervous diseases; and will he take into consideration that the girl's detention in an asylum is seriously affecting her aged mother's health?

I have no authority to discharge or to transfer an ordinary patient from an asylum, and the consideration of questions of discharge and transfer does not come within my jurisdiction. The Asylum Committee is the responsible authority in this matter. I have, however, made inquiry about this case through the Board of Control, and I find that the patient is still insane, and quite unfit for removal to her home or elsewhere from the asylum.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether his attention has been called to the fact that in some districts or unions the guardians are taking into account the school children's small earnings in calculating the amount of out-relief to be granted to a widow with children; and will he state if this is in accordance with the Out-relief Order of his Department?

My attention has not been called to any specific instances of the kind referred to. In granting outdoor relief it is the duty of guardians, subject to the provisions of the Outdoor Relief (Friendly Societies) Acts, 1894 and 1904, and Section 109 of the National Insurance Act, 1911, to take into consideration all the means of support possessed by or provided for the recipient from whatever source they are derived. This duty does not depend on any Order of the Local Government Board. The circular which is about to be issued with reference to relief to widows contains a paragraph emphasising the need for adequate relief.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he will have inquiry made into the complaints that the nine lines Victoria 7120 are constantly reported engaged and ascertain the cause of the more than usual inadequate service given in respect of them?

The matter referred to by the hon. Member is receiving careful attention. It appears from inquiry which has been made that at least some of the difficulties are due to causes outside the control of the Post Office, but steps are being taken with a view to secure a more satisfactory service.

asked the Postmaster-General what the proportion of female to male sorting clerks and telegraphists in Ireland was in March, 1908, and what in March of this year?

The proportion was approximately one to three in each of the months specified.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he can state the qualifications of Miss Thompson, of London, who has recently been appointed the sub-postmistress of Kilrea, county Derry, and what knowledge of Post Office business this lady possessed to justify the appointment; whether applications were received from fully qualified Post Office servants within the Kilrea area; and whether these were given any consideration before the appointment was made?

The appointment of sub-postmistress of Kilrea was conferred on Miss M. Thompson, because she was regarded as the best candidate for the position and able to provide the necessary accommodation for conducting Post Office business. Moreover, as a native of Kilrea, there was reason to believe that her appointment would be acceptable generally. Miss Thompson had had no previous experience of Post Office work, but she was reported to be an intelligent woman with force of character who would be able to undertake the duties efficiently. There were other qualified candidates from within the Kilrea area, and their applications received full consideration.

asked the President of the Board of Agriculture whether any complaint has been received by the Office of Works with reference to the exclusion of the public desiring to be served with refreshments at the Kew Gardens pavilion from the lawns surrounding the temporary tea house; and whether it is in accordance with the contractor's agreement that the choicest positions on the lawns should be monopolised by tables at which teas can only be obtained at a fixed charge of 1s., those requiring a simpler meal being relegated to a dusty tent or a few inferior positions adjacent thereto?

A complaint has just been received. The matter will be looked into, and any injustice removed.

asked the President of the Board of Agriculture if he is aware that a number of workmen engaged in the building trade under the Department of Woods and Forests at Windsor are paid a weekly wage which is considerably lower than that paid by employers in the building trade at Windsor to their workmen, who are paid at an hourly rate; and whether he will take steps to pay the workmen in his Department by the hour and at the rate current in the district?

There are a few men in the building trade engaged in Windsor Park who are classed as permanent hands and are paid a weekly wage which is in itself lower than the wages paid in the building trade at Windsor, but these men are exempt from insurance, and will be entitled to retiring allowances in due course. They also get cottages at less than an economic rent and are given permanent employment. The terms of their employment are not considered less advantageous to the men than those of other workmen of their class who are paid at the hourly rate current in the district. The Commissioner has not heard that any of such men are dissatisfied, but if there are any they are at liberty to be paid by the hour at the current rate in the district, in which case they will cease to be regarded as permanent hands, and will lose all claim to retiring allowance.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that discontent exists among lightship keepers because the recent rise in salary was confined solely to light keepers on coast lighthouses; whether he is aware that the former, at £6 per month, nothing found, perform even more important duties under less favourable conditions, than the latter at £6 10s. per month, all found; and whether he will take steps to bring the pay and allowances of the former up to the level of the latter?

I am informed by the general lighthouse authorities that the facts of the case as regards pay and allowances of lightship men are not correctly stated in the question. The general lighthouse authorities point out that a general comparison of the two services can hardly be made satisfactorily, the conditions being so dissimilar. They consider that the pay and allowances of lightship keepers should be compared rather with the rates of pay and allowances obtaining in the mercantile marine and that taking into consideration their continuity of employment, prospect of pension, and various allowances, the pay of light-vessel men compares very favourably with that of men of a like grade in the Mercantile Marine.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether, in view of the very inadequate maps which have been laid before Parliament in the matter of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, he will consider the advisability of presenting to the House some more complete charts, showing the geographical position up to date of the oil fields from which the Anglo-Persian Oil Company expect to draw their supply of oil for the Navy?

The position in respect to the issue of further maps by the Foreign Office showing the recent rectification of frontier will be explained in my reply to-day to the question of the hon. Member for the Andover Division of Hampshire. The map issued with the Report of Admiral Slade's Commission indicates the site of the principal wells in the Shuster district and the existing pipeline, neither of which is affected by the rectification of frontier.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the source on which the Government are relying for the supply of oil for the Navy under their agreement with the Anglo-Persian Oil Company is in the British sphere of Southern Persia or in the neutral zone?

His Majesty's Government contemplate the employment of sources in both the spheres, which are included in the original concession. In present circumstances supplies will be drawn from the wells in the Shuster district, but active prospecting is being pursued further south in promising districts.