Army Horses and Motor Buses. MR. BRIDGEMAN (Shropshire, Owestry): To ask the Secretary of State for War if he has any official information showing that the rapid increase in the number of motor omnibuses will largely increase the difficulty of finding horses for the artillery in time of war; and if so, what steps he proposes to take to meet it.

(Answered by Mr. Secretary Haldane.) The London General Omnibus Company and the Road Car Company have now refused to have their horses registered, and therefore the increase in motor omnibuses in London does not directly affect the number of horses registered. It is, however, quite clear that the disuse of horses for omnibus traction generally must affect the number of horses available for military purposes in the country. The whole question of the supply of horses in time of war is at the present time being very thoroughly considered.

Army Horses.

Army Recruits from the Militia. bury): To ask the Secretary of State for MR. FIENNES (Oxfordshire, BanWar if he can state how many recruits have been enlisted into the Regular Army from the forty-six Militia battalions below 500 in strength during the past five years.

(Answered by Mr. Secretary Haldane.) The figures are as follows:-Number of men enlisted into the Regular Army during the last five years from those battalions which on 1st November, 1906, had a strength of under 500 officers and men.

Jamaica Earthquake-Ruined Traders. SIR SAMUEL SCOTT (Marylebone, W.): To ask the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, whether he is aware that numbers of traders in Jamaica have been totally ruined owing to the insurance companies not being liable to pay for damage caused by the earthquake and fire resulting therefrom; and whether the Government will give a grant from the Imperial Exchequer for the purpose of helping these traders to again start business.

(Answered by Mr. Churchill.) The matter is receiving the earnes consideration of the Secretary of State, but I am not in a position to make a statement at present.

Prolongation of British Patents.

MR. J. D. WHITE (Dumbartonshire): To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will state how many British patents, which have been prolonged beyond the term of fourteen years, are still in force; and, in the case of each of such patents, what is the name of the patentee, the year and number of the patent, and the date on which the period of prolongation will expire.

(Answered by Mr. Kearley.) There are three such patents. No. 5,718 of the year 1883, granted to Illius A. Timmis and Stanley C. C. Currie, the period of prolongation of which will expire on the 12th December, 1907; No. 15,159 of the year 1888, granted to J. C. Thompson, which will expire on the 22nd October, 1909; and No. 8,700 of the year 1892, granted to C. F. Cross, E. J. Bevan, and C. Beadle, which will expire on the 7th May, 1911.

German Patent Laws.

MR. J. D. WHITE: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he can say what are the provisions of the German patent law as to the revocation of German patents on the ground that the patented articles are not manufactured in Germany; and can he mention any recent instances in which

(Answered by Mr. Kearley.) Section 11 of the German Patent Law of 7th April, 1891, provides, inter alia, that: "The patent can be revoked at the end of three years from the date of the official publication of the grant: (1) If the owner of the patent neglects to put the invention into practice within the realm to an adequate extent, or, at any rate, to do everything that is necessary to ensure such carrying out of the invention." It appears from the Annual Reports of the German Patent Office that patents are revoked every year under these provisions.

County Down Railway.

MR. J. MACVEAGH (Down, S.): To ask the Secretary to the Board of Trade whether his attention has been called to the fact that the County Down Railway Company has discontinued first and second class accommodation between Belfast and Holywood and intermediate stations, except by a few trains daily,

and have refused to issue third class subscribers' tickets on the motor cars, thus compelling subscribers to pay at least second class fares and travel third class; and whether the Board of Trade will cause inquiries to be made in the

matter.

(Answered by Mr. Kearley.) The Board of Trade are in communication with the railway company in this matter and will inform the hon. Member of the result.

Examinations for Apprentices and Boy

Artificers.

SIR ARTHUR BIGNOLD (Wick Burghs): To ask the Secretary to the Admiralty in reference to the examination of apprentices and boy artificers in the Royal Navy advertised to be held in London, Portsmouth, Devonport, Chatham, Pembroke, Sheerness, and Cork, if he will inlude among the places at which the examinations are to take place the cities of Glasgow and Inverness, in order that Scotsmen may not be debarred by distance from sharing in the competition.

(Answered by Mr. Edmund Robertson.) As the regulations for the annual examination in May next for dockyard apprentices and boy artificers have been published, and the necessary arrangements made, no change can be made in the centres of examination this year, but the matter to which the hon. Member draws attention will be considered before the examination in May, 1908.

Naval Meat Supplies.

MR. HENNIKER HEATON (Canterbury): To ask the Secretary to the Admiralty, what quantity of meat was used by the Navy in 1905; from where was it obtained, distinguishing British, the Colonies, and Dependencies of the Empire, and foreign countries respectively; and the cost or amount paid to each of those three divisions for the supplies.

(Answered by Mr. Edmund Robertson.) It is presumed that the hon. Member's Question refers to fresh meat. The quantity used in the Royal Navy during the year ended 31st March, 1906, was 20,115,500 pounds. The source of supply in any particular year depends upon the movements of His Majesty's ships, as fresh meat is always obtained at the ports visited by them, and it would not be possible, without much labour, to extract the information asked for in the latter part of the Question, as the official records do not distinguish the quantities bought in the United Kingdom, the Colonies, and British Dependencies, from those obtained in foreign countries.

Rifles on Warships.

MR. BELLAIRS (Lynn Regis): To ask the Secretary to the Admiralty whether rifles are ever used in warships for any other but drill purposes and landing parties and whether the Board can see their way to reducing the number of men, other than marines, who endeavour to obtain proficiency in this weapon to the -exclusion of purely naval work.

(Answered by Mr. Edmund Robertson.) Rifles are used for musketry practice in addition to the purposes mentioned. It is considered that the time devoted to obtaining proficiency in the use of the rifle is not too great.

Naval Stokers and Rifle Practice. MR. BELLAIRS: To ask the Secretary to the Admiralty whether stokers do rifle practice at the naval ranges; and, if so, whether the Board will take into consideration the desirability of putting an end to the waste of time and money involved in making this branch of the Navy do work which is in no way connected with the engineroom duties for which they were entered.

(Answered by Mr. Edmund Robertson.) Stokers carry out rifle practice when their services can be spared for this purpose. It is not proposed to make any change in this respect.

Uganda Railway Expenditure.

MR. HAROLD COX (Preston): To ask the Secretary to the Treasury what is the total capital sum that has been expended upon the construction and equipment of the Uganda Railway: what further sums have been provided by the taxpayers of the United Kingdom to meet losses incurred in the working of the line; what is the annual sum chargeable to the line for interest on capital; and what is the total debt accumulated for unpaid interest; and whether he will arrange that in the accounts of the railway annually presented to Parliament, the full indebtedness of the line to the taxpayers of the United Kingdom shall be clearly shown and the interest annually due upon that debt clearly stated.

to

(Answered by Mr. Runciman.) The total capital sum expended upon the construction and equipment of the Uganda Railway to the 31st March, 1906, is £5,398,733 18s. 2d. The further sums provided by the taxpayers of the United Kingdom to meet losses incurred in the working of the ine amounted £107,461 5s. 3d. on the 31st March, 1905, since when there has been a profit on working. Nothing is chargeable to the line for interest, and there is no debt accumulated of unpaid interest. The funds for construction were borrowed from the Consolidated Fund, and are being repaid by annuities charged on the Vote for Colonial Services. A statement of the annuities created to the end of 1904 was published in the Parliamentary