MR. JOHN BURNS: I am sending to boards of guardians the Memorandum which accompanied the circular referred to, with a view to its distribution amongst Poor Law medical officers. As regards the latter part of the Question, I have no reason to suppose that persons properly entitled to receive medical relief are deterred from applying for it by the considerations mentioned by my hon. friend, and it does not seem to me neces

sary to communicate with the guardians on the subject.

Report on Local Authorities' Accounts

MR. RADFORD: I beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board, when an interim Report from the Departmental Committee on the accounts of local authorities may be expected to be laid upon the Table of the House; and whether he will cause the minutes of evidence already taken, with the proceedings of the Committee, to be printed and circulated with the interim Report.

MR. JOHN BURNS: I have received an interim Report from the Committee; but I understand that they think that, when they make their Report on the remaining part of the reference to them, they may see reason to modify the details of some of the conclusions at which they have provisionally arrived. In these circumstances, they consider that it will be better to defer publication until the complete Report can be laid before Parliament. The Committee are now considering their further Report, and it is hoped that it will shortly be completed.

Post Office Accounts.

MR. J. F. MASON (Windsor): I beg to ask the Postmaster-General whether he will consider the advisability of presenting the accounts of the Telegraph and Telephone Department in such a shape as the law requires in regard to commercial undertakings carried on by joint stock companies.

form. The hon. Member is no doubt aware that their form is partly prescribed by statute.

details, I may say generally that, in the circumstances in question, the managers must sign the agreements with the teachers, and, in the absence of any intimation from the local authority as to the salaries to be inserted, and in so far as the terms of the agreements are reasonable, it will become the duty of the local education authority to accept financial responsibility for them.

LORD R. CECIL: I beg to ask the President of the Board of Education whether the teachers of the non-provided schools in Swansea are given equal treatment in all respects by the local education authority with those of a similar grade in provided schools, and, if not, what difference is made between the two sets of teachers, and what is the reason for such difference.

MR. MCKENNA : It is impossible for me to say whether teachers in any school are given equal treatment in all respects with teachers in any other schools. As I understand the situation, the local authority at Swansea have not fixed any scale of salaries for teachers in the Voluntary Schools in their area, but so far as I am aware, though I am not certain, the authority have paid the salaries contained in the agreements in force previous to the appointed day between the managers and the teachers.

LORD R. CECIL: Has there been a perpetual request from the managers that the teachers should receive the ordinary rise of salary which they would have had had they remained under the exclusive control of the managers?

MR. MCKENNA: So far as I am aware the only perpetual request has been that the authority should inform the managers of the amount of salary which should be inserted by them in the agreements with the teachers.

Education Bill.

MR. MEYSEY-THOMPSON (Staffordshire, Handsworth): I beg to ask the President of the Board of Education if he will inform the House when he proposes to introduce the new Education Bill.

MR. MCKENNA: I am not quite certain which Bill the hon. Member refers to, but I hope to present for in

troduction next week an Education (Administrative Provisions) Bill, which will include the uncontroversial clauses in last year's measure.

Parliamentary Hairdressers' Wages.

MR. WILKIE (Dundee): On behalf of the hon. Member for Chatham, I beg t› ask the First Commissioner of Works, whether he is aware that the hairdressers engaged at the House of Con mons receive £1 per week and are compelled to lose all time during Parliamentary vacations; and, if so, whether he will use his influence at least to secure for the hairdressers a higher wage.

THE FIRST COMMISSIONER OF WORKS (Mr. HARCOURT, Lancashire, Rossendale): The hairdressers are the servants of Mr. Slater, who has held the appointment since it was first made in 1895. I am not aware of the wages paid. The hairdressing room is closed during the recess. I do not know whether higher wages for the men are compatible with the lower charges asked for by Members last year.

MR. WILKIE: Will the right hon. Gentleman ascertain the amount of wages?

MR. HARCOURT: Yes.

MR. KEIR HARDIE (Merthyr Tydvil): Does the Fair Wages Clause apply to this contract?

MR. HARCOURT: There is no contract.

Imprisonment for Debt.

MR. MACLEAN (Bath): I beg to ask Mr. Attorney-General whether, in view of the favourable consideration given last session by the Lord Chancellor and himself to the advisability of abolishing imprisonment for non-compliance with orders of the county court for monetary payments, he is now able to state whether legislation will be introduced at an early date to amend the Law.

THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL (Sir JOHN WALTON, Leeds, S.): I understand the subject is still under the consideration of the Lord Chancellor, and that he contemplates the introduction of legislation, but I cannot say when.

Corrupt Practices Act. MR. STRAUS (Tower Hamlets, Mile End): I beg to ask Mr. Attorney-General whether his attention has been drawn to the growing practice of evading the Corrupt Practices Act; whether he is aware that a political procession took place on Saturday last, and that men received payment from a newspaper for taking part therein; and whether he intends to take any action in the matter.

SIR JOHN WALTON. I have nothing to add to what I said on Monday last.† If any breach of the law has taken place my hon. friend should bring it before the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Chief Officer of Customs--Age Limit. MR. SEDDON (Lancashire, Newton): I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury if his attention has been called to the age limit fixed at forty for future appointments to Chief Officers of Customs; and if he will undertake that this age limit is applied to future appointments to the Surveyor-General's and other offices.

MR. RUNCIMAN: The age limit was fixed in the case of appointments to the duties of Chief Officer because that grade is regarded as a valuable training ground for officers eligible for positions of higher rank in the service to which it is undesirable to appoint men past the prime of life. The Board of Customs inform me that they see no reason for extending the limit to other posts.

Customs Assistant Clerks.

MR. O'DOWD (Sligo, S.): I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether his attention has been called to the reply received by the new class of assistant clerks in the Customs Statistical Office, to the effect that a larger proportion of assistant clerks of special merit may, in the future, be promoted to port clerkships than has hitherto been the case; and whether he will state how many of

the new class of assistant clerks had re

ceived promotion prior to the date of the reply, and the number of such clerks that have since been promoted.

MR. RUNCIMAN: It is to be observed that the term assistant clerk includes the old section called " abstractors

+ See (4) Debates, clxix., 1260–2.

as

well as the new section called "tabulators." So far as the promotions to port clerkships only are concerned two of the abstractors (one from the Statistical Office and one from the Long Room) were promoted to port clerkships before the date of the reply in question. Since that time one of the tabulators serving in the Long Room has been so promoted.

Dailly School Board.

MR. BARNES (Glasgow, Blackfriars): I beg to ask the Secretary for Scotland if he is aware that a difficulty has arisen in the filling of the chairmanship of the school board in the parish of Dailly, rendered vacant by the death of Sir James Fergusson; and will he take steps towards getting the vacancy filled by the usual method of procedure, viz., by the appointment of the nearest unsuccessful candidate at the election.

THE SECRETARY FOR SCOTLAND (Mr. SINCLAIR, Forfarshire): The Department has now received intimation of the resignation of two of the remaining members of the Board. As there is thus no quorum of the Board the Department will take steps to order a fresh election in terms of Section 17 of the Education (Scotland) Act, 1878.

Procurators-Fiscal Offices.

MR. WATT: I beg to ask the Lord Advocate if his attention has been called to the fact that in several of the premises of the procurators-fiscal in the West of Scotland, which are owned, furnished, and maintained in lighting, heating, and caretaking by public money, parts of these premises are let or given to outside tenants or occupiers; will he say if any rent is charged in these cases; and, if not, will he see that a stop is put to the practice.

THE LORD ADVOCATE (Mr. THOMAS SHAW, Hawick Burghs): My attention has not been called to the practice referred to in the Question, and I should be obliged to my hon. friend if he would furnish to me details of the specified instances to which he refers, so that inquiry may be instituted.

Trim and Glin Industrial School
Officials.

MR. SHEEHY (Meath, S.): I beg to ask Mr. Attorney-General for Ireland on

what grounds do the Local Government Board refuse to sanction a retiring allowance to the officials of the Trim and Glin industrial schools; whether officials discharging duties of a similar class, employed under the Poor Law, are entitled to such allowance; and, if a legal obstacle does exist to the governors of these institutions giving any retiring allowance to the officials who have served them faithfully and with zeal, will he take steps, by legislation or other wise, to remove the existing impedi

ment.

THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. CHERRY, Liverpool Exchange): I am informed by the Local Government Board that the ground upon which they refuse to sanction a retiring allowance to the officials mentioned in the Question is that there is no enactment, of which they are aware, which would authorise them to do so. I understand that officials discharging duties of a similar class employed under the Poor Law Acts are entitled to such an allowance. The Government will cons der the question of intro lucing legisla tion extending the right to a retiring allowance to officers of industrial district schools, but having regard to the number and importance of bills affecting Irish matters which have already been promised for the present session I cannot at present give any more definite undertaking on the subject.

Irish Untenanted Lands.

MR. GINNELL (Westmeath, N.): I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland in view of the fact that most Irish counties contain small congested areas, many uneconomic agricultural holdings, and untenanted land wherewith those conditions could be relieved, will he, in connection with the extensive transfer of ownership now going on, have statistical tables relating to the whole of Ireland, similar to those relating to Donegal, with the addition of untenanted land, prepared for issue with the final Report of the Commission on Congestion; and can he say how soon that final Report will be presented.

THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND (Mr. BIRRELL, Bristol, N.): I am informed that the Royal Commission on Congestion have had statistical tables,

similar to those relating to Donegal, prepared for each county in Ireland, and it is intended to publish the tables relating to the counties which contain scheduled congested districts as an appendix to the evidence taken in those counties. The question whether the tables relating to non-congested counties shall be published has not yet been decided by the Commission. The Commissioners inform me that they are not yet able to say when their final Report will be ready. A great deal of evidence remains to be taken.

Coercive Purchase Agreements.

MR. GINNELL: I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland in view of the number of cases in which tenants are coerced to sign purchase agreements by writs, civil bills, and other forms of pressure, depriving the agreements of a voluntary character and deterring the tenants from seeking protection, do the Estate Commissioners require in those cases a disclosure of the vendor's accounts and proceedings against the tenants; do they get the lands inspected for value notwithstanding the zones; and what steps, if any, do they take to keep the price within the value.

MR. BIRRELL: If a holding which is held under a judicial tenancy is included in lands declared by the Estates Commissioners to be an "estate" for the purposes of the Act, then, provided the price comes within the zones, the Commissioners hold that they have no discretion as to the price, and are bound to make the advance. If, however, the purchasing tenants should allege that the agreement was entered into under duress, and the Commissioners should find such to be the fact, they will, in the exercise of their powers, refuse to act upon the agreement.

Land Judge's Court and Purchase
Agreements.

MR. GINNELL: I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland when, as in a recently reported case, tenants on an estate for sale in the Land Judge's Court have offered a price, and the Land Judge instructs the receiver, by exercise of his penal powers, to get the tenants to consent to a higher price, and the Judge adds to the receiver's salary an additional payment proportionate to