an of the Exchequer, whether he is aware that clerks, travellers, warehousemen, that charities with incomes of less than and other persons employed in a sub£160 per annum are now being charged ordinate capacity by limited liability with the payment of land tax; and companies should be assessed on whether he can see his way to bring them average of three years, no objection under the scope of Section 12 of the should be offered by the surveyor. The Finance Act, 1898, which exempts from rules relating to Schedule E, must, howthe payment of land tax any person who ever, be strictly observed in the assessment has obtained exemption of income tax on of directors, secretaries, managers, and the ground that his income is under £160 other persons holding a distinctive office." per annum. MR. RUNCIMAN: The Answer to the first part of the Question is in the affirmative. As there is no exemption from land tax of charities as such, I do not see my way to treat them differently from other bodies, corporate and unincorporate, which are held, as a consequence of the judgment in the case of Curtis. Old Monkland Conservative Association, not to be entitled to exemption from income tax (or, consequentially, from land tax either) on the ground of their total income being less than £160 per annum. I may, however, say that the question of the precise scope and effect of the judgment is receiving consideration, but that, as at present advised, I am not prepared to introduce legislation on this subject. Limited Liability Companies' Employees and Income Tax. MR. CHIOZZA MONEY (Paddington, N.): I beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer if his attention has been directed to the fact that, owing to the treatment of the employees of limited liability companies as public officials under Schedule E of the income tax, they are deprived of the advantage of taxation on the average of three years profit or salary enjoyed by the employees of private firms under Schedule D, and that discrimination is thus made between employees who really belong to the same class; and whether he can see his way either to the abolition of averaging or to the grant of the advantage to employees of companies under Schedule E. Road Construction in the Island of Lewis. MR. WEIR: I beg to ask the Secretary for Scotland if he will state the cause of the delay in proceeding with the construction of the Cromore-Gravir road, Island of Lewis. THE SECRETARY FOR SCOTLAND (Mr. SINCLAIR, Forfarshire): The delay has been occasioned by the difficulty of securing a continuous supply of labour and by bad weather. I am informed by telegraph that the contractors have reported to the District Committee that large staffs of workmen will now turn out. Evictions in the Island of Lewis. MR. WEIR: I beg to ask the Secretary for Scotland whether, in view of recent evictions of squatters in the Island of Lewis who have built substantial stone houses on the crofters' common grazing ground, in many cases with the consent of the crofters of the townships, he will consider the expediency of introducing a Bill to stay further evictions of squatters and crofter leaseholders, pending the consideration of the Small Landholders (Scotland) Bill. MR. SINCLAIR: My hon. friend is aware that squatting is prohibited by the Crofters Act of 1886 in the interests of the crofters themselves and they possess no power to authorise a breach of this provision. In regard to my hon. friend's suggestion I cannot undertake now to propose any legislation. MR. WEIR: What about the crofter leaseholders ? MR. SINCLAIR: I grouped them with the squatters in my Answer. MR. RUNCIMAN: The law is as indicated in the Question. But in practice the Board of Inland Revenue have admitted a modification in favour of the subordinate employees of public companies, as embodied in the following Achintee River-Bridge for Children. instruction to their surveyors :— MR WEIR: I beg to ask the SecreWhere the Commissioners are willing tary for Scotland whether he is aware :-" 371. that children residing in the neighbourhood of Strathcarron railway station, Ross-shire, are unable to cross the Achintee River to reach the Camatt public school except by walking along the railway line and over the railway bridge for a distance of about 400 yards; and, seeing that this practice is extremely dangerous in the case of young children, will he state whether arrangements can be made for the erection of a footbridge over the Achintee River in order that the children may be able to attend school. MR. SINCLAIR: The matter is one primarily for the county council. As my hon. friend was informed in the official letter addressed to him last month, I shall be prepared to consider favourably an application from the county council for approval of a contribution from their share of the Equivalent Grant to the purpose in question. Failure of the Scottish Herring Fishery. MR. CATHCART WASON (Orkney and Shetland): I beg to ask the Secretary for Scotland if his attention has been called to the alarm that exists in the North of Scotland owing to the failure in many places of the herring fishing, which is attributed to the indiscriminate slaughter of whales; that on the west coast of Shetland the herring fishing was an entire failure last year, and that it is unlikely there will be any herring stations working there this year; and if he will introduce a measure prohibiting further slaughter until it is established that the great industry of the North will not be endangered. MR. SINCLAIR: I am aware there has been comparative failure in places, though the herring fishery as a whole in 1906 was very productive. The cause of such local failure as has occurred is difficult to ascertain, but, as has already been announced, it is my intention to bring in a Bill to regulate whaling. salary given to & medical officer under the Poor Law in crofting counties is solely for medical attendance on the paupers, or is part of it for that purpose and the rest as payment for any other duties in the parish, apart from any sum which may be paid for vaccinations, visits to pauper lunatics, or lunacy certification ? MR. SINCLAIR: The Answer to the first part of the hon. Member's Question is yes. The salary, in so far as it has to be approved by the Local Government Board for the purposes of the grant, is solely for medical attendance on the paupers. West United Free Church, Rothesay. MR. GULLAND (Dumfries, Burghs): I beg to ask the Secretary for Scotland. whether he is aware of the inconvenience caused to the congregation of the West United Free Church of Rothesay by being compelled still to worship in a wooden building erected on the Esplanade by the favour of the town council; and, considering that it is understood that the congregation is to be reinstated in its church, whether he will make a representation to the Church Commission asking that an allocation order in this case should be issued without further delay. MR. SINCLAIR: I am aware of the inconvenience referred to by my hon. friend which exists in this and probably in other cases. But I am satisfied that the Royal Commissioners are taking every possible step to accelerate the conclusion of their labours. I do not think my adoption of my hon. friend's suggestion would serve any useful purpose at the present time. MR. GULLAND: But in view of the prevailing dissatisfaction cannot something be done to accelerate matters ? MR. SINCLAIR: The Commissioners are really doing everything in their MAJOR ANSTRUTHER-GRAY: power, but if the hon. Gentleman will put When will it be brought in? down another Question I will endeavour to answer it. MR. SINCLAIR: Very shortly. Scottish Poor Law Medical Officers. MR. CATHCART WASON: I beg to ask the Secretary for Scotland if the fixed Auld Brig of Ayr. MR. LIDDELL (Down, W.): I beg to ask the Secretary for Scotland, if by patriotic local effort the Auld Brig has been preserved for the nation. Holdings Act, 1906, in no way affected the principles of valuations of sheep stocks in the Highlands; and even if it were within my province to issue any regulations on this matter in the sense suggested by my hon. friend, it would be, for the reasons stated, unnecessary to do so. MR. AINSWORTH: I beg to ask the hon. Member for South Somerset, as representing the President of the Board of Agriculture, whether, in applications to the Board under the Agricultural Holdings Acts to appoint an arbitrator in valuations of sheep stocks in the Highlands of Scotland, the Board will keep in view to appoint arbitrators conversant with the practice which has hitherto governed sheep stock valuations in these districts. MR. J. A. PEASE (Essex, Saffron Walden; for Sir E. Strachey): The Board will certainly keep in view the qualifications of the arbiter with respect to the valuations of sheepstocks in any case where that question is likely to arise. Cost of Witness Summonses in Ireland. MR. HAYDEN (Roscommon, S.): I beg to ask Mr. Attorney-General for Ireland, whether he is aware that when a defendant in a criminal case requires to summon a witness on his behalf he has to pay the sum of 4s. 7d for each witness summons; whether the cost of printing these summonses is a mere trifle; and whether he will take into consideration the necessity of reducing this amount. THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. CHERRY, Liverpool Exchange) The cost of printing Crown summonses is, as stated in the question, a mere trifle, but a fee of 3s. 1d. is payable to the Clerk of the Crown at assizes for issue of same and a similar fee of 4s. 74d. to the Clerk of the Peace at quarter sessions. The names of four witnesses can be inserted in each Crown summons, so that the cost for each witness is very small. small. Poor prisoners are, however, entirely relieved from these fees. When a prisoner signifies, through his solicitor or the governor of the gaol, to the Crown solicitor that he desires to examine witnesses who are, or may seem, material, and he has not himself the means of doing so, it is the duty of the Crown solicitor to take the same steps to procure their attendance as if they were Crown witnesses. The Crown solicitor must, how ever, be satisfied that the prisoner has not the means to pay before taking this course. Under the circumstance I see no reason for reducing the fees. Agrarian Dispute at Brackloonbeg. MR. YOUNGER (Ayr Burghs): I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that a man named Thomas Corcoran, having received a farm from the Congested Congested Districts. Districts Board, at Brackloonbeg, received also a threatening notice to give up the said farm on 8th January; whether the labourers of the Congested Districts Board were warned to cease work on the farm; and whether they did so. £1,151 damages were awarded to a farmer named Joseph Greer, for the malicious burning of his farm buildings and stock, including fourteen horses, three cows, three heifers, and a bull; whether Greer had incurred odium through taking the grazing of a farm from which the former tenant had been evicted; whether he had been subjected to much annoyance in consequence; whether he is aware that the Judge at the trial appealed to decent respectable people who knew about these outrages to come forward and give evidence against the incendiaries; and whether the police have received any information or discovered any evidence which would justify a criminal prosecution. MR. BIRRELL: The InspectorGeneral of the Royal Irish Constabulary informs me that the facts are sub THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND (Mr. BIRRELL, Bristol, N.): Istantially as stated in the Question. am informed that the facts are as stated in the Question. The labourers who were warned to cease work did so, but resumed work in the following week; and neither they nor the farmer have since been molested. Loughrea Outrage. The police have not succeeded in obtaining sufficient evidence to justify criminal proceedings. Appeals against the County Court Judge's decision have been lodged by the county and rural district councils, and will be shortly heard. MR. HAYDEN: Is there in England these compensation claims to be made? MR. BIRRELL: I will inquire. COLONEL HARRISON - BROADLEY a law similar to that in Ireland enabling (Yorkshire, E.R., Howdenshire): I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the LordLieutenant of Ireland, whether his attention has been drawn to the case of Michael Larkin, in Loughrea, the windows of whose house were broken on the night of 24th November last and again on 6th January, 1907; and whether he has any official information showing that Larkin has surrendered a grass farm since this last attack. MR. BIRRELL: The police authorities inform me that the windows of Larkin's house were broken on the dates mentioned. I have no official information as to Larkin's having surrendered a grass farm, beyond the fact that he has made a statement to that effect to the police. Agrarian Outrage Compensation Claim at Monaghan. MR. LIDDELL: I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether his attention has been called to the case tried at Monaghan quarter sessions in January in which Irish Education (Afflicted Children) Bill MR. GIBBS: I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether it is the intention of the Government to reintroduce the Irish Education (Afflicted Children) Bill. MR. BIRRELL: The question of reintroducing this Bill is at present under consideration. Government Irish University Proposals. MR. MOORE: I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland if, since Mr. Bryce's statement that the university proposals he then made on behalf of the Government would meet the wishes of the Roman Catholic bishops, he has received any communications from the bishops, oral or otherwise, confirming this statement; and if the Roman Catholic bishops approve of these proposals. MR. BIRRELL: The Estates Commissioners have received a letter from certain of the tenants in question on the subject of the terms upon which they signed agreements to purchase. The Commissioners have referred the matter to their inspector who will inquire into it. when inspecting the estate in its proper order of priority. MR. BIRRELL: I beg to refer the hon. Member to the last paragraph of the statement of the Catholic Hierarchy contained in the Appendix to the First Report of the University of Dublin Commission at page 82, and to the letter from the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin to Sir Antony MacDonnell contained in the Appendix to the Final Report at page 422. I have no intimation of any change of opinion. : Irish Judiciary. MR. SAMUEL ROBERTS (Sheffield, Ecclesall) I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether, in view of his intended legislation to abolish two out of the next three vacancies occurring in the judiciary of the High Court of Justice in Ireland, any arrangement or understanding exists for the filling up of the first of such vacancies; and whether, in the event of such vacancy occurring prior to the introduction of any such legislation, he will postpone any appointment to it until after the House of Commons has had the opportunity of considering and discussing his proposals. MR. BIRRELL: I propose to introduce a Bill on this subject to-morrow. The Bill will provide for the abolition, from the 1st instant, of the next two judgeships of the King's Bench Division which shall fall vacant. Kingston Estate, Mitchelstown. MR. WILLIAM ABRAHAM (Cork County, N.E.): I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether the Estates Commissioners received, in December last, a memorial signed by nearly 200 tenants on the No. 3 division of the Kingston estate, Mitchelstown, requesting the Commissioners to cancel their purchase agree ments, in consequence of the failure of Mr. Henry Frend, estate agent, to carry out an undertaking given to the tenants. at a meeting held in April, 1904, to reserve two acres of Bayly's farm to provide the tenants with sand for building and other purposes free of charge or at a nominal price; and whether, having regard to this allegation of breach of faith, the Commissioners will order a full inquiry to be made into all the circum stances. Labourers Cottages in County Tyrone. MR. MOORE: I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland what was the amount of the Exchequer Grant made to the County Tyrone in respect of labourers cottages in the year ending in 1906, and what is the amount which will be available in the year 1907-8 from the same source by reason of the passing of the Labourers Act of 1906. MR. BIRRELL: The amount of the Exchequer Grant made to the County Tyrone in the year ending in 1906 was £1,926. The amount which will be available in the year 1907-8 will be approximately £416. Labourers Cottages in County Antrim. MR. MOORE: I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland if he is aware that prior to the passing of The Labourers (Ireland) Act, 1906, the County of Antrim received an annual Grant from the Exchequer for the purposes of the Labourers Acts of £2,400; and, seeing that by reason of the Act the annual Grant has been reduced to £392 per annum, will he state what steps he proposes to take. MR. BIRRELL: The facts are as stated in the Question. I do not propose to take any steps in the matter. The alteration in the law was expressly made with the object of providing for an equitable distribution of the Grant. Under the former system County Antrim received over £2,400 per annum, although it had provided only 212 cottages since 1891; while County Cork, for example, received but £3,400 annually, though it had provided 2,030 cottages during the same period. Under the new system the Grant is apportioned according to the number of cottages in each district. I may observe that the Bill introduced by the late Government in 1904 contained a |