Clerks to Surveyors of Taxes.

MR. O'GRADY (Leeds, E.): I beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his attention has been called to the fact that the clerks to surveyors of taxes are unestablished officers, and to the confidential nature of their work; and whether, with a view of getting the status and conditions of their employment put upon a basis commensurate with the responsibility of their duties, he will consider the desirability of appointing a Select Committee of the House of Commons to go into the matter and make recommendations thereon.

MR. RUNCIMAN: The matter is receiving my careful attention, but I do not think there is any necessity for the appointment of a Select Committee.

National Physical Laboratory at Bushy.

SIR W. EVANS GORDON (Tower Hamlets, Stepney): I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether he is aware that discontent has been publicly expressed with the policy of the Executive Committee of the National Physical Laboratory, Bushy; that the National Physical Laboratory contemplates undertaking routine commercial testing, in spite of the fact that all the witnesses examined by the Treasury Committee of 1897 were, without exception, agreed that no such work should be done by the laboratory; and whether steps will be taken to prevent an institution, subsidised by the Government, entering into competition with private testing firms.

I beg also to ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether he is aware that the National Physical Laboratory, Bushy, was brought into existence for the express purpose of carrying on research work for the good of the community; whether the laboratory, which enjoys a subsidy from the Government, is being used for routine commercial testing; and, if so, will he say what steps are taken to prevent the undertaking of such work, curtailing the quantity and usefulness of the research work and defeating the object for which the laboratory was brought into existence.

MR. RUNCIMAN: The reply to both the Questions of the hon. Member

is that a Committee is now considering

the points which he raises, and that I am unable to make any statement in respect of them pending its report.

SIR W. EVANS GORDON: Is the hon. Gentleman satisfied that the outside persons referred to in the Question are adequately represented on the Committee?

MR. RUNCIMAN: My Answer to the next Question deals with that point.

MR. NIELD (Middlesex, Ealing): I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether he is aware that of the five members of a Treasury Committee recently appointed to inquire into the administration and conduct of the National Physical Laboratory, two of those Members are also members of the Executive Committee of the National Physical Laboratory whose policy is called in question; and whether, with a view to restore public confidence in the future conduct of the National Physical Laboratory, he will appoint a committee independent of the laboratory.

MR. RUNCIMAN: The two Members of the Committee referred to were nominated by the Royal Society to represent its views at the invitation of the Treasury. The remaining Members were appointed directly by the Treasury. There is nothing unusual in the composition of the Committee and I see no grounds for the lack of public confidence which the hon. Member suggests.

SIR W. EVANS GORDON: I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether the Treasury Committee has been instructed to report whether it be to the public advantage that the National Physical Laboratory should continue to compete with private testing establishments, such competition having been forbidden by the Report of the Treasury Committee of 1898 when defining the function and scope of the National Physical Laboratory.

MR. RUNCIMAN: The Committee was appointed "to inquire generally into the work now performed at the National

Physical Laboratory, with special reference to (1) the character of the mechanical, physical and chemical tests undertaken there; (2) the possibility of their interfering unduly with the business of other agencies; (3) the desirability of publishing the results of all such testing work; and to report (1) whether having regard to the industrial interests of the country generally and to those of private agencies, any change is desirable in the scope of the work of the laboratory, and (2) on what lines any further development of its business should pro-ceed."

National Gallery Alterations.

MR. CHIOZZA MONEY (Paddington, N.): I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury if his attention has been directed to the repairs which are now being executed at considerable expense on the entrance floor to the National Gallery; and whether, when these alterations are completed, it is the intention of the Trustees again to place the space now being redecorated at the disposal of private advertisers without charging rent, as in the past.

MR. RUNCIMAN: I understand that the Trustees and Director have no such intention.

obtained soon after, but I am unable at the moment to name the exact day. The Bill does not affect the amount of moisture permissible in Irish salt firkin butter unless it has been blended or re-worked in a factory.

MR. FLYNN (Cork, N.): Is the hon. Gentleman aware that the bulk of the Irish butter traders object to any exemption, and that the Select Committee reported against it?

*MR. J. A. PEASE: I am aware that evidence was given before the Select Committee such as the hon. Member refers to, and the Board of Agriculture are fully aware of the views of the Committee and have considered their Report.

MR. WILLIAM REDMOND: The point is that the farmers in every district want it.

MR. LUNDON (Limerick E.): And so do those in mine.

Gooseberry Mildew.

MR. RUNCIMAN: I have given the hon. Member all the information supplied me.

Irish Salt Firkin Butter.

MR. WILLIAM REDMOND (Clare, E.): I beg to ask the hon. Member for South Somerset, as representing the President of the Board of Agriculture, if he will state when the Butter Bill is to be considered; and whether he will consider the request generally made in certain parts of Ireland for the exemption of Irish salt firkin butter from the proposed standard of moisture about to be set up.

*MR. J. A. PEASE (Essex, Saffron Walden): Owing to financial exigencies, I am afraid no opportunity will be found for the Second Reading of the Bill before the Easter recess, but it is hoped that the Second Reading of the Bill may be

legislation which will enable insect and other pests which infect fruit to be effectually dealt with; and, if it is intended to propose legislation, will the Government use every endeavour to bring it into force by May, in view of the fact that the disease will, during that month, begin to spread from the affected gooseberry plantations.

MR. J. A. PEASE: The President of the Board of Agriculture hopes very shortly to be in a position to introduce legislation to confer on the Board and on local authorities further powers to deal with insect and other destructive pests. The suggestion made by my hon. friend in the latter part of his Question will be kept in view.

Boy Offenders in Edinburgh.

MR. C. E. PRICE (Edinburgh, Central): I beg to ask the Lord Advocate whether, in view of the fact that sheriff's in the summary courts of Glasgow have

THE LORD ADVOCATE (Mr. THOMAS SHAW, Hawick Burghs): The point raised by the Question is of great importance, and I have submitted it to the Corporation of Edinburgh and to the sheriff. The sheriffs in Glasgow have power to sentence lads to be detained in reformatories, and owing to the arrangements made in that city these sentences are effectively carried out. The sheriffs in Edinburgh have a similar power, and no legislation is required to confer this upon them. I regret, however, to say that it cannot be effectively exercised, owing to the corporation not as yet seeing its way to make the relatively small contributions necessary towards maintenance. This refusal has lasted for some years, notwithstanding the protests of successive Secretaries for Scotland. It is founded upon an idea of legal disability under the Prisons Act of 1877, which idea has been pronounced by Lord Dunedin, then Secretary for Scotland, and now Lord President of the Court of Session, to be erroneous. In that opinion I respectfully concur. Lord Dunedin's opinion was communicated to the Town Clerk so far back as 19th December, 1903, but the Corporation of Edinburgh has not yet seen its way to change its attitude so far as regards sentences pronounced in the Sheriff Court are concerned. I may add that the sheriffs view with deep concern the existing state of matters, and on 14th February last Sheriff Maconochie wrote to my right hon. friend the Lord Provost pointing out that in his opinion the result of the town council's declinature had been disastrous for the city. In his Report to me the sheriff states as follows-"The state of matters in Edinburgh, owing largely, in my opinion, to the decision of the town council, is most serious. There are regular organised bands of juvenile. thieves and housebreakers growing up in our midst." He points out how these lads are deprived in Edinburgh of the best, indeed the only, chance of reformation, and he gives details of the spread of a great evil in the community in consequence. While, as I have stated, I think legislation to enable Edinburgh to adopt another course is unnecessary, I sincerely

VOL. CLXX. [FOURTH SERIES.]

Illegal Trawling off Sutherlandshire. MR. MORTON (Sutherland): I beg to ask the Secretary for Scotland whether, in consequence of the complaints of illegal trawling on the north and west coasts of Sutherlandshire, he has taken means to have those coasts properly policed and the law-breakers punished.

THE SECRETARY FOR SCOTLAND (Mr. SINCLAIR, Forfarshire): The fishery cruiser "Minna" visited the north and north-west coast of Sutherlandshire about 11th ultimo, and she has just repeated the visit.

Trawling in the Moray Firth.

MR. MORTON: I beg to ask the Secretary for Scotland whether there are at present any trawlers at work in the Moray Firth.

MR. SINCLAIR: The latest Report from the Fishery Board is to the effect that on 2nd March four trawlers were detected fishing in the Moray Firth.

MR. SINCLAIR: If the hon. Member will put another Question down, I will inquire.

Education Expenditure in Ireland.

MR. MURPHY (Kerry, E.): I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the LordLieutenant of Ireland whether he can give any explanation of the fact that in the Estimates of 1901-2 the amounts given to education were, respectively, England £9,765,000, Scotland £1,353,000, Ireland £1,301,000, whereas in the Estimates for for 1906-7 the amounts were England £13,139,600, Scotland £1,983,000, Ireland £1,393,223.

THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND (Mr. BIRRELL, Bristol, N.): It would not be possible to discuss, within the limits of an Answer, the question raised by the hon. Member. I may, however, observe that a comparison between the Votes mentioned cannot justly be instituted. The Votes for England and Scotland include provision for secondary

2 M

and technical education, while the Vote for Ireland refers to primary education alone, and indeed does not include the whole of the provision voted for that service. Secondary and technical education are otherwise provided for in Ireland.

MR. MURPHY: In view of the disparity shown by these figures, will the right hon. Gentleman make representa tions to the Treasury on the subject?

MR. BIRRELL: I am fully alive to the importance of the subject. It is one of the most vital questions affecting Ireland just now, and I hope there may soon be an opportunity of discussing it at the length it deserves.

Colonel Bredin's Longford Estate.

MR. J. P. FARRELL (Longford, N.): I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland if he will state the cause of the delay in the inspection of Colonel Alex Bredin's estate in county Longford, Estates Commissioners' record 2201; whether the agreements for sale have been lodged since May, 1905, since which time the tenants have been com

pelled to pay interest in lieu of rent, which is a loss to them; whether he is aware that there are practically no difficulties in the way of an immediate inspection and report; and will he now cause this to be done without further delay.

MR. BIRRELL: The Estates Commissioners deal with estates according to priority of application, and the estate in question has not yet reached its turn for inspection. The inspection will take place about July next.

Aghnacliffe Evicted Tenant.

MR. J. P. FARRELL: I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieu tenant of Ireland whether the attention of the Estates Commissioners has been called to the case of Mrs. Bernard Doyle, of Samagh, Achnacliffe, North Longford, who was evicted two years ago by the Duc de Stacpoole, and whose farm was grabbed by Pat Mulligan of the same place; whether any application has been received by the Commissioners for reinstatement from this woman; whether the inspector has visited the holding, and, if not, will he now be directed to do so; whether he will inquire into the

manner in which the eviction was carried out, which the evicted tenant states was informal; and, if so, whether the inspector will arrange for her immediate reinstatement.

MR. BIRRELL: The Estates Commissioners have received no application for reinstatement from Mrs. Doyle. The reply to each part of the Question is therefore in the negative.

Children's Defective Eyesight in Irish
Schools.

MR. JOHN REDMOND (Waterford): I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether his attention has been called to the promise given by Mr. Bryce on 19th November, 1906, that he would without delay commend to the consideration of the Commissioners of National Education in Ireland the necessity of collecting information on the subject of the alleged increase of defective eyesight of children attending public schools in Ireland; attending this matter; and whether the Commiswhether any steps have been taken in sioners propose to make any arrangethe testing of the sight of these children ments, such as exist in England, for and for guarding against any further increase of the scourge of defective eyesight.

MR. BIRRELL : My attention has been called to this matter. The Com

missioners of National Education inform me that they have issued a number of queries to the teachers, relative to the eyesight of children attending national

schools. The teachers' statements will be carefully tabulated and considered when received. The Commissioners state that they have no means of providing for the testing of the children's sight. The steps which have been taken in this respect in England have been instituted by local authorities of their own motion.

Comyn-Kenney Estate, Galway.

MR. JOHN ROCHE (Galway, E.): I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, upon what date the Congested Districts Board bought the Comyn-Kenney, Galway, property; and whether he can state when the holders of uneconomic plots in the vicinity may expect to have the land divided amongst them.