of Class 3 of the Civil Service Estimates, | coffee was found to be adulterated with to the effect that the post of visiting 60 per cent. of chicory; and whether he medical officer of Maryborough Prison is will make such provision in the new Bill to be abolished on vacancy, may be accepted as correct; and whether, if the post is not abolished, it is to be kept for some particular person or will be open for the appointment of the best qualified candidate? it is proposed to introduce, or will introduce such amendments in the present Act, as will enable local authorities who are anxious to carry out the law to enforce it against those who so persistently sell adulterated food products? THE PRESIDENT OF GOVERNMENT BOARD: I do not find THE LOCAL that I have received any communication as to the matters referred to, but, assuming that the facts are as stated, they shall have my consideration. GENERAL LAURIE: May I explain I have just received a communication stating that the facts were only sent to the President of the Local Government Board on Saturday, and I can therefore easily understand he has not seen them. I will repeat the Question when he has had time to consider them. ADULTERATED COFFEE FROM MORTIMER'S STORES. GENERAL LAURIE (Pembroke and Haverfordwest): I beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board whether he has received a communica LIMERICK NEW POST OFFICE. MR. O'KEEFFE (Limerick): I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, to state what steps have been taken towards the erection of a new post office in the city of Limerick, tenders for which were advertised nearly two years ago; and whether the intention will be carried out of erecting a new edifice, or has the project been abandoned? tion from the vestry of Paddington rela MR. HANBURY: I regret that I am unable to report any progress in the scheme for a new post office at Limerick. The Board of Public Works have the matter still in hand, but they are not yet in a position to make a definite recommendation. The intention of erecting a new edifice has not been abandoned. MR. O'KEEFFE: When will the Report be received? MR. HANBURY: I am afraid I cannot POST OFFICE APPOINTMENTS IN ULSTER. MR. MACALEESE (Monaghan, N.): I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, if he will consent to a Return showing the number of post office vacancies which have occurred in the province of Ulster since 1880, together with the number and names, the years of service, and the religion of the respective candidates; also the names of the successful candidates, together with their years of service and their religious denomination? MR. HANBURY: No. In no case do the records show the religion of any post office candidate. POACHING CONVICTION AT GODSTONE. MR. CUBITT (Surrey, Reigate): I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been called to the case of William Charman and son, of Lingfield, who were convicted of poaching by the Godstone magistrates in August last; whether the same bench declined afterwards to reconsider the case, although the Charmans were prepared to bring more evidence in their defence; and whether he can take any steps in the matter? THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT: Yes, my attention has been called to this case. The justices had no power to reconsider the case, and so informed the defendant. A further memorial has been recently received in the Home Office, in regard to which inquiries are still pending. PROSPECTIVE BUILDING LAND ND THE LAND TAX. MR. CHANNING: I beg to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in the case of prospective building land, the present annual value of which does not exceed £5, but which will be raised above the £5 if buildings are placed upon it, and thus become again liable to land tax, he will introduce provisions into the Finance Bill to enable the owner to redeem the land from land tax upon the basis of what the land tax would be on the same land supposing the present exemption under £5 were not given under the Bill? THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER: Where land to which the exemption will apply has been brought into assessment since 1896 it will be kept in assessment every year, and the amount of the tax assessed upon it will be written off from the quota. No special provision, therefore, will be necessary to enable the owner at any time to redeem. Where the land has never been assessed it is the intention of the clause to provide that it shall not come into assessment at all, so long as the conditions of exemp tion continue to apply; and no redemption can, therefore, be effected until it has been actually brought into assessment. INDIAN CANTONMENT REGULA- MR. H. J. WILSON (Yorks, W.R., Holmfirth): On behalf of the honourable Member for the Shoreditch Division of Hoxton, I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether he will lay upon the Table of the House a copy of the New Cantonment Act and the New Cantonment Rules, the drafts of which were sanctioned by him in his dispatch of the 8th July, 1897 [C. 8538]; and whether he will also lay upon the Table any correspondence which has taken place in reference to the treatment of soldiers in cantonments, in pursuance of the last paragraph in the dispatch referred to? THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Lord GEORGE HAMILTON, Middlesex, Ealing): I have no objection to lay on the Table of the House a copy of the Act and of the Rules referred to. The correspondence is not yet complete, but when it is I will consider whether it can be laid on the Table. MEMBERS AND THE PRESS. MR. DUNCOMBE (Cumberland, Egremont): I beg to ask the First Commissioner of Works whether it is possible to provide a room in the Palace of Westminster, other than the Members' Lobby, where honourable Members can convey their views to representatives of the Press? THE FIRST COMMISSIONER OF WORKS (Mr. AKERS-DOUGLAS, Kent, St. Augustine's): No, Sir; I am afraid there is no vacant room in the House which I can devote to the purpose suggested by my honourable Friend. MR. DUNCOMBE: Arising out of that answer, may I ask the First Commissioner of Works whether he will consider the desirability of excluding representa tives of the Press from the Members' Lobby? MR. SPEAKER: Order, order! [No Reply.] CLONMEL GAOL CONTRACTS. CAPTAIN DONELAN (Cork, E.): On behalf of the honourable Member for East Tipperary, I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, with reference to the contracts for 1898 for meal and flour to Clonmel Gaol, whether the quotations sent in by a local firm were for flour 12s. 5d. per cwt. and for Indian meal 4s 10d. per cwt.. and those from a Dublin firm were 12s. 10d. per cwt. for flour and 5s. 6d. per cwt. for Indian meal; whether the Dublin merchant got the contract at the higher prices; and if he will explain why the contract was given to the Dublin firm, notwithstanding that the same articles could have been supplied by the local firm at considerably lower prices? MR. GERALD BALFOUR: The facts are as stated in the first and second paragraphs. In accepting the tender of the Dublin firm the General Prisons Board took into consideration the quality of the samples as well as the prices quoted. Moreover the successful firm tendered for oatmeal at a rate of 54d. per cwt. less than that quoted by the local firm. Oatmeal is relatively of more importance than Indian meal and flour, regard being had to the quantity of each article used at this prison, and it was considered urdesirable, under the circumstances, to separate the three articles mentioned. PIER AND HARBOUR LOANS IN IRELAND. MR. FIELD (Dublin, St. Patrick): I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury the provisions of the Act 46 and 47 Vic., c. 26, passed in 1883, by the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland towards the erection of piers and harbours; how much of that money, with interest thereon, has been repaid; if any remaining unpaid, will he state the localities or persons in arrear of such repayments, and the amounts respectively; and how the money so repaid has since been applied by the Commissioners of Public Works; and if on piers will he state the piers on which it has been applied and the sums expended on each work? what was the amount of loans made under MR. HANBURY: The Sea Fisheries amounted to (Ireland) Act, 1883, placed at the disposal of the Board of Works a sum of £250,000 out of the Irish Church Funds, to be applied to the construction of fishery piers and harbours by way either of free grants or loans, with the proviso that repayments in respect of loans should be added to the original fund and be similarly applied. The loan advances out of the £250,000 £27,264. The repayments of principal and interest in respect of these loans amount up to the present to £23,727. The amount still to be paid for principal and interest is £12,846. The only sum in arrear is £34 6s. 9d., in respect of Greystones Pier, County Wicklow. The sums repaid have not been specifically applied to the erection of particular piers, but a portion of the total has been placed to the account of the original fund, and, with the other money standing to that account, has been applied to the purposes of the Act, in grants for piers and engincering expenses. There remains a sum of £13,569 in cash, arising from repaid loans still unapplied, and £2,000 of the original fund has never been drawn from the Land Commission, the trustees of the Church Fund. TAX. PUBLIC GRANTS FOR FISHERY PIERS | CO-OPERATIVE STORES AND INCOME AND HARBOURS IN IRELAND. MR. FIELD: I beg to ask the Secre- MR. FIELD: I beg to ask the Secre tary to the Treasury when the last grant tary to the Treasury whether he can for the erection of fishery piers and har- state the amount of income tax paid by bours was made under the provisions of the Civil Service Store, Edinburgh, and the Act 29 and 30 Vic., c. 45, and the the Scottish Wholesale Co-operative Acts therein recited; and whether, since Store, Glasgow, respectively, for the past the passing of the Act 46 and 47 Vic., year? c. 26, in 1883, which granted £250,000 out of the Irish Church Funds for such MR. HANBURY: The information for works, the operations under the 29 and which the honourable Member asks 30 Vic., c. 45, and the other Fishery could not be furnished without a violaPiers and Harbours Acts in Ireland have tion of the oath (or declaration) imposed been suspended by the Treasury; and, if under the Act of 1842 upon the Comso, whether he will say under what Act missioners, assessors, and collectors of or why the Treasury so suspended the income tax, and also upon the officers of operation of Acts which were passed by the Inland Revenue, who are concerned the Legislature for the encouragement of in the administration of the tax. the sea fisheries in Ireland by promoting and aiding with grants of public money the construction of piers, harbours, and other works? MR. HANBURY: The last provision made in the annual Estimates for grants for the erection of fishery piers was £2,560, in the year 1884-5. The last sum actually expended out of the Votes was £10 for Carnsore Pier, in 1886-7. Since the passing of the Act of 1883, which made a quarter of a million available for such purposes, the grants under the older Fisheries Acts have practically ceased. No Act was required to allow of this course, as the older Acts merely gave power to expend such sums as Parlia ment might vote. It is clear that the large expenditure of £250,000 met the requirements for which the small grants out of the Votes were intended to provide. In recent years the policy which has been acted upon has been to add to the value of existing piers by the extension of railway communication rather than spend money on piers without such means of communication. MR. T. M. HEALY (Louth, N.): Did not the right honourable Gentleman state on a previous occasion that there was no money whatever available? Now he says there is £20,000. MR. HANBURY: I think not. MR. FLYNN: Will the right honourable Gentleman give a copy of his previous answer? MILITARY CANTEEN AT THE MURROUGH, WICKLOW. MR. FIELD: I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that the Dublin Artillery Militia now stationed on the Murrough, Wicklow, have liquor bar; whether a licence is paid, and how much; whether liquor is sold to civilians on week days and Sundays indiscriminately, and whether the local police have any authority to make an inspection of the licensed premises, like ordinary public-houses? MR. GERALD BALFOUR: I understand that the fact is as stated in the first paragraph, and that a fee of 18s. 9d. on the canteen licence has been paid in the usual way by the firm holding the contract. I have no information that liquor is sold to civilians indiscriminately. The police exercise every vigilance with a view to prevent illegal traffic, so far as it is possible for them to do so. Without the sanction of the local military authorities they have no power to enter the canteen. IRISH LIGHTS BOARD. MR. FIELD: I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ire MR. HANBURY: I will supply it to land whether the Government intend to the honour.ble Member. bring in a Bill to reform the existing RYDE POSTAL EMPLOYEES. Irish Lights Board, or whether it will assist any private Member's Bill for such reform? MR. STEADMAN: I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as repreMR. GERALD BALFOUR: This ques-senting the Postmaster General, whether tion is one which should be addressed since the issue of the Report and the to my right honourable Friend the President of the Board of Trade. CENTRAL TELEGRAPH OFFICE accompanying recommendations of the Tweedmouth Committee, the maximum pay of the sorting clerks at Ryde has been raised to 44s. per week, and if the pay of the town postmen has been proportionately raised; whether a petition, dated 3rd August, 1897, signed by every established town postman at Ryde, praying that their maximum pay should be increased from 24s. to 268. per week, has been received; and whether the Postmaster General has arrived at a decision on the matter; and, if so, will he cause his decision to be made known to the officers concerned? MR. HANBURY: The maximum pay of the sorting clerks and telegraphists at Ryde was raised from 40s. a week to 44s. on the 1st April, 1897, under the general revision of scales of the indoor staff, carried out on the recommendation MR. STEADMAN (Tower Hamlets, Stepney): I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, whether he is aware that on Thursday, 5th May, a clerk in the Central Telegraph Office named Waghorn was taken ill as a result of partaking of food in the refreshment branch of that office, and was released from duty and treated by the official medical officer; whether he is aware that a clerk named Cozens of the same office was taken ill in consequence of partaking of food at the same refreshment branch on Saturday, 7th May, and was forced to seek medical treatment; and whether such general revision of town postmen's he will state what measures the pay was contemplated or recommended medical department, as the responsible by the Committee. The petition of the body, are taking to investigate the Ryde postmen has been received and causes of these ill effects of the food supplied by the Central Telegraph Office Refreshment Branch, and what steps they are taking to prevent a recurrence? MR. HANBURY: It is the fact that Waghorn, a clerk in the Central Tele graph Office, reported himself ill on the morning of the 6th instant, and attributed the cause to his having dined in the refreshment room on the previous day. He was treated by the medical officer, and resumed duty next day. The chief medical officer reports that for some years past Waghorn has been treated for occasional attacks of indigestion. Cozens' indisposition was nettle rash, which the chief medical officer reports to be generally the result of some indiscretion of diet, although the food eaten may have been quite wholesome. The catering for the refreshment room is in the hands of a committee, upon which the staff is represented; and if anything is amiss, which there is no reason to think, the remedy is in their own hands. of the Tweedmouth Committee. No considered. A formal answer will be communicated to the postmen, expressing regret that the circumstances do not admit of their request being acceded to. The wages of sorting clerks and telegraphists are determined by the amount of business. But the wages of postmen depend mainly upon the cost of living, and therefore do not necessarily follow the wages of the indoor staff. TRADES UNIONS AND THE POST OFFICE SAVINGS BANK. MR. STEADMAN: I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, whether the Controller of the Post Office Savings Bank has refused to allow a legally constituted trade union of Government workers at Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Factory to open an account in the Post Office Savings Bank; and, if so, will he state the reason for not allowing unions of Government workers Р |