The (Answered by Mr. Wyndham.) audit of the general accounts of the corporation for the year ended 31st March, 1903, was completed last December. The gas accounts are not included in the general accounts, and are always audited independently of the latter. The audit of the gas accounts will be undertaken as soon as possible. No demand has been made for the sum mentioned in respect of This sum the audit of the gas accounts. represents the balance of the fees due for the audit of the general accounts of the borough council. Religion of Belfast Prison Officials. MR. SLOAN: To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland if he will state how many officials, male and female, are employed in Belfast Prison; their rank; and how many of them are Roman Catholics, and how many are Protestants. (Answered by Mr. Wyndham.) The following is a statement of the religious denominations of officers employed in the Belfast Prison, so far as officially known and recorded: Male officers-Roman Catholics: 1 Chaplain, 1 chief warder, 1 store keeper, 2 clerks. Purchase of the Estate of the late Captain Annesley. MR. JOHN O'DONNELL (Mayo, S.): To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that the estate of the representatives of the late Captain Annesley, situated at and near Island, Ballyhaunis, county Mayo, has been offered to the Congested Districts Board for sale, and that an offer has been made by that Board; and whether, if there is any material difference between the demand and offer, he will advise the Congested Districts Board to make a further offer with a view to purchasing the estate for the purpose of enlarging holdings in that district. (Answered by Mr. Wyndham.) Negotiations for the purchase of this estate were contemplated by the Congested Districts Alleged Perjury at Ballinrobe Petty MR. JOHN O'DONNELL: To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether his attention has been called to the evidence given by two policemen against a publican named Faby, at the Ballinrobe Petty Sessions, quite recently, who was charged with a breach of the Licensing Acts, when the magistrates, having a doubt about the case, left the bench and proceeded to the spot; that on their return they declared it was impossible for the police to have seen what they swore to, and unanimously dismissed the case; and, if so, whether, in view of these facts, he will order a prosecution for perjury to be instituted forthwith. (Answered by Mr. Wyndham.) The Papers in the case have been laid before the Attorney-General, who is considering the matter. A decision will be come to by the Government as soon as some further information, which has been called for, is forthcoming. Promotion in the Royal Garrison MR. HARE (Norfolk, S. W.): To ask the Secretary of State for War whether, in view of the fact that there are now two vacancies of lieutenant-colonels and six of majors commanding depôt companies, R.G.A., he will say whether it is his intention to fill these vacancies by the promotion of junior officers of the service in the course of the next month or so. (Answered by Mr. Secretary ArnoldForster.) These two vacancies for lieutenant-colonels will be filled by the promotion of two majors in the Gazette of 1st March. There is only one depot company Royal Garrison Artillery short of a major, and not six. When the two majors mentioned have been promoted there will be five vacancies for majors in the Royal Garrison Artillery, and these will be kept open for the absorption of whose terms of staff employment will expire early in April. Bums voted for Somaliland Expedition. MR. JOHN ELLIS: To ask the Secre tary of State for War what are the sums already voted for the Somaliland Expedition and at what dates were they respectively voted, and what sum, if any; will appear in the Estimates for 1904-5 for the purposes of this war. Chinese Labour in the Transvaal. MR. LABOUCHERE: To ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will state what is the nature of the provision for the religious observances of which will be secured to them; whether the Chinese imported into the Transvaal the inquiry that is to be made by a British Officer in China, before he certifies that the contract between the Chinese labourer and the importer has been made voluntarily and with full knowledge of its terms by the labourer, has been induced to make it, either by the pressure of some secret society or by the local authorities who wish to get rid of him as an idle or criminal person; and whether the wives and children, who may come with the Chinese labourers to the Transvaal, will be subjected to the same restrictions as to their place of residence as the labourers, and as to the (Answered by Mr. Secretary Arnold-will include an inquiry into whether he Forster). The sums are as follows::Supplementary Army Estimates (1902-3), dated 27th February, 1903, £50,100. (It was anticipated that £250,000 would be spent in the year 1902-3, but that of this sum £200,000 could be found out of savings on other Votes, so that it was only necessary to take £50,100 on Supplementary Estimate.) Army Estimates (1903-4), dated 27th February, 1903, £250,000. Supplementary Army Estimates (1903-4), £1,600,000. Total, £1,900,100. As explained in the Memorandum for Army Estimates, 1904-5, issued to-day, no provision for Somaliland has been included in the original Army Estimates. Publication of Army Estimates. MR. BUCHANAN (Perthshire, E.): To ask the Secretary of State for War when the Army Estimates will be in the hands of Members. (Answered by Mr. Secretary ArnoldForster.) The Army Estimates will be distributed to-morrow morning. I have to-day circulated a Memorandum which is already in the hands of Members. Huts and Cantonments sent to South MR. DUNCAN (Yorkshire, W.R. Otley): To ask the Secretary of State for War if he will state the place of origin of the huts and cantonments sent out to South Africa for the accommodation of the troops. (Answered by Mr. Secretary Arnold Forster.) The place of origin of these huts for South Africa and their fittings was the United Kingdom. obligation not to engage in any manual labour except mining, and not to trade. (Answered by Mr. Secretary Lyttlelton.) Lord Milner will, no doubt, avail himself of the advice of Mr. Evans, the Protector of Chinese of the Straits Settlements, whose services have been placed at his disposal, in dealing with the arrangements to be made for the religious observances of the Chinese, but I am not at present in a position to state what those arrangements will be. Special care will be taken to secure the contract being made voluntarily andto prevent the engagement of undesirable labourers. The LieutenantGovernor will make suitable regulations; precisely the same restrictions cannot, of course, be applied to the women and children as to the labourers. QUESTIONS IN THE HOUSE. H.M.S."Prince of Wales" -Defective MR. KEARLEY (Devonport): I beg to ask the Secretary to the Admiralty whether the new battleship "Prince of Wales," which has just completed her gun trials at Chatham, and is to be ready for commission by the end of March, has armour plates around her foremost barbette which are developing fissures and cracks, and scaling off in patches of con- | deal with the sanitary administration of siderable size and thickness; and, if so, the Army, to which no reference is made whether she will be allowed to go to sea in the Report recently issued. The hon. with defective protection, or whether it Member sad the first part of the will be necessary to unbuild, to remove Question had been practically answered the defective plates; and, in such case, already by the official publication of the whether the manufacturers of the armour second part of the Report of the War plates will be called upon to bear the en- Office (Reconstitution) Committee. tire expense incurred. would ask the right hon. Gentleman whether it was convenient to give any He SIR H. CAMPBELL - BANNERMAN (Stirling Burghs): Will the right hon. Gentleman say why this Report appears in the morning papers to-day before it has been delivered to Members of the House? THE SECRETARY TO THE ADMIR-information as to the second part of the ALTY (Mr. PRETYMAN, Suffolk, Wood- Question. bridge): One of the armour plates of the forward barbette of H.M.S. "Prince of Wales" has developed defects on its face since being worked into the ship, but these defects are not of such a serious character as the hon. Member's Question implies, and unless they should prove to be progressive, it will not be necessary to remove and replace the plate. It has been decided to keep the plate under observation for a time, but should an extension of the defects occur, it may be necessary to call upon the manufacturers to provide a new plate. THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WAR (Mr. ARNOLD - FORSTER, Belfast, W.): This Report was not made to me. I am exceedingly sorry it is not in the hands of hon. Members. I thought it was. It certainly ought to have been, and I will see that it is put into their hands at the earliest possible moment. I think the point of sanitary administration will be dealt with in the third part of the Report, which is not yet presented. It is stated in the earlier part of the Report that that is the intention of the Committee. DR. FARQUHARSON: Will the third part of the Report be presented in time for its discussion upon the Army Estimates? MR. ARNOLD-FORSTER: I think not; but I hope this Report will not be debated upon the Army Estimates, but will be dealt with by itself. I think, in view of the importance of the questions raised, that would be more satisfactory to the House. Irish Military Tailors. MR. NANNETTI (Dublin, College Green): I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War if he is aware that in the list of firms recommended to young officers in Ireland from whom they should order their uniforms and other necessaries there are several firms who do not pay trade-union labour; and that the work in their own workshops but give the importation of Indian coolies into the it out to be done by outworkers; and Transvaal. whether, in view of the recommendations of the Commission appointed to inquire into the conditions of labour in the tailoring trade, he will see that such goods are manufactured in sanitary workshops and free from underpaid conditions. MR. ARNOLD-FORSTER: As there is no War Department contract of any sort made with these firms the conditions of manufacture do not come within the scope of War Department inquiry. Assam Excise Administration. MR. HERBERT ROBERTS (Denbighshire, W.) I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether the inquiry which was instituted into the allegations made against the Excise administration of Assam in a memorandum, issued by Mr. James Buckingham, C.I.E., in 1902, on behalf of the Indian Tea Association, has been concluded; and when the Report will be published, THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Mr. BRODRICK, Surrey, Guildford): The inquiry has been concluded by the local authorities, and I hope shortly to receive their Report, together with the views of the Government of India upon it. Indian Army-Major General's CAPTAIN NORTON (Newington, W): I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India if he can state whether the senior officers of the Indian Army are selected for Major-General's commands by a selection board in India, by the Secretary of State for India, or by the Commanderin-Chief in India or England. MR. BRODRICK: These officers are appointed by the Government of India, on the recommendation of the Com mander-in-Chief in India. India Coelies and Transvaal Mines. SIR JOHN GORST (Cambridge University) I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether he will lay upon the Table the correspondence between the Government of India and the High Commissioner of South Africa relative to MR. BRODRICK: There has been no correspondence between the Government of India and the High Commissioner on this subject, and it is not proposed to lay any Papers on the Table. Canada and Preferential Tariffs. MR. CHARLES DEVLIN (Galway): I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he can state if a request has been received by His Majesty's Government from the Canadian Government for preferential tariff treatment; and, if 80, will he say what answer, if any, |