and, if not, will he give instructions for the practice to be discontinued. (Answered by Mr. Wyndham.) I am informed by the Commissioners of National Education that a needlework conference was held on the date mentioned at the Skibbereen Convent National School. A short prayer was recited during the conference, but an intimation of the fact was given beforehand so that those present of a different faith might have an opportunity of retiring. Officers' Furniture. MAJOR JAMESON (Clare, W.): To ask the Secretary of State for War whether, in view of the fact that under Army Order No. 3, of January, 1903, officers on joining were to have furniture for their quarters consisting of one bed, one table, one chest of drawers, one chair, and one washstand supplied free, he will explain why they are now to be charged £1 10s. a year for the same; and why officers who already have their own furniture are to be compelled to take the Government furniture as well at this rental charge of £1 10s. per annum, and field officers are to be compelled to take two extra chairs and a bookshelf at a further rental charge of £1 10s. a year. Army Contracts for Stable Fitments. MR. SLOAN: To ask the Secretary of State for War whether he can say if the contract for stable fitments has been closed yet; and, if so, will he give the names of those who tendered. together with the successful firm (Answered by Mr. Secretary Arnold Forster.) The contract in question has been settled. It is not the practice of the War Department to publish the particulars asked for in the latter part of the Question, and I am afraid, therefore, that I am not in a position to give my hon. friend the information he requires. Army Supplementary Estimates-Pay ment of War Čompensation MR. BUCHANAN (Perthshire, E.): To ask the Secretary of State for War whether the £600,000 in the Army Supplementary Estimate is to be paid to the Governments of the Transvaal and Orange River Colony, or to whom ; nd for what purpose is this compensation to be paid. (Answered by Mr. Secretary ArnoldForster.) As already explained in debate on the Army Supplementary Estimate, £300,000 of the amount is a payment to the Governments of the Transvaal and Orange River Colony, and forms part of the sum of £3,000,000 which His Majesty's Government agreed should be paid on the understanding that the civil authorities would take over all outstanding claims in respect of requisition notes for supplies, horses, stores, &c., taken during (Answered by Mr. Secretary Arnold Forster.) The hon. and gallant Member has been misinformed as to the terms of the Army Order quoted. The list of articles supplied is much larger than that the war from the inhabitants of the stated in the Question, and the payment Transvaal and Orange River Colony. of about 30s. a year (1d. a day) is made £100,000 represents the amount paid by in respect of ordinary depreciation and replacement; in the case of field officers the the military authorities to inhabitants of extra charge is made as complete furniture the Transvaal and Orange River Colony is supplied for two rooms. Officers in in respect of similar claims in 1902-3, possession of furniture and occupying but which could not be charged to that quarters furnished at the public expense year owing to proof of payment not then The balance of can sell their own furniture to Govern- being forthcoming. ment at a fair independent valuation. It £200,000 represents similar claims in is admitted that this may press hardly in Cape Colony which, it was thought, would some cases, but in view of the great object have been adjudicated upon and paid in of reducing officers' expenses generally, it 1902-3. was held to be essential that a uniform system be adopted. It must be remembered that some extra expenses in connection with movements from station to station are saved. Current expenditure under the Military MR. BUCHANAN: To ask the state what is the amount that will be spent by the 31st March of the present year under the Military Works Act. (Answered by Mr. Secretary ArnoldForster.) It is estimated that the expenditure will be about £3,600,000. QUESTIONS IN THE HOUSE. Transvaal Labour Ordinance. MR. HERBERT SAMUEL (Yorkshire, Cleveland): I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether, seeing that Chinese labourers in the Transvaal will be excluded by the Ordinance recently passed from the benefits of The Transvaal Masters' and Servants' Law, 1880, he will take steps to embody in the regulations about to be framed those parts of that law which are applicable, and especially the sections empowering a Court to set aside a contract of service upon reasonable proof that one of the parties was induced to enter into the same by fraud, misrepresentation, or concealment, securing to a labourer incapacitated by sickness his full wages for the first month of sickness, and in the event of the death of a labourer securing to his heirs or legal representatives any wages that may be owing to him. *THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (Mr.LYTTELTON, Warwick and Leamington): As at present advised, in cases where free hospital accommodation is granted I doubt the equity of the second point suggested by the hon. Member, and the first and third points will, I believe, be secured by the existing law. I will take legal advice on the subject and the suggestion will be carefully considered. China and the Transvaal Labour MR. HERBERT SAMUEL: I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will present to the House at an early date a report of the proceedings at the recent conference between representatives of the Foreign and Colonial Offices and the Chinese Minister. *MR. LYTTELTON: I am not prepared to do this during the progress of negotiations. The House, will, of course, Unskilled White Labour in the Transvaal. MR. HERBERT SAMUEL: I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will include in the information as to the number of British workmen employed in the Transvaal, which he is about to ask Lord Milner to furnish, a statement showing how many of these workmen, and of Europeans of other nationalities, are employed in unskilled labour, which before the war used to be generally performed by Kaffirs, in the crushing mills on the Rand, and in other departments of the gold-mining industry. *MR LYTTELTON: Yes, Sir. Income-Tax. MR. HERBERT SAMUEL: I beg toask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he proposes to arrange for the appointment of the Select Committee of this House, contemplated by his predecessor, to inquire into matters connected with the incidence and collection of the incometax; and, if so, whether the reference to such Committee would include an inquiry into the practicability of a further graduation of the income-tax above the present limit of £700. MAJOR EVANS-GORDON (Tower Hamlets, Stepney): At the same time may I ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he intends to act upon the suggestion made by his predecessor, and institute an inquiry into the method of assessing and collecting the income-tax, with a view to prevent evasion, which it is believed takes place under the existing system. THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (Mr. AUSTEN CHAMBERLAIN, Worcestershire, E.): I am considering the advisability of appointing a Departmental Committee to inquire into the question of evasion and certain other matters connected with the income-tax, but I am not yet in a position to make a definite statement on the subject. The subject of graduation would not be included in the scope of the inquiry which I contemplate. MR. GIBSON BOWLES (Lynn Regis): Will it be a Select Committee of this House? MR. AUSTEN CHAMBERLAIN: No, necessarily composed wholly of Departmental officials. American Mail Delays. SIR JOHN LENG (Dundee): I beg to ask the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that on several occasions since the beginning of November the American mails, made up on Wednesday in London, have not been delivered in New York before the Saturday of the following week, being the same day on which the mails leaving Liverpool on Saturday arrive, so that the advantage of a midweek mail has been lost; and, if so, will he state whether this is in consequence of slow boats being employed for the midweek mails, contrary to the arrangement with the contractors; and, if so, whether he will call their attention to the terms of their contract. THE POSTMASTER-GENERAL (Lord STANLEY, Lancashire, Westhoughton): On three occasions since the begin ning of November mails despatched from London on a Wednesday have not been delivered in New York until Saturday of the following week; but the advantage of a mid-week despatch was not lost, as supposed, as the corresponding Saturday despatch did not reach New York till the Monday on two of those occasions, and ten or twelve hours later than the mid-week mail on the third occasion. The contractors have merely used their right to withdraw their faster steamers for overhaul, and employ slower ones. A provision in the contract enables me, when boats below a certain speed are employed, to send the mails by another route, when there is an advantage to be gained; and it has already been arranged to take advantage of the Southampton route on the 2nd and 9th of March, when the White Star Company will again not have one of their fastest steamers at their disposal. MR. FLYNN (Cork County, N.): Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that these delays would be avoided if the Queens town route were used? LORD STANLEY: On the contrary, they occur because that route is used. Railway Goods Rates in Ireland. MR. MURPHY (Kerry, E.): I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether the Department of Agriculture is aware of the higher rates charged by the Great Southern and Western Railway Company for the carriage of goods to Killarney over Tralee, though Tralee is twenty miles further; and if the Department propose to take any steps to regulate such charges. THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAD (Mr. WYNDHAM, Dover): No complaints have been received by the Department in this matter. Any specific representations that may be made to it will be duly inquired into. MR. MURPHY: May I point out to the right hon. Gentleman that I called attention to this particular matter twelve months ago. Surely the Department ought to have taken the matter up? MR. WYNDHAM: Those who have local knowledge of the facts should make specific representations to the Department. I have no local knowledge. MR. MURPHY: I have. If I make complaint, will the right hon. Gentleman cause the Department to move? MR. WYNDHAM: The hon. Member must make his specific complaint to the Department. Railway Rates for Kerry Potatoes. MR. BOLAND (Kerry, S.): I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the LordLieutenant of Ireland whether he is now in a position to state what special arrangements for the carriage of early potatces from Cahirciveen and other parts of Kerry have been made with the railway company by the Congested Districts Board and the Department of Agriculture. MR. WYNDHAM: The railway company has offered the same reduced rates as were given last year from Cahirciveen and other places in the south of Ireland. Details cannot conveniently be stated in an oral reply, and, in anticipation of the hon. Member's consent, they will be printed with the replies to unstarred Questions on to-night's Votes. + See (4) Debates, cxxvii., 161. Caragh Lake Road, Kerry. ence he now say what decision His Majesty's MR. BOLAND: I beg to ask the Chief Government have arrived at with referSecretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that the Congested Districts Board voted £250 towards the construction of the Caragh Lake road, county Kerry, on the condition that the subsidy would be availed of before next May, and that the Killarney Rural District Council voted a similar amount; and, if so, will he say what steps will be taken to have this work carried out. MR. WYNDHAM: Yes, Sir; the Congested Districts Board offered to contribute this amount towards the construction of the road in question. It has since been ascertained, however, that the road is not a public road within the meaning of the statute and that any expenditure on it out of the rates would be liable to disallowance by the Auditor. The Board's contribution, in the circumstances, will be applied to another road near Caragh lake. Its acceptance will be open for two years from the date of the grant. National Expenditure. SIR EDGAR VINCENT (Exeter): I beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether His Majesty's Government will adopt the recommendations of the Select Committee on National Expenditure which reported in July last. MR. GIBSON BOWLES: May I also to the recommendations of the Select Committee on National Expenditure that an Estimates Committee should be appointed at the beginning of each session for examination of and report on one class of the Estimates precedent to their discussion in Committee of Supply, and that a day should be provided for the consideration by this House of the Reports of the Public Accounts Committee, and an opportunity be given of taking a decision upon the recommendations embodied therein. THE PRIME MINISTER AND FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY (Mr. A. J. BALFOUR, Manchester, E.): The Government have always felt, and I have constantly expressed the feeling, that under our present system, debates in Committe of Supply, useful as they are, indeed, absolutely of the first importance as they are, are important only from the point of view of the discussion of general principles of policy. I think the whole House is of one mind on the point that, whatever excellent effects may come from our debates in Committee of Supply, they do not conduce to ecomony. Whether a direct House of Commons machinery for dealing with the details of as to how we ought to proceed. The recommendations of the Committee to which my hon. friend refers are, I think, very ingenious, and contain a great many suggestions which would probably prove of value; but I am not at all sure that in their present form they are of a kind which the House would be prepared to accept. For example, the Committee evidently contemplate that it is the Estimates of the year, or one class of the Estimates of the year, that should be examined by the proposed Committee. I do not think that that is really practicable. I am sure, in fact, that it is not practicable as regards either the Army or the Navy, because they are not, and cannot be, completed, I think, very much before the meeting of Parliament; and, as the House knows, the very first financial business we have to take is Vote A and Vote 1 for the Navy, and Vote A and Vote 1 for the Army; and it would be quite impossible that an examination. of such vast Estimates as those for the Navy and Army could be examined before they are taken in the House. Another difficulty that I feel in the suggestion of the Committee is that they contemplate that there should be a Committee of & fixed constitution, as it were, which in each successive year, should examine one branch of the Estimates. I am not sure whether the Irish or the Scottish Members would think it a convenient plan that a Committee of this fixed constitution should examine their Estimates; but I fully concur in this proposition, that it is desirable that only one branch of the Estimates should be examined in each year, partly because there is not time for more, partly because I do not think the Departments should in every year be subjected to examination by a Parliamentary Committee. I think we shall have to add to that suggestion a distinct provision that this Committee shall not in any circumstances recommend or suggest an increase of expenditure. Otherwise you will find that your Committee is as greatly anxious to increase the burden of the whole Estimates as the Committee of the whole House. I think another suggestion which is excellent is the suggestion that policy shall be wholly excluded from the purview of the Committee, and that secret documents shall not be called for. But that, again, raises a great difficulty, because if we were to follow the example of the Public Accounts Committee, the chairman of this new Committee would be chosen from the Opposition, and I think he would be put in a very invidious position if he were obliged to be constantly over-ruling his friends as to what was a question of policy and what was not. Naturally the Oppostition are the critics of the Government, and naturally proposals to include policy as well as details of expenditure would come from them. I think, therefore, it would be rather difficult to draw the chairman from the other side of the House, and that, again, is a point on which, I think, the Committee have no advice or instruction to offer. MR. WINSTON CHURCHILL (Oldham): The Committee would not have any effective power? MR. A. J. BALFOUR: No; if the Committee stretched the functions give to them by this House and dragged in questions of policy they might, no doubt, embarrass the Government of the day, but they would ultimately destroy themselves and their policy, and the whole plan of my hon. friends would fall into discredit. I am at present puzzled as to what form the procedure of the Government should take. I do not think the plan of the Committee will do as it stands, and if I gave a day for discussion we should have an interesting and important debate, but we should not arrive at any conclusion. Am I then to put down for discussion a Resolution embodying a Report with which I do not wholly agree; I think it would be convenient if some Gentlemen of the Opposition, who are the natural and legitimate critics of the Government, would consult with me as to what form the Resolution should take. If they would do so I should be very glad to do anything I can to help the House to furnish machinery which would fill up the gap which at present exists. More than that I do not think I can promise. I think my hon. friends will see that the criticisms I raise are genuine and are not prompted by any dilatory motives. MR. GIBSON BOWLES asked whether the right hon. Gentleman could reply to the second part of the Question. |