Confectionery Imports. MR. LOUGH: I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the quantity and value of confectionery and other sugared goods imported into this country during 1903. MR. GERALD BALFOUR: 1,444,787 cwts., valued at £2,691,875. Of this, sweetened condensed milk accounted for 874,608 cwts. and £1,665,809. London County Council Trams-Liability for Accidents. MR. HORNER (Lambeth, N.); I beg to ask the President of the Local Govern ment Board whether his attention has been called to the case of Parker versus the London County Council, in which the plaintiff claimed damages for injuries caused by the council's tramcars, and to the fact that responsibility was repudiated by the London County Council under The Public Authorities Protection Act, 1893; and, if so, whether he will initiate legislation to prevent the pleading of this Act in cases of injuries caused to the public by tramcars and other conveyances owned by the London County Council and similar bodies. THE SECRETARY TO THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD (Mr. GRANT LAWSON, Yorkshire, N.R., Thirsk): I think that there has been some misapprehension as to the effect of the decision in the case referred to. As I understand the matter, the Court decided, not that the London County Council were not responsible for injuries caused to the public by their tramcars, but that any proceedings in respect of the act, neglect, or default causing the injury must be commenced within six months. This is in accordance with the general rule, which, under Section 1 of the Public Authorities Protection Act, 1893, is applicable to persons acting in the execution of any Statute, duty, or authority, and I am not aware of any sufficient reason for making an exception to it. MR. HORNER: Arising out of the Answer I hope I may be permitted to ask the hon. Gentleman whether it is within his knowledge that the London County Council kept up the correspondence in this matter until it was too late for the injured man to bring an action. MR. GRANT LAWSON: I am not aware of that, but I think it very unlikely that the local authority would proceed in that manner. MR. HORNER: It actually occurred in this case. *MR. SPEAKER: Order, order! The question of the conduct of the London County Council as defendant in an action cannot be raised. MR. HORNER: The hon. Gentleman has not answered the concluding part of my Question as to whether he intends to initiate legislation in order to prevent this kind of abuse. MR. SPEAKER: Yes, that Question was answered. British Agriculture-Co-operative Credit MR. YERBURGH(Chester): I beg to ask the hon. Member for North Huntingdonshire, as representing the President of the Board of Agriculture, whether, in view of the desirability of providing the small farmers and agricultural labourers of Great Britain with the means of obtaining cheap credit for productive purposes, and seeing that the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland, following the example of Continental countries, advances small sums of money to co-operative credit societies working on the Raiffeisen system, he will consider the advisability of recommending the Government to adopt a similar policy for England, Scotland, and Wales in those cases where the requisite funds for cooperative credit societies cannot be obtained from private sources. MR. AILWYN FELLOWES (Huntingdonshire, Ramsey): As my hon. friend is aware, the Department of Agriculture in Ireland is in a position to dispose of a large as may sum of money in such manner seem to it most likely to benefit the agricultural and educational interests under its charge; while the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries in England has no such fund. The number of co-operative credit societies in England is not as large as in Ireland but, if the co-operative movement in England should hereafter attain Head Constable Moore, Royal Irish Constabulary. similar proportions, my noble friend the President of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries would give careful consideration to any proposals for assistance which would not involve a serious charge or risk to the Exchequer. Kerry Roads. MR. BOLAND (Kerry, S.): I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the LordLieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that roads, now alleged to have been illegally constructed by the late grand juries, are at present maintained at the public expense; and whether, seeing that no representations were made to the grand juries to reconstruct these roads to meet the requirements of the Statute of William IV., he will state why this demand has been made on the Kerry County Council with reference to the road at Lickeen, county Kerry. con THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND (Mr. WYNDHAM, Dover): I am informed that some roads were structed by the grand jury of a less width than 16 feet, notwithstanding the provision of the Grand Jury Act, 1836, and that such roads have been maintained at the public expense. It is doubtful whether it would now be competent for an auditor to disallow expenditure upon such roads. Prior to the passing of the Local Government Act of 1898 auditors were not empowered to question the legality of presentments made by the grand jury and duly fiated by the Judge of Assize. The road at Lickeen was not constructed or repaired by the grand jury, and in these circumstances it is now obligatory upon the auditor to see that the provisions of the law are observed. MR. J. P. FARRELL (Longford, N.) asked if any general directions would be given to the auditors to prevent these surcharges being made. MR. WYNDHAM: No; the auditors are appointed to examine accounts, and to give general directions to persons discharging that duty would be a mistake. They are bound to do their duty according to law, but there is a discretion vested in the Local Government Board to MR. JOSEPH DEVLIN (Kilkenny, N.): I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he can state the nature of the temporary duty which Head Constable Moore is discharging in Greencastle, county Antrim; Constable Moore is not receiving_the and whether he can state why Head extra allowance due for temporary duty. MR. WYNDHAM: Head Constable Moore was sent to Greencastle in August last as a temporary measure owing to the condition of party feeling in the district. He performs the duties ordinarily performed by head constables. He has not received extra remuneration, but if he is entitled to it, it will be paid. The hon. Member is aware that my attention was directed by Questions put last August to certain occurrences at Greencastle. The transfer of the Head Constable to the district at that time was an act done in the interests of all parties in the district. If the district continues peaceable, as it is at present, he will in due course be withdrawn. Antrim County Council. MR. JOSEPH DEVLIN: I beg to ask to ask the Chief Secretary to the LordLieutenant of Ireland whether he can state how many salaried officials are and what the total salary list of that employed by the Antrim County Council. body amounts to; and whether he can state the religious denominations of the officials, and what proportion of the total salary list is paid to Roman Catholic officials. MR. MACVEAGH (Down, S.): May I also ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he can state the number of salaried officials in the employment of the Down County Council, and the religious denominations of salaries paid; and the proportion to which they belong; the total amount paid to Roman Catholic officials. MR. WYNDHAM: Information in respect to the emoluments of the secretary of each county council in Ireland and of the officials employed in his office will be found in a Return laid on the Table last session [No. 152]. I see grave objections to the Government instituting an investigation into the religious denominations of persons appointed by elected bodies. We have no power to compel such bodies to give the information. If, however, it were given in the case of counties Antrim and Down such a course might lead to a request for similar investigation in respect of other counties, and so foment a spirit of sectarian bitterness which all must desire to see allayed. Galbraith Estate. MR. J. P. FARRELL I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the LordLieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that the tenants on the property of the late John Samuel Galbraith are being sued for rent and arrears; and whether, as he has promised to direct the Estates Commissioners' attention to this estate with a view to its purchase as a congested estate, he will urge the Commissioners to at once take steps to approach the landlord in this matter with a view to sale. MR. WYNDHAM: I undertook to bring the suggestion in the hon. Member's previous Question of the 15th ultimot under the notice of the Commissioners. That was done, and I am informed that they have received no application for the purchase of the estate from the owner. If such an application be made it will have consideration. Captain Musters' Estate, County MR. J. P. FARRELL: I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieu tenant of Ireland in what state the sale of the estate of Captain J. G. Musters, consisting of a number of townlands in the parish of Clonguish, county Longford, now stands; whether any objections to the sale have been made; if so, by whom; and when it is proposed to vest the property in the tenants. MR. WYNDHAM: One hundred and two applications for advances on this estate were received. In all these, with + See (4) Debates, cxxix., 1334. Alleged Perjury at Ballinrobe Petty MR. JOHN O'DONNELL (Mayo, S.): I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether Mr. Allen Bell, Resident Magistrate, stationed at Ballinrobe, county Mayo, reported to the Irish Executive the grave conduct of two policemen who gave false evidence at the Ballinrobe Petty Sessions; and, if Iso, on what date was the communication received from him. MR. WYNDHAM: I have already stated that the papers in this case have been laid before the Attorney-General, In reply to a further Question, Mr. MR. MACVEAGH rose to put another WYNDHAM said the matter was entirely Question. one for the railway companies and he had no right to interfere. *MR. SPEAKER: Order, order! The right hon. Gentleman has answered the Question on the Paper and distinctly declines to say anything further. MR. MACVEAGH: He has not answered the latter part of the Question. Macroom Labourers' Cottage Scheme. MR. SHEEHAN (Cork County, Mid): I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the LordLieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that at the Local Government Board inquiry into a labourers' cottage scheme for additional half-acres recently held in the Macroom Rural District, one of the councillors for the Candroma electoral division, Mr. Michael Lucey, appeared before the inspector on Monday, 22nd, and requested that his evidence in favour of the scheme should be heard. stating that he had received no official notification of the inquiry, and could not, owing to illness, attend on the first day of the proceedings; and, if so, will he explain on what grounds the inspector refused the evidence of Mr. Lucey at this inquiry. MR. WYNDHAM: It has been found necessary to communicate this Question to the inspector for report. Perhaps Belfast Constabulary. MR. JOSEPH DEVLIN: I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieu tenant of Ireland whether he can state how many sergeants in the Royal Irish Constabulary in Belfast have been retired on pension through the age limit during the past three years, and to what religious. denominations they belonged; how many have been retained in the Force, although over the age limit, and the religious denominations to which they belong; and whether the system prevailing in Belfast is universal in Ireland. MR. WYNDHAM: There is no age limit in Belfast or elsewhere in Ireland. The conditions of service in the Force are regulated by the Statute 46 and 47 Vict., cap. 14. A Return is in preparation showing the number and religions of sergeants who have been required to retire during the past three years upon the completion of twenty-five years' service, and will be communicated to the hon. Member in the course of the afternoon. Mrs. Bruce Pryce's Estate, County MR. KILBRIDE (Kildare, S.): I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the LordLieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware wounds, and the compilation of the figures would involve considerable labour. MR. EUGENE WASON (Clackmannan and Kinross) inquired how many of those who died of enteric had undergone the process of inoculation. that the tenants of Mrs. Bruce Pryce on her estate at Rheban, county Kildare, have served originating notices to fix fair rents for the first term for hearing before the County Court Judge at the ensuing April sessions at Kildare; that the landlord has served notice to transfer to the Land Commission and the order to transfer will be made as of course; that Maurice Walsh, a tenant on this estate, served an originating notice so far back as the 8th of February, 1903; that on Vesey's estate notices were served on the 27th January, 1903, and no lists for hearing these cases have been published up to the present; and, if so, whether, in view of the effect on the tenants of the delay in having a fair rent fixed, he can state when a sub-commission will sit for the hearing of cases in county Kildare in the Athy Union. MR. WYNDHAM : The fair rent applications from the Bruce Pryce Estate have not yet been transferred from the Civil Bill Court to the Land Commission. Applications lodged with the Commission from this district prior to the close of last year, will be listed for hearing in the course of the present month or early in April. MR. ARNOLD - FORSTER: I would remind the hon. Member of the remarks on the subject in my Memorandum on Army Estimates, 1904-5. Pending an additional Estimate (should such be necessary) the expenditure in question will be met temporarily out of Army Votes generally for 1904-5. South African Natives and Chinese Mine Labour. MAJOR SEELY (Isle of Wight): I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Ordinance for the importation of Chinese Colonies whether, before sanctioning the indentured labour into the Transvaal, he will cause further inquiry to be made as to the effect of such importation on the minds of the native tribes of South Africa, and the complications which may ensue, and communicate the results of such inquiry to this House. THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (Mr. LYTTELTON, Warwick and Leamington): I do not see my way to giving the pledge required by the hon. and gallant Member. MAJOR SEELY: That does not. appear to be an Answer to my Question. Transvaal Labour Ordinance-Sale of Intoxicants and Opium to Chinese. MR. HERBERT SAMUEL (Yorkshire, Cleveland): I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the Transvaal law prohibiting the sale of intoxicants to natives will apply to imported Chinese labourers; and whether |