§ Mr. SLOAN (Belfast, S.)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland if he is aware that only land sales effected to the end of the year 1904 have been completed and paid for, and that the Estates Commissioners are two and a half years in arrears of work in their Department; is he aware that, some months ago, the Estates Commissioners, to fill an appointment in their offices that they considered necessary for the administration of the Land Act, selected a candidate possessing special qualifications, and submitted his name to the Treasury, who refused their sanction, stating that the same should be made through the Civil Service Commissioners; is it necessary, when the 1415 Estates Commissioners can obtain the services of an efficient person for work of a special character, that such person can only be appointed through the Civil Service Commissioners, and has this been the rule since the Act came into operation; are there any instances where persons were appointed directly to special clerical appointments by the Estates Commissioners without going through the hands of the Civil Service Commissioners; and, if the name of the candidate in question is again submitted by the Estates Commissioners, will the Treasury re-consider their decision as to his appointment.
(Answered by Mr. Birrell.) The statement in the first part of the Question is somewhat inaccurate. The Estates Commissioners are at present making advances in respect of applications received in April, 1905. A comparatively small number of cases in which the applications were lodged prior to that date are still outstanding, and the delay in these cases is due simply to undischarged questions of title and such
| Statement showing the total Imports of Unrefined and Refined Sugar into the United Kingdom in each of the years 1893–1906, inclusive, and the Average Declared Value (exclusive of Duty) of such Imports. | ||||
| Years. | Total imports of sugar. | Average declared value of imported sugar. | ||
| Unrefined. | Refined. | Unrefined. | Refined. | |
| Cwts. | Cwts. | Shillings per cwt. | Shillings per cwt. | |
| 1893 | 16,032,113 | 11,550,540 | 14˙30 | 18˙36 |
| 1894 | 14,306,004 | 13,944,792 | 11˙67 | 15˙52 |
| 1895 | 17,009,997 | 14,145,143 | 9˙73 | 13˙30 |
| 1896 | 15,743,676 | 14,776,929 | 10˙59 | 13˙58 |
| 1897 | 13,553,527 | 15,830,759 | 9˙18 | 12˙29 |
| 1898 | 14,692,906 | 16,520,254 | 9˙60 | 12˙31 |
| 1899 | 13,121,709 | 17,809,121 | 10˙47 | 12˙57 |
| 1900 | 13,234,932 | 19,248,187 | 10˙45 | 12˙82 |
| 1901 | 13,387,143 | 21,256,846 | 9˙53 | 12˙18 |
| 1902 | 13,221,492 | 18,365,417 | 7˙62 | 10˙56 |
| 1903 | 12,648,679 | 18,588,720 | 8˙69 | 10˙72 |
| 1904 | 14,683,940 | 17,605,503 | 10˙17 | 12˙26 |
| 1905 | 14,656,648 | 14,695,801 | 11˙66 | 14˙85 |
| 1906 | 15,257,886 | 18,096,163 | 8˙96 | 11˙56 |
§ matters. The Commissioners inform me that there is no foundation whatever for the statement made in the second part of the Question. Appointments in the Estates Commissioners' office are made under Section 23 (9) of the Act of 1903, and it has been decided that for clerical work the staff shall be supplied by the Civil Service Commissioners. The Estates Commissioners have no knowledge of any such candidate as is referred to in the Question. They have not submitted to the Treasury the name of any candidate whose appointment has been refused.