asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether, owing to the limited number of the shore appointments for commissioned warrant officers and warrant officers, he will see that officers holding those appointments are promptly relieved so as to enable others to have an opportunity of serving on shore?

Unless there is some special reason for an extension of appointment, officers are at present relieved on the termination of their period of service on shore.

asked the Secretary of State for War the scope and character of the inquiry which has been instituted into the medical and hospital arrangements of the Household Cavalry; whether the inquiry has been completed; and whether the Report will be laid upon the Table of the House?

The inquiry was into the adequacy of the medical arrangements of the Household Cavalry, and is now complete. I cannot at present make any statement on the question of publication.

asked the Secretary for War whether any decision has been come to as to the reducing of the payments exacted in the case of men leaving the Army Reserve to join the Navy?

The Army Council have decided that it is not desirable to reduce the payments for purchase of discharge in such cases.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether the effect of paragraph C of Southern Command Order, No. 404, dated 16th April, 1913, was to restrict the facilities previously enjoyed by non-commissioned officers below the rank of colour-sergeant and men of good character of obtaining permission to wear plain clothes when on pass at their stations; and whether, in view of the undertaking given by the late Secretary of State for War in this House on 1st July, 1913, that the restrictions in regard to the wearing of plain clothes in the Southern Command would be removed, he will consider the advisability of restoring to such non-commissioned officers and men the facilities enjoyed prior to April, 1913?

I do not think I can add anything to the answer I gave to the hon. Member on the 30th ultimo. It is not considered advisable to widen further the facilities for the wearing of plain clothes.

asked the Secretary of State for War if any recent Report has been made on the sanitary condition of the Cavalry barracks at Windsor; can he state the nature of such Report; and, if no examination has recently been made, will he take the necessary steps to cause such examination to be carried out?

There has been no recent Report, and I have no reason to think that a special examination is required.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether a reference to the Privy Council is about to be made for consideration and report upon the ownership of land in Southern Rhodesia; and, if so, whether he will lay the terms of reference upon the Table?

Yes, Sir.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India how many deaths per 1,000 occur annually from diabetes in India and in the province of Madras, respectively?

The figures are not available, as deaths from diabetes are not separately registered in India.

asked the Under-Secretary for India whether he is aware that the keeping of the King's subjects in a state of slavery is allowed in portions of British India and Burmah; and what steps the Government proposes to take to vindicate the right to freedom which is the birthright of British subjects?

The Secretary of State is not aware of anything of the kind.

asked whether Regulations of the Indian or Assam Governments exist in operation compelling slaves who have escaped into British from Abor territory to be returned to their owners, or to suffer imprisonment for six months, unless they pay a ransom of 60 rupees to secure their freedom; and whether the Government propose to cancel these Regulations?

The Secretary of State has no information of the existence of any such Regulations as are referred to in the question, but he will inquire.

also asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether he is aware that Abors have been allowed to recapture, in British territory, bind, and forcibly carry back into slavery persons who had sought freedom by placing themselves under British rule; and what steps the Indian Government proposes to take to put an end to this state of things?

The Secretary of State is not aware of the fact alleged, but I can assure the hon. Member that any violation of the settled districts of British territory by Abors or others would be very seriously considered.

further asked the Under-Secretary for India whether he is aware that under the boi system existing among the Lushai tribes, whose country has been British territory for sixteen years, thousands of men, women, and children are slaves to their chiefs, and can only secure freedom by payment of ransom, which is practically impossible to children, women, and persons compelled to work without wages; and what steps the Government proposes to take to give to these tribesmen the status of free men?

I do not know the hon. Member's authority for estimating the number of bawi in the Lushai Hills at "thousands." Any bawi is able, under the principles lately adopted by the Assam Government in consultation with a conference of Welsh Calvanistic missionaries, either to leave the service of a chief and allow the latter to apply to the Courts for compensation or himself to appeal to the Courts to record an order that he is no longer a bawi. The maximum compensation payable to the chief in respect of an entire family is under £3 sterling, and is treated as an ordinary judgment debt. As has already been stated in the House, the whole position will be personally investigated very shortly by the Chief Commissioner of Assam.

next asked the Under-Secretary for India whether, in the Lakher or Mora clan, which is partly under British rule, the purchase and sale of slaves, not only by chiefs but by others, is permitted and recognised; and how long the Government proposes to legalise this traffic in human beings?

The Secretary of State has no reason to suppose that any recognition has been given by Government to the sale of slaves among such of the Lakher as reside in British territory, but if the hon. Member has information to the contrary, the Secretary of State will consider it.

next asked whether, seeing that the right to ransom is allowed and that ransom is impossible to slaves who have no property in their own earnings, except what their owners permit them to retain, the Indian Government will provide the small sum of 40 rupees per family necessary to emancipate slaves within their territory, or, if not, will he use for that purpose any sum subscribed, and thereafter make the holding of His Majesty's subjects in a state of bondage a penal offence?

If by "slaves" the hon. Member means "bawi" in the Lushai Hills, he is quite wrong in supposing that they have no property in their own earnings.

also asked whether and when the Report by the Indian Government on the boi system in the Lushai Hills will be laid upon the Table of the House?

I will place a copy of the Government of India's letter, with enclosures, in the Library. It is not proposed to present Papers at present.

asked the Under-Secretary for India whether the opinion of the Law Officers of the Crown has been obtained upon the principles published in the "Golenad," of 26th May, 1914, as modifying the boi system and making it unobjectionable; and, if not, whether their opinion will be obtained and communicated to the House before any official approval is given to those principles?

The Secretary of State has not considered it necessary to take the opinion of the Law Officers on the principles recently laid down by the Assam Government for dealing with the incidents of what is known as the "bawi" system of the Lushai Hills

asked the Home Secretary if, in arriving at the standard for miners' safety-lamps, the test laid down by the Home Office at their testing station is not one of sensitiveness to detect gas, but if the lamp can with safety be used in gas; and, if so, what action is he prepared to take to ensure that miners' safety-lamps shall not only be safe instruments to be used in gas but possess the maximum capacity for detecting the presence of gas?

Yes, Sir. The purpose of the tests is to determine the safety of a lamp for use in gassy mines, and that is all, as I understand, that I have power under the Act to do. I may say, however, that the detection of gas by the "cap" on the flame does not depend on the design or construction of the lamp, but on the character of the flame, which again depends on the nature of the fuel burnt in the lamp.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that the female clerical staff employed at the Bristol Post Office has been compelled to work overtime continuously for the past two years, and whether this condition of affairs exists at other centres throughout the country; and, if so, what steps does he propose to take to increase the staff so as to make normal hours of work possible?

Presumably the hon. Member refers to the telephone district manager's office at Bristol where, as a result of staff changes and an exceptional I amount of illness, overtime has been worked by the female clerical staff for I some time past. The staff has been increased and temporary assistance given, and it is hoped that the necessity for overtime will cease at an early date. The question of overtime in district managers' offices generally is receiving consideration.

asked the Postmaster-General, whether, in 1905, senior stores clerks under the National Telephone Company were performing the duties which are now carried out by third-class clerks in connection with the telephone service?

I have no information as to the precise importance of the duties performed by particular stores clerks under the National Telephone Company in 1905. At the time of the transfer to the Post Office some of the stores clerks were found to be employed on duties appropriate to third-class clerks; others on work proper to clerical assistants in the engineering department of the Post Office.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that certain fully qualified and competent counter clerks and telegraphists in the southwestern district of London are in danger of being passed over by an officer who has not been tested on any work other than writing duties; and whether, in order to lessen the possibility of favouritism, he will issue instructions that all the candidates must be tested in the various branches of the work, thereby ensuring consideration of the claims to promotion of those officers who possess the widest qualifications?

It is not the case that the promotion o£ a counter clerk and telegraphist who has not been tested on any work other than writing duties is in contemplation. The officer to whom the question is understood to refer has been tested on controlling as well as writing duties; and I am informed that he is not only fully qualified, but the best qualified of the eligible officers.

asked the Postmaster-General why no technical expert has been appointed on the committee to examine into the organisation of the telegraph service; whether he is aware that the heads of the telegraph services in Italy, Norway, Belgium, Denmark, and Bavaria are all engineers; that the telegraph service in Sweden is managed by a board of which an engineer is a member; and whether he can now add to the committee some engineer of repute and practical experience in telegraph work?

The committee is concerned more particularly with the commercial aspects of the Telegraph Service, and in the circumstances I did not think it necessary to appoint a technical expert as one of its members. If the committee desires information on any technical point it can, of course, readily be obtained. I may add that a separate committee—mainly composed of technical experts—is at present considering the question of high speed telegraphy—the principal technical problem of the Telegraph Service.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he-has yet concluded his inquiries as to the housing of the postman at Lower Hardres; and whether it is now proposed to allow the postman to live in Canterbury and to pay him on the scale proper to that city?

A revised arrangement under which Canterbury will be the starting point will be brought into operation on the 26th instant, and from that date the postman will receive the scale of pay proper to that city.

asked the Secretary for Foreign Affairs whether he is in a position to report any progress in connection with negotiations for the conclusion of an international sea fisheries convention for the waters of the English Channel?

The meeting between a British and a French official announced in my reply to the hon. Member on 12th February last, duly took place, and I understand satisfactory progress was made. Further meetings have been arranged, at which I hope a final settlement will be reached.

asked the Secretary for Foreign Affairs if he will lay upon the Table the Protocole de Cloture of the Third Opium Conference, which was signed by the plenipotentiaries of thirty Powers at The Hague on 25th June last; and whether Great Britain has yet ratified the Convention of 1912?

I will consider the question of laying the Protocol, with the Report of the British delegates to the Conference when I have received this Report and have had time to consider it. His Majesty's ratification of the Opium Convention was duly deposited on 15th July.