asked the Under-Secretary of State for War the-number of widows of soldiers who have died in connection with the Transvaal War who are in receipt of pensions?

The number of these widows is, approximately, 1,300.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether his attention has been drawn to the case of Mrs. Mercy Elizabeth Baker, widow of Company Sergeant-Major Alfred John, Baker, No. 180, late 2nd Royal Warwickshire Regiment; and whether she can be granted a pension, in view of the fact that her husband who had served in the South African War and earned the Distinguished Conduct Medal, joined the Remount Depot at Pluckley on the outbreak of the present War, and was among the first to volunteer for France, but at the urgent request of the commandant remained at the depot, and was killed by a fall from his horse as he was returning from leave to duty?

Alfred Baker was employed at the Remount Depot in a civilian capacity, and there is, therefore, no power to grant his wife the pension of a soldier's widow. I am inquiring further in to the circumstances of the case in order to see whether any award can be made under the Workmen's Compensation Act.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he can now state the nature of the inquiries which were made with reference to the case of the transport used on the Bombay route in October and November last; and whether steps were taken to obtain evidence from the non-commissioned officers and men who were conveyed by this transport?

In view of further representations that have been received, I am having special reports called for from the officer in command of the troops on board, the medical officer in charge, and two other medical officers who did duty on the voyage, and from the shipping company concerned. I am also having inquiries instituted amongst the rank and file of the various drafts which were on board. I am afraid that all this investigation will take some time to complete, but I will let my hon. and gallant Friend know the result as soon as possible.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether the men who have served for two and a half years or longer, consecutively, in the East will now be granted leave; and whether, in urgent cases, they will be further granted agricultural leave?

I understand my hon. and gallant Friend to be referring to Mesopotamia. Leave in that theatre of war is dependent, as elsewhere, on transport facilities, and the difficulties in this connection have been frequently explained. I understand that leave to India is granted to as many men as it is possible to arrange transport for and having regard to the military situation, but I am afraid that leave to this country can only be arranged in the most exceptional circumstances, and the suggestion, therefore, of special agricultural leave is hardly practicable.

asked the Under Secretary of State for War whether the practice of leaving maisons tolerées in France within bounds for British troops has been in force since the beginning of the War?

As far as my information goes, the question of placing maisons tolerées in France out of bounds does not arise unless British troops have been misconducting themselves under circumstances which, in the interest of discipline, render it necessary to place such institutions out of bounds.

Is the War Office now considering the question of putting these places out of bounds for British troops?

I can add nothing to the statement I made the other day.

That means that they have not so placed them?

That is so.

Has the opinion of the Commander-in-Chief been taken on this matter?

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether there is a shortage of officers for the Cavalry in Palestine and Mesopotamia; and, if so, whether the claims of officers and non commissioned officers of Yeomanry regiments now dismounted and attached to Infantry battalions in France, whose long previous training in Cavalry work is now wasted, can be considered in selecting such officers or candidates for commissions?

There is at present no shortage nor is there any expectation of a shortage. If the necessity arises we shall certainly draw on the sources indicated by my hon. and gallant Friend.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War the number of letters per month which British officer prisoners of war in Germany and German officer prisoners of war in this country, respectively, are permitted to write home; and whether he will take steps to ensure that German prisoners enjoy no greater advantages in this respect than are given to British prisoners?

German officer prisoners are allowed two letters per week on special paper, which covers about two pages of ordinary notepaper, the lines being widely spaced. British officer prisoners are allowed two letters of unlimited length per month and one postcard a week.

Does not the hon. Gentleman consider that great additional labour is thrown on the Censorship Department by this very large number of letters which is permitted to German prisoners?

That is no doubt the case, but they have not complained.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War why the decision which has been arrived at with regard to the distinction or distinctions to be awarded to officers and men of the Territorial Forces who joined up previous to the outbreak of hostilities cannot be announced and such award be made now?

I would refer my hon. and gallant Friend to the answer which I gave him on Tuesday last, and more particularly to the answer which I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Wands worth on the 14th February. In the latter answer I mentioned that the whole question of the commemoration of War service in its various degrees had been considered and that an appropriate distinction or distinctions, would be granted. For reasons which I feel sure will be appreciated by my hon. and gallant Friend, no announcement can very well be made till the end of the War.

Is it not a fact that in the answer to which the hon. Gentleman refers he said that a decision had been arrived at; and is it not the case that when the decision was arrived at in regard to the Mons Star that decision was announced at once, and, if so, why cannot the decision now arrived at be announced also?

My hon. and gallant Friend knows that the Mons Star is not a medal. He will realise that it is very difficult indeed to announce the decision we have come to before the end of the War, so far as medals are concerned.

In view of the very strong feeling on this matter in the Territorial Force, will not my hon. Friend reconsider it?

I can assure the House that at the end of the War the decision which has just been come to will be announced. If my hon. and gallant Friend will speak to me privately I shall be quite willing to tell him why we do not announce it now.

Can we take it that the fact that officers and men have been discharged owing to wounds or sickness will not affect the grant of the long-service Territorial decoration?

I do not think that that arises, but we have come to the conclusion that war service does count double so far as efficiency is concerned.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that every European Allied Army except the British Army offers facilities for the wives of officers to be with their husbands in places not within the immediate war zones, such as Genoa; and whether he will consider the advisability of giving such facilities at all events to wives of senior officers who are likely to be resident in one place for some considerable time?

As far as the British Forces are concerned in France and Italy, wives of officers are allowed to reside with their husbands, subject to the permission of the local commanding officer, with the following exceptions:

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether chaplains are to come under the new rate of pay of 13s. 6d. per day for captains, or is the distinction in pay at present existing between chaplain captains and Army captains to be perpetuated under the new scale?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer which was given on this subject on the 25th February to my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Leominster.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office if he will con- sider the case of officers on retired pay who are employed as Army Special Staff Officers, Censor's Department, etc., with a view to putting them on equal terms as regards pay and allowances with those officers not drawing any pension who perform the same duties and whose pay and allowances have been increased under a recent warant?

I am afraid I cannot adopt my hon. and gallant Friend's suggestion. The Warrant represents the decision of the War Cabinet arrived at after full consideration.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office when the award of the Conciliation Board for increased wages to civilian clerks employed in the Army Pay Department and Record Office in Dublin may be expected?

Instructions will be issued very shortly.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether an officer who has been removed from his regiment and has been transferred to the command of a service battalion is still entitled to the pension and emoluments on retirement which would have been due to him if he had remained in command of a unit of his own regiment?

Time in command of a service battalion with substantive rank of lieutenant-colonel counts as service towards a lieutenant-colonel's retired pay in the same way as time in command of a battalion of the old Regular Army.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether, in view of the declaration required in Army (Widows' Pensions) Form No. 1037, to the effect that the widow's private income has not been increased, including personal earnings and voluntary allowances from relatives and friends, it is the intention of the Ministry of Pensions to prohibit any widow in receipt of a pension from performing any duty for which payment is made or from receiving any gift from relatives or friends, and to reduce or stop the pension in the case of the widow doing so; and, if not, will he have this declaration cancelled?

The form referred to provides for a declaration of means, which is only intended for use by widows whose pensions are contingent on the amount of their private income. This declaration is not required from widows whose pensions are issued by the Ministry of Pensions, as such pensions are not contingent on private income, and the portion of the form providing for such, a declaration should be crossed out before it is sent to a widow drawing a pension from that Department. Every endeavour is made to see that this is done, but possibly my hon. and gallant Friend's attention has been called to a case in which this has been omitted by oversight. I understand that a fresh form omitting the means declaration altogether is in course of preparation for use in cases dealt with by the Ministry of Pensions.

asked the Pensions Minister when the present scale of pensions to soldiers' and sailors' dependants will be increased?

asked the Pensions Minister whether the pensions at present payable to widows and children are to be increased, and, if so, to what extent?

I am not yet able to make any announcement on this matter, which is still under consideration.

asked the Pensions Minister whether he can now say if the pension payable to war pensioners prior to the present War is to be brought in to line with the amounts in the existing warrants?

The proposed Warrant dealing with these pensions is not yet finally settled. As I have already stated, the terms when settled will be announced at the earliest possible moment.

asked whether any decision has yet been arrived at as to the application of Mrs. Florrie Dixon, whose husband, Corporal F. Dixon, of the Miners' Battalion, King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, died as a result of injuries received in an accident while on military duty in November, 1914, for a pension; and, if not, whether, in view of the delay that has occurred, a decision can be come to and announced forthwith?

I am glad to be able to inform the hon. and gallant Member that payment of a full widow's pension to Mrs. Dixon has now been authorised.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Pensions whether he has yet been able to ascertain whether Private W. Newberry, late No. 1753 Royal West Kent Regiment, was notified on the 17th November, 1917, by the Ministry of Pensions that a temporary pension of 30d. a day had been granted to him from the 24th August,. 1917, until the 27th August, 1919, his permanent pension of 24d. a day being in abeyance from the 24th August, 1917; and whether he can now explain why Private Newberry has received no pension since the 1st October, 1917?

This is a "pre-war" disability pension, which has been temporarily increased on a re-examination by a medical board. Owing to a misunderstanding by the regimental paymaster there was a break in payment at the beginning of this year, but I am informed that the penson of 24d. a day was regularly paid up to the 31st December last. A sum of £14 12s. 11d. has now beer; paid to Private Newberry tins being made up of the extra 6d. a day due to him from 24th August, 1917, up to 31st December, and 30d. a day from the latter date to the end of the present month.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether any arrangement has yet been made whereby farmers in selling their wool clip of 1918 will have some option in he choice of the wool brokers to whom they will send their output, so that they may not be forced to send their goods to brokers who may have acted wrongfully to those farmers in the past; and is he aware that this forcing of sales to particular individuals is a principle that goes further than any other Department has gone since the outbreak of the War?

I would refer the hon. Member to the replies given to the similar questions put by him on 28th January and 19th December last. It should be remembered that authorised merchants are merely commission agents acting under the direct supervision of the Department.

asked the Pensions Minister whether the scheme for the provision of medical aid for the widows and children of soldiers which was promised to the House on 6th March, 1917, has been put into operation; and, if so, whether he is prepared to consider the question of extending its scope so that it may also include the wives and children of soldiers who are now serving in the Army?

The scheme referred to was considered in connection with Article 10 (2) of the present Royal Warrant for the pensions of disabled men and widows, which allowed the Minister of Pensions "to deduct from any pension or allowance under Part II. of the Warrant the cost of any benefit which it may hereafter be decided to substitute for any part of the pension or allowance." I do not favourably view under present circumstances the scheme of making deductions from pension for the purpose, and the matter is for the present in abeyance.

What does the hon. Gentleman propose to do to provide medical treatment for these women?

That, of course, is another question altogether. That matter is under consideration. If the hon. and gallant Member will put down a specific question I shall be glad to answer it.

asked the Pensions Minister whether he has now been able to arrive at an agreement with the Welsh Insurance Commissioners so as to provide that in the future the cost of treatment of discharged and disabled men suffering from tuberculosis will be entirely borne by the Ministry of Pensions; and whether, as it is presumed that these men did not suffer from this disease when they entered the Army and contracted tuberculosis during their period of military service, he will explain why it is proposed that part of the cost of their treatment should now be borne by the funds provided under the National Insurance Act?

No such agreement as that referred to by the hon. and gallant Member has been considered, and I have no power under the terms of the Royal Warrant to pay the expenses of treatment so far as provision is otherwise made for them. Under the National Insurance Acts the provision of treatment for cases of tuberculosis in general falls upon the Insurance Commissioners and insurance committees. I have, however, made arrangements to defray the cost of treatment in certain classes of cases, namely, advanced cases of the disease and early cases sent for prolonged treatment and training to farm colonies; and in addition I have assisted the insurance authorities to provide additional Grants-in-Aid so as to secure preferential treatment generally for discharged men. The hon. and gallant Member's assumption that discharged men suffering from tuberculosis "did not suffer from the disease when they entered the Army and contracted tuberculosis during the period of military service" is incorrect with regard to a substantial proportion of the men.

asked the Home Secretary whether any person in the employ of the Home Office is known to have been in the pay or service of the secret police organisation of the ex-Czar Nicholas of Russia?

The answer is in the negative. The hon. Member may be referring to a Metropolitan Police officer who, after his retirement from the Force in 1912, and when he was free to take any employment he pleased, undertook certain inquiries on behalf of the Russian Government. This officer was not in the service of the Russian Secret Police, and his connection with the Russian Government ceased some time ago

When this officer undertook this work for a foreign Power, did he communicate the fact that he was doing it to the Home Office?

Has any hostility to this country ever been brought home to the ex-Emperor, and is not the question a mere cover to an ungenerous attack on him?

My hon. Friend must judge for himself. The man is perfectly free to do what he pleases.

asked the Home Secretary whether he will meet the public convenience by extending during summer time the period during which it is unnecessary to show lights on vehicles from half an hour after sunset to one hour after sunset?

I am advised that the present requirements with regard to lighting up could not be relaxed without prejudicing the safety of traffic, particularly pedestrian traffic, and I am not prepared to make any change.

asked the Home Secretary (1) whether the Commissioners appointed to select 100 constituencies in which the principle of proportional representation is to be tried will be required to obtain the consent of the electors of those constituencies and their representatives in Parliament before any such experiment is forced upon them;

The answer to the first two questions is in the negative. The third question is a matter for the Commissioners to determine.

What steps, if any, are being taken to ascertain the views of the representatives of the people in the various constituencies affected on the question?

I have answered that. The Commissioners have power to hold local inquiries, and I have not the least doubt they will do so.

Have they started on these local inquiries?

I really do not know. I do not control them.

How long after the Report is issued are these inquiries to be held?

They will be held before the Report.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that the Instructions to these Commissioners have not been laid before the House, and therefore we are entirely in the dark as to what is going on?

The Instructions are only those contained in the Act of Parliament. There are no others.

Will not the recommendations of the Commissioners come before the House for its sanction?

Yes.

asked the Home Secretary what action, if any, the Government propose to take against the Member of the House who is reported to have urged the workers of this country to adopt Bolshevik methods and start a revolution in this country, this statement being made at a meeting at which M. Litvinoff was present?

The Government do not propose to take action in this matter.

Will the right hon. Gentleman exercise the new powers he has by the Order in Council in the case of any alien publicly advising the people of this country to adopt Bolshevik methods?

I shall not hesitate to do so.

Will my right hon. Friend give the name of the Member who acted in the way referred to in the question?

It is hardly worth while giving the name.

Does the right hon. Gentleman adhere to the statement that a Member of this House advised the workers of this country to take Bolshevik action here, and, if so, does he still say the Member should not be prosecuted?

Having regard to the other 670 Members in this House, does not the right hon. Gentleman think, in justice to them at least, this name should be given out?

What reason is there why the name should not be given?

There is no reason except that it would not be worth while. It was the hon. Member for Burnley (Mr. Morrell) who made the statement that it was desirable that the people of this country should follow the example of Russia. I did not think it worth while to take any action.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that it is entirely untrue that the hon. Member made any such statement? I was present at the meeting and heard what was said.

Has the Home Office any proof that the hon. Member for Burnley did make the statement, and, if not, on what ground did the Home Secretary make his statement in the House?

It is entirely untrue.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the hon. Member for Burnley in this speech, which I heard, distinctly warned his audience against a physical force revolution?

We cannot discuss that question.

It is entirely untrue.

asked the Prime Minister whether he will arrange that the elected members of the Legislative Councils shall be invited to select one of the representatives of India who are to attend the sittings of the Imperial War Cabinet and so avoid the recurrence of the grievance felt by educated Indians last year?

The Imperial War Cabinet consists of the representatives of the Governments of the chief portions of the Empire. It is therefore impossible to adopt the hon. Member's suggestion.

asked the Prime Minister whether he can say, without detriment to the public interest, the nature of the work which General Smuts is now engaged on; and whether he is a member of or has a right to attend the sittings of the War Council?

There is no change in the position of General Smuts, who continues to be a member of the War Cabinet.

Will the right hon. Gentleman answer the first part of the question?

He is doing the general work of the Cabinet in the same way as other members.

Can the right hon. Gentleman say when General Smuts is likely to return to this country?

I shall be able to answer that when he has gone away.

Is it a fact that General Smuts, who is, perhaps, the one great character, is constrained to carry out the policy of Lord Milner in relation to—

The hon. Member is raising matter for debate.

asked the Prime Minister whether he will introduce some legislative measure to prevent any member of His Majesty's Government from either personally or through the medium of a nominee investing any money in any company, either British or foreign, which may be either directly or indirectly affected by the progress of the War day by day?

The answer is in the negative.

Can the right hon. Gentleman say whether, as Leader of the House, he will use his influence with the Coalition party to prevent them at least investing party funds in foreign securities for the duration of the War?

:I have not had my attention called to that, but the one reason why I did not answer the question in the affirmative is that I cannot imagine any business which has not been affected by the progress of the War.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that, in the opinion of the people of this country at least, a vast amount of the Liberal party funds were invested in Germany and South America before the War?