asked the Prime Minister if the Government is prepared with a scheme for the protection of the people in every part of the country against exorbitant prices of food being artificially created by speculators and trusts, and for the purpose of preventing unnecessary wastage in consumption; and if so does he contemplate putting such a scheme into operation.

The Prime Minister has asked me to answer this question. The matters to which the hon. Baronet refers have long been under the careful consideration of the Committee of Imperial Defence, and plans have been prepared for safeguarding the regular supply and distribution of food-stuffs. Detailed arrangements for carrying out these plans in the light of the present situation are engaging the attention of a Committee of the Cabinet in consultation with the Departments concerned. Meanwhile it is desirable that I should state emphatically that there are abundant supplies available, and that there is no justification whatever for panic prices.

asked the Prime Minister whether, in view of the comparative scarcity and high price of meat both in this country and abroad and its incalculable value as a national asset in times of extreme emergency, the Government will, if faced with the prospect of a European war, consider the desirability of making an appeal to the more prosperous classes in this country to economise, in the interests of their poorer fellow citizens, their consumption of this important commodity during the next few months?

I entirely endorse the hon. Member's appeal. It is in my opinion applicable to all classes of people and to all kinds of foodstuffs. I trust that the publicity thus given to the matter will have the effect desired.

asked the Prime Minister whether, in view of the present large dependence of the nation for its provision of bread-stuffs upon wheat coming from the Black Sea, the supply of which may be stopped or materially reduced in the immediate future, the Government will consider the desirability, in the national interest, of offering some financial inducement to British farmers to retain in stack on their own premises at the disposal of the Government either the whole or a large proportion of the wheat, and possibly other cereals, now being harvested in the United Kingdom?

The whole subject is receiving the earnest attention of His Majesty's Government.

asked the Prime Minister whether, in view of the present European crisis and the desirability of absolute solidarity among all classes and political parties in this country, he will consider the advantage of adjourning, for the present, this Session of Parliament, and so rendering impossible the continuance or development of acute party controversy with a consequent suggestion of internal discord to the minds of the subjects of Foreign Powers?

The matter referred to is receiving full consideration.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) whether he will be prepared to amend the provisions which appeared in the Second Schedule, Part I., of the Finance Bill, as introduced, when those provisions are embodied in the Revenue Bill, so as to make it clear that the Deficiency Grant to local authorities will be payable in respect of, and so as to make good, any disadvantage which may be suffered by the ratepayers of the individual authorities to whom the superseded Grants mentioned in the Third Schedule to the Finance Bill, as introduced, were hitherto paid; and (2) whether, having regard to the fact that under Part IV. of the Finance Bill, as introduced, it was not proposed to substitute any particular Grant for another Grant, he will, when the Revenue Bill is considered, amend the provisions in regard to Deficiency Grants which appeared in the Second Schedule, Part I., of the Finance Bill, as introduced, so as to make it clear that the Deficiency Grant will be paid in respect of any sum which may be necessary to prevent the ratepayers being put at a disadvantage owing to the benefit received from the proposed new Grants being less than the benefit received from the superseded Grants referred to in the Third Schedule to the Finance Bill, as introduced?

I am afraid that as regards these questions I am not in a position to give a definite reply at the present time.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether it is the practice of the Inland Revenue Commissioners to exact Income Tax in the case of manual workers earning more than £160; whether this practice is uniformly administered; whether any instructions on this subject have been issued by the Commissioners; and what is the number of manual workers assessed to Income Tax?

Manual workers earning more than £160 a year are liable to Income Tax assessment equally with other persons, and there is no discrimination in practice. No special instructions on the subject have been issued, and the Commissioners of Inland Revenue have no information as to the number who are assessed to Income Tax.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether he is aware that the present Secretary of the Irish Board of Works will have reached the age of sixty-five by March next; whether efforts are being made to retain his services for a further period; and will the Treasury see that the Civil Service rule is not evaded in this case?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. I am not aware of any efforts being made to extend his service; the third question does not therefore arise.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether his attention has been called to the fact that Mr. Overbeck, of Grimsby, who has duly taken out a patent for extracting the alcohol from beer so as to produce a temperance drink, is prevented by the Excise authorities from working his patent on the ground that it infringes Excise law and regulations; whether the Government wishes to encourage the production of temperance drinks; and whether the Government can see its way to permit this patent, which has been commercially proved, to be worked, and will, if necessary, introduce legislation for that purpose?

I regret that I can add nothing to the replies given by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer to the hon. Member for Grimsby on the 15th and 29th ultimo, beyond saying that I fear that I cannot commit myself to promote legislation on the subject.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury in how many friendly societies or branches it is necessary for schemes to be prepared and approved by the Registrar of Friendly Societies under Section 72 of the National Insurance Act, 1911, dealing with the private funds of such societies; and in how many cases final, not provisional, schemes have yet been approved?

Approximately 2,838 societies and 17,441 branches are under the obligation to submit schemes under Section 72 of the National Insurance Act, 1911. Of the branches, however, a considerable number belong to societies which centralise their sickness benefits, and therefore will not be required to submit separate schemes. 1,702 societies and 1,704 branches have submitted schemes-which have been confirmed by the Registrar of Friendly Societies.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether he can give particulars of the sum of £923 1s. 6d. for equipage allowance to the right hon. Ignatius O'Brien in Class VI. of the Supplementary Estimates; and why this sum was paid out of the Civil Contingencies Fund and is now being repaid to that fund?

This sum, which appears to represent £1,000 Irish, is always paid to the Lord Chancellor of Ireland on first appointment as an outfit allowance. In the absence of a Vote, to which the payment could appropriately be charged, it is customary to advance the money from the Civil Contingencies Fund and to make provision to recoup the fund in the Annual Vote for repayments.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether he is aware that three banks in Belfast have issued £30,000,000 in £1 notes and hold only £8,000,000 in cash, and that, in the event of financial relations between Belfast and London being interrupted, these notes could not be honoured; and whether, in order to prevent the loss which might occur, he will use such powers as he possesses either to restrict the circulation of £1 notes or to compel these Irish banks to hold cash sufficient to pay these notes in full?

The hon. Member does not appear to be correctly informed as regards the note circulation and cash reserve of the three banks in Belfast authorised to issue bank notes. The circulation is restricted by Sections 8 and 19 of the Act 8 and 9 Victoria, c. 37, and the returns made in accordance with statutory requirements to the Commissioners of Inland Revenue show that there has been strict adherence to these limits in every case.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether if the Estates Commissioners have yet completed the sale to the tenants of the estate of Mr. John Hart, B.L., of Bally-macramery, Saintfield, county Down, agreements for the purchase of which were entered into nearly nine years ago; and, if not, can he give the reason for the delay?

The reply to the first part of the question is in the negative. The estate referred to is the subject of proceedings for sale by the owner to the tenants direct under the Irish Land Act, 1903, and purchase agreements at prices agreed upon between the parties were lodged with the Estates Commissioners in September, 1906. The estate has been dealt with by the Commissioners, and the purchase money will be placed to credit as soon as the vendor furnishes in accordance with the rules prima facie evidence of his title to sell, but up to the present this has not been done.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty when he will be able to make a statement regarding the wages of Admiralty employés which axe now under consideration, in view of the fact that they are below the minimum of 22s. per week for men of twenty-three years of age and on full time, as fixed by the Post Office for the remuneration of its employés?

I may remind my hon. Friend that the minimum wage for labourers in the Royal dockyards and naval establishments was raised to 23s. (Haulbowline 22s.) as from 1st June, 1913. There are some pensioner messengers and labourers and packers at the Admiralty Office, and a few men engaged in other establishments, whose full-time emoluments are below 23s. I have gone through all the cases, and the necessary steps have been taken to secure an early decision respecting them.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether, in view of the fact that the high prices asked by the War Office for building land in the vicinity of their military establishments on Salisbury Plain have contributed to the existing shortage of local housing accommodation, the Army Council can see their way to grant sites on favourable terms for the erection of a sufficient number of workmen's cottages to make reasonable provision for the use of the population?

Yes, Sir. Steps will be taken for granting sites at the fair agricultural value of the land until a sufficient number of labourers' cottages can be provided to meet all the reasonable requirements of the civilian population.

asked the Secretary of State for War how many days, giving the dates, during 1913 the band of the 2nd Seaforth Highlanders was away from the regiment fulfilling musical engagements.

The dates on which the band of the battalion was absent from the regiment fulfilling musical engagements were as follows:—

asked the Secretary of State for War if he is aware that Messrs. Harper, of Leeds, Government contractors, have sub-let a contract for Army cloth finishing to Messrs. Burrows and Sons, Harcourt Mills, Leeds, and that the latter firm are not paying the standard rates of wages, namely, top-side cutting machine workers receive, respectively, 15s. per week instead of 23s. 1½d., 23s. per week instead of 27s. 9d., and 22s. per week instead of 27s. 9d.; a labourer is receiving 20s. per week instead of 5¼d. per hour; top-side giggers are receiving, respectively, 23s. per week in-stead of 5¾d. per hour, and 21s. per week instead of 5¾d. per hour; a yard man is receiving 19s. per week instead of 5¼d. per hour; a low-side percher is receiving 9s. per week instead of 11s. 7d.; and low-side cutters are receiving 8s. per week instead of 9s. 3d.; and if he will take action to ensure that the proper rates of wages are paid in accordance with the Resolution of this House?

Inquiry is being made into the matter.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether, in view of the fact that the Home Secretary is unable to do anything in the matter, he can take steps to prevent soldiers being chained together by the police except when accused of the most serious crimes?

I must refer the hon. Member to the replies given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department on Tuesday last, from which he will see that the circumstances of this particular case were clearly exceptional. Such a course is never adopted except when it is absolutely unavoidable.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether, under the new Army contract with Messrs. Borthwick, beef will again be supplied to the Army from carcases from Australia from which parts infested by parasitic worms have been cut out?

Provided the supplies offered are in strict accordance with the terms of the contract which safeguard the excellence and wholesomeness of the meat, they will be accepted as required.

asked the President of the Board of Education the number of officers of the Board who have resigned or been retired on grounds of ill-health during the last ten years, and the periods of sick leave preceding resignation or retirement in those cases?

Fifty-three officers of the Board have resigned or been retired on the ground of ill-health since July, 1904. The number of days of sick-leave which preceded resignation or retirement varied from 0 to 343. The number of days was less than fifty in twenty-two eases, between fifty and 100 in nine cases, and over 100 in twenty-two cases.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he has received official information of an address to Sir William Ellison-Macartney, passed unanimously by the Tasmanian Legislature, requesting him not to resign his office of Governor?

I have received no official information as to such an address, but I have seen the statement in the Press on the subject.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether the Government of India or the Secretary of State have received any complaints from Lushais regarding any of the tribal customs in force among them?

No complaints have reached the Secretary of State.

asked the Under-Secretary if he is aware of the statement, dated 26th January, 1910, issued and signed by the superintendent of Lushai, British India, reporting himself to have replied to a chief named Khanvelthanga, who was desirous of releasing his bawi, that it was not a Lushai custom, and the other chiefs might object as regards their slaves, and adding that if any other Lal's slaves came and a claim was established against them the usual ransom of 40 rupees each would have to be paid; and whether, in view of this recognition by a British official of slavery amongst the Lushai tribes, he will take steps to give these slaves their freedom?

The Secretary of State has not seen the statement attributed to the superintendent of the Lushai Hills except in an unofficial publication, which appears to give the statement quoted in the question on the authority of a clerk. In the passage to which the hon. Member presumably refers there is an important qualifying statement to the effect that the superintendent told the chief that it was right that the bawi should be released according to the Maharani's (i.e., British Sovereign's) custom.

asked whether bawi in the Lushai district in India can be compelled by their chief to live in his house and work for him without wages; whether those permitted to live elsewhere and earn wages are liable to have their earnings taken by the chief; and how long the Government propose to allow this system to continue?

I would refer the hon. Member to the answers given him on the 22nd July, and to the papers placed in the library at his request.

asked the Under-Secretary whether the compensation recoverable by a Lushai chief, which is recoverable as a judgment debt from any bawi who leaves his service, is what is described by the superintendent of the Lushai as the usual ransom of forty rupees; whether this is a payment to secure the bawi's freedom; whether the principle lately adopted by the Assam Government which fix this payment is a recognition and endorsement of the status of slavery; and what steps he proposes to take to bring to an end the existence of a status of slavery within the British Empire?

If the hon. Member will consult the papers placed in the Library he will see that the sum of 40 rupees releases an entire family, however large, from their obligations undertaken to the chief in return for free maintenance. I do not understand how he can distort into an endorsement of slavery the Government's declaration that any bawi is free to leave the chief's service.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India what is the aggregate amount of the subscriptions and donations, respectively, paid by the late Major-General Thomas Warren Mercer into the Bengal Military and Orphan Fund or other pension fund; and what amount of pension such payment would have entitled his widow and infant daughter to receive had his death occurred immediately before he discontinued to make his customary annual payment to such fund?

There is no record in this country of the late Major-General T. W. Mercer's aggregate payments to the Bengal Military Fund and Bengal Military Orphan Society, the bulk having been made in India. If the deceased officer had not withdrawn from the Bengal Military Fund, in 1894, after the death of his second wife, and from the Bengal Military Orphan Society in 1883, after his last child then living had ceased to have any claim to benefit, and if he had made the prescribed payments for his third wife and for his daughter, his widow would have been entitled to a pension of £250 6s. 4d. a year during widowhood from the Bengal Military Fund, and his daughter to a pension of £49 10s. a year up to the age of eighteen, and then of £40 a year until her marriage.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether he is aware that the late Major-General Thomas Warren Mercer entered the Indian Army in June, 1842, retired in 1877, and died in the month of January, 1910, leaving a widow and a young daughter; that during the period of fifty-two years Major-General Mercer paid the requisite annual subscription into the Bengal Military and Orphan Fund and also substantial donations upon his marriage to his first wife, who died shortly afterwards, as well as upon his second marriage some years later, and that no benefit whatever has been derived by any member of his family as the result of such payments; whether he is aware that Major-General Mercer applied, in or before 1898, for leave to continue his subscription in view of his contemplated re-marriage with the lady now his widow, and offered to pay all arrears of subscriptions and donations for the three years during which they had been discontinued, in accordance with the regulations of the Government fund, together with interest, but was refused permission, and that as the result of such refusal the wife of Major-General Mercer has been left without a pension or income of any sort and is now in necessitous circumstances, while the fund has received payments which aggregate over fifty-two years to a large sum; and will he say if the India Office is willing to treat Mrs. Mercer with the same generosity as would be given by a life assurance society of repute on a policy which, after fifty-two years' existence and payment of premiums, had lapsed?

The statements in the preliminary part of the question are in the main correct. The facts have been repeatedly under the consideration of the Secretary of State in Council. The late Major-General T. W. Mercer, having withdrawn from the Bengal Military Orphan Society in 1883 and from the Bengal Military Fund in 1894, applied in 1898, when, at the age of seventy-seven, he was contemplating marriage with a lady of about thirty years of age, for readmission to the Military Fund but not to the Orphan Society. His application was inadmissible under the regulations of the fund. Payment of the pensions secured to widows and orphans of officers of the East India Company's Service under the Regulations already involves a considerable annual charge on the Revenues of India, and the Secretary of State has found it necessary to adhere strictly to the regulations of the funds.

asked the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland) whether, in view of the freedom of Ireland from foot-and-mouth distemper, he is prepared to reconsider the existing scheduled areas and enable the livestock trade to resume normal conditions?

Restrictions on the movement of animals in Ireland are now confined to an area of about seven miles radius from the scene of the last outbreak in county Tipperary. The question of the return to normal conditions of the export trade in livestock to Great Britain is, of course, one for the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries. I am hopeful, however, that the position in Ireland will be regarded as warranting a substantial modification of the Board's present Regulations at an early date.