asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if under the provisions of the Intoxicating Liquor (Temporary Restriction) Act, he can issue an Order involving larger areas than are at present adopted, as various hours of restriction in small areas lead to much dissatisfaction, notably clubs and licensed victuallers?

I have no power to issue any Order under this Act. Its administration lies with the justices of licensing districts on the recommendation of chief constables.

asked the Secretary to the Admiralty, with reference to the estimates given in the War Pensions and Allowances White Paper, if he will state what the actuary estimates the additional cost of the new scales of pensions and allowances to be as compared with the old scales?

I am afraid that I can do no more than refer my hon. Friend to the answer given yesterday by the Financial Secretary to the War Office to my hon. Friend the Member for the Black-friars Division of Glasgow.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether the age concessions lately made for candidates for the Indian Civil Service only obtain in the case of candidates who have done military service; and, if so, whether the Secretary of State will reconsider such concessions, in view of the facts that men who are medically unfit for, or have sharked, military duty, are not likely to make the best Indian Civil servants, and that unsuccessful candidates will, under existing regulations, have lost their share of soldiering without any advantage to themselves and with loss to the State; whether such age concessions as have been made are insufficient, in view of the fact that they extend only to one year, while no one can join the forces for a less period than the length of the War; and whether the whole period of active service with the Colours should count for pension?

As is stated in the notice announcing the concessions, they apply only to such prospective candidates for Indian appointments as may have rendered field service during the present War. The concessions were settled in consultation with the Civil Service Commission after careful consideration of all circumstances, and they are thought not to be inadequate. The restriction to one year as a maximum of the period that a candidate may deduct from his actual age on account of military service had in view the fact that any such concession would, for candidates entitled to claim it, raise the age limit for the Indian Civil Service, and that it is doubtful whether the present age limit is not already too high. As regards the last part of the question, the pensions of Indian civilians are earned by duty in that service. Military duty rendered before an officer joins that service cannot be taken into account.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether, and to what extent, preparations are being made in the various camping grounds in the Kingdom, in addition to the canteen, for the recreation, entertainment, and instruction of the recruits of the Now Army?

Canteens as such are not provided, but the camps are equipped with buildings known as regimental institutes, which contain supper room, games room, corporals' room, kitchen, etc. Suppers and light refreshments are provided and such liquors as may be sanctioned by the officer commanding. For the purpose of the regimental institute, buildings are being hired or, in cases where local effort is forthcoming, a sum equivalent to that estimated as sufficient for the institute is allowed. Allowances are also made for the purchase of games and provision is made for lectures and instruction on military subjects and hygiene by selected officers, some of whom have returned from the front. Any assistance locally offered will, of course, be welcomed.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War if strict orders can be issued to those in command of His Majesty's Forces to prevent rum rations being forced on total abstainers in the Army?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the full reply I gave yesterday to the question put to me by the hon. Member for Haggerston.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that Minnie Halls, a domestic servant and a member of the National Amalgamated Approved Society, after being treated by her panel doctor for a poisoned finger on the 11th July, and subsequently sent by him to Charing Cross Hospital, where it was found necessary to operate on her finger, was instructed by an official of the society to fill up an accident form though she expressly denied that any accident had occurred; whether he is aware that, in consequence of this attempt to bring the employer under the Workmen's Compensation Act, she was unable to obtain the sickness benefit to which she was entitled under the National Insurance Act till three months after she was incapacitated from work; and what steps he proposes to take to prevent officials using such pressure as was applied in this case and to relieve the insured persons from the hardships which are caused by prolonged delay in the payment of benefits to which they are entitled under the Act?

Under Section 11 of the National Insurance Act, 1911, an approved society must ascertain before paying sickness benefit whether the member is entitled to compensation. My right hon. Friend is informed that, in the case referred to, delay was caused by the fact that the member changed her address during the progress of the inquiries.

asked the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland) if he will say what steps the Department has taken, and with what results, to extend the area under tillage throughout Ireland; if the Department has taken any steps corresponding to those in progress in England for availing of the present opportunity for industrial development, will he say in what places and what industries; and, in view of the scarcity of labour for these purposes, what steps the Department is taking to cheek the outflow of young and healthy people from Ireland?

The Department have, from the beginning of the present crisis, taken all practicable steps to bring, under the notice of farmers throughout the country the vital importance of a large development of catch-cropping and tillage, with a view to increasing food supplies. By means of a widely distributed series of special leaflets on various aspects of the subject, through the agency of agricultural instructors in each county, by means of the Press and in other ways, the Department have taken action and will continue to do so. At a meeting of the Council of Agriculture specially convened by the Department to deal with this question, a resolution was unanimously passed endorsing the action taken by the Department and urging upon farmers the necessity for a largely increased area under tillage and requesting the County Committees of Agriculture to adopt every means to promote the proposed measures among farmers and labourers. The Department also communicated with the County Committees with a view to having the subject fully discussed at their autumn meetings, at which inspectors and instructors of the Department-attended. In addition the Department have distributed in very large numbers a pamphlet entitled: "The War and Ireland's Food Supply" to all agricultural instructors and overseers (for circulation amongst farmers), to all seed retailers in the country, and to others likely to be in a position to assist. From special inquiries, the substance of which the hon. Member may have seen in a recent letter addressed by me to the Press, the Department have received gratifying proof that as a result of these efforts, the area under catch-crops has very materially increased in practically every county in Ireland.In regard to the question of the development of industries, I would refer the hon. Member to my reply to him of the 10th of September last. The Department have continued to give close attention to this subject, by means of special inquiries in England, and in other ways, with a view to utilising as far as possible the present situation for the development in Ireland of suitable industries. The Department's legal powers, however, in regard to industries are confined to the supplying of technical instruction and advice for the assistance of the promoters, and the furnishing, in approved cases, of the means of training skilled hands.

asked the Postmaster-General why Mr. Arnold Suttell, of Bradford, who applied three months ago for a new telephone service to an address in Lister Lane, Bradford, has recently been informed that no approximate date can be given on which the connection is likely to be made?

The delay has been due to the lack of spare wires in the underground cable in the neighbourhood. Another cable has now been laid and is being tested. If the test is satisfactory, Mr. Suttell's line will probably be completed in a fortnight.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has received a communication from the Sheffield Chamber of Commerce with reference to a proposed draft Order under the Factory and Workshops Act, 1901; and whether he will consider the desirability of holding a local inquiry into the matter before such Order is made?

I have received the communication referred to and I propose to direct the deputy chief inspector of factories to visit Sheffield and confer with the trades concerned.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will state the number of street traffic fatalities in the Metropolitan police area and the City of London caused by motor omnibuses, electric trams, taxi-cabs, light motor cars, heavy motor cars, other motor vehicles, and horse-drawn vehicles during the months of July, August, September, and October, respectively?

The particulars desired by my hon. Friend are as follows:—

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he can state the present position of the case in which the Crown is claiming its rights to the foreshore at Sea View, Isle of Wight; whether he is aware that the case has been dragging on for a considerable time, and that people have been deprived of their means of livelihood by the action of a private individual; and whether he can hold out any hope of the matter being speedily settled?

Since the reply given to a similar question on the 17th June last, considerable progress has been made in this case, but the ancient documents on which the case depends are very numerous, and the examination of them has necessarily occupied much time. The list of the documents involved extends over sixty pages and some of them date back as much as seven centuries. I can only repeat the assurance already given that, so far as the Board of Trade are concerned there will be no avoidable delay in prosecuting the action.