asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department as representing the Royal Commission on Sugar Supplies, if he will state what are the prices at which the sugar bought by the Government has been sold to the refiners; at what prices the refiners have been authorised to charge their product to dealers; at what prices dealers has been authorised to pass on their product to retailers; at what prices retailers have been authorised to sell to the public; and giving all the determinations which have been made since the sugar supply was undertaken by the Royal Commission?

It would not be proper for me to anticipate the results of the Commission's deliberations, which will be laid before the House of Commons in due course in an Official Report which must first be presented to the King.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that upwards of 600 men now employed in the London postal service for members of the porter class who are serving with the Colours are only being paid 24s. per week, which is 2s. per week below the minimum wage of their class; and, if so, will he arrange that these temporary porters shall in future be paid not less than 26s. per week?

The rate of pay of men employed as temporary porters in London is at present under review, and I will consider the hon. Member's suggestion.

asked the Chief Secretary what districts in Ireland the provisions of the Intoxicating Liquors (Temporary Restriction) Act, 1914, have been put into operation and the hours during which licensed premises have been closed in each case under the powers conferred by Section 1 of the Act?

My right hon. Friend is not yet in a position to answer this question. The necessary information is being obtained, and I hope to be able to send my hon. and learned Friend a complete statement in the course of a few days.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War what provision has been made for the drainage of the building, etc., at Handforth Cheshire, where a large number of German subjects are interned; and whether competent persons consider the arrangements adequate?

This has been considered by military sanitary officers and by the local authorities. It is not anticipated that insanitary conditions will arise. Should it be found that there is any danger, a scheme to deal with it has already been drawn up.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War if there would be any objection to the publication by the War Office of any specially noteworthy Order of the Day issued in connection with the services of regiments at the front?

I would refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave yesterday to the Noble Lord the Member for Portsmouth. The Orders of the Day in question are not, under present practice, sent to the War Office.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether non-commissioned officers between forty and forty-five, who are liable for foreign service in the event of their rejoining, and who are at present in receipt of the maximum pensions of their rank, will, in the event of disablement, receive in addition the full wound pension or only the extra amount required to bring their existing pension up to such amount?

Under existing regulations the full wounds pension includes service pension, but there is a considerable margin between the two, and previous service and the pension already earned by it would be taken into account in making the award.

asked the Home Secretary whether he can state the number of Austrian and German colliers who have, been arrested as alien enemies in South Wales, and the number of Welsh or other British women married to these; and whether such women and their children are receiving relief from any public sources?

The number of Germans, Austrians, and Hungarians resident, in Glamorganshire who have been interned as prisoners of war is 278. I have no sufficient information to enable me to state how many of these persons were colliers, or how many have British wives. Any such wives will have the benefit of the arrangements for relief which are being organised by the Local Government Board.

asked the Under-Secretary for War (1) whether the War Office is instructing officers to use influence and persuasion which practically deprives recruits of their legal right to refuse inoculation; and whether soldiers who are physically fit for service at the front are being kept at home solely because, whilst willing to face the enemies' bullets, they decline to risk being poisoned before starting by the inoculation by their own officers of disease into their blood; and (2) whether he is aware that a number of recruits in both the Territorial and the Regular Army have been made ill and unfit for service for days and sometimes weeks by vaccination and inoculation; and whether, in view of the importance to the Empire of fitting them for service at the earliest possible moment, he will, in the case of unwilling soldiers, instruct officers to cease from exercising influence and persuasion, which in most cases amounts to compulsion, or, in the alternative, will have all recruits informed before enlisting that, their legal right to exemption is illusory?

The position in regard to vaccination and inoculation in the case of the Regular and Territorial Forces has been frequently stated. I cannot accept my hon. Friend's questions as correctly summarising the existing regulations and instructions, and the conclusions he draws are, consequently, in the opinion of my advisers and of my Noble Friend the Secretary of State, also inexact. I may add that I cannot find that soldiers have been kept at home owing to difficulties about inoculation. The presence of inoculated men amongst the troops is an undoubted source of danger.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury if he will state the terms of the instructions issued by the Treasury recently to the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland on the subject of loans in Ireland?

The issue of loans in Ireland is the subject of correspondence between the Treasury and the Board of Works, which is still continuing. As the hon. Member is no doubt aware, the Board of Works is empowered to issue loans under some forty different Acts, and the instructions given in regard to each particular loan or class of loans must depend partly on the circumstances of each case. Generally speaking, these instructions are based on the principle that the advances from the Local Loans Fund in the year beginning August last must be restricted within the maximum limit of advances to be made by the Board of Works fixed by the Public Works Loan Act, 1914, and that within this limit advances should be confined as far as possible to works of necessity which will obviate or relieve distress from unemployment, preference being given to those which (in view of the percentage of expenditure on labour) will have the largest effect in this way. The same principle is being adopted in regard to issues by the Public Works Loan Board in Great Britain. The instructions given in regard to loans under the Land Improvement Acts and the Land Law (Ireland) Act, 1881, were stated in the reply to the question put by the hon. Member for South Wexford on the 16th instant.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if a Local Government Board inquiry was held in Wexford on the 1st day of July last, with the result that the loan was sanctioned by the Board of Works for the corporation of Wexford to build forty-four artisans' dwellings in the town of Wexford; and will the Treasury grant the corporation the loan as a matter of urgency as the houses are very badly needed?

As a result of the inquiry referred to in the question, the Local Government Board sanctioned a loan of £10,000 for working-class dwellings, but pointed out that the decision as to whether the loan could be made from public funds would rest with the Treasury. The Wexford Corporation have since applied for the loan to the Board of Works, who stated, in accordance with the general instructions which they have received from the Treasury, that they were not prepared to proceed with the case as it did not appear to be urgent. The corporation replied, giving their reasons for regarding their case as urgent, and the Board of Works are making further inquiries, and, pending the result of them, I cannot give an undertaking that the loan will be granted.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland, whether he is aware that Mrs. Mary Cullen, a claimant for an old age pension in the borough of Kilkenny, is shown six years in the age last birthday column in the Census of 31st March, 1851, and was thus admittedly over 69 years on 31st March last; whether claimant's statement that she was born on 15th June, 1844, the recurring date of a local fair and two months before the death of a relative whose death-date is recorded on a tomb, has been disregarded by the pension officer and on appeal by the Local Government Board for Ireland though the pension committee are quite satisfied; whether the official authorities insist on regarding the interval between the said Census date and the last birthday as only two months, though the average interval is six months, in every case where there is no direct documentary evidence of the birthday date and compel the pension officers to act as stated, however satisfied they may be of the bona fides of the statements; and whether, seeing that the claimant's statement re her birthday is bon â fide and corroborated, he will undertake to remedy the grievance and have the pension paid as from 19th June last when the same was passed by the committee.

There is no evidence as to the date of birth of the claimant, Mrs. Mary Cullen, beyond her own statements. and in the circumstances the Local Government Board could not depart from the general rule adopted by them, which is to regard, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, persons found to be aged six in 1851 as attaining the age of seventy on the 1st February, 1915, that is two months earlier than their age calculated exactly in accordance with the Census. It is now open to the claimant to make a fresh claim, which could be allowed as from the 1st February, 1915, provided she is eligible in other respects for a pension.

asked the Chief Secretary on what grounds the old age pension claim of Michael Murphy, of Driminaffrin, in the Bangor Erris, county Mayo, sub-pension district was disallowed, on appeal by the Local Government Board; and, if on the question of means, will he state on what basis the calculation of means was made?

The old age pension claim of Michael Murphy was disallowed on the ground of means. It was reported that the claimant assigned two farms to an unmarried son in February, 1912, the return from which would have brought his means over the statutory limit. There were twenty-three cattle and twenty sheep on the farm, besides one horse and some fowl, when the case was investigated.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if his attention has been called to an advertisement which appeared in the "Independent" newspaper, and reproduced in the "Irish School Weekly," of 7th November, 1914, stating that principalship and assistantship in the same school, or principalships in adjoining schools, were required by young husband and wife, with highest reports and references, who could train and conduct a choir, a £20 reward being offered; will he say if the Commissioners of National Education sanction the traffic in school appointments which such advertisements indicate; and, if not, do they propose to take any steps to bring to an end the purchase and sale, of teacherships in Irish national schools?

An advertisement of the nature referred to appeared in the "Irish Independent" newspaper of the 2nd November. The Commissioners of National Education do not sanction traffic in school appointments, and they have, whenever possible, taken steps to put an end to the practice, which, however, they do not think prevails to any serious extent.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether he will explain how qualified civilian English-teaching schoolmasters can be obtained for the regimental schools of the Indian Army at the rate of pay of only a little over 1s. a day; if any portion of the new Grant of Rs. 61,032 for educational improvements in Indian Army regimental schools is to be devoted to improving the pay of the English-teaching schoolmasters; and whether duly qualified inspectors of Indian regimental schools will be appointed to ensure a uniform standard of education throughout the Indian Army?

I would remind the hon. and gallant Member that the Government of India consider that the existing standard of education in the Indian Army is satisfactory. Details regarding the new Grant of Rs. 61,032 for educational improvements in Indian Army regimental schools are not available. The Secretary of State is not aware of any present intention on the part of the Government of India to appoint inspectors of these schools, and the time is not opportune for considering schemes involving additional charges on the Army Estimates.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether the Secretary of State for India, as the honorary Admiral of the Royal Indian Marine, will represent to the Admiralty the claims of the officers and crew of the Royal Indian Marine ship "Minto," and of other officers and men of the Royal Indian Marine who were engaged with the Royal Navy in the suppression of gun-running during the last few years in the Persian Gulf, to receive the medal which has been struck by the Admiralty to commemorate that service?

As the hon. and gallant Gentleman is aware, the Government of India are reserving for the present, with the Secretary of State's concurrence, the question of recognising the services of the officers and crew of the R.I.M.S. "Minto." In the circumstances the Secretary of State does not see his way to press the hon. Member's suggestion on the Admiralty, who are already in possession of the views of the Government of India upon the whole subject. The hon. Member might refer direct to the Admiralty, as I suggested in a previous answer.

asked the Post master-General if supplementary or auxiliary postmen employed in Nottingham have been dismissed recently; if so, how many; and what is the reason which led him thus to reduce the number of men in Government employ and consequently to increase the number of men out of work?

I have sent a written communication to my hon. Friend ex plaining the circumstances in which the services of some of the temporary Post Office staff at Nottingham were dispensed with.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether the Government is considering the question of fixing special railway rates for all homegrown products, especially in view of the fact that in France and other countries the railways make special terms which are more advantageous to the trader than those obtaining in our country?

I do not think the Board of Trade could usefully undertake an investigation of so general a character at the present juncture, but I would remind my hon. Friend that the whole position of the railways is now the subject of investigation by a Royal Commission.