asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will state respectively the amounts of Income Tax contributed by Great Britain and Ireland for the years 1913–14 and 1914–15?

The amounts of Income Tax estimated to have been contributed by Great Britain and by Ireland in the years 1913–14 and 1914–15 are as follows:—

		1913–14.	1914–15.*
Great Britain	…	£42,431,000	£56,859,000
Ireland	…	1,374,000	1,863,000
* Approximate—final figures are not yet available.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he will arrange that medical practitioners who have undertaken to look after the health of troops during the War will be allowed pay while incapacitated through temporary illness contracted in the performance of such duties; and whether, if these medical officers become totally incapacitated through illness contracted while performing these military duties, he will arrange that they receive compensation for loss of health and practice?

I understand the hon. Member to refer to civilian medical practitioners who have not received a commission. Proposals to meet such cases are tinder consideration.

asked the Postmaster-General whether arrangements can be made, in the case of letters which have been opened by the censor in France, to have them sealed up before they are sent on through ordinary local post offices in England?

I am informed by the War Office that renewed instructions have been issued to officers censoring letters to see that the letters are properly closed before despatch.

asked the Postmaster-General whether his attention has been called to the French Red Cross postage stamp offered for sale at fifteen centimes, of which ten centimes go to pay postage and five centimes go to the funds of the French Red Cross Society for the sick and wounded; and whether he is prepared to issue a similar postage stamp for the United Kingdom at 1½d., ½d. of which should be allocated to the joint fund of the Order of St. John and the British Red Cross Society?

My attention has already been called to the French stamp, and I have received several suggestions for the adoption of a similar arrangement here. Such a method of collecting money for charitable funds would be costly and troublesome, for the introduction for sale at post offices of even one additional article involves a considerable increase of work in requisitioning, distributing, storing, checking, and accounting.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what steps have been taken by the Government to obtain a complete return and register of all enemy property, contracts, debts, patents, and interests of every kind in this country, and when the Government proposes to obtain such further information as may be required for the protection of British interests; whether the Government will give instructions to the Public Trustee as custodian, under the Trading with the Enemy (Amendment) Act, 1914, to ascertain or to assist British creditors of, enemies to ascertain the full extent of all property and debts due to an enemy who owes money to British creditors; and, in case of difficulty under the present Law, whether the Government intends to ask Parliament for the necessary powers forthwith; and whether the Government is prepared to hold enemies' property first for the payment of the enemy's debts in this country, and next as security for the good behaviour of the enemy in regard to British prisoners and British property in the enemy's hands?

Extensive steps have already been taken by the Government to obtain a return and register of enemy property in this country as is evidenced by the fact that the returns already made to the Public Trustee as custodian show the existence in this country of some £97,000,000 of property belonging to enemies. The Public Trustee has already co-operated with British creditors in assisting them to utilise the machinery provided by Section 4 of the Trading with the Enemy Amendment Act for the purpose of obtaining payment of debts due to them by enemies out of the property in this country of such enemies, and the question of introducing legislation to extend the provisions of the Act is at present under consideration. In considering the disposition of enemy property in this country due regard will be had to what is done with British property in enemy countries.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture whether, in the interests of the national food supply, he has considered the desirability of forbidding during the War the killing of calves and lambs; whether the high price of feeding-stuffs adds to the farmers' interest in providing butchers with lamb and veal rather than mutton and beef; and whether any restriction can during the War be placed on the export of feeding-stuffs to foreign countries?

The Board are now considering whether the prohibition of the slaughter of any particular class of animal is necessary or expedient in the interests of the national food supply. The export of feeding-stuffs has for the past nine months been subject to severe restriction.

asked the Post master-General whether he is aware that a mail contractor at Scarborough employs a driver from 4.30 p.m. to 10.30 p.m. six days a week; that in addition the man makes two post office attendances on Sunday, and has also to undertake other driving work for the contractor, making his average hours of work over eighty per week for a total wage of a guinea and whether he will inquire into the matter?

I am having inquiry made, and I will communicate with the hon. Member.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he will state the amounts which could be earned by a male telegraphist or sorting clerk and telegraphist for sixty hours' work in London and each of the five provincial classes, taking the mean of the prevailing scales and excluding any technical or language allowances; and whether he will give a similar Return for the female staff in the respective classes?

The earnings for sixty hours' day work on week-days in a single week by the officers referred to at the means of their respective scales would be as follows:—

	Male.		Female.
	s.	d.	s.	d.
Telegraphists, London	61	0	43	0
Sorting Clerks and Telegraphists—Provinces:—
Class I	55	0	39	0
Class II	51	6	36	0
Class III	49	0	35	0
Class IV	46	6	33	6
Class V	43	0	31	6

If any part of the work were performed at night the earnings would be somewhat higher, attendance between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. being reckoned at time and a seventh.