asked the First Lord of the Admiralty if the widows of the officers who lost their lives on the "Bulwark" are only receiving pensions on peace scale, whilst the widows of the men are receiving pensions on the war scale; and, if so, whether he can see his way to treat the cases of officers' widows on the war scale?

The widows of the men in question are receiving pensions on the war scale. As regards the officers, the award of pensions and allowances to the relatives of naval officers are made on three scales, namely:—

(a) The highest scale, which is awarded to the relatives of officers killed in action;

(b) The intermediate scale, which is awarded to the relatives of officers killed on duty but not in action; and

(c) The ordinary scale, which is awarded to the relatives of officers whose deaths are not attributable to the Service.

All awards to the relatives of officers who lost their lives in the "Bulwark" have been made on the intermediate scale, but the question of awarding pensions on the scale laid down for the relatives of officers killed in action is at present under consideration.

asked the Under-Secretary for War whether, in all cases before alien enemies were released between 1st January and 13th May by his order, the Home Office was consulted and concurred with the order of release?

The Home Office obtained a report from the police in each case, and submitted it to the War Office. The decision rested entirely with the War Office.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War if he will say who are the members composing the Board of Control of Canteens for the Army; whether they receive any and, if so, what salary; whether he is aware that the Board is deducting 5 per cent, per month from the takings of the regimental institutes; and whether, in view of the fact that this impost will cripple the institutes and make it impossible for them to continue the benefits hitherto accruing to the men, he will take steps to protect the regimental institutes by requiring the Board of Control to desist from making a deduction from their takings?

The composition of the Board of Control of Garrison and Regimental Institutes is as follows:—Chairman:Sir C. Nicholson, Bart, M.P.Members:

asked the Under-Secretary for War whether the pay of a junior temporary lieutenant in the Royal Army Medical Corps is £100 per year more than the pay of a captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps of the Territorial Forces, although the former may be and usually is absolutely new to military duties, and the latter may be and often is of ten years' standing as a commissioned officer in the Territorial Royal Army Medical Corps; and, if so, when will this inequality be rectified?

The pay of a medical officer serving under special contract, with the temporary rank of lieutenant, is greater than the pay and allowances drawn by a captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps, whether Regular or Territorial, though not to the amount stated. Proposals are under consideration which may affect the comparison.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office if he is aware that Messrs. Boots and Company, of Sheffield, the contractors for the erection of the huts at the Harley Hill military camp, Richmond, Yorkshire, suspend the work if it rains although there is plenty of inside work for the men to do; and whether, in view of the fact that many of these men are working a long distance from their homes, he will approach this firm with the object of inducing them to adopt a better system in connection with this contract?

Messrs. Boots and Company, of Sheffield, are employed at Richmond Camp under Messrs. Harper Brothers, War Department agents, who are responsible to the War Office for the construction. It appears that on two occasions since May 1st the work has been stopped on account of rain. No complaint has been made, either to the War Department agents or the supervising military staff, as to the system in operation. Such complaints, if made, would receive attention, every care being taken to make the workmen comfortable and to ensure that their reasonable wants are supplied.

also asked the Financial Secretary if he is aware that the Curled Hair Company, of Brown Street, Dublin, who have a contract for 2,000 soldiers' bedsteads, are letting the making of them piece-work at a price that the workman cannot make a decent wage; and whether he will enforce the provisions of the Fair-Wages Clause in connection with this contract?

No complaint has been received with regard to the firm named, but I will have inquiry made and will let the hon. Member know the result in due course.

further asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office if he is aware that the workmen employed at the Pitt Corner and Hursley Park military camps are allowed 9d. per day lodging money, plus ½d. an hour and one-hour, respectively, for walking timer whilst the men employed at the Brockton and Milford camps, near Stafford, which are under the control of Messrs. Trollope and Sons and Colls and Sons, receive only 6d. per day lodging money and no allowance for walking time, although many of them are compelled to live four or five miles from the camps; and whether he will take steps to place these men on an equality with men at the first-mentioned camps?

The War Department agents at Pitt Corner and Hursley Park, Winchester, pay men 9d. a day lodging money, and extra for "walking time" according to the distance they have to come. The agents at Brockton, near Stafford, do not pay lodging money nor for "walking time," but the men are paid 6d. railway fare if they elect to come from Stafford by rail; or, if they prefer it, they may have free lodging in camp. No complaints have been made to any War Office officials. The arrangement for wages is left to the War Department agents, who in these cases are firms of established reputation. It must be pointed out that the circumstances of Winchester are different from those, of Stafford. In the former case practically all the labour has to be brought from London, or come under the London rules, whereas in the latter case local labour and rules obtain.

asked whether steps are or have been taken to secure supplies from clothing contractors or manufacturers in this country and to employ the labour of both workers and machines at home before giving orders for garments in America; and will the Government give preference to home manufacturers, quality and price being equal to American goods?

The answer to both questions is in the affirmative. It is unlikely that any further orders for making up clothing will be placed outside the United Kingdom.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, in view of the fact that neither the Children Act, 1908, nor the Children (Employment Abroad) Act, 1913, was treated as controversial, he will initiate legislation to amend and extend those Acts in such manner as experience has shown to be expedient, after inquiring whether the proposed legislation would be regarded as non-contentious?

Even if the Amendments which my hon. Friend desires were non-contentious (and I have no assurance on that point), they are not rendered urgent by a state of war, and I do not feel able in existing circumstances to introduce legislation on this subject.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what measures are taken to prevent raw cotton from passing unhindered into Scandinavia; and can he say why no hindrance was placed in the way of importation into Scandinavia during the first three months of the present year of 54,000 metric tons of raw cotton over and above the amount imported during the same period of 1914?

Export of raw cotton from this country to Scandinavian countries is prohibited, and can only take place by virtue of a licence issued by the War Trade Department, who act on the advice of a special Cotton Exports Committee. Cotton on its way to Scandinavia from other countries than the United Kingdom is subject to the provisions of the Order in Council of 11th March, and if it is enemy property or with an enemy destination is not allowed to proceed. As regards the reasons for not declaring cotton to be contraband of war, and thus not preventing it going to Scandinavia prior to the issue of the Order in Council, I would refer the Noble Lord to the answer given on this subject by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to the hon. Member for East Nottingham, on 4th February, of which I am sending him a copy.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, in view of the unusual character of the German attacks on unarmed merchant vessels, whether the Government would ask all neutral Governments to allow merchant vessels, armed for purposes of defence only with a gun in the stern, to be allowed to trade with their ports in spite of the fact that they carry a gun?

Merchant vessels of a belligerent Power are entitled, by the established and uninterrupted usage of the sea, to carry and use an armament in self-defence. Several neutral Governments were communicated with in this matter at the outbreak of war, and several more have been approached since, as circumstances suggested. The principle of merchant ships carrying arms for self-defence has been generally recognised, and British ships so armed have been trading regularly with various countries since an early stage in the War.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland how many national schools there are in each junior inspector's district in the counties of Waterford, Cork, Kerry, Clare, Galway, Mayo, Sligo, and Donegal, in which the pupils or any number of the pupils speak Irish, or which are situated in districts in which Irish is spoken by the adult population, and which will also show in how many of these schools the teachers are competent to give instruction through the medium of Irish; in how many of these schools instruction is given through the medium of Irish; in how many schools in such Irish-speaking or semi-Irish-speaking districts Irish is taught as an extra subject; and in how many schools in such Irish-speaking or semi-Irish-speaking districts Irish is neither used as a medium of instruction nor taught as an extra subject?

I regret that I am unable to authorise the considerable expenditure of time and money involved in the preparation of the Return asked for at the present juncture, when the staff of the Board of National Education is depleted owing to the absence of a number of its members on military service.

also asked the number of King's scholars who passed the entrance examination in Irish for the Marlborough Street, Kildare Street, and St. Patrick's Training Colleges, Dublin, Carysfort Training College, Blackrock, and the Limerick, Waterford and Belfast Training Colleges, respectively, in each of the following years: 1910, 1911, 1912, 1913 and 1914; the number of students who passed the leaving examinations in each of these colleges in the years named; and the number of such students who received certificates of competency to teach Irish?

There is no entrance examination in Irish for any of the training colleges. Irish may, however, be taken as an optional or alternative subject at the King's Scholarship Examination by candidates for admission to the various training colleges, and the number of King's scholars who passed in Irish in this way, in the years 1910 to 1914, is shown in the first of the following tables. The information asked for in the second and third parts of the question is given in Tables II. and III.:—

TABLE I.
Training College.		1910.	1911.	1912.	1913.	1914.
Marlboro' Street, Dublin	…	14	32	7	8	13
St. Patrick's, Dublin	…	42	54	54	46	51
Our Lady of Mercy, Blackrock	…	36	75	51	76	70
Church of Ireland, Dublin	…	Nil.	Nil.	Nil.	Nil.	Nil.
De La Salle, Waterford	…	55	84	59	71	59
St. Mary's, Belfast	…	26	33	24	34	35
Mary Immaculate, Limerick	…	28	27	40	37	47
TABLE II.
Marlboro' Street, Dublin	…	185	105	163	98	128
St. Patrick's, Dublin	…	83	71	80	70	71
Our Lady of Mercy, Blackrock	…	84	110	86	107	87
Church of Ireland, Dublin	…	72	56	71	52	67
De La Salle, Waterford	…	92	98	89	95	75
St. Mary's, Belfast	…	48	50	47	48	48
Mary Immaculate, Limerick	…	50	47	53	45	54
TABLE III.
Marlboro' Street, Dublin	…	4	3	7	9	Nil.
St. Patrick's, Dublin	…	12	17	15	22	11
Our Lady of Mercy, Blackrock	…	3	7	15	22	17
Church of Ireland, Dublin	…	Nil.	Nil.	Nil.	Nil.	Nil.
De La Salle, Waterford	…	3	28	33	32	19
St. Mary's, Belfast	…	8	21	20	19	10
Mary Immaculate, Limerick	…	2	7	12	7	9

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if he will ascertain and state how the chair of national economics in the National University of Ireland has been filled during the last twelve months, with the average number of students; of

This is not a subject within my responsibility, but I have obtained from the university authorities the following information, which I am willing to place at the disposal of the hon. Member. I am informed that the occupant of the chair of national economics, which is in University College, Dublin, volunteered for military service at the beginning of the session 1914–15, after obtaining the permission of the governing body of the college. The governing body thereupon appointed the professor of commerce in the college to act as substitute during the absence ofthe professor of economics on military duty, and the former gentleman has discharged all the duties of the chair during the session. The stipend attaching to the chair is £500, and of this sum the substitute receives a remuneration at a fixed rate for lectures and examination duties which was considered by the governing body to be substantially equivalent to the Army pay which the professor of national economics would receive over the period of the year, while the balance of the stipend is paid to the latter. The students attending the classes in national economics are either preparing for the degree of Bachelor of Commerce or seeking honours degrees in economics, and averaged eleven in the session.

asked the Chief Secretary whether his attention has been called to a recent decision in the High Court under the Licensing (Ireland) Act, 1906, by which it would appear to be illegal for an hotel proprietor to supply meals to a person staying at his hotel on a Sunday, as a hotel is a mixed business, while he may supply him with drink; and whether he will consider the desirability of immediately introducing an amending Bill?

There has been no such decision as is suggested in the question. The effect of the judgment of the High Court in the case referred to was stated in the reply I gave to the hon. Member on the 15th ultimo, and I have nothing to add to the last paragraph of that reply as to the desirability of legislation in the matter.

asked the President of the Board of Education if it is a condition of the employment of children of school age that their hours of labour, remuneration, and general conditions of employment shall be subject to the approval of the Board of Education?

I would refer the Noble Lord to the answers I have already given to the hon. Members for Leigh and Houghton-le-Spring on 1st July and to the hon. Member for Brighton yesterday.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture whether expenditure incurred by a county council in conducting experiments in its county with regard to injections against epizootic abortion will rank for grant, under the regulations of the Board of Agriculture; and, if so, under which class of grants?

Any expenditure incurred by a local education authority in making agricultural experiments which have an educational value may, if approved by the Board, be aided under the provisions of Class II., paragraph 23, of the Regulations for Grants in aid of Agricultural Education and Research [Cd. 7841].

asked the Secretary for the Colonies whether the compensation to settlers in Victoria who have sustained losses by the failure of the irrigation system is to take the form of wiping out the rent for three years, or merely to postpone for three years the collection of the rent with interest for that period; and, if the latter, whether this is the only measure of compensation proposed?

I understand that the compensation as at present arranged takes the form of postponement of payment of rent for three years. Whether any further compensation is called for is a matter that rests entirely with the Government of Victoria.