asked the First Lord of the Admiralty what recognition has been given or will be given of the courage of the late Captain Parslow, of the "Anglo-Californian," and of his men who were killed or wounded, and of the survivors who brought the ship into port after an encounter with an enemy submarine?

As I indicated in my reply to the hon. Member for the Ever-ton Division on Tuesday, the matter is now under consideration.

asked the Secretary to the Admiralty whether his Department has placed any orders for blankets with Scottish manufacturers since the beginning of January; if so, to what extent; and will he say whether any of these have been placed with carpet manufacturers whose trade has been severely injured by the War but who have been in the early months of the War making blankets for the Navy through middlemen?

No purchases of blankets have been made from Scottish manufacturers by the Admiralty since the beginning of January, 1915.

asked the Minister of Munitions whether he will cause inquiry to be made as to whether the factory at Woolwich is working short time or is not fully occupied with work; whether he is aware of the uneasiness caused amongst munition workers in the North who are being pressed to work and who, in many cases, are working long

The following statement deals seriatim with allegations made with regard to the work of the Royal Gun Factory, Woolwich:—

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he will give the widest publicity to the address of the new Inventions Committee and to such regulations as are deemed necessary as to the drawings, models, and methods of communication with the Committee which inventors should adopt, and as to the directions in which the Committee are seeking inventions and the assistance it is prepared to give to the development of approved ideas?

I assume my hon. and gallant Friend refers to the new Inventions and Research Board. A further announcement as to the personnel and functions of the Board will be published shortly.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether, although in the scheme of drafting soldiers into munition factories these soldiers are receiving the proper rates of pay for their work, some soldiers who have been put on munitions work are not being paid anything in excess of their military pay; and, if so, will he take steps to abolish this differentiation?

If the hon. Member will communicate to me details of the case he has in mind, I will inquire into the matter.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether a temporary lieutenant of the Royal Army Medical Corps who signs on for one year only or duration of the War, if less than one year, receives 24s. per day, whereas a captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps, Territorial Force, or other branches such as the Special Reserve, who have served for some years and have no option of withdrawal until demobilisation, are only paid about 22s. per day; and whether he will consider the possibility of redressing such disparity of pay, especially having in mind the fact that the medical officers of the Royal Army Medical Corps, Territorial Force, have in the vast majority of cases had to give up their private practices?

This question is still under consideration, but I hope to be in a position to announce a decision very shortly.

asked the Financial (Secretary to the War Office whether he is aware that the War Office, on 27th October, 1914, issued instructions, in connection with separation allowance, that the pension officer shall report through the local pension committee or sub-committee; whether he is aware that the Local Government Board (Ireland) issued instructions on 13th November, 1914, directing the pension officer to send claims agreed upon direct to the various paymasters or the Admiralty; and whether he will say why the rule made by the War Office on 27th October, 1914, is not strictly adhered to, namely, that all claims should be sent through pension committees, or sub-committees?

The instructions issued by the Local Government Board, Ireland, were framed with the object of securing an early payment of the allowance to the soldier's dependant, and avoiding the delay likely to be caused by reference to London in the event of difference of opinion between the pension officer and the pension committee. It is, of course, understood that the right of appeal against the assessment is in no way affected; and all appeals are referred to the pension committees.

asked the Postmaster-General whether his attention has been called to delays in the delivery of letters between Portsmouth and London; and whether he is taking any steps to ensure an improvement in this service?

The course of post between Portsmouth and London is naturally not quite so convenient as in time of peace. My right hon. Friend regrets that in existing circumstances it is not possible to provide a more expeditious service.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture whether, in view of the fact that more than half the world's consumptive needs of sugar is produced in countries where war is raging and by their dependencies, and in view of the contemplated inevitable shortage of sugar in 1916–17, and of the recommendation contained in the Report of Professor Orwin on the cultivatioin of sugar beet in the West of England, the Government propose to encourage the production of Homegrown sugar?

Perhaps I may refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for the Attercliffe Division of Sheffield, in reply to a somewhat similar question on the 5th inst. I have nothing to add at present to that reply.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether the Estates Commissioners have received a memorial signed by the smallholders in the vicinity protesting against the sale to Lord Castle-town of the untenanted lands of Coolacurra which adjoin Lord Castletown's demesne at Granstown, Queen's County, and requesting the Commissioners to refuse to sanction the sale of 133 acres of untenanted land to one individual, to the detriment of a large number of uneconomic holders in the district; and can he say what course the Commissioners propose to adopt in the matter?

The reply to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. As I stated in my reply to the hon. Member of the 8th ultimo, an agreement, signed by the owner and tenant for the purchase of 133 acres of Coolacurra, has been lodged with the Estates Commissioners, but it has not yet come up for consideration, and they are unable to anticipate their decision in the matter.

asked what steps have been taken by the Estates Commissioners to reinstate in a suitable holding Jeremiah O'Keeffe, of Toor, Duagh, North Kerry, an evicted tenant of the Timothy Buckley estate; and whether, owing to the numerous representations made on behalf of O'Keeffe, the Estates Commissioners will now take action and give him a suitable holding?

The Estates Commissioners have decided not to take any action on the application of Jeremiah O'Keeffe for reinstatement in a holding on the Buckley estate, county Kerry, formerly occupied by his deceased father and now in the possession of a tenant purchaser under the Land Purchase Acts, and they do not propose to provide O'Keeffe with a holding elsewhere.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he is aware, with reference to the 1908 increase of pay granted to prison warders in Ireland, that this sum worked out at 4½d. per week for the men as against £50 per year for the governors; whether he is aware that there are nine small prisons in Ireland which do not require the services of any governor, the abolition of which office would be of no hurt to the service and a gain of £2,700 a year to the public funds; whether he is aware that for the last twelve months the prisons of Kilkenny, Galway, and Armagh have been without governors and the work has nevertheless been done satisfactorily; and whether, under all these circumstances, he still adheres to his decision not to receive a deputation to lay before him the full statement of the case on behalf of the prison warders of Ireland?

The revision of pay granted to ordinary prison warders in Ireland in 1908, which raised both the initial and the maximum rate, involved an immediate weekly increase to all of them varying from 9½d. in the case of those having less than eleven years' service, to 3s. 10d. for those having eighteen years or over. The reclassification of prison governors in 1909 involved an increase in the salaries of one governor by £150 per annum, of nine by amounts varying from £50 to £100, and a reduction of six by £50 on the minimum of the scale for future holders. I cannot agree that there are nine small prisons, the governorship of which would be abolished without detriment to the public service. The governors of Galway and Kilkenny are at present employed on military duty, while the governor of Armagh prison was for a short period detached for duty at another prison, but I have no ground for believing that these arrangements can necessarily be made permanent. As I stated in my reply of the 5th instant, I am continuing to give this question my careful consideration, but I still do not consider that any good purpose would be served by my receiving at the present time a deputation of the warders, of whose case I have been kept duly informed.

asked the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland) whether a serious outbreak of disease has occurred to fowl in any part of the North of Ireland; when was the matter reported to him; have any steps been taken in the matter; and will he state who would be the authorities who should report in such an event occurring?

Each county committee of agriculture in Ireland employ one or more poultry instructors, and it would naturally fall within the scope of these instructors' duties to report through the county committee any serious or widespread outbreak of disease in poultry within their respective districts. No report of such a nature has been received by the Department within the past few months.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will give the comparative figures of the export of morphia and opium compounds from the United Kingdom for the first six months of 1913, 1914 and 1915; whether people sending morphia compounds by post have to declare the contents; and whether the exports to China show any increase?

The following statement gives the information desired by the hon. Member:—

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will state the names and addresses of the insurance companies registered in the companies' department of the Board of Trade during the year 1914; the names of the companies struck off the Register; and the names of the companies ordered to be wound up in the High Court and County Courts during the same year?

The information desired is given in the following lists as far as possible, but the second list may not be quite complete, and it includes the names of companies which were previously in liquidation, but were not struck off the Register until the year 1914:—(1)

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he can state approximately how much of the excess of British imports over exports for the last twelve months in respect of which returns have been published represents interest on British capital invested abroad, and how much represents freight and insurance paid to British shipowners and insurers?

A calculation such as is suggested by my hon. Friend is a matter of great difficulty for any period, owing to the incompleteness of the data available; and I could not possibly undertake to frame any estimate for so short and recent a period as that mentioned in the question.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether he will state the number of births registered, the number of certificates of exemption from vaccination received, the percentage of exemptions to births, and the percentage of children ultimately un-vaccinated, for the years 1913 and 1914, inclusive?

I gave these figures, so far as they are available, in reply to a question by the hon. Member for East Manchester on 1st July.