asked the Minister of Munitions whether a small expert Committee of the Allied Nations could be promoted to consider how far standardisation of supplies of munitions could be carried out for the armies and fleets?

My right hon. Friend doubts whether the appointment of such a Committee at this time would lead to any practical result.

asked the Secretary to the Admiralty whether he will give the cost, average cost per head per diem, of housing and feeding the prisoners of war now in Great Britain, distinguishng separately the cost in the case of officers and men?

I will reply at the same time to Question No. 1 on behalf of my right hon. Friend. The cost to the public of food, water, fuel and light, furniture and sanitary services is about 1s. a day for men and about 3d. a day for officers, who pay for their food. The cost of buildings cannot be stated as a rate per day, as the period of occupation cannot be foreseen.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War why no dispatch or official Report of the operations in the Persian Gulf has been published; is it intended to publish any Report dealing with the operations which commenced in November, 1914; and, if not, are the services of the officers and men of the forces so engaged to be left without recognition?

Dispatches regarding the operations in Mesopotamia were published in the "Gazette of India" on the 26th February last, and further dispatches have been received and are being considered by the Government of India with a view to publication. I am discussing with the Admiralty and the War Office the desirability of reproducing these dispatches or their substance in the "London Gazette." In any case I hope to take steps to ensure due recognition of the services of the officers and men whose work has been commended.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War if he is aware that collieries producing toluene for Government purposes are handicapped by the manner in which their men are taken away by the recruiting officer; and will he endeavour to secure a better co-ordination of plans between those officials whose business it is to enlist men employed at collieries and those who are pressing colliery owners for products urgently required for munitions, the output of which is being restricted by recruiting?

The question of the limitation of the enlistment of coal miners is engaging the careful attention of the Secretary of State, in conjunction with the Home Office.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether early in the War the President of the Institute of British Architects submitted plans for wooden huts and offered the services of a number of qualified architects and surveyors; and if full advantage was taken of the offer of such plans and services with beneficial results?

The President of the Royal Institute of British Architects offered the services of the Institute in its corporate capacity to assist in any work carried out by the War Department. This offer was made in May, 1915, by which time the greater part of the work was finished, and hence comparatively little advantage could be gained by the War Department availing itself of the offer. No plans for wooden huts were submitted "early in the War" by the president. A number of qualified architects and surveyors have offered themselves for service under the War Department, and, after careful examination of their qualifications, several of these have been selected. At the beginning of the War the President of the Royal Institute of British Architects was asked to send in the names of suitable men, and several of these have been given employment.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War if he will ascertain whether the will of the late Sergeant Benjamin Carter, 17th Company Royal Engineers, 27th Division, Fifth Army, killed in action about 1st May, about which Messrs. Engall and Crane, solicitors, 44, Bedford Row, W.C., wrote to the War Department on 31st May, 21st June, and 10th July, on behalf of Miss Ethel Brown, who was engaged to be married to Sergeant Carter, without receiving any reply, has been received from the base at which he handed it in before going into action in which he was killed, or can he give any information on the subject, as there is an insurance policy which has to be dealt with?

An informal will left by Sergeant Carter has been received, and inquiries are being made as to the circumstances in which it was executed with a view to deciding whether it is valid or not. The result will be communicated as soon as possible to Messrs. Engall and Crane, and they have been informed to this effect.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War if he is aware that Private B. Kavanagh, E Company, 3rd Battalion Royal Irish Rifles, regimental number 6,824 joined his regiment as the result of a recruiting meeting held in New Ross five months ago; whether his father and mother through their solicitor applied for his discharge to his commanding officer at Portobello Barracks, Dublin, on the grounds that he was under eighteen years of age, which was proved by a certificate of his baptism, dated 12th January, 1898, enclosed; can he say if the officer replied; and will he see that the boy, being under age, is discharged?

I have no information about this particular case, but a discharge on the ground of age can only be claimed if the man concerned is under seventeen at the time the application is made and is serving at home. In the present case the man is over seventeen.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office if the civilian clerks of the Royal Horse and Royal Field Artillery Record Office, Woolwich Dockyard, are receiving a wage of 26s. per week and work three hours' overtime per day at 7½d. per hour; if it is proposed to give them an advance to place them on an equality with their fellow clerks who have recently been enlisted at the following rate of pay: married men 48s. 5d. per week, single men 42s. per week, with clothing and washing and other allowances; if all the clerks, civilian and military, are engaged on similar work; if the clerks in this office have benefited by the grants made by Parliament to Government clerks in September last; and, if not, will he say why they have not done so?

Including cash allowances the rates of pay are as stated. The civilian clerks are temporary clerks engaged since mobilisation. I do not know what are the grants made by Parliament to Government clerks to which my hon. Friend refers, but the question to what extent advances given to labour should be extended to clerical staffs is now under consideration by the Government.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware that the practice of not paying junior female clerks for overtime:, except in special circumstances, obtains not only in the smaller but in the larger Labour Exchanges in London, where the supervision is adequate, and that it is frequently impossible to allow a corresponding time off (although nil overtime returns may be submitted to the Board, which thus obtains a false idea of the state of the work); and whether he will arrange that managers may authorise the payment of overtime to junior clerks when necessary, even for ordinary current work?

The system described in my reply of 15th July applies to all the offices of the Labour Exchanges and Unemployment Insurance Department other than the Central Office. Every effort is made to allow compensatory time off, but this is not always possible, in view of the needs of the public service. The instructions with regard to returns of overtime require all overtime to be reported, whether payable or not, and I have no reason to suppose that these are not accurate. It would not be in accordance with the Treasury requirements to delegate to managers the power to sanction payment for overtime.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that the service of trains from the North of England and the Midlands has been curtailed on a number of lines; that holders of traders' tickets are consequently in some cases unable to travel to London, do their business, and return the same day as they were able to do before the curtailment, and also in many cases have to leave home earlier or leave London earlier in consequence of such curtailment; whether, in view of the fact that there has been no corresponding reduction in the charges for the tickets and that the Government is now guaranteeing the companies' incomes, he will arrange that traders' tickets may be made available by any company's line which runs between, or connects, the centres between which the ticket has been taken, the availability not to include any stop-over privileges at intermediate stations?

As was stated on the 25th February last in reply to a question by the hon. Member for South Leeds, instructions with regard to the inter-availability of traders' tickets have been issued by the railway companies where it has been found necessary to discontinue certain trains. I understand, however, that it is not considered practicable to make any general regulation on the subject.

asked the Prime Minister if, in view of the necessity for the curtailment of expenditure, he will consider the advisability of suspending the Development Fund Grant during the period of the War?

The annual Grant to the Fund provided by Section 2 (2) of the Development, etc., Act, 1909, for a period of five years has now ceased, and no specific Vote for the Fund under Section 2 (1) (a) has been taken since the year 1910–11. Steps have already been taken to restrict the expenditure out of the balance in hand during the period of the War, and the Development Commissioners have been asked to reduce as far as possible the cost of maintaining schemes previously sanctioned.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether he will consider the advisability of the age limit for entering Civil Service examinations being temporarily extended in the case of those competitors who take service in the Army or in the munition works during the War, seeing that without such relaxation many patriotic students must abandon hope of a career in the Civil Service?

The Treasury has already accepted the principle that an extension of age should be allowed to candidates at future Civil Service examinations in respect of approved war service. The precise definition of "war service" is now under consideration.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if he is aware of the inconvenience which Irish national teachers suffer because their salaries are paid quarterly, or rather sixteen days after the termination of each quarter, instead of monthly, like other Government servants; and, seeing that the teachers are not demanding higher salaries on account of war prices like many people in other positions but only monthly payments of their salaries, will he do his best to have their demand complied with as soon as possible?

I cannot add anything at present to the reply I gave on this subject to the hon. Member for North West-meath on the 15th instant.

asked the Secretary for Scotland what was the number of old age pensions payable in Scotland on the last Friday of March, 1914, and on the last Friday of March, 1915, respectively?

The figures desired are as follows:—