asked the Postmaster-General if the Post Office staff, engaged in sorting and dealing with letters for the Expeditionary Forces, are paid their usual wages by the Post Office Department or are paid more than their usual wages by the Department; and if they are allowed to receive in addition military pay and emoluments?

Post Office servants in the Postal Section of the Royal Engineers receive their civil pay, but no allowances for overtime, Sunday duty, or subsistence. They also receive military pay and allowances.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office if the Post Office staff engaged in sorting and dealing with letters for the Expeditionary Forces received military pay and emoluments; and, if so, at what rate; and if they are allowed to receive in addition their usual Post Office wages?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. The rate of pay, etc., is that laid down for the Royal Engineers. The third part of the question is primarily for my right hon. Friend the Postmaster-General, but I understand the answer to be generally in the affirmative.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is aware that the civilian staff employed at the Royal Naval College, Keyham, have not yet received the 1s. increase granted to the dockyards and naval establishments by Admiralty Order of 1st October, 1914; and will he explain the delay and say when payment will be made?

The hon. Member no doubt refers to the increase in the wages of labourers and skilled labourers. The question of extending this increase where applicable to civilian employés at the Royal Naval College, Keyham, is under consideration, and I hope that a decision will be reached shortly.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he can see his way to give as much leave as possible to the lower deck before the winter months come on?

This is a question— and I am sure the hon. Gentleman will realise the fact—which must depend upon, the exigencies of the Service.

asked whether the appeal to the carpenter's crew to offer themselves as candidates for cooper's crew resulted in the Admiralty obtaining the requisite number; how much their training in the victualling yards has cost; and will he increase the pay of the cooper's crew and improve their conditions of service and thereby attract to the Service an adequate supply of trained coopers from the trade?

The response to the appeal in question has been very small, but it has not been found necessary to press the matter owing to the satisfactory state of the ordinary recruiting of coopers. The amount of money spent has been quite small. I cannot give any undertaking as regards the last part of the question.

asked why the timekeepers in His Majesty's dockyards were excluded from all increase of pay which was granted to the other dockyard employés; will he grant them some increase of pay, seeing they have had none since the year 1901; and will he also reopen the establishment for this branch of employés?

The emoluments at present authorised for timekeepers are considered to be sufficient remuneration for the work on which these men are employed, and I regret that I cannot see my way to recommend the grant of an increase of pay at the present time or to offer established posts to this branch of the Service. I may add that the question of granting timekeepers a war bonus is now under consideration.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether Herr Hugo Stinnes, the representative of the German coal monopoly known as the Westphalian Coal Syndicate, has within the last few years conducted large operations for purchase of Welsh coal in Cardiff and Swansea; and whether he has purchased, or has acquired interests in, any coal mines in Wales or other parts of the country?

Large purchases of coal were made in Cardiff and Swansea during the last few years by Hugo Stinnes, Limited, a company in which all the shares were held by Mr. Hugo Stinnes. On the application of the Board of Trade the Court appointed a controller of the company in December last, and the company's operations have recently been limited to realising certain of its assets and discharging the debts owing by the company in this country. I have no information that interests in coal mines in Wales have been acquired by Mr. Stinnes, but 48½ per cent, of the issued capital of the Northern Union Mining Company, Limited, is registered in the names of Mr. Stinnes and Hugo Stinnes, Limited, a further 48½ per cent, of the issued capital being held by a German company. The Northern Union Mining Company, Limited, has acquired extensive coal mining leases in Yorkshire and Nottnghamshire, and I appointed a supervisor of the business last December.

asked the Home Secretary whether he received a letter from the Herne Bay Uurban District Council, dated the 24th of June, requesting information with regard to Government compensation in cases of personal injury to members of voluntary local fire brigades; whether he received a further letter from the same correspondent, dated the 8th of July, stating that no acknowledgment of the former letter had yet been received and requesting, as the matter was one of urgency, a reply by telegram, for which a stamped form was enclosed; if he will say why no acknowledgment of either of these communications has been sent to the Herne Bay Urban District Council; and whether he will have a reply sent to the letter of the 24th of June?

I have made inquiry, and find that there is no trace of either of the letters referred to having been received in the Home Office. If the urban district council will send me a copy of their letter I will of course reply to it.

asked the Home Secretary if a person of the name of Markbreiter is, or has recently been, employed at the Home Office; is he of German descent; has he been engaged in that work of the Department dealing with aliens; and, if so, what was the position he held? May I say that since I put this question down I have ascertained that the gentleman referred to is not of German descent, and I regret the suggestion that his employment was in any way objectionable.

I am very much obliged to the hon. Baronet. Mr. Markbreiter is acting as a senior clerk in the Home Office, which he entered by open competition in 1908. He is a natural-born British subject. I understand that his father, who is now dead, was of Austrian origin, but became a naturalised British subject more than twenty years ago. Mr. Markbreiter is not in the Department dealing with aliens, but in the Department concerned with trading with the enemy. He has been engaged in this work since the beginning of the War, and has rendered most useful service. I can assure the House that the loss of so experienced and devoted a public servant would weaken the Department, and would thus be of material assistance to the enemy.

asked the President of the Local Government Board if he can give any approximate esti- mate of the number of men of military age who are still employed by local authorities as tramway conductors, as collectors of tickets for park seats, as clerks, and in other ways where female labour could be substituted; and if, as a deterrent and a warning, he will cause to be made known and published the names of all those local authorities who have failed to make efforts to replace men of military age by women, or who have refused permission to their employés to enlist?

I am afraid I can give no such estimate. As regards the second part of the question, I have not at my disposal the information necessary to enable such action to be taken. So far as I know, local authorities have responded loyally to the invitation to release men of military age.

asked the Under-Secretary for War whether his attention has been drawn to a large poster close to the War Office headed "Kitchener's Army: Join at Once"; and whether he will have this poster removed.

My attention had not been drawn to this poster. If I have rightly identified the poster to which my hon. Friend alludes, it was printed and put up without reference to the War Office or to the London Recruiting Staff. My Noble Friend regrets that the poster was worded in the way it was, and will take steps to have it withdrawn. He would further desire that it should be known that the phrase in question is incorrect, and should not be used. This is, I think, generally appreciated, but it is desirable that there should be no deviation from correct practice in this matter.

Is there anybody at the head of the Department whose duty it is to supervise all these posters and statements about recruiting?

Yes, Sir; they are supervised when they are brought to the War Office, but this was not brought there and it was put up without authority.

Was the man responsible for it punished?

I am sorry I am not able to answer that question.

How long was it before the War Office noticed it on the walls' of the War Office?

asked the President of the Local Government Board how many school teachers, and how many local officials, have pressed their gratuitous services on the Government for the distribution and collection of forms to be issued during the compiling of the National Register?

I would refer the hon. Member to my reply of the 19th instant. As regards school teachers, I may say that I have received a very generous offer of assistance from the London Teachers' Association, which represents, I understand, some 20,000 teachers.

asked the President of the Local Government Board if he will state to whom all requests for supplementary pensions, grants, and allowances and also all requests for separation allowances, other than those payable from public funds, and applications from disabled soldiers and sailors for training, employment, etc., should now be sent; and whether, in view of the urgency of many eases, he will make a temporary arrangement at his own Department until such time as the new machinery is available?

I do not think it is desirable to adopt the suggestion contained in the latter part of the question. Applications for supplementary pensions, grants, and allowances must for the present continue to be dealt with by the organisations which have hitherto dealt with such cases, and I may remind the hon. Member that the Naval and Military War Pensions Bill provides that, pending the appointment of local committees and sub-committees, the statutory Committee may make arrangements with existing organisations for carrying on their work.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that does not apply to superannuation allowances which are not payable out of public funds?

Allowances not payable out of public funds are payable through the same organisation. The funds come from another source, but the same system prevails.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether he has considered the case of the late Private William Gordon, Sutherland, of the Lovat Scouts; whether he is aware that this man was a native of Brora; that he was passed on enlistment as medically fit; that he has since died arid left a wife and six young children; and that the War Office refuse any pension to his widow although his death was due to illness contracted while with the Colours; whether the War Office mean what they say when they announce in Army Orders that pensions will be payable to dependants of soldiers who die of wounds or disease contracted while with the Colours at home and abroad; and, if so, what is the reason why the pension is being withheld from Mrs. Gordon?

This man arrived at his training station with chronic disease of the heart. His disability was not due to military service or climate, but was permanent. He was given light duty and had much leave and was constantly in hospital. As the medical authorities do not consider that Private Sutherland's illness was contracted in the Service, no pension is, therefore, due.

Was he submitted to medical examination before he enlisted?

Yes, Sir; he must have been subjected to an examination.

Was he certified to be suffering from heart disease, because I understand that heart, disease prevents a man from being accepted?

I do not think he was certified as free from heart disease. He was certified as being fit for the Army.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that when this man was enlisted he was one of a group of men from Brora, that four of them were rejected, and that this man was accepted as medically fit; and do the War Office intend to stand by their promise that if a man contracts disease after having joined the Army, whether with the Colours or at home, his dependants are entitled to a pension?

Of course we intend to stand by our promise- The fact is that this man ought never to have been enlisted. He had chronic disease of the heart. He did not contract his disease in the service of the country, therefore no pension can be paid.

Is my right hon. Friend aware of the seriousness of this question; is he aware that a doctor acting for the Army passed this man as medically fit and that the disease was contracted since he was passed as medically fit; and, in view of these circumstances, will the War Office act up to their promise?

Of course I recognise the seriousness of this. It is a very serious matter that the man should have heart disease and die, but I must point out again that he did not contract this disease in the service of the country, and that he was passed as fit, probably by a mistake?—probably, but not necessarily. It is not always possible, I understand, in a single examination to find everything about a man's heart. That being the case, I really do not see that I can pursue the matter further.

As I know of other such cases, can the right hon. Gentleman say whether this man's death was accelerated by his service in the Army?

My information is that the man was treated with very great leniency. He was constantly in hospital, he was given leave on several occasions, he was put upon light diet and never utilised as a soldier but in the kitchen; therefore his heart would not be affected by that. Every consideration was shown to him. Therefore I think I can answer the right hon. and learned Gentleman's question in the negative.

Has the right hon. Gentleman any information that the man was constantly ill with his heart previously to his enlistment?

Why was not this man discharged from the Army when found to be suffering from heart disease?

The answer to that is, that he was discharged as soon as possible, but he died afterwards. With regard to the man's previous history, I cannot say anything about that.

I beg to give notice that I will raise this matter on the Adjournment to-night.

asked the Comptroller of the Household, as representing the National Health Insurance Commissioners, whether he can state the grounds on which claims are made under the National Insurance Act for contributions in respect of health insurance from Belgian refugees temporarily engaged as agricultural labourers and from their employers, seeing that they are not permanently domiciled in this country, that no provision exists for free medical attendance on them in case of illness or accident, and that on return to their own country all possible benefit of such contributions will be lost to them?

May I refer the hon. Member to a statement made on this subject in the course of my speech on the 12th July. The persons referred to are required to be insured in accordance with the terms of the Statute, which I have no power to vary. Attention has been drawn to the fact that they can in many cases obtain a certificate of exemption, and if they do so they are not themselves liable to pay any contributions, though their employers' contributions remain payable. Whether exempt or not, they are entitled to medical and sanatorium benefit under the appropriate conditions. If they are deposit contributors, four-sevenths of the amount standing to their credit may be returned when they permanently cease to reside in the United Kingdom.

Am I to understand the Memorandum has been issued because and in consequence of the obligation upon the employers being a statutory one?

It is a statutory obligation upon the employers.

asked the Secretary for Scotland whether he has received a resolution from the Royal Scottish Aboriculture Society urging the expedition of schemes of afforestation in Scotland preparatory to the declaration of peace, so that work should be available for men returning to civil life from the Army; and whether he proposes to take steps to meet this need?

I have received the resolution, but have not yet had time to give it full consideration.

Will my right hon. Friend consider the question of appointing a Committee similar to that appointed by the Board of Agriculture in England regarding employment on the land after the War?

As at present advised, I do not see the necessity of setting up any other body than the Advisory Committee.

asked the Secretary for Scotland whether his attention has been called to the fact that in Scotland contractors of provisions to workhouses and asylums are being held to their con tracts to supply goods at pre-war prices; whether he is aware that in many cases, such as perishable goods, this is causing loss to contractors; and whether, in view of this, he will consider the advisability of issuing some communication to local authorities dealing with the point?

I understand that some cases of the sort described by my hon. Friend have come under the notice of the Local Government Board for Scotland and the Board of Control for Scotland, and that local authorities Have been advised to exercise a reasonable discretion.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture whether the farmers in South and West Lancashire are suffering from a glut of potatoes; whether merchants at the Ormskirk market reported recently that the potato trade was at a standstill owing to the over supply; whether hundreds of acres of potatoes are in consequence wasting; and whether, in view of the possible shortage of food, the Government will consider the purchase of the over supply of potatoes and their storage till required?

Owing to the fact that there were ample supplies of potatoes last year, there appears to be a surplus from the old crop, but the Board are not aware that any large part of this surplus is in farmers' hands. If dealers have, as there is some reason to suppose, held back part of the old crop until it was too late to sell it at the prices they had hoped for, this is not a matter which the Government could remedy by the steps which the hon. Member suggests—for no shortage of potatoes is anticipated—and the remainder of last year's crop could not now be stored without very rapid deterioration.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether it will be competent for Civil servants to give evidence before the Economy Committee; and whether assurance will be given that their action in giving evidence will not prejudice their future careers?

It will be for the Committee to determine who shall appeal-before them as witnesses. If the Committee decide to call Civil servants, the position of those so summoned will, of course, be in no way prejudiced by the nature of the evidence which they give.

asked the Prime Minister when the Bill to deal with the election of members of local authorities will be introduced?

The Bill will be introduced to-day.

asked the Prime Minister if he wil cause, for the information of the general public, an official list to be published of the different Committees which have been appointed for regulating and controlling the trade of the country and for dealing with the situation created by the War, and a statement of the different Royal Proclamations and Regulations under which such Committees have been respectively constituted and act?

The question of the co-ordination of the various Committees is under review. When a decision is reached the hon. Member's suggestion will receive consideration.

asked the Prime Minister whether he is now in a position to state the course which the Government will take with reference to the Welsh Church (Postponement) Bill; and whether it may be assumed that, unless that Bill becomes law before this part of the Session terminates, an Order in Council will be made postponing the date of Disestablishment from the 18th September to the end of the War?

A statement on this subject will be made on Monday.

asked the result of the promised investigation in connection with the selling of Army meat to butchers at Tunbridge Wells?

Certain exchanges of meat were permitted by the commanding officer of one of the units quartered at Tunbridge Wells. The figures quoted by the hon. Member for the Attercliffe Division in his question on the 30th June are not correct. Steps have been taken to prevent a recurrence in the future of such irregularities by the issue of a War Office circular memorandum to all general officers commanding - in - chief of the various commands for circulation to all units.

May I ask whether the officer in question is going to be punished in any way?

That is a question of discipline which I shall have to consider in conjunction with the military authorities. I think he may be suitably dealt with.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that in consequence of this officer's action many soldiers went short of food?

I am not aware of that.

May I ask whether the butcher who took a hand in this business was punished?

I am not aware of that.

Is not the right hon. Gentleman aware that one of the butchers was fined £150?

I am not aware of it.

asked whether it is in tended that in the event of the Anti-Air craft (London) Corps passing from the control of the Admiralty to that of the War Office the corps will come under the pro visions of the Army (Transfers) Act, 1915?

As the question of this transfer is still under consideration, my hon. Friend's question is hypothetical, and I cannot at present give him any answer.

asked how many nurses are now employed in clearing hospitals in France?

Seven in each clearing station.

asked the UnderSecretary for War whether the aviator who was killed in an accident at Shoreham on the 22nd June was flying a Bleriot monoplane; whether any other fatal accidents have occurred in England to mono planes in the last six months; whether the Order issued in 1912 forbidding Army pilots to fly Bleriot monoplanes on account of the proved danger of that type of machine has been cancelled; and why, in view of the fact that Bleriot monoplanes are not fighting machines and are regarded by experts as the most dangerous type of aeroplane, they are now being used for the purposes of instruction in preference to the later types of biplane?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative, and to the second part that there has been one other accident to a monoplane in the period mentioned. Neither of these accidents were due to the machines. The Order issued in 1912 forbade pilots to fly any type of monoplane. On the advice of the Committee on Monoplane Accidents, which considered the whole question of safety, the Bleriot monoplane was again taken into use, being the only one at the time which complied with the conditions laid down by the Committee. The Bleriot monoplane has been largely used during the War both by French and British. It is one of the safest machines ever designed, and is an excellent training machine.

asked why the War Office are advertising a sale of 6 tons of copper at Woolwich Arsenal on 22nd July in the engineering press of this week; and why Woolwich Arsenal cannot utilise 6 tons of copper instead of selling this to middlemen?

It was decided to sell this scrap copper because the Arsenal had sufficient supplies of the material and insufficient accommodation to store further quantities of it. I am in communication with my right hon. Friend the Minister of Munitions with regard to the disposal of such scrap metal as is not required in the Arsenal.

May I ask if, in such a case, the material ought not to be offered to other Departments which might want it?

Yes, Sir, and that is why I am in communication with my right Hon. Friend.

asked the, Under-Secretary for War if a Major Blacker is engaged at the War Office; if so, in what position; is he of German descent; and is he aware that he has changed his name from Reichwald to Blacker within the last twelve months, and is closely related to a Reichwald who represents Krupp's in London?

The officer referred to is not, and has not been, engaged at the War Office.

Is it not a fact that this officer appears in the Army List as a German interpreter under the name of Reichwald, and that in London he appears under another name; and is it not also the fact that his father was Krupp's manager in London, and did not General Joffre request that he should leave the French lines, as he considered it was not desirable that this officer, although perfectly innocent, should in war time have anything to do with the War?

Two points are raised by the hon. Member; one is whether this officer appears in one place in the Army List under one name and in another place under another name. I am informed that it is so, but I have not verified it. Whether General Joffre made any representations on the subject I am unable to say. This officer is now at home.

Is it not the fact that this gentleman, who is so closely related to Krupp's representative in London, is still in the Army in some form or other?

I believe that is quite true.

Is it desirable that officers of German extraction should be serving either in France or in England in any capacity?

Of course, I appreciate it is desirable that persons to whom any suspicion attaches should not be employed in the British Army. I am informed that no suspicion whatever attaches to this, gentleman.

asked whether the permanent Artillery camp and range at Trawsfynydd, in the county of Merioneth, has not been occupied during the whole year; and whether it is intended to quarter troops there in the near future?

The Artillery camp and range at Trawsfynydd have been in use-this year, but I cannot give any indication as to when it is likely to be required again.

asked the Under-Secretary for War what is the objection to holiday camps being allowed to continue for the season in Westmorland and Cumberland; whether he is aware that the prohibitory order is likely to ruin certain owners whose camps are in existence and who have booked up visitors for the season; and whether the Government propose to compensate such owners?

I am informed that the restrictions against holiday camps in these areas have lately been removed. Applications to hold holiday camps should be forwarded to the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command, at York.

Can the right hon. Gentleman assure me that men who are in these camps shall not be disturbed until their application to be allowed to remain has been considered?

I will see if that can be done.

asked how many rifles were ordered by the War Office between the date of the outbreak of War and the 30th September, 1914?

Directions were given for all British factories to work up to full capacity night and day. Other orders were given, but it is not desirable to give detailed information either as to the number ordered or the source of supply.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office if retired members recalled to work in and for the War Office are continuing to receive their full pensions, and are also receiving pay for the services they perform; and if the rate of pay is fixed at the highest rate such servants were receiving when they retired, irrespective of the value of the services they are rendering now on recall?

Any retired Civil servants who are re-employed cease during the period of their re-employment to receive their pensions and are granted such rate of pay, not exceeding their emoluments at the date of retirement, as may be regarded as reasonable for the duties they perform. In most cases these duties Are such that they receive the salary which they were drawing at the date of retirement.

The first Amendment on the Paper, standing in the name of the hon. Member for Leeds (Mr. O'Grady) [Sub-section (1), after the word "mouth" ("coal at the pit's mouth") to insert the words "whether subject to existing contracts or not."], is in the wrong place. I think the question of contracts is best dealt with at the end of line 22, where there is another Amendment on the Paper in a better form-Sir J. WALTON: I beg to move, in Subsection (1), after the word "mouth" ["coal at the pit's mouth"], to insert the words "for household and domestic consumption, for railways, gas, electric lighting, waterworks, and controlled munition works, where dividends are limited by Act of Parliament, and also for public authorities."

If this Bill be amended so as to secure that the merchant intervening between the price of the coal at the pit-head and the consumer has his profit reasonably limited, then I have no objection to the Bill if it is made to apply and is limited only to household coal for domestic purposes and the other national and public utility purposes which I have enumerated where dividends are restricted by Act of Parliament. If, however, the Government were to declare now that it is their intention to take the surplus income of every taxpayer over an average of two years preceding the War, with one-fifth allowed to cover the increased cost of living, as a special war tax, then the limitation which I now suggest would in my opinion be no longer necessary, because there is no desire on the part of the coal owner to feather their nests at the expense of the nation owing to the War. [Interruption.] My hon. Friend does not speak with knowledge. Some may have made war profits, but others have not, and further than that, my proposal that the Exchequer should by a special war levy take the whole of the war profits from every taxpayer in the country will, at any rate, allow them no longer to enrich themselves personally out of those profits. I exclude only private undertakings where they are left free to make unlimited profits and where freedom of contract ought to be continued.

Let me give one or two illustrations. Is it not inconceivable that any Government should come to Parliament and by legislative enactment seek to prevent a coal producer selling at the market price of the day—for instance, to those struggling millers whom we heard of the other day as having amassed £357,000 as war profits? It is too absurd that anyone trading with a firm like that should be asked to accept anything less than the market price for anything that he proposes to sell. It is equally unjustifiable that the ordinary course of trade and free contracting should be interfered with by the State as regards the coal supplies required by our great armament works, shipbuilding yards, steel and engineering works, uncontrolled munition works, works where woollen goods, khaki, leather, boots, and other goods needed for war purposes are made, and that whilst they are to have their coal at lower than market price they should be left by the State free to make unlimited profits on their products. It seems to me that in this Bill we have an alarming exhibition of State intervention run riot. The only sign of commercial sanity, in my judgment, that the Bill contains is the absence of any provision to secure coal for shipowners making colossal profits at present at the expense of the nation at less than market prices. It might be necessary under certain circumstances that the State should commandeer from the coal owners a sufficient quantity of coal to satisfy the requirements not only of the Navy, but also of the public utility works and the other requirements that I have already stated to the House, as a first charge upon the output of the coal of the nation, and that would prevent any difficulty in these works, which are entitled, in my judgment, to have this preference given to them solely because their profits by Parliamentary restriction are limited, but that would prevent them being in danger of not getting their coal because a little higher price was offered by some outside buyers in this country or perhaps a much higher price were offered if the coal were being sold for export.

If my hon. Friend means by this Amendment to exclude all private manufacturing undertakings from the advantages of the Bill, I would point out to him that he is to that extent limiting the amount by which the income—the war profits, as he chooses to call them—of the coal owners would be affected by the Bill. I have no doubt that that is what he has in his mind. If that is what he has in his mind it is directly contrary to the principle of the Bill, which does provide for a limitation of the price that the coal owner is to have. My hon. Friend has given no indication as to how far he wishes the benefit which the Bill will give to be restricted, but I might point out to him that, as he has drafted the Amendment and explained it to the House, it would mean that the cotton trade, excepting those establishments which were manufacturing for the Army or the Navy, would get no benefit at all from the Bill. It would be open to those who supply the cotton mills of Lancashire to get as much as they could squeeze out of the market, and the limitation of the standing price would not apply to that great industry. My hon. Friend is very anxious that coal used for domestic consumption should be limited in price. Why? For the simple reason that he does not wish the householder to be burdened. But for the cotton spinners of Lancashire it is just as serious a matter to find his concern bled to such an extent, as it would be, as it is for him to have to pay a little extra for the coal that goes into his kitchen fire. That is equally true, not only of cotton, but of the pottery industry and a very largo number of others. I cannot understand the principle on which my hon. Friend wishes to exclude these trades from the benefit of the Bill.

It is because you do not limit in any way the price that the products of those concerns shall be sold at, as you limit the price of coal.

There is only one way of dealing with that larger subject, and that is the taxation of war profits. I think my hon. Friend is ill advised in wishing to restrict the area of the Bill. If anything, the Bill is narrow and not wide, and the tendency that he suggests to us would certainly be detrimental to the efficiency of the measure. I hope, therefore, he will not press the Amendment.