asked the Under-Secretary for War whether he can furnish information as to the condition of the men of the l/7th Battalion Manchester Regiment who are reported missing; and whether he has made use or will make use of the good offices of the American Ambassador to obtain full information in regard to each of the men who may be prisoners in the hands of the Turks, and thus allay the anxiety of their relatives who, up to the present, have been unable to obtain information?

I have no additional information regarding the men of this battalion. The American Ambassador has been asked to make renewed application to the Turkish Government for full lists of prisoners.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War if he can in any way expedite the notification to relatives of casualties which occur in the Dardanelles; and if, when possible, the nature of the wounds might be furnished?

This question is being closely watched and there is, I think, steady improvement in the notification of the casualties. But the circumstances of the case present difficulties which make it impossible to expedite materially the notification. The nature of the wounds is always furnished as soon as it has been notified.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether his attention, has been drawn to appeals for money from Mrs. C. Bird, wife of Quartermaster-sergeant Bird, C.L.Y., of Bacton-an-Sea, issued in the name of Wendy, a chestnut mare, to provide portable sun shelters for Army horses; whether he has seen similar appeals from Mr. Haigh, of Ingham, issued in the name of Togo, a black spaniel, for money to buy kennel huts for Belgian army dogs and wind-shelter hurdles for British Army horses; whether the War Office know anything about these portable sun shelters and wind-shelter hurdles or have been consulted as to the necessity for this appeal; and whether, seeing that the war necessities provide unlimited scope for the exploiting of generous and charitable people, steps will be taken to place war appeals under some measure of public Control?

Nothing is known in the War Office of the appeals referred to. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has been authorised by the Department to collect funds and coordinate offers of assistance for horses of the British Army, and this has been frequently notified in the Press. Endeavours are made in this and other directions to direct the charitable activities of the public by officially recognising certain appeals from time to time, but the hon. Member will realise that there are limits to the exercise of control over charitable and voluntary efforts.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether the appeals of Mr. M. L. Tyler and others in the public Press for funds to supply the troops at the front with sandbags is authorised by the War Office; and whether these and other parts of the necessary equipment are provided by the War Department out of public funds, or whether there is any need for private appeals to the public for this purpose?

The appeals referred to have not been authorised by the War Office, and as the necessary number of sandbags is sent out at the public expense, these private appeals appear to be misplaced.

asked the Under Secretary of State for War whether the field allowance of 2s. 6d. per day hitherto paid to officers of Infantry service battalions of the new Armies while in camp, either training their men or waiting dispatch to the front, has been withdrawn, and, if so, for what reason and by what order or regulation; when did the order come into operation; and is it intended to make any substitutionary allowance to those officers whose fixed pay is barely sufficient to meet the absolutely necessary expenses of the officers' mess, without reference to wine or luxuries?

No general order or regulation to this effect has been issued. If the hon. Member has a particular case in mind perhaps he will communicate the particulars to me.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he can state, in comparative form, last year's prices and this year's prices, made up to the latest available dates, of food-stuffs in Germany for bread, butter, lard, beef, sugar, bacon, mutton, pork, potatoes, peas, and haricot beans?

The following table shows the retail prices in Berlin in May, 1914 and 1915, of the various articles of food referred to:—

asked the President of the Board of Trade if there is a Committee appointed to deal with diverted cargoes; and whether business men acquainted with the principal products dealt with have been placed on such Committee?

When war broke out a great number of vessels, mainly British, with cargoes for German and other Continental ports, were diverted to ports in the-United Kingdom. A Committee, of which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Colonies was chairman, and which included business men as well as Government officials, was appointed last August to advise as to the best means of dealing with them. The duties of this Committee came to an end some months ago.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture if he will state whether a considerable quantity of butter is imported into England from Ireland; will he see-that steps are taken to increase the output of butter in that country; will he say if his Department advised or approved of a recently proposed economy calculated to greatly reduce the supply of Irish butter; what is the amount of the economy proposed to be effected in cash; and will he now insist, in the interest of the British-consumer, on all necessary steps being taken to increase the Irish butter supply.

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative, 725,368 cwts. of butter, valued at £3,735,645, having been exported from Ireland mainly to Great Britain in 1913, the latest year for which figures are available. The rest of the hon. Member's question would appear to concern the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland, but I understand that the development of the food supply in Ireland, including butter, is at present the subject of inquiry by a Departmental Committee, which it is hoped will be able to report at an early date. If, however, the hon. Member will inform me of the economy which he has in mind, I could inform him whether the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries gave any advice in regard to it.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture-whether he is aware that sheep dealers who send sheep from Ireland to this country via Heysham suffer a loss of 5s. per head owing to the effects of the dip used at Heysham, which turns the wool black; whether he is aware that the Department of Agriculture for Ireland approve of dips which have no such deleterious effects; and will he issue instructions to the local officers at Heysham to use such dips only as will not injure the saleable value of wool?

With regard to the statement contained in the first part of the ques- tion, I think the hon. Member must be under some misapprehension. From inquiries which I have caused to be made, I find the dip used at Heysham is Mykrol, in respect of which no complaint has been received. I would, however, remind the hon. Member that owners are at liberty to supply for use on these occasions any one of the sheep dips approved by the Board, and these are 536 in number.