asked the Secretary to the Treasury if he will furnish the number and average age of the women clerks employed in all the various Government De- partments in typing, duplicating, sorting, and routine work at 18s. to 20s. per week since the outbreak of war; the nature of the ordinary clerical work for which 21s. to 25s. per week is being paid and the number and average age of the women so employed; the qualifications necessary to obtain appointments as temporary shorthand typists at 26s. per week and the number and average age of those employed on these duties; the nature of the higher clerical duties and supervising work for which 30s. is paid and the number and ages of those so employed; and whether these rates and appointments are intended as temporary during the War only?

Appointments to temporary clerkships are usually made by heads of Departments at their discretion, and it would not be possible to ascertain the total number of women so appointed without making detailed inquiries which would take a considerable time, and in view of the constant fluctuation of work would not, I think, be of much value. In view, however, of the large number of temporary appointments authorised to replace junior members of the public service who were given permission to enlist, a special arrangement was recently made with the Civil Service Commissioners by which they keep a list of suitable candidates and assign them to Departments if requested. This arrangement has been largely, but not exclusively, used by Departments, and the number of appointments so made is as follows:—

Temporary Women Clerks.
(1)	Typing, duplicating, sorting and routine work at 18s. to 20s. per week	74
(2)	Ordinary clerical work at 21s. to 25s. per week	604
(3)	Shorthand typists duties at 26s. per week	43
(4)	Higher clerical and supervising work at 30s. per week	56

The average age of persons assigned for routine work on the 18s. to 20s. per week scale is between seventeen and nineteen. Some older candidates with limited qualifications have also been assigned to this grade. No limits have been definitely fixed for this or for any of the other grades. The duties of the routine grade (1) are those commonly performed by boy clerks, female sorters and female typists. "Ordinary clerical work" (2) is such as is given to assistant clerks (abstractors) and junior second division clerks. The

higher grade covers duties of a like character, but involving some element of responsibility,

asked the Prime Minister whether his attention has been directed to estimates purporting to give the total casualties of the different belligerent nations, other than Italy; and whether, in view of the desirability of securing the circulation of accurate statements in enemy and neutral countries, he can now give the total casualties of each of the belligerent countries down to the last convenient date, distinguishing between the numbers of killed, wounded and prisoners and missing?

My attention has been drawn to the estimates which have appeared in the Press. I have not the information at my disposal to give the figures asked for.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is aware that Surgeon David Vickery was invalided from the Navy on 9th September by a survey board, which did not examine his injured knee but accepted the opinion of one of the six special consultants engaged by the Admiralty for the War, who made the mistaken diagnosis of osteo arthritis; whether he is aware that this diagnosis was subsequently disproved by X rays and by a successful operation removing loose pieces of cartilage, resulting in complete recovery, and this is borne out by five surgeons and four doctors; and whether, in view of the fact that the injury was incurred while in the Service and Dr. David Vickery was invalided from the Navy on a wrong diagnosis, the Board will give instructions that the expenses of his operation and his medical expenses should be refunded to him?

The facts are generally as stated by the hon. and gallant Member, with the exception that the report on the case does not bear out the suggestion that Surgeon Vickery's knee was not examined by the Board of Survey. Further consideration is being given to the matter, but I must not be interpreted as giving any undertaking in regard to the last part of the question.

asked the Under-Secretary for War if he can make any statement as to the health of our troops in the Dardanelles?

There is a certain amount of enteric and dysentery.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether, in the case of Post Office servants serving in the Royal Engineers at Mount Pleasant, promotion to commissioned rank has been in fact confined to London men; and, if so, what is the cause of similar promotion not being given to postal servants from the provinces?

No promotions to commissioned rank have been made from the Post Office servants serving in the Royal Engineers at Mount Pleasant. Five promotions from the ranks to commissioned rank have been given abroad in the postal section, Royal Engineers. Of these four were London men. They were selected on grounds of merit, and not because they were London men.

asked what percentage of Post Office servants serving in the Royal Engineers at Mount Pleasant are billeted in private and licensed houses, respectively; and whether the option is freely given to the men to choose in which class of house they desire to be billeted if both classes of house are available?

I am informed that fifty-six men are billeted in licensed houses and 402 in private houses. Licensed houses are carefully selected, and are in all cases satisfactory. Men are not given the option before being detailed to billets, but any application to be transferred to another class of house would be granted, if possible.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether, in view of the importance of maintaining adequate supplies of meat for the troops overseas as well as for the home population, the commandeering of hay for military requirements is being, or will be, so conducted as to avoid as far as possible the further depletion of live stock on British farms owing to present or anticipated shortage of animal food?

The answer is in the affirmative.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether, in the placing of advertisements for recruits, due regard is had to the services in aid of recruiting rendered by the newspapers and to the fact that each newspaper has its special class of readers whom it may be desirable to reach?

In placing advertisements for recruits for particular branches of the Service, those newspapers are used which appeal to the special class it is desired to reach. Advertisements making general appeals for recruits are placed in those papers which have the largest circulation amongst the recruiting classes, and which it is thought will produce the best results. The particular services which a paper may have rendered to recruiting are not necessarily a factor in either case.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that an inquest was held at the St. Pancras Coroner's Court on Wednesday, 7th July, on the body of Frank James Ashdown, aged twenty-nine years, of Hartland Road, Kentish Town, N.W., who died in St. Pancras infirmary on 4th July; that the evidence of the widow, mother-in-law, brother, and landlady of deceased was to the effect that he was regarded as a strong and healthy man when he enlisted in the Royal Army Medical Corps on 21st January last; that deceased wrote to his wife from Aldershot saying he had been vaccinated and had two bad arms; that soon afterwards he was removed to Llandrindod Wells, where he had to go into hospital, and both legs also became affected; that the widow testified that, when she visited her husband in hospital at Llandrindod, he told her that one of the officers had said he had never seen such a bad case of cow-pox before; that on 16th June Ashdown was discharged from the Army as unfit for further service; that Dr. Bernard Spilsbury, who conducted a post-mortem examination, gave it as his opinion that death was due to heart failure, caused by chronic Bright's disease of the kidneys, and attributed the boils to the Bright's disease and not to the vaccination; whether he can explain how this man passed the medical examination for admission to the Army if he were suffering from chronic Bright's disease; and whether, in view of the number of instances in which serious illness has supervened on vaccination, and which has been attributed by the soldiers to the vaccination, he is prepared to recommend the suspension of the operation?

I cannot from my own knowledge confirm the particulars set out in the question. I am informed that the conditions described are obviously caused by Bright's disease and not by vaccination. I have no information as to the particular circumstances attending the enlistment of this man, but if he was suffering at the time from chronic Bright's disease, I can only attribute the fact that he was passed to the high pressure under which the medical examiners have to work. It is not proposed to alter the existing regulations in regard to vaccination.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War if recruits who are discharged within a week of enlistment because medically unfit receive on discharge a gratuity of 30s., plus 17s. 7d. clothing allowance; and, if so, whether he will have these payments revised?

Men who have been finally approved as recruits receive on discharge the usual gratuity of £2. The clothing allowance is given if clothes are not issued in kind. Discharge within a week is an altogether exceptional case, as a soldier should not under ordinary circumstances become no longer physically fit for service within a week of his approval. It is not considered desirable to complicate the regulations by attempting to meet these special cases.

asked whether the men in the Regular Army belonging to the Army Service Corps receive as pay no more than 14s. to 15s. per week, while men in the New Armies belonging to the same branch of the service receive 42s. per week, or three times as much; and, if so, whether there is any reason for so great a disparity in the remuneration given for the same work; and whether it is proposed to continue it?

The hon. and gallant Member is probably comparing motor drivers in the Army Service Corps, who, if privates, are ordinarily paid 1s. 2d. per diem plus corps pay at varying rates, with drivers specially enlisted for the period of the War. It was found necessary on mobilisation to offer a higher rate to induce fully qualified men to enlist, but it is not proposed to extend this to men enlisted on the ordinary terms.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether he is aware that, excluding contracts under £500 in value, contracts for warlike stores, and consumable supplies of food and forage for Army Service Corps, and orders placed abroad, out of 1,865 War Office contracts made in June, only forty-one were given to Ireland; and whether he can give any explanation of those figures?

There has not been time to check the figures given, but I have no reason to doubt that they are substantially correct. As regards their explanation, I would refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my predecessor on the 11th May last.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether he is aware that there is already a temporary duly-staffed receiving depot at Island Bridge for certain articles required by the Army in Ireland and elsewhere; and, in view of the fact and that practically all the representative public bodies in Dublin city and county and other bodies have passed resolutions on this subject asking that the existing system, which has been found serviceable, will be extended and made permanent, whether he will arrange for a fully-equipped permanent depot in Dublin so as to insure greater economy and despatch to the Government and at the same time general convenience?

I am afraid I can add nothing to the answer which I gave to the hon. Member last Thursday.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many male factory inspectors have been released during the last year for service elsewhere, and how far has the staff of women inspectors been increased and employed to carry on the work; and what is the comparison in the strength of the inspectorate to-day compared with a year ago?

Twenty-four inspectors and six assistants in all have been called up or have joined His Majesty's Forces; twenty-two inspectors and eleven assistants have been lent for war service in other Departments; sixteen of whom are engaged in special work requiring technical qualifications under the Admiralty and Ministry of Munitions. The present strength is 157, as compared with 219 a year ago. I am considering the question of appointing temporary women inspectors for the period of the War; and one such has already been appointed—but temporary assistance can only be utilised to a limited extent, as a careful training is required before an inspector is able to undertake the full duties of the post, and the work of training and supervising of any considerable number would throw a heavy additional burden on the experienced inspectors and seriously interfere with their own work. I should wish to add that the staff who remain have worked with great energy and zeal to cope with the heavy duties which have fallen on the Department in connection with the War, and have rendered most valuable service.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether it is one of the conditions of the Government aircraft insurance policy that it shall be subject to average on a basis dependent on the proportion the amount of the policy bears to that of the fire insurance policy on the same premises; whether a man who insures for half the amount of his fire insurance policy will only be reimbursed half the loss he sustains through damage done by aircraft; and, if so, whether steps can be taken to give publicity to these facts, so as to prevent misunderstanding on the part of property owners?

Where the property is insured for not less than the sum insured in the fire policy, the aircraft policy is not subject to average unless the fire policy itself is subject to average. As a general rule, ordinary house property is not insured against fire subject to average, and the ordinary householder will therefore, if he insures against aircraft risks for the full value of his fire policy, be able to recover up to that value. If he chooses to insure for less than the fire value, a proportion only of the loss will be recoverable. This condition is printed on all policies issued under the Government scheme, and I do not think that any person taking out a policy under the Government scheme can fail to have his attention drawn to it.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether, in devising the promised Amendment to the Price of Coal (Limitation) Bill, he will consider the case of industrial co-operative societies who have contracted for the purchase of coal without the intervention of the merchant, with a view to its sale to working people on the principle of restricted profits?

As the subject is now under the consideration of the House, I hope to deal with this and other similar proposals before the Report stage is over.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture whether the Report of the Committee on Home Food Production, presided over by Lord Milner, will be published and the Government proposals for increasing the area of the United Kingdom under wheat and other cereal crops be announced prior to the reassembling of Parliament after the forthcoming Recess?

The matters referred to by the hon. and gallant Member are being carefully considered, but no statement can be made upon the subject at present.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture if arrangements can be made during the present corn harvest for supplying farmers with such soldier labour as may be available without requiring, as in other cases, the intervention of the Labour Exchanges, seeing that the complication of the machinery of supply thereby involved prevented in many districts the utilisation of such labour during the recent hay harvest?

I regret that I cannot see my way to vary the arrangements referred to, which have been settled after careful consideration of all the various circumstances which had to be taken into account. The intervention of the Labour Exchanges is necessary to ensure that the proper conditions of employment are fulfilled, and there is every reason to believe that they were the means of rendering soldier labour available in districts where it would not otherwise have been obtainable. I cannot agree that during the recent hay harvest the intervention of the Labour Exchanges prevented the utilisation of this kind of labour.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if and when the administration of the Old Age Pensions Acts is, under Section 5 of the Government of Ireland Act, 1914, transferred from the Government of the United Kingdom to the Irish Government, it is intended to pension off or transfer to Great Britain those of the existing pension officers in Ireland (using the word existing as defined in the Act) who may not be required in Ireland in their capacity as officers and surveyors of Customs and Excise, or in what other way it is intended to dispose of them, seeing that they will not, under Sections 5 and 36 of the Act, be transferred along with the old age pensions service from the control of the Government of the United Kingdom to the control of the Irish Government; and whether a sum, equal to the cost of the pension officers as such (not including the cost of their revenue work) at the date of the transfer of the old age pensions service, will be added to the Transferred Sum to enable the Irish Government to provide a staff of pension officers of its own?

I fear I am not in a position to make any statement on this matter. As I informed the hon. Member on the 15th instant, it is not the case that the pension officers employed in Ireland would pass automatically under the control of the Irish Government if the administration of the Old Age Pensions Acts were transferred to it. The questions now raised by the hon. Member fall to be determined, if the contingency should arise, by the Civil Service Committee under Section 36 (2) and (3) of the Act, so far as concerns the status of the officers, and by the Joint Exchequer Board under Section 17 (6) so far as concerns an addition to the Transferred Sum.

asked how many Excise stations and districts, respectively, there were in Ireland immediately before the putting into operation of the Old Age Pensions Act, 1908; how many such stations and districts there now are; in how many Excise stations in Ireland are the officers also employed as pension officers; how many officers, excluding temporary, are employed in the Excise stations in which no old age pension work is done; whether the appointment of a pension officer is a distinct and separate appointment, made by the Treasury, from the appointment of the same person as a Customs and Excise officer, made by the Board of Customs and Excise; and to which of the two positions is his salary attached, and, if apportioned, in what proportions?

Before the Old Age Pensions Act came into operation there were in Ireland 150 Excise stations and 41 districts. Now there are 348 stations and 56 districts. The number of stations in which the officers are employed as pension officers is 299; in the remaining 49 stations there are 120 officers who do no old age pension work. All officers of Customs and Excise are ex-officio pension officers, though they are not necessarily all employed on old age pension work and none of them are exclusively so employed. The salary is attached to the position of officer of Customs and Excise.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland why Mary Crossie, of Derrymore, Camlough, county Armagh, has not received an old age pension; if he is aware that she proved her age two or more years ago to the satisfaction of the local pension committee; and if he can say why the pension officer continues to refuse to admit her claim to a pension'

This case does not appear to have come before the Local Government Board. If Mary Crossie's claim has been refused it must have been by the local pension committee.

asked the Secretary of State for India whether he has any information he can communicate to the House regarding the proposed construction of a harbour at Vizagapatam, and provision of railway communication between that port and Raipur, and between the coast and Jeypore and Bustar; and whether such inquiries have been completed, or are being made, as will enable these connected projects to be taken 'in hand immediately after the War?

There is nothing to add to the answers given to the hon. Member on 19th May, 17th September, and 24th November, 1914, except to say that the suggested line from Salur to Jeypore and Bustar is being surveyed.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that through booking for live stock is obtainable from certain ports and places to inland centres in Great Britain otherwise than Dublin; whether he can state the reasons why through booking is not allowable via Dublin; and whether existing obstacles can be arranged to put Dublin in the same position as other Irish ports?

I am making inquiries in this matter, and will let my hon. Friend know the result.

asked the Secretary for Scotland whether, in view of the rise in price of food, coal, and other commodities, any circular has been issued to the Scottish Poor Law authorities recommending an increase in the scale of out-door relief; whether certain localities are exercising their discretion and increasing relief; and whether, if no national action has yet been taken, he will give favourable consideration to the need for a uniform recommendation?

The result of inquiries made by the Local Government Board for Scotland has been to show that parish councils throughout the country have taken into account the rise in prices, and where necessary are increasing the aliment of paupers. The Board have, therefore, not considered it necessary to issue a circular, and, as at present advised, I am of opinion that no further action is necessary. Any case of individual hardship can adequately be met by an appeal to the Board.