asked the Prime Minister if he will state to the House the latest totals of casualties both in Flanders and the Dardanelles?

furnished the following figures, correcting an error in those officially circulated on 26th July, and published in the OFFICIAL REPORT of that date:—

asked the Prime Minister whether the Government is now prepared to submit to arbitration the claim for a War bonus made by Civil servants other than those in the Post Office service?

I would refer to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary to the Treasury to the hon. Member for West Ham South on 19th July with regard to the case of the non-pensioner watchers in the Customs.

asked the Secretary to the Admiralty if he is aware that the workmen employed in the Works Department at the Royal Victoria Yard, Deptford, are not receiving the War bonus, while the workmen in all the other Departments are; and whether he will give instructions that the men in the Works Department be treated in the same manner as the rest of the workmen?

The facts are as stated in the first part of the hon. Member's question. As regards the latter part of the question, the emergency increase granted in connection with the award of the Committee on Production is payable only to employés who are paid at Admiralty rates, and is not applicable in the case of Works Department workmen who are paid at the rates prevailing in the district.

asked the Secretary to the Admiralty if he has received a complaint regarding the firm of Messrs. Vosper, engineers, Broad Street, Portsmouth, who refuse to pay the War bonus to the joiners employed by them on workfor the Admiralty, while other firms in the district doing similar work are paying a bonus; whether the Admiralty are treating Vosper's differently to the other firms; and, if not, whether they will compel the firm to treat its workmen in the same manner that the other firms are treating their workmen?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. Inquiry will be made.

asked the Prime Minister if, for the instruction of the people of the Empire and record for future generations, he will follow the example of the French Government and cause cinematographic records of suitable scenes at the front and on the lines of communication to be taken by a photographer under official supervision?

This is being done.

asked the Prime Minister whether, in the event of a number of workmen being thrown out of employment owing to the place at which they worked being damaged by air raid, consideration would be given to the possibility of granting such workmen compensation for their temporary loss of livelihood?

I cannot hold out any expectation that it would be possible to grant compensation from public funds for loss of employment in the circumstances indicated. I presume that cases of distress would be eligible for assistance from the relief funds.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that many of the officers of Customs and Excise compulsorily superannuated at the age of sixty-one have not completed the forty years' service necessary for full pension; whether at the time these officers entered the Civil Service the age limit was not less than twenty-two on the first day of the competitive examination; whether he can see his way to direct the Commissioners of Customs and Excise to revert to the practice in force up to a few years ago and allow efficient officers who have reached the age of sixty-one to complete forty years' service; whether Customs and Excise officials with salaries ranging from £2,000 to £650 per annum are not compelled to retire at the age of sixty-one although they have at that age reached the maximum pension service; whether the first class officers of Excise sent in a statement to the Customs and Excise Amalgamation Committee requesting to have the rule of compulsory retirement at sixty-one abrogated; and whether, by order of the Committee, the statement was cut out and the officers most concerned were debarred from giving evidence on the subject?

Under the operation of the rule compelling officers of Customs and Excise to retire at sixty-one some of them retire with less than forty years' service. When these officers entered the service the minimum age for entrants was nineteen. As I informed my hon. and learned Friend on the 6th instant, the age for retirement was fixed at sixty-one after careful consideration in 1911 on the recommendation of the Amalgamation Committee, and I regret that I cannot accept the suggestion that the rule should be withdrawn. The age for retirement of the officials of Customs and Excise at salaries of £650 and upwards is, under the Order in Council of 10th January, 1910, within the discretion of the Board, and it is the Board's practice not to enforce retirement at sixty-one. I am not aware of the circumstances referred to in the last two parts of the question; but the printed minutes of evidence do not bear out the statement that the officers were debarred from giving evidence on the subject of the age for retirement.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that the Courts (Emergency Powers) Act, 1914, is insufficient to protect owners of heritable property in Scotland from the demand of bondholders for rates of interest never in contemplation when the bonds were created; and whether, in view of a letter dated 20th February, 1915, written on behalf of his predecessor, and signed F. F. Liddell, he will take measures to prevent the calling up of bonds in all cases where the financial conditions consequent upon the War render it impossible to raise money to pay off such bonds unless at rates of interest of 5 per cent, or over?

I am aware that some bondholders in Scotland are attempting to raise the rate of interest on their bonds, and would refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave on this subject on Wednesday last in answer to my hon. Friend the Member for North-West Lanarkshire. With reference to the last part of the question, my hon. Friend seems to have misapprehended the meaning of the letter he refers to.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if his attention has been called to the imports of motor cars of a cheap character at the present time and the expected increase in these imports, and to the fact that the English builders of cars are prevented by the stress of Government work from supplying the demand for cars by the public and that these imports must necessarily increase the trade balance against this country and render the exchange still more unfavourable; and if, whilst these conditions prevail, he will put a stop to the import and purchase of such foreign cars by prohibition under the Defence of the Realm Act, or by the imposition of a heavy duty on them, or by heavy Licence Duty on the use of such foreign cars, or in some other way?

I understand that the import of cars of the kind referred to has increased during the last few months. I am afraid I can make no statement with regard to the last part of the question.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty how many subjects of neutral Powers have been killed as a result of attack by German submarines?

Up to the 27th instant the number of persons reported killed as a result of attack by German submarines on neutral merchant vessels is twenty-two, but the nationality of those who lost their lives is not definitely known at the Admiralty.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty if he will say how many British non-combatants have been killed as a result of attack by German submarines?

Up to the 27th instant the number of persons killed as a result of attack by German submarines on British merchant ships is approximately 1,550, but the nationality of those who lost their lives is not definitely known at the Admiralty.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty how many German non-combatants have been killed as a result of attack by British submarines or other warships?

The Admiralty has no record of any German non-combatants having been so killed.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether regulations are in force whereby only one parent may visit a wounded officer at Boulogne; and whether he will endeavour to obtain permission for both parents to visit wounded sons at places such as Boulogne, which are outside the zone of immediate danger?

The answer to the first part of the quesion is in the affirmative. Owing to the limits to the accommodation available, and on other grounds, only a limited number of persons can receive permission to visit wounded relatives. If the number allowed to go in each individual case were increased, it would be necessary to diminish the number of cases in which visits could be permitted.

asked how many men had been enlisted in the Territorial Force after the outbreak of the War at the date when orders were given permitting enlistment for Imperial service only; and how many of this number enlisted for Home service only?

The figures available do not show the number of Home service men who have joined during the War separately from those who were in the Force on the outbreak of the War.

asked up to what date in the autumn of 1914 was the enlistment of men in the Territorial Force invited and acted upon; and on what date was the order to enlist only for Imperial service promulgated?

The recruiting of men for Home service ceased in March last.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that many cases have lately occurred of soldiers, after a long period of training in this country, being sent directly to the front without obtaining any leave of absence; and whether he will endeavour to arrange that, unless in cases of exceptional emergency, a few days' leave is given to every soldier before he joins the Forces at the front?

Soldiers are given leave as far as possible before they proceed abroad, though it has not always been possible to do this where a unit has been put under orders suddenly. Further proposals are, however, being considered with a view to minimising the chance of soldiers not getting leave before the draft is put under orders.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War if he will arrange a short holiday at home for dockers and stevedores from the Port of London Authority serving with the British Expeditionary Force in France, some of whom have been away since October last?

As I have before stated, the grant of leave is a matter within the discretion of the Field-Marshal Commanding-in-Chief, and it would not be desirable to make recommendations to him in favour of particular individuals or groups of men.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War if he is aware of the many complaints that are being made by the wounded at the Herbert Military Hospital of the rough food and the rough way of serving it; that the tea is served in thick large mugs out of pails; that only one potato is served to one man at a meal, and often uneatable; that the meat is often not good and that great lumps of fat are served to men in the most delicate state of health; that as many as forty wounded soldiers, many of them serious cases, are in charge of one single nurse with two or three orderlies more or less trained; that many of the nurses have practically had no holidays since last August: that men are treated like babies and sent to bed for most trivial offences; and that altogether the control and management are such as to cause the utmost discontent and to give the air of a penitentiary to the place instead of a hospital; and whether he proposes to take any action in the matter?

Inquiry is being made into the statements made in the question, and I will communicate the results to my hon. Friend.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War if he can state, with reference to the soldiers who have volunteered since the comencement of the present War, the number of them who are married, and of those the number who have married since enlisting?

The only figures which are available would include all the married soldiers, irrespectively of whether they joined before or after the outbreak of War.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office if he has received a complaint against the firm of Messrs. C. J. Wills and Company, of Haven Side, Grimsby, to the effect that the firm refuses to pay the proper overtime rate to the joiners employed by the firm on work for certain forts in the vicinity of Grimsby; if he is aware that the firm will not discuss the matter with the men's representative; and whether he will take steps to compel this firm to comply with the provisions of the Fair-Wages Clause?

No complaint has been received as to the rate of wages paid for overtime to the joiners employed by Messrs. C. J. Wills and Sons, Limited, on the work referred to, but inquiry is being made into the matter.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office if he is aware that a firm named W. H. Thomas and Sons, Limited, of Oswestry, that is making horse-shoe boxes for the War Office, is employing girls and women to do the work; that they are paying them at the rate of 2d. per hour; that last week the firm discharged eleven skilled workmen, though the reason given for starting women on the work was that the firm could not obtain male labour; and whether he will strike this firm off the list of contractors to the War Office?

No complaint of the character referred to has been received by the War Department, but inquiry will be made into the matter.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office if he is aware that Mr. B. W. Smith, of Grimsby, who has a contract for supplying forms to the War Office, is letting the making of them piecework, that he refuses to pay either day or hour rate; that joiners sent by the Labour Exchange to this employer cannot accept employment with him, as he is working contrary to the rules and customs of the trade; and whether he will compel this employer to observe the conditions of the Fair-Wages Clause?

I have not received any complaint regarding the firm in question, and cannot trace that they hold any War Office orders.

asked the Home Secretary if his attention has been called to the number of cases in which firearms have been used against police officers, and to a Return issued by the Home Office in 1913, showing that during five years forty-eight officers had been shot at; if he is aware that his precursor in office promised more than two years ago to bring forward a Bill to restrict the carrying of firearms; and, in view of the recent death from shooting at Hampstead of Detective Alfred Young, S division, Metropolitan Police, when in the execution of his duties, and of other eases subsequent to those in the Return, in which the lives of policemen have been sacrificed, and also of the many deaths of civilians from the careless use of revolvers, will he consider whether the time is opportune for introducing legislation to restrict the carrying of pistols and to provide that no person may bring a revolver into the country?

I fear the present time is not opportune for dealing with a question which experience has shown to be very controversial. I would, however, direct the hon. Member's attention to Regulations 30 and 31 of the Defence of the Realm Regulations. By Regulation 31 no firearms may be brought into the United Kingdom without a permit from a competent naval or military authority.

asked the Postmaster-General in what circumstances it was found necessary to fix a difference of five years in the age limit for men joining the stores department, who may eventually become established, and those joining the engineering department?

The maximum age limit for storemen, thirty, is the same as for postmen, porters, and other classes of the kind. In order to secure a sufficient number of qualified candidates for the work of the engineering department it has been necessary to widen the field of selection by increasing the age limit.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture whether his attention has been called to the loss and delay that is caused to traders in this country by the Regulations requiring quarantine of lambs imported from Ireland; and whether, in view of the absence of disease in lambs so imported, and the present scarcity of meat, he will consider the desirability of suspending or modifying these Regulations?

The Regulations to which the hon. Member refers have been from time to time the subject of careful and prolonged consideration, and I see no special circumstances at the present time which call for their suspension or modification. The hon. Member will no doubt realise how much greater the interference with the meat supply would be if disease of any kind were to occur which would lead to a stoppage of imports from Ireland, than can be possible under the present precautionary Regulations.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture whether he can state the number of assisted nominations in connection with heavy horse societies which were not taken up last year owing to the absence of applications from persons farming the necessary number of acres?

No information is available as to the number of assisted nominations which, for the reason mentioned by the hon. Member, were not taken up last year. 2,153 nominations were available throughout the year; of these, 1,512 were taken up, and the remaining 641, spread over forty-six societies, were not utilised.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what amount of increase in the price of a quarter of wheat and of a sack of flour, respectively, is found by the Board's experience to be the fair equivalent of, and to justify an increase of, a halfpenny in the price of a 4 lb. loaf of bread?

The number of 4 lb. loaves made from a sack of flour varies somewhat, but if it be taken as ninety-two—a usual figure—a change of a halfpenny in the price of a 4 lb. loaf would correspond to a change of 3s. 10d. in the price of a sack of flour, on the assumption that other materials and labour are unchanged in cost. The proportion of flour obtained to the grain milled varies considerably in practice. The census of production returns show an average yield of flour in United Kingdom mills of about two-thirds of the weight of the wheat milled, and taking this proportion the change in price of wheat corresponding to a change of a halfpenny in the price of the 4 lb. loaf would be about 4s. 4½d. per quarter of 480 lbs. On the basis of a 70 per cent, yield of flour, in accordance with the practice of some districts, the corresponding change in the price of wheat would be rather over 4s. 7d. per quarter. These figures are based on the assumption that the wheat offals remain unchanged in price, and that the expenses of milling remain unchanged.

asked what were the average market prices in England and Wales of a quarter of wheat, a sack of flour, and a 4 lb. loaf of bread on the 1st August and the 1st October, 1914, and the 1st January, the 1st April, and the 1st July in the current year?

The prices in London of two typical grades of wheat, and of a standard quality of flour on the Mondays preceding the 1st of August and October, 1914, and January, April, and July, 1915, respectively, and the predominant prices of bread in London on the 1st of each of these months are as under. Owing to variations in grades and. descriptions, average prices of wheat and flour for the country generally are not completely comparable:—

asked the Secretary to the Treasury if, following the precedent of the recent arbitration proceedings on wages in the Post Office, ho is willing to submit to a small arbitration committee the matter in dispute between the Treasury and the assistant clerks about the special increment recommended by the Royal Commission on the Civil Service, or, failing that, will he ask the Royal Commission, which is still sitting, for an interpretation of its recommendation as to I whether it was intended that the special increment should be given to all assistant I clerks, including those already at the maximum of the scale?

The limits within which the special increment could be granted I received very careful consideration, and I can hold out no hope that they will be extended. I see no reason for adopting the hon. Member's suggestion.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland what are the average number of committals per day to the nine local prisons in which it is believed governors are still required in Ireland; what are the total number of hours of duty of those governors and how many hours per week are they absent from the prison as certified by the gate book; who discharges their duty when so absent, and whether, as a matter of accuracy, the sole duty of the governors is to make a tour of inspection of the prison once in twenty-four hours, all the other duty being performed by the under officials, who work on an average sixty hours per week, including Sunday; whether he will state what is the initial pay of a prison warder for the first ten years of his service; whether, in view of the present cost of living, he has con- sidered whether a wage of £l per week for onerous service faithfully discharged is a living wage; and whether he still persists in refusing to hear a statement of the case for relief for the prison warders in Ireland?

The abolition of the governorship in the case of nine local prisons in Ireland was suggested in the hon. Member's question of the 15th instant, to which I replied that I was unable to agree that there were nine such prisons in which that step could be taken without detriment to the public interest. Until, however, the hon. Member tells me which are the prisons he has in mind, I am unable to make the detailed inquiries to which he desires replies. I may say generally, however, that prison governors are responsible for the safe custody of prisoners in their charge, and are thus always on duty except when ill or on leave of absence, in which cases their duties are discharged by the deputy-governor or officer acting in his place. It is the duty of each governor to supervise the work of his subordinates and to enforce the laws and regulations of prison administration. The initial pay of a prison warder is £52 per annum rising after each year of approved service by increments of £l. He is, in addition, supplied with uniform clothing and boots, is provided with full light and residence, and in certain circumstances with an allowance in lieu thereof, and is entitled to the services of the prison medical officer. In view of these privileges and emoluments, it is incorrect to suggest that a warder's remuneration is limited to his monetary wage. I have already fully stated the grounds on which, with the statement of the warders' case before me, I hold that no useful purpose could be served by my receiving a deputation on their behalf, and I can see no reason for departing from that view at present.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is able to make any statement as to the general policy of the Government on the question of compensation to sufferers from the recent mutiny in the Straits Settlements, or can he indicate when he will be in a position to do so?

I am in communication with the Governor on the subject, but am not yet in a position to make a statement. I shall communicate with my hon. Friend when I am in a position to do so.

asked the Secretary for Foreign Affairs whether his attention has been called to the fact that at least one naturalised British subject travelling in Switzerland as Continental representative of a London trading company is unable to return to England, as neither the French nor the Italian Consuls will vise his British passport; and whether, in cases where no suspicion is attached to such British subjects, some method will be devised for the return journey to be made through France or Italy if proper security be given?

The question of the passage of persons of enemy origin through France or Italy is a matter which rests entirely with the Governments of those States, and His Majesty's Government would not be justified in attempting to intervene in the matter of any measures which those Governments consider it necessary to enforce. There is, however, nothing to prevent persons affected from approaching the Governments concerned direct and putting forward any special circumstances which may exist.