asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether surveyors of taxes are directed, when making an assessment for Income Tax, to add to the proved incomes of the medical profession one-third or indeed any part of the value of any book debts which may be standing in their books, and which they may never succeed in recovering; and, if so, on what grounds such additions are allowed to be made?

No instructions of the nature suggested have been issued. In the case of medical men, as in other cases, any sum for book debts which has been included for Income Tax purposes in the profits of any year is, of course, excluded from the profits of the year in which the debts are paid. Should the debts prove to be irrecoverable they would be allowed as a deduction from the profits of the year in which they were subsequently written off.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will state on which Act of Parliament the Board of Customs and Excise rely for their authority to issue the order of 10th September last limiting daily clearances of dutiable articles from bond?

The powers of the Board for protecting the revenue and preventing the abuse of bonding privileges are contained in the Customs Consolidation Act, 1876, and various amending Acts.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether efforts are still being made to induce men in the administrative branches of the Service to transfer to the Infantry; whether this applies to the Royal Army Medical Corps and the Artillery in those divisions of the new armies which have already been formed?

No transfers from administrative services to the Infantry are at present being carried out. If such transfers were required men would not be taken from units of the new armies already formed.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether in cases where officers on mobilisation sold mares to the Government for Army purposes, these officers may be allowed to buy back the mares for breeding purposes on payment of the same price as that which the Government gave for the mares?

Regulations have already been drafted under which not only officers, but non-commissioned officers and men who brought mares with them on mobilisation, will be enabled to re-acquire them for breeding purposes at a fair valuation when cast as no longer fit for service. It is not possible to give general permission for the repurchase of serviceable mares, but any application will be considered on its merits.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War if it is proposed to grant a Government pension to the widow of Lance-Corpl. Perrett, 4th Battalion Wiltshire Regiment, who has died on active service while in India; and, if not, whether it is proposed to differentiate in the matter of such pensions between men in the Territorial Force and those belonging to other branches of His Majesty's Army?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War if he will give the names of the military dispatch bearers appointed since the commencement of the War?

The special appointments which these officers hold come within the category of Staff appointments. The names of officers on the Staff and the posts they fill are not published.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether any estimate has been formed of the effect of the War upon the growth or decline in population; and, if so, whether he can state what the estimated population of the United Kingdom was in July, 1914, what it was in July, 1915, and what it will be in July, 1916, on the supposition that the War continues for another year, and that the drain of men from these islands and the rate of losses among men in the forces also continue?

The Registrar-General's estimate of the population of the United Kingdom on 1st July, 1914, is 46,089,249. In the absence of sufficient data he is unable to frame any reliable estimate of the population in 1915 or 1916.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will state the total tonnage of shipping, for the last year for which figures are available, which passed through the Bosphorus into the Black Sea, giving the shipping of the following countries separately: British, Greek, Italian, Austro-Hungarian, French, German, Russian, Bulgarian, Roumanian, and the total of shipping of all nations?

The following statement gives the information desired, so far as the particulars are available:—

Total tonnage of vessels (exclusive of sailing or small coasting vessels) which arrived at the Port of Constantinople from the Mediterranean Sea, and cleared for the Black Sea, in the year 1913, distinguishing the principal nationalities.

Flag. Tonnage. British … 3,175,307 Greek … 496,790 Italian … 734,671 Austro-Hungarian … 964,193 French … 158,793 German … 430,216 Russian … 732,947 Other flags* … 881,607 Total … 7,574,524 * Separate statistics of Bulgarian and Roumanian tonnage are not available.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will state the total tonnage of shipping for the last year for which figures are available which entered the Port of Constantinople, giving the shipping of the following countries separately: British, Greek, Italian, Austro- Hungarian, French, German, Russian, Bulgarian, Roumanian, and all other countries; and the total of shipping of all nations?

The following statement gives the information desired, so far as the particulars are available:— Total tonnage of vessels (exclusive of sailing and small coasting vessels) which entered the Port of Constantinople during the year 1913, distinguishing the principal nationalities. Flag. Tonnage. British … 6,600,139 Greek … 1,001,047 Italian … 1,516,584 Austro-Hungarian … 2,016,828 French … 434,822 German … 877,202 Russian … 1,608,490 Other flags* … 2,484,381 Total … 16,539,493 * Separate statistics of Bulgarian and Roumanian tonnage are not available.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty if he is aware that certain men who were pensioners over the age of sixty, from Portsmouth Dockyard, were ordered some eight months ago to return to work in the dockyard and had to pass the medical examination; that these men were in continuous employment outside; and that these men have now been given the option of dropping their pension or leaving the dockyard; and if he will inquire into the matter and have it put right?

I am not aware that any pensioners over the age of sixty years were ordered to return to work in Portsmouth Dockyard, nor, indeed, would it be competent for the Admiralty so to order them. Some pensioners were invited to accept re-employment, and were offered a weekly equivalent to their pensions in addition to the full wages of the class to which they belonged. It has recently been deemed expedient to terminate the special conditions regarding the emoluments of pensioner re-entrants, and it has been decided that in future dockyard pensioners re-employed shall be paid the full wages of their class without any addition on account of the suspension of their pensions. They would receive the hired rate of their class plus the war bonus.