DEATH DUTIES (UNSALEABLE SECURITIES).
asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is pre- pared to meet the hardship arising in cases where, owing to the War, trust securities have to be realised at a heavy loss in order to meet the payment of Death Duties, or where such securities are at present unrealisable; and what steps he proposes to take in the matter?
Where it is proved to the satisfaction of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue that securities are unsaleable at the minimum price in force, they will be prepared to accept for Death Duty purposes valuation of the securities concerned at the present minimum price, less an allowance of 7½ per cent.
ANTI-TYPHOID INOCULATION.
asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he has received complaints from the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection that posters giving official information that anti-typhoid inoculation is voluntary had been ordered to be covered up, and in some cases had been torn down by order of the officer commanding and the police authorities in Darlington, Wolverhampton, and Lewes; whether these local authorities were acting under orders from the War Office; if so, under what Clause of the Defence of the Realm or other Act such orders have been issued; and whether he will now stop such attempts to conceal from soldiers the rights which he has assured the House they possess under the Law?
I understand that something corresponding to what is described in the first part of my hon. Friend's question actually took place. The local military authorities were not acting under any orders received from the War Office. A complaint was received from Miss Beatrice Kidd and was forwarded to the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Command concerned for any action he might, in his discretion, consider necessary, and Miss Kidd has already been so informed.
asked the Under-Secretary of State for War if he is aware that an order of the South Staffords depot states that no leave is to be granted to any non-commissioned officer or man who has not been inoculated or signified his willingness to be done; whether this order is general throughout the Service; whether it has the sanction of the War Office; and whether such orders will now be withdrawn and prohibited for the future?
I am obtaining information on this matter.
TERRITORIAL BATTALIONS.
asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that the third-line Territorial battalions are under the command of majors who are doing the work of lieutenant-colonels, whereas the command of both first and second-line battalions is that of lieutenant-colonels; whether the duties and responsibilities are the same in each case and, if so, what is the reason for the distinction in the grade of commanding officers?
I would refer the hon. Gentleman to the two oral answers I have given to him to-day, and also to the written answer I gave to the hon. Members for North Somerset and North Hampshire, on the 21st September.
EAST LANCASHIRE ROYAL FIELD ARTILLERY (ALLOTMENT).
asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office if he will have inquiries made into the case of Walter Harrison, of 5, Harcourt Street, Burnley, whose son, Private Irving Harrison, No. 2,001, 3/1 East Lancashire Royal Field Artillery, enlisted on 25th May last, and allotted to his father 6d. a day, but up to the present no money whatever has been received, and letters of inquiry addressed to the headquarters at 60, Spring Gardens, Manchester, have not been answered; and if he will ascertain the reason for the delay?
Inquiries will be made into this case, and I will let the hon. Member know the result in due course.
OUTPUT OF EXPLOSIVES (INDIA).
asked the Minister of Munitions if steps are being taken in India to render that country, by additional internal output, self-contained in the matter of explosives as well as other munitions of war; and, if not, whether a careful inquiry will be conducted to ascertain the true reasons why such steps are not being taken?
Steps are being taken in India in the direction and with the object suggested by the hon. Member.
ARMY MEAT SUPPLIES (AUSTRALIAN PRODUCERS).
asked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been drawn to the statements of a deputation representing the meat-canning and preserving interests of Australia which waited upon Mr. Chief Secretary Black, of the the New South Wales Government, in which it was alleged that, in the matter of War Office and Admiralty orders for canned meat, Australian producers had been deliberately boycotted by the Committee of Supplies; that the Chicago Beef Trust had received undue preference to such an extent that, while Australian goods were not accepted, the same goods, if sold to an American firm and freshly labelled, were accepted by both the War Office and the Admiralty; and that Mr. Chief Secretary Black, in reply to the deputation, made remarks regarding the treatment of Australian producers and in connection with the distribution of these canned-beef orders; whether, at the outbreak of the War, large orders had been given to Australian firms against whom no complaint was made; whether, in view of the discontent in the Colonies, he will state the reason for the discontinuance of orders to Australian firms; and whether Australian goods were being or had been tendered from American sources?
My right hon. Friend has asked me to reply to this question. It is the established policy of the War Office to deal, as far as possible, with Australian packers rather than with foreign firms, subject, of course, to due regard being paid to considerations of quality, price, and delivery, and this policy has been strictly adhered to. In view of the existing stocks no orders of importance have been placed for some time, but there has been no discontinuance of Australian orders as such. Agents of American firms have for some years been buyers of Australian meat, and the purchase of spot stocks naturally includes such goods.
JAPAN.
asked the Secretary for Foreign Affairs whether his attention has been called to certain misleading statements appearing in a section of the Japanese papers with regard to this country's part in the war; and whether he has taken any steps, or is taking any, to correct them?
I do not know exactly what statements in a section of the Japanese Press are referred to, but I do not think it is in the public interest to pursue the matter. Our relations with our Ally are, I believe, mutually satisfactory.
Pasture Land (Taxation).
asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will consider the desirability during the coming year either of exempting altogether from Imperial and local taxation pasture land newly broken up for increasing the Home production of human food or, alternatively, of differentiating between the taxation of income derived from pasture and arable land, respectively, to the advantage of the latter, and thus provide some additional inducement to landowners and farmers to face the risk involved in the conversion of the former into the latter?
I do not think it would be practicable to adopt the hon. and gallant Member's suggestion. It would involve a revision of our whole system of Imperial and local taxation and among other things the apportionment of rent.
Bread Prices.
asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware that, in spite of the recent heavy fall in the market price of wheat all over the country and of the fact that the quartern loaf of bread is now being sold in Lincolnshire and other counties at either 7d. or 7½d., poor people in the south and west of England are still being charged 8d. per loaf; and whether any and, if so, what steps are being taken by the Board to put a stop to this difference in charges?
There has never been a standard quality of bread common to all districts and, largely owing to this fact, there have always been variations in price. The following tables, however, show that, while the price of bread in the south and west of England advanced less than in Great Britain as a whole in the year ended 1st September, 1915, the fall since 1st June has been greater than the average fall.
I.—COMPARISON OF PREDOMINANT PRICE OF BREAD per 4 lbs. at 1st September, 1914 and 1915. District. 1st Sept., 1915. 1st Sept., 1914. Rise since 1st Sept., 1914. d. d. d. London: N. & N.W 7¾ 6 1¾ E. & N.E 7¾ 5¾ 2 S.E. 7½ 5¾ 1¾ S.W. 7¾ 6 1¾ W. & W.C 8 6¼ 1¾ Northern Counties and Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cheshire 8 6½ 1½ Midlands 7¾ 5¾ 2 Eastern Counties 7¾ 6 1¾ Southern Counties 8 6½ 1½ South Western Counties and Wales 7¾ 6 1¾ Scotland 8¼ 6¼ 2 Great Britain 8 6 2
II.—COMPARISON OF PREDOMINANT PRICE OF BREAD per 4 lbs. at 1st June and 1st September, 1915. District. 1st June, 1915. 1st Sept., 1915. Amount of Fall since 1st June, 1915. d. d. d. London: N. & N.W. 8¾ 7¾ 1 E. & N.E 8¾ 7¾ 1 S.E. 8½ 7½ 1 S.W. 9 7¾ 1¼ W. & W.C. 9 8 l Northern Counties and Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cheshire 8½ 8 ½ Midlands 8¼ 7¾ ½ Eastern Counties 8½ 7¾ ¾ Southern Counties 8¾ 8 ¾ South Western Counties and Wales 8¼ 7¾ ½ Scotland 8¼ 8¼ — Great Britain 8½ 8 ½
Asylums and Prisons (Accommodation).
asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will state the cubic space per individual which is regarded as the necessary minimum in lunatic asylums, prisons, and other institutions under the inspection of the Home Office; whether regulations as to accommodation or recognised dormitories have been changed, relaxed, or suspended in such cases since the War began; and, if so, whether the alterations made are to be regarded as permanent or temporary?
The requirements as regards asylums are too lengthy to be given in the answer, but my hon. Friend will find them set out in paragraphs sixteen, seventeen and eighteen of the Instructions of the Lunacy Commission regarding the construction of asylums, of which I am sending him a copy. In prisons the requirement is 800 cubic feet for cells in which a prisoner both sleeps and works, and 600 cubic feet when the prisoner works outside. In reformatory and industrial schools the ordinary requirement is not less than 360 cubic feet for each child in the dormitories. Only in the case of asylums have any of these requirements been relaxed, and in the case of asylums the relaxations are purely temporary and are justified only by the need of providing accommodation for patients removed from other asylums which are being used as hospitals for wounded soldiers.
asked whether any lunatic asylums carried on by public authorities or other institutions under the Lunacy Commissioners, have been authorised to take a larger number of inmates than before the outbreak of War; if so, whether any figures can be given as to the number of institutions and individuals so affected; and whether any reports from medical or other inspectors have been received as to the results, beneficial or otherwise, of the changes introduced?
Nine asylums have been entirely vacated and two partially vacated to provide hospital accommodation for wounded soldiers. Between 13,000 and 14,000 lunatic patients thus displaced have been accommodated in the remaining asylums, with the result that most of these asylums have at present a larger number of inmates than would be considered advisable by the Board of Control in normal times. The reports of the Commissioners who have visited the asylums in question speak with approval of the efforts made by the visiting committees to minimise the disadvantages of the arrangement, which is only justified by the exceptional circumstances of the present time.
Secondary Schools (England and Wales).
asked the President of the Board of Education (1) what was the total number of all children in secondary schools in England and Wales, respectively, in 1903; and what was their number in 1913; (2) what was the number of ex-public elementary school children who, in 1903, were in secondary schools in Eng-
Year. Number of Schools. Total Number of Pupils. Number of ex-Public Elementary School Pupils. Fee-payers only. Total Number. England. Wales. England and Wales. England. Wales. England and Wales. England. Wales. England and Wales. England. Wales. England and Wales. 1903 … 348 70 418 40,261 4,315 44,576 — Figures are not available. 1909 … 804 108 912 135,671 15,123 150,794 40,502 7,431 47,933 81,184 12,843 94,027 1913 … 898 112 1,010 158,452 15,971 174,423 45,808 6,472 52,280 97,998 13,820 111,818 N.B.—The figures for 1903 refer to 30th June, 1903; for 1909 and 1913 the figures relate to 31st January, 1909 and 1913, respectively. Figures with regard to ex-Public Elementary School pupils are not available for the years before 1909. No figures are available for schools which are not aided by Grants.
land and Wales, respectively, and paying fees; what was their, number in 1913; and (3) what was the number of all children in secondary schools in England and Wales, respectively, in 1903 who had previously attended elementary schools; and what was their number in 1913?
The following table gives the figures asked for by my hon. Friend:—