asked the Prime Minister whether the undertaking given by Great Britain and her Allies, to send military aid to Serbia in her present predicament, have been given in each case on the understanding that each Power sending aid would not weaken or reduce its fighting strength in other directions?

This is not a matter which can be dealt with in answer to a question. I propose to make a full statement very shortly.

asked the Prime Minister whether some, and, if so, which, Cabinet Ministers have patriotically de- clined to accept any salary during the War and are consequently giving their services to the country without remuneration?

Lord Lansdowne and Lord Curzon are not receiving any salary.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if it is his intention to take steps to stop bankers deducting Income Tax from the interest payable to depositors?

It is quite unnecessary to take any steps in this matter. As my hon. Friend will be aware, Clause 27 of the Finance Bill, to which his question presumably relates, has now been withdrawn, and in any case the provisions of that Clause in regard to deduction of tax from interest paid to depositors would not have taken effect for the current year.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he will give the number of Government workers in Ireland who are not in receipt of a decent living wage; and, having regard to the increase in the cost of living caused by taxation and the War, will he recommend a reasonable war bonus to be paid to all Government employés, according to their wages and salaries, so as to enable them and their families to live in comfortable surroundings?

Every case in which it is claimed that existing wages are insufficient owing to the considerations referred to by the hon. Member will be dealt with on its merits, and I am not in a position to state the number of such cases that will arise nor to make any general recommendation with regard to them.

asked the Secretary to the Admiralty, if he will state why the pensioners in the coastguards do not receive any subsistence allowance; and can he adopt some method of dealing with the matter?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given on the 21st instant to a similar question asked by the hon. Member for Tavistock, in which I stated that subsistence allowance is not payable to men serving at their usual place of duty.

asked the Under-Secretary for War how many steel helmets have been ordered for the Army; and how many have now been issued?

My hon. Friend will pardon me for reminding him that I answered questions on this subject on 14th October, 21st October, and 26th October. These answers cover the question now put, and I have nothing to add.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War if he is aware that at the Aldershot County Court, on the 13th instant, many wives of soldiers now at the front were by order of the Court, on application of their landlord, evicted from their homes, although they were not in arrears with their rents and some of them were very old tenants, and all of them unable to secure other houses in the Aldershot area; and if he will say what action he proposes to take?

So far as the military authorities at Aldershot have been able to ascertain, no single case has occurred there in which the wife of a soldier at the front has been evicted from her home.

asked the Undersecretary of State for War if he will state the number of new recruits who enlisted since the outbreak of the War in each of the counties and of the county boroughs of Ireland?

I have frequently answered similar questions, and have stated that it is not considered expedient or desirable to give this information even if available. I fear I cannot now give any other answer.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that wounded and invalid soldiers, now convalescent, who are quartered in hospitals in the Southern Command, are refused permission to accept any invitations from friends residing in the neighbourhood; and whether he can see his way to relax this absolute prohibition by giving to commandants a discretionary power to grant leave in cases when responsible persons offer to accompany the soldiers, so long as the leave is not abused?

If the hon. Gentleman will refer to the answer I gave on 23rd September to the hon. Member for the Devizes Division, he will see the purpose of such restrictions as exist. No reports have reached me of any difficulties having arisen, but, as I then said, the commanding officers can be trusted to apply the regulations in a reasonable manner within the limit of the discretion given to them.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office if his attention has been called to an allegation that the horses recently shipped by the steamship "Elstree Grange" for the War Office were not at all suited for military purposes; and, if so, will he say whether the horses in question consigned by this steamer were carefully examined on their arrival in this country, and was the report as to their quality and condition satisfactory in every way?

My hon. Friend was good enough to send me a copy of the extract from the "Buenos Ayres Standard" referred to, and I am much obliged to him for giving me the opportunity of inquiring into it. I ascertained that the shipload of horses was collected intact at the port of debarkation. I asked my hon. Friend the Member for the City of London to inspect and report to me upon them, and I sent him all the allegations and complaints against them. I invited my hon. Friend to inspect them because he is an acknowledged authority on the subject, and also wholly fearless in expressing his opinions. I will circulate my hon. Friend's report, and meanwhile I will only say that it entirely confirms the judgment of the purchasing officer, and the price paid for the Horses.

"26th September, 1915.

Sir,

According to your request I visited the Remount Depot at Shirehampton yesterday, arriving there at 10.45 a.m., and inspected the horses from the Elstree Grange.

The 'Elatree Grange' arrived, I was told, on the 13th, so that the horses had been in England twelve days when I saw them.

I was informed that 284 horses were embarked and 284 were landed, of whom one has since died. One is in foal.

The horses varied in height from about 14·3 to 10 hands, the average height being about 15·l.

Many of them were low in condition, but as they had, so I was informed, been 29 days on board ship, this was not to be wondered at.

They were all bad in their coats, owing I fancy to the difference in seasons between this country and the Argentine.

If they remain at the Depot they will look very different in a month's time.

I saw 50 of them ridden at a walk and at a trot; they were all sound and seemed to ride well.

The others I saw in the stables.

The horses as a whole were fresh and clean on their legs and suitable for the work to which I was informed they would be put.

There were about 10 roped off as wild but, with possible one exception, this was, I think, due to nervousness and not to vice.

On the whole the horses seemed quiet and handy.

I should put the average value of the horses landed here at about £35 apiece.

I did not try any of them for their wind.

They should, I think, be kept where they are for a month in order to recover from the effects of the voyage.

I was given every facility to view the horses.

I am,

Yours truly,

(Sd.) F. G. BANBURY.

H. Forster, Esq., M.P."

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office if he will have inquiries made into the case of Mrs. Blackburn, of 14, Pendle Street, Burnley, whose son, Private Richard Blackburn, No. 46,685, South Wales Borderers, allowed to her 6d. a day from his pay on 28th June, but no money in respect of this allotment has yet been received, although repeated inquiries have been made, both by Mrs. Blackburn herself and by other persons on her behalf; and if he will see that if any money is found to be due the reason for the delay that has occurred in this case is fully investigated and explained?

Payment with arrears has now been made. Full inquiry is being made as to the cause of the delay, and I will inform the hon. Member of the result.

asked the Postmaster-General how much per month is being spent on the underground postal railway that is being constructed in London for the sole use of his Department; whether he has in any way reduced the monthly expenditure below the figures before the War; if so, to what extent; and whether he is now prepared to put a definite stop to further expenditure on this project while the War continues?

The expenditure on the Post Office Railway varies considerably from month to month; the figure for September was about £31,000, most of which was for tunnelling work. Before the War the monthly expenditure was very small, and is not comparable, because the work of constructing the tunnel had not then begun; but the expenditure up to date is only some 40 per cent. of the expenditure which it is estimated would by now have been incurred had the rate of progress not been reduced through war conditions. The question of suspending the construction of the tunnel has been considered on more than one occasion, but the Government is a party to a contract for its construction. From inquiries which my right hon. Friend has made, he understands that the contractors have a large amount of material on hand and heavy commitments to sub-contractors, and to interrupt the work at this stage would cost a large sum of money immediately, and involve a heavy increase in the ultimate cost of the work.

asked the Postmaster-General how many unnaturalised Dutchmen are employed as assistant censors at the Post Office; what are their salaries; and whether one at least of them has relations fighting in the German Army?

I take it the hon. Gentleman is referring to the postal censorship. All the assistant censors employed in it are natural born British subjects. Their salaries are £400. I am certainly not aware that any person employed in the postal censorship has relatives fighting in the German Army. Perhaps the hon. Gentleman will be good enough to communicate to me privately the name of the person whom he has in mind.

next asked the President of the Board of Trade what proportion, if any, of the war bonus paid to railway servants is borne by the National Exchequer; and if it is intended to extend these improvements to other members of the railway staff?

I must refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to the similar question which was asked by the hon. Member for Sunderland on Thursday last. I have no information as to any increase of the War bonuses granted to grades not included in the Conciliation Scheme.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture what was the total amount of Indian wheat purchased by the Government during the current year; at what price was it purchased; and at what price, and when, was it sold?

The total quantity of Indian wheat purchased by the Government amounted to 532,504 tons. The maximum prices up to which the Government agents were authorised to buy in India per quarter of 492 lbs., f.o.b., varied at Karachi from 46s. to 36s. 10½d., at Bombay from 46s. to 39s. 4½d., and at Calcutta from 42s. 6d. to 37s. 10½d. The wheat was sold in this country in varying quantities from April to the present month, the highest price being 70s. per quarter, c.i.f., obtained in April, and the lowest, 48s. 3d., obtained in June.

asked the Prime Minister whether he proposes to move for the Amendment of the Standing Orders regulating the sittings of this House in order to bring the working hours of Parliament for the present more nearly within the hours of daylight?

No, Sir, my right hon. Friend sees no sufficient reason for adopting this proposal.

asked the Prime Minister if he will consider the advisability of introducing an emergency Bill repealing the application of the National Health Insurance Act to Ireland and applying the funds contributed by the State to the far more urgent purpose of providing cheap dwellings for the labourers of the Irish cities and towns, the labourers' class having supplied a vast majority of the recruits from Ireland and the labourers' dwellings loan in the open market being no longer practicable?

I regret that, owing to the financial strain, the provision of houses for the working classes has had to be curtailed both in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The Government have no intention of introducing legislation on the lines suggested by the hon. Member.

asked the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland), if he will state the amounts by which the usual grants in aid of technical schemes have been reduced in the case of each body to which such grants have been made; and the total reduction for the current year?

The following is a Return of the Reductions made in the Annual Contributions from the Department's Endowment Fund to Local Schemes of Technical Instruction:—

NOTE.—In the case of the county schemes for the following six counties, namely, Cavan, Clare, Leitrim, Limerick, Tipperary (South Riding) and Waterford, the Department in view of the large unexpended balances in the hands of these committees, are withholding their contribution for the present year. Including the amounts thus withheld, the total deduction for Ireland for the current year amount to the sum of £7,330.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that the four tenants on Lord Longford's bog, whose face-bank was destroyed in order to make a firing range for the 5th service battalion of the 18th Royal Irish Regiment, declare that they were not visited by any official inquiring on behalf of the War Office, and that they know nothing whatever about the statement being made to the effect that they have suffered no loss; whether he is aware that these men cut no turf in this locality this year, and could not do so because of the destruction of the face-bank; and does he still propose to refuse to give them some compensation for the loss of their turf-bank?

As I informed the hon. Member a month ago, three out of the four tenants have been interviewed on behalf of the War Department, and the Department is satisfied that no loss has been suffered. No claims have, in fact, been made by any of the tenants.

asked the Secretary for Foreign Affairs whether he will communicate to the House the fact of the recognition of General Carranza by the United States Government as soon as such recognition takes place?

I am informed that the United States Government, on; the 19th instant, recognised the de facto Government in Mexico, of which General Carranza is chief of the Executive.

asked if this country is; bound, and to what extent, by the Brussels Sugar Convention?

This question was answered by my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade on the 4th February last and again by the Undersecretary of State on the 21st instant, and I venture to refer my hon. Friend to those answers.