asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, seeing that the Import Duty upon tobacco represents, after extraction of water, at least four times the amount paid away in gold to other countries for its purchase, the consumption of tobacco in Great Britain is, from the standpoint of national finance, encouraged or discouraged by the Government?

The answer to the hon. Member's question depends on the particular sense in which the phrase "national finance" is used. If it refers to yield from taxation, it is clear that an increase in the consumption of tobacco will have a beneficial effect. If, on the other hand, it refers to the general economic position, other considerations must be borne in mind which might lead to the conclusion that increased consumption of tobacco was detrimental to the national interest.

asked the Secretary to the Admiralty what are the terms of pay of the Coastguard service; whether any allowance is made for coal, light, or uniform; and whether any increase of pay has been given to this service in respect of the extra cost of living?

The pay of the Coastguard force on shore ranges from 6s. to 8s. a day in the case of chief officers of stations and from 1s. 7d. to 3s. 2d. a day in the case of the men. In addition, the men receive allowances ranging from 1d. to 1s. 1d. a day, according to rating, qualification, and conduct. The great majority receive 4d. a day. All chief officers and ratings—with the exceptions mentioned hereafter—receive an allowance in lieu of provisions of 1s. 10d. a day, and are provided with quarters for themselves and their families. The allowance of 1s. 10d. a day was recently increased to that rate from 1s. 4d., with effect from 1st July last, on account of the all-round extra cost of living, but those in the enjoyment of separation allowance or special subsistence allowances are paid provision allowance at the former rate of 1s. 4d. In certain circumstances, also, an allowance is made towards the cost of carriage of provisions. No general personal allowance for coal, light, or uniform is paid, but in districts where the cost of fuel is abnormal each chief officer and man receives a grant not exceeding 2d. a day towards the extra cost. Various other allowances in exceptional circumstances will be found detailed on page 33 of the Navy Estimates for 1914–15. Men of the Coastguard embarked with the Fleet are paid according to the ratings last held afloat or in the Coastguard, whichever is the higher; they share in any free issues of winter clothing, and where eligible receive the benefit of separation allowances, their families as a rule being allowed to continue to live in the official quarters on shore.

asked the Secretary to the Admiralty whether he is aware that midshipmen have in many cases been continuously on active service since the outbreak of the War; and whether, seeing that it is not possible, under the circumstances, for these boys to prosecute their studies regularly as in peace time, he will consider the advisability of remitting, wholly or partially, the contribution of £50 a year required to be made by the parents of midshipmen to cover the cost of tuition?

My hon. Friend appears to be under some misapprehension as to the purpose for which the contribution of £50 from the parents of midshipmen is required. It is used solely to cover midshipmen's personal expenses, and is in no way connected with tuition. The contribution of £5 a year payable by midshipmen for tuition under normal conditions has been remitted from the 4th August, 1914, for the duration of the War.

As regards the question of the private allowance payable on behalf of midshipmen, as I have already stated, the Board of Admiralty is prepared to give favourable consideration to applications for whole or partial relief where real necessity exists; and, further, in the case of midshipmen killed on active service, any sums deposited in advance in respect of a period subsequent to the date of death are returned to the guardians upon the closing of the private allowance accounts of the officers concerned.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether War Office land at Aldershot has recently been sold to the Army and Navy Co-operative Society, Limited; and, if so, at what price; whether the sale was effected by public auction or by private treaty; and whether the land has yet been conveyed?

The answer to the first and fourth parts of the question are in the affirmative. The price was £4,300, and the sale was by private treaty.

asked the Under-Secretary for War whether it is proposed to issue any armlet or badge to patriotic men of military age who have done their utmost to join the Army, either as officers or privates, but have been rejected on initial medical examination as physically unfit for military service, in order to protect them against taunts and ridicule for their apparent lack of patriotism in continuing their civil employment?

If armlets are to be issued in the circumstances mentioned, they would have to be of a different pattern. The desirability of such an issue is now engaging attention.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War if he is aware that the Glasgow and South Western Railway Company, now under Government control, are advertising for men aged from nineteen to twenty-five to be employed as platform porters at from 18s. to 21s. a week, and that the Board of Trade Labour Exchanges, at Dumfries and elsewhere, are assisting in obtaining them; and whether, in the interests of recruiting, such advertisements can be discontinued?

My right hon. Friend has asked me to reply to this question. I have been unable to trace such an advertisement, and I understand that the only assistance given by the Labour Ex-changes was to supply three men as goods porters at Dumfries to the local railway superintendent in August last.

asked the Secretary for the Colonies if he can give the names of the Samoan exiles who have returned to Samoa on the ending of the German occupation of those islands?

The Samoan exiles who have returned to Samoa are the chief, named Laniki, and about ten other natives (whose names I do not know), with their wives and children, numbering altogether sixty-four persons.

asked the Secretary for Foreign Affairs if he will state the date in 1912 when Count Metternich communicated to him the substance of a Note bringing to an end the negotiations for a mutual reduction of the expenditure on naval armaments?

10th April, 1912, was the date of the conversation in which this communication was made.