asked the First Lord of the Admiralty if he is aware that the dockyard men at Invergordon were promised and given a few days' leave every three months and were aware of this privilege when they volunteered for Invergordon, and that now leave is only granted every six months; and if he will remedy this and revert to the original promise made to the men?

I am aware that in calling for volunteers for Invergordon an assurance was given that men would not be retained there for more than three months, except with their own consent; and return railway passes were allowed to men who volunteered for further service to enable them to visit their homes. The present arrangement is a modification of this, in so far that free passes will only be allowed in the proportion of one for each six months of service, with the proviso that not more than one pass shall be issued in any three months. Thus, even under these arrangements, free return passes would be issuable after three months' service to men who have volunteered for service under the conditions stated, provided that the men in question, return for a further period of not less than from, three to six months' service. If in any particular case an employé considers that he has any ground of complaint in the matter, any representation which he may make to his officers will receive attention.".

asked the Secretary of the Admiralty if he is aware that there are men who have been called up since War began, and whose time for pension has expired making them eligible for pension and who in peace time would not be enjoying a pension; and can he say if, in the event of the death of any of these men, the pension (if any) accrued from date of eligibility to date of death will form part of their estate to be disposed of by them by will?

Men who were in receipt of pension before being called up continue to draw that pension while serving. Men who complete time after the Royal Proclamation will not receive pension or gratuity until discharged, though they count their additional service for increase of pension. In the event of death the dependants are eligible for pensions or gratuities under the schemes of the Select Committee recently approved, but they would not be paid the pension or gratuity which would have been awarded to the man had he lived in addition to the pension or gratuity awarded in consequence of his death.

asked the Under-Secretary for War whether any approximate estimate can be framed of the number of troops Turkey could put into the field after a year of war, as to the permanent loss she has sustained as the result of the War, and as to the increase that can be made with German munitions freely supplied?

It is calculated that Turkey now has some 650,000 men in the field and that this number might possibly be increased to a million in the circumstances mentioned by the hon. and gallant Member.

asked the Under-Secretary for War if he has any information as to the fate of Major R. D. Waterhouse, l/8th Lancashire Fusiliers, reported as missing in Gallipoli, on 7th August; and whether lists of prisoners of war in Turkey are being regularly received?

I regret that no later information regarding Major R. D. Water-house has been received than that which ii already in possession of the hon. and gallant Member. In reply to the last part of the question I may say that lists of prisoners of war in Turkey have been received at irregular intervals and with imperfect information.

asked the Under-Secretary for War whether he is aware that Private E. Semple, No. 17447, C Company, 8th Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, 16th Division, who enlisted on 21st November, 1914, allotted immediately 6d. per day to his father, James Semple, of Letterkenny; that his father received this 6d. per day up to 1st September last, but no separation allowance has been paid with the allotment, and that on 1st September this allotment ceased altogether, although a deduction of 6d per day continued to be made from Private Semple's pay; and will he have the case inquired into, and order the payment of arrears of separation allowance since 21st November, 1914, up to date?

Inquiry will be made and my hon. Friend informed of the result.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office if he will have inquiries made into the case of 4077 Private J. T. Bamford, 3/5 East Lancashire Territorials, who enlisted on 12th July, 1915, and, in particular, if he will ascertain whether this soldier before his enlistment had been working for his father, Mr. J. W. Bamford, of 3, Albert Street, Burnley, as a painter and decorator; whether on his enlistment he obtained for his parents an allowance of 7s. 1d. per week, making an allotment of 10s. 7d. per week, which is stated to be considerably less than the net value of the services which he had rendered to his father in the business before his enlistment after deducting the cost of his keep; whether he is aware that the papers necessary to secure this allotment were sent from Burnley on 16th August; and will he explain why only a small part of this allotment has yet been paid?

I am making inquiry and will inform my hon. Friend of the result.

asked the Home Secretary whether all special constables are to be provided with caps, coats, and boots, irrespective of the time they may have been in the force?

I would refer my hon. Friend to my replies of the 4th November and 8th instant on this subject.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether there are three times the number of acres under wheat this year as compared with any other year during the last 50 years, and as there is no possibility of a shortage can he state the cause of the continued increase in the price of wheat and flour; if the conditions producing this rise of prices be avoidable will he take steps to remove them; and if he will also take the necessary steps to prevent any person or persons hoarding up supplies?

The hon. Gentleman is misinformed with regard to the increase in the acreage under wheat this year. If he refers to the acreage under wheat in the United Kingdom, the increase was hardly 25 per cent., and if he refers to the whole world's acreage the increase was even less than this. With reference to the latter part of his question, I may refer the hon. Gentleman to my answer on a similar point to his question on Thursday last.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture if he can state, for each county of England and Wales, the numbers of committees established under the proposals of the President of the Board of Agriculture to form a link between the farmers and his Department; and what sum the Treasury has granted or proposes to grant to the county councils to meet the expenses incurred in the establishment of these committees?

As regards England, every county except London has appointed a County War Agricultural Committee. Information as to the number of district committees formed in each county will be found in the attached table:—

As regards Wales and Monmouth every county has appointed a County War Agricultural Committee, and district committees have been actually formed or are in process of formation in each county, but information is not yet available as to the exact numbers. The Board have received authority from the Treasury to pay £50 per county as a Grant-in-Aid of the expenses of these committees, and as soon as experience of the working of the scheme enables a reliable estimate to be formed of the probable future expenses, the Board are authorised to make a further Grant if such proves to be necessary.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the Shah's Government has failed to fulfil the promises given to the representatives of England and Russia, and has allowed the German agents to transport from Teheran to Hamadan a huge quantity of bombs, maxims, rifles, cartridges, and other military supplies?

As has already been, stated, in reply to the hon. Member's previous questions on this subject, it appears that large quantities of war material have been smuggled into Hamadan.

The Persian Government have assured His Majesty's Minister, at Teheran, that they will endeavour to the best of their ability to prevent such abuses of Persian neutrality, and in so far as they have been able to make their authority effective these assurances have hitherto been fulfilled.

I do not think that under all circumstances the Persian Government can fairly be said to have failed to fulfil, to the best of their ability, their promise in this, matter.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he can give, approximately, the wealth and the annual income of the United Kingdom?

The capital wealth, of the United Kingdom is roughly estimated by statisticians at £15,000,000,000, and the annual income at £2,400,000,000.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury (1) whether he will take such action as may be deemed advisable to secure that all Government printing contractors in Dublin shall conform to the payment of the wage standard now recognised for compositors and machine printers by the majority of the printing employers in that city; and (2) whether the Government will in future insert a clause in their tender forms issued to contractors to the effect that contractors doing Government work shall pay the rate of wages recognised by the majority of the contractors as the wage standard for the time being?

All contracts already stipulate for the observance of the terms of the Fair-Wages Resolution of the House of Commons, in accordance with which the contractor must pay rates of wages not less favourable than those commonly recognised by employers and trade societies in the trade in the district where the work is carried out. Every step will be taken to ensure the observance of this condition in the cases to which the hon. Member refers.

asked the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland) whether the salaries of the subordinate staff of the National Library of Ireland are based on an examination set by the Civil Service Commissioners, notwithstanding the fact that they are previously required to pass a qualifying examination of a much more difficult nature set by the librarian; whether the Treasury is cognisant of the fact that these men are engaged on technical library duties, such as indexing and general ledger work, accessioning of books, checking of binding, shelf classification, typewriting, arrangement of catalogue, and classification of maps, music, and prints, the necessary qualifications for which are entirely outside the scope of the Civil Service examination; and, if so, will the Treasury grant an increase of salary to the staff of the National Library of Ireland at least commensurate with those duties and the outside rates for the same, taking also into consideration the fact that these men have received practically no increase in salary since the reorganisation of the staff in 1904?

In the case of the officers referred to, as in that of other classes of Civil servants, their rate of remuneration has presumably been fixed not in respect of the difficulty or otherwise of any examination they may have to undergo, but with regard to the nature of the duties to be performed by them. The attendants in the National Library take some part in the technical duties mentioned so far as their abilities and education fit them to do so. As regards the concluding portion of the question, the decision rests with the Treasury.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if he will state the beginning salary of a junior assistant mistress under the regulations of the Commissioners of National Education, and what is the maximum salary; can these teachers become assistants in the schools where they are junior assistant mistresses, and, if so, under what conditions; are all inspectors empowered to give junior assistant mistresses permission to enter for King's scholarships examinations; and will he state whether young ladies who have already passed the King's scholarships examinations and subsequently serve the necessary time, and in other ways conform to the other conditions, are eligible as full assistants in any school?

The Commissioners of National Education inform me that junior assistant mistresses are paid from the date of appointment at the rate of £24 per annum in all schools where the grant at this rate has been established by fulfilment of one of the conditions specified in rule 82 of the Commissioners' code in regard to the maintenance of an average daily attendance of at least thirty-five pupils.

In the case of a mixed school under a master where the attendance of pupils is too small to admit of the establishment of a grant of salary at the rate of £24 per annum to a junior assistant mistress, under the terms set forth above, payment is made to a teacher of this class at the rate of £6 for each quarter in which the average attendance of girls is at least twenty. If the average attendance of girls is less than twenty for any quarter, the junior assistant mistress is paid for that quarter a capitation grant of 5s. for each girl in average attendance.

The maximum salary of a junior assistant mistress, in all cases in which the conditions for the award of the grant of £24 per annum on appointment are fulfilled, is £28 per annum. The maximum is reached by an additional grant of £4 per annum which is awarded to all junior assistant mistresses after the completion of two years' satisfactory service.

Junior assistant mistresses can become assistants in the schools where they are employed as such in any case in which the conditions as to the average attendance, etc., required by the regulations for the establishment of a grant to an assistant are fulfilled, on passing the King's Scholarship Examination in the first or second division, and being favourably re-ported on in the practice of teaching by the inspectors and qualified to teach singing. They must have previously received special permission to attend the examination, and, to obtain this permission, they must have given three years' service as junior assistant mistresses, and during that time their work must have been very favourably reported on by the inspector.

No inspector is empowered to give junior assistant mistresses permission to enter for the King's Scholarship Examinations. The Commissioners decide upon the reports of all inspectors, but especially of senior inspectors, as to whether or not junior assistant mistresses may be admitted to these examinations.

The passing of the King's Scholarship Examinations by persons who attend these examinations merely as candidates for training does not confer on them any claim to recognition as assistant teachers, but the cases of junior assistant mistresses who have already passed the King's Scholarship Examination in the first or second division and subsequently serve the necessary time, and in other ways conform to the other conditions, are specially considered with a view to their recognition as assistant teachers if appointed as such within a reasonable time after having passed the examination.