asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if his attention has been called to the fact that a firm of chocolate manufacturers at York held such large stocks of sugar that malt-kilns and dwelling-houses have been acquired for the storage of the same; and will he explain, as chairman of the Sugar Commission, how it arises that this firm should have been allotted such large quantities while other manufacturers were only allowed 25 to 75 per cent. of their normal consumption?

The answer to the first, part of the question is in the negative. The Sugar Commission will be glad to make inquiries into this case if full particulars are supplied, but even if the circumstances were as stated, they did not arise in consequence of any allotment by the Commission.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether he will explain in what circumstances temporary female typists who have no knowledge of shorthand are paid 25s. a week at the Admiralty and only £1 a week at the Board of Trade, the normal daily hours being the same; and whether he will authorise the pay of the latter to be increased, especially as in practice their work is in no way inferior to that of many of the temporary female clerks employed at 25s. a week by the Board and they have in addition a knowledge of shorthand and typewriting?

The women employed at the Admiralty who are referred to in the question are presumably temporary women clerks, whose authorised pay is 21s. to 25s. a week. The duties of this class are by no means identical with those of temporary women typists whose ordinary pay is 20s. a week, subject to a maximum of 25s., which may be awarded by Departments in cases of special merit.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether he will state the total amount saved by the Treasury during the last financial year owing to Members not receiving the whole or a portion of their Parliamentary salaries?

The amount is estimated at £26,900.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether Messrs. Ernest Blythe and William Mellowes have obeyed the order of the competent military authority to transport themselves out of Ireland without any specified reason; whether they have been forcibly transported; and, if so, what are the terms and duration of the sentence?

Blythe and Mellowes were put on board the mailboat at Kingstown for Holyhead by the police and duly arrived in England. The order prohibiting them from residing in Ireland will continue in force until revoked by the competent military authority, or until the termination of the War.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether Messrs. Ernest Blythe and William Mellows are now imprisoned or interned in this country; if so, where; on what charge; under what sentence; and, seeing that they have been offered freedom conditionally, and have not been tried, where found as the Defence of the Realm Act provides, what treatment are they to be subjected to while here?

Neither Blythe nor Mellows is imprisoned or interned. As to the other parts of the question I must refer the hon. Member to the answer he received to a question addressed to the Chief Secretary for Ireland, on the 30th of March last.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether the warders in His Majesty's prison, Tullamore, who have been receiving extra allowances as storekeeper, master, superintendent of work, etc., have been notified that on and after the 1st April they will revert to the status and pay of an ordinary warder; if so, if he has considered the hardship entailed by this order to men with families owing to the present prices; and if he will arrange to have their present allowances continued until such time as vacancies similar to those that they have filled would arise in the service?

The reply to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. As regards the second part, the officers referred to were appointed to these special duties on the condition that the allowances should only continue as long as they were employed on such special duties, and accordingly it has been decided that the cessation of the duties involved the cessation of the special allowances.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether, in respect of the decrease in the Prison Estimates in Ireland this year, any notice was taken by the Treasury of the demand made by the Irish prison warders for a living wage; whether he is aware that these men are the only public servants in Ireland who cannot get any change in their position, although all classes and grades of public servants have by way of war bonus or other increases got a chance to live, which has been denied to Irish prison warders; and will he indicate what steps he has taken to redeem his promise to a recent Parliamentary deputation to help to secure better wages and shorter hours for these men?

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave yesterday on this subject to a question of the hon. Member for North Sligo.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether the Naval Discipline Act is periodically read to the crews of the Royal Naval Air Service Anti-Aircraft Corps; and, if so, whether the members of the corps are subject to the provisions of the said Act?

The answer to both parts of the question is in the affirmative.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War if he will say why no reply has been sent to the letter sent to him on the 1st of March last by George Lewis Clerk, of Gainsborough, pointing out that he attested in consequence of misleading statements in the Press and on recruiting posters that it was necessary to attest before exemption could be considered by the local tribunal; why this man's request to have his attestation cancelled in the circumstances has not been granted, seeing that at the time of his attestation he handed a written statement to the recruiting officer that he was attesting under protest, as he had a conscientious objection to war; and, seeing that this man has been denied the right to claim exemption under the Military Service Act on the ground of conscientious objection in consequence of having attested, and as he is called up for 13th April, will he immediately cancel his attestation and give orders for the withdrawal of the calling-up notice until his case has been properly dealt with under the Military Service Act?

I am calling for a report on this case.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War why Henry Sara, a conscientious objector to Conscription and war, who was refused exemption by the Hammersmith Tribunal, and who was arrested as an absentee on 4th April and sentenced to one month's imprisonment at the West London Police Court on 5th April, has been taken by the military authorities from prison and refused to let him serve his sentence; if Sara has refused to obey military orders; if he has been dressed and undressed compulsorily; if he has been transferred to Salisbury; where he is at present and in what condition and circumstances; if a military court-martial has been or is about to be held upon him; and, if the court-martial has been held, what is its decision?

As I stated on the 10th instant in answer to the hon. Member for North Somerset, I am obtaining a report about this case, but I have not yet received it.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether he will make known the instructions or terms of reference that have been issued to the Committee recently appointed by the Government to help those who are desirous of escaping military service on the grounds of conscience; whether this Committee has been set up to give advice to the individual who has appealed from the decision of his local tribunal; and whether the Committee is empowered to communicate with and advise local and Appeal Tribunals with regard to any cases that may be or have been brought before them?

The terms of reference to the Committee were announced in the Press of the 29th March. They are as follows: "To be a Committee to which a tribunal may refer for advice as to what service of national importance an applicant for exemption on the ground of conscientious objection should undertake, and for such, other information and assistance as the tribunal may require."

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War if he has yet made inquiries into the case of Harold Hargreaves, lately of Burnley and afterwards residing at 20, St. James's Street, South-port, who offered himself for enlistment at Blackburn on 26th October last and was then rejected as medically unfit, but has since been compelled to join the Army under the Military Service Act, 1916, and if he will now say whether this man, on receiving a yellow notice requiring him to join for service with the Colours, called at the recruiting office at Southport on Friday, 3rd March, and produced the certificate of rejection which had been given him at Blackburn, and was then informed that this could not be accepted because it was signed only by a non-commissioned officer; whether on Monday, 6th March, he travelled to Blackburn and called at the recruiting office to ask that the certificate should be corrected, but was told that this could not be done as the doctor who rejected him had resigned his post; whether on Thursday, 9th March, the police called at the shop where he works at 10.45 a.m. and told him that unless he reported himself for military service by 11.30 he would be arrested as a deserter; whether he then went and was passed for immediate service, although, in fact, suffering from rheumatic affection of the heart; and whether the War Office propose to take any steps in the matter?

The report on this case, for which I called, has not yet been received.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether the great majority of married men are not allowed to join the Territorial regiments, with the result that these men are unable to join regiments where they would serve with their own friends; whether he is aware that this action on the part of the War Office is strongly resented by the Territorial Forces in preferring the Regular Army to the Territorials; and will he take steps to remedy the position?

My hon. Friend may not be aware of the latest instructions. Since the 26th March it has been possible for any attested man, whether married or single, to join a Territorial Force unit at any time before the date on which he is due to present himself for Army service, provided, of course, that the unit is open for recruiting. The Army Service Corps and the Army Medical Corps of the Territorial Force are not open to recruiting.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War when the promise made to Territorial soldiers who signed for Imperial service will be kept, by allowing such soldiers to join units chosen by themselves in accordance with the War Office letter of 28th December, 1915?

The War Office letter of 28th December referred to in the question stated that men in provisional battalions who undertook the liability for foreign service would be allowed the option to transfer to the second or third line of their original unit or to any other unit of the same arm. This is still open to them should they so desire, but the Army Council reserve the power to attach men to such other units as may be necessary in the interests of the Service and the country.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War if the attention of the War Office has been drawn to the numbers of skilled mechanics and motor drivers who have attested in the married men's groups; and if, in view of the special national value of these men in munition and motor transport work, any and, if so, what precautions are being taken to separate them from others more suited to Infantry service?

I am aware that a certain number of skilled mechanics have attested in the married as also in the single groups. These are separated from the unskilled men, and, after a preliminary test to ascertain that they are really skilled, they are appointed to the corps in which their services are required.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War how many companies of the Non-Combatant Corps besides that attached to the Bedfordshire Regiment have been formed; and if he will give the syllabus of weekly training laid down to prepare these companies for service at the front?

Six companies of the Non-Combatant Corps are being formed. I cannot give in detail the syllabus asked for, but I may state that these men are trained in squad drills without arms and in the use of the various forms of tools used in field engineering.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland what salary and expenses were recently paid by the Congested Districts Board to Mr. George E. Draper, their inspector in county Sligo; and at what date those payments ceased?

Mr. George E. Draper, while engaged on military service, is being paid by the Congested Districts Board the difference between his full civil salary and the amount of his Army pay.

asked the President of the Local Government Board if he will consider the desirability of issuing a circular to the local military tribunals instructing them to refrain from commenting on the character of a man's profession, trade, or business, if legal, as such comments, where adverse, are calculated to prejudice the applicant's case and to permanently injure him in the pursuit of his calling?

I cannot think it is necessary for me to instruct tribunals in the elementary proprieties of their procedure. Any such attempt would be properly resented.

asked the President of the Local Government Board if, under the new Regulations issued under Order in Council under the Military Service Act, 1916, the certificate of a workman is taken away, he will at once become liable to be called up for military service, or will he be entitled to the two months' grace allowed under the Act after the expiration of a certificate?

The Regulations cannot affect the rights of a man under the Act.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether he is aware that information has recently been received by local tribunals that, in order to avoid military service, individuals are leaving their present religious connections and seeking admittance to the Society of Friends; and whether, in view of the reluctance of tribunals to inquire publicly into a man's religious belief, he can aid the tribunals by a suggestion that applicants claiming the protection of the Society of Friends should be simply required to produce satisfactory evidence that they were members of the Society of Friends before 15th August, 1915?

I have already communicated to tribunals the suggestion that inquiry should be made of applicants claiming exemption on conscientious grounds how long they had held these views, and whether they could produce evidence that they held them before the War or, at any rate, before the 15th August, 1915.

asked the Attorney-General whether there has been submitted to him a circular issued and signed on behalf of the joint committees of the Friends Service Committee and the No-Conscription Fellowship, in which it is stated that the Government should understand that the men spoken for can, under no circumstances, become part of the Non-Combatant Corps, that their objection covers any form of military service, combatant or non-combatant, and generally any form of civil alternative, and that, as the result of appearing before the Appeal Tribunals one or other of the Government conditions is imposed, the only course open is to await the penalties attaching to deserters; and, seeing that these individuals are thus setting up their individual convictions against the national will and encouraging desertion, will he say what action he proposes to take?

The circular referred to in the question is now under consideration by the proper authorities.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether a man who after having served eleven years in the Volunteer and Territorial Forces signed on again in March, 1914, for another twelve months, but who has not signed on for foreign service, is liable to be enlisted compulsorily under the Military Service Act, 1916; and, if not, if he will state at what date, in the circumstances mentioned, a man will be free to take his discharge from the Territorial Army?

Under Section 9, Sub-section (5), of the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act, 1907, such a man would not become time expired until some day in March, 1916. If he became time expired after the 1st March he, being a home service man only, had to be discharged from the Territorial Force and automatically come under the Military Service Act. I assume that the man is within the age limits covered by the last-mentioned Act.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether instructions were issued in the Eastern Command on 29th March, 1916, not to call up employés of canteen contractors for military service pending further orders; and whether it is the intention to make any difference between the employés of canteen contractors and those of other employers.

Yes, Sir. Such an Order was issued, but it was of a very temporary nature, pending the receipt of returns showing the number of men of military age employed. These returns have now been received and this Order cancelled. It is not intended to make any special provision for the protection of such employés except in cases recommended by General Officers Commanding-in-Chief where their calling up would seriously affect the comfort of the troops. In all other cases the military authorities will oppose claims for exemption on the grounds of employment.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether Army Form B 2513 is the new form of attestation provided for men enlisting under the Military Service Act, and contains the question: Have you any preference for any particular branch of the Service, if so. which; whether Form B 2512 is the form of attestation provided for men enlisting under the group system, and omits that question; whether all the men enlisting under the Military Service Act, and none of the men enlisting under the group system, have been asked the question on their attestation forms; and, seeing that men enlisted under the group system are placed at a disadvantage, in that they are denied the opportunity of recording their choice of units as a necessary answer on their attestation papers and must, therefore, rely on any chance notes which may not have been made or kept by the recruiting officer, will he say what action he proposes to take?

I can only refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave him on 2nd March. It is not proposed to take any further action.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War if he will say how many officers under the age of forty are employed in buying forage throughout the country; and whether he will consider the advisability of employing either officers or civilians over military age for this purpose, thus relieving younger officers for more combatant duties?

The great majority of officers employed in this Department are over forty years of age or are unfit for general service. All those who are fit for general service are liable to be taken at any time. The service is one requiring special training, but whenever an exchange of a suitable officer who is medically unfit for one that is fit can be arranged it is done.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he has now ascertained whether a New Zealand non-commissioned officer dying in a British military hospital has been buried without military honours; and whether any distinction in this respect is made in favour of German prisoners?

I have sent my hon. Friend a full statement of what occurred in the case which he has in mind and of the reasons why, unfortunately, the non-commissioned officer in question was not buried with full military honours. I explained in answer to the hon. Member for Inverness Burghs on the 6th instant the practice in regard to giving military honours to German prisoners of war dying in this country. No distinction is made in favour of German prisoners.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether specialists in massage who hold Colonial qualifications are being denied employment in military hospitals because they do not hold an Almeric Paget diploma; whether they are also being denied the right to sit for examination for this diploma unless they take the full six months' course; and whether he has any evidence that this spirit and policy are being resented by the Oversea Dominions?

Specialists in massage who hold Colonial qualifications are not being denied employment in military hospitals because they do not hold an Almeric Paget diploma. I am, in fact, informed that there is no such thing an an Almeric Paget diploma. Six months' training is required before a masseuse can be accepted, unless her education took place some time ago. This is the rule for the qualification of masseuses in civil life. The answer to the last part of the question is in the negative.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War if he will state whether treatment given to soldiers in hospital is applicable in the case of all kinds of diseases or wounds; and whether such treatment is continued until a cure is effected or has become clearly impossible?

Hospital treatment is continued until a cure is effected or until it is obvious that the soldier will not be medically fit to remain in the Service. In no circumstances is a soldier discharged from hospital (except to special institutions) unless he is able to leave without detriment to his health.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War if he will state how many decorations have been granted to the four Yorkshire regiments, the 6th Yorks, 9th West Yorks, 6th York and Lancaster, and 8th West Riding (Duke of Wellington's), respectively, of the 32nd Brigade, who landed at Suvla Bay on 6th August, 1915; whether the Brigadier-General was severely wounded on 7th August, and why was this not mentioned in Sir Ian Hamilton's dispatch; and will he say the number of casualties of officers and men in this brigade between the 6th and 21st August?

I hope my hon. Friend will not press me to enter into minute arithmetical calculations regarding the proportions in which decorations are granted to different regiments. I think it would be a bad day for the Army if the impression gained ground that the grant of decorations was in any way, or could be in any way, affected by Parliamentary influence. I may add that it is not incumbent on the Commander-in-Chief to mention every Brigadier, or even officer of higher rank, who may be severely wounded.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War if the Connaught Rangers is the only Irish battalion, apart from the Irish Guards, which is not trained in the province from which it is mainly recruited and with which its name is associated; whether there is ample accommodation in the province for the training there of this regiment; and, if so, whether the War Office will take steps to arrange the practice being followed in this case which is followed in the case of every other Irish regiment?

I understand that, though the Irish regiments, except the Irish Guards, have at least one battalion in their own province, it is not the case that all Irish battalions are trained in their own province. The location of units is governed by requirements of Home defence, facilities for training, ground, ranges, etc., and accommodation. Subject to the last of these, the allotment is made under the orders of Field-Marshal Commanding-in-Chief, Home Forces.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War if the present superintendent of the Army Spectacle Depot has severed his connection with the German firm of Messrs. Nitsche and Gunther, with which he had been recently connected; and whether that firm is doing prescription work for the War Office?

The superintendent of the Army Spectacle Depot severed his con- nection with the firm in question prior to taking up the appointment. The firm in question is not doing any prescription or other work for the War Office.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office why the promise made by the Army Pay Offices at Concert Hall, Blackheath, S.E. (Reference No. DML 4), dated 14th February, 1915, to pay dependant allowance to Mrs. Mallon in respect of her son, Gunner John Mallon, No. 10116, Royal Field Artillery, British Expeditionary Force, France, has not been carried out and the half-pay left by her son paid; and will he see that this amount and all back pay is paid forthwith?

Inquiries are being made, and the hon. Member will be informed of the result.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War what is the object of the Central Board of Control for Canteens; how are their salaries paid; and what benefit have the regimental canteens gained from the operations of the Board?

The Central Board of Control for Canteens is giving place to a Committee as to which a full announcement will shortly be made.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether certain regiments were obliged by an Order from the War Office to spend at the regimental canteens the 4½d. granted in lieu of groceries and were thereby debarred from making more advantageous contracts with outside firms; whether this has had the effect of swelling the profits of regimental canteens from which the Central Board of Control claims 5 per cent.; and whether any account of the sums of money thus collected has been published?

My hon. Friend is not altogether correct in his facts and figures. Units, in accordance with Army Regulations, must expend their commuted cash allowance for certain components of the rations at regimental institutes, where it has been possible to establish such institutes. The prices charged in these institutes (except in the case of local produce) have been fixed by the Board of Control. Possibly in some districts, owing to local conditions, better prices could have been obtained for local produce with outside firms, but in the latter case no rebate would usually be obtainable for regimental funds. The Board of Control retain for administrative purposes 2 per cent., or in certain cases 1½ per cent. of the daily takings of the institute. Any surplus from this source, after administrative expenses have been paid, is controlled by the Army Council, and this surplus has been shown in the Board of Control's last balance sheet.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that No. 1217, Drummer Garside, C company, 1st/8th battalion Manchester Regiment, 52nd provisional battalion, Tilbury Fort, was arrested on the 15th March and discharged and again arrested and sentenced to detention; and whether the orders of the 52nd provisional battalion of the 4th March stated that this soldier, who is a time-expired man, would be discharged on the 12th March; and whether he will see that the soldier is liberated from detention immediately?

I have called for a report on this case.

asked the Minister of Munitions whether an advance of £400,000, or any, and, if so, what amount, has been promised or granted to the Nitrogen Products and Carbide Company and a contract given them to supply the Government with nitrate of ammonia at the rate of 8,000 tons a year or thereabouts; whether he is aware that this company was floated in 1913 with a nominal capital of £2,000,000, of which £769,000 was profit (or paper) shares, with the object, inter alia, of purchasing the Otswald catalytic process from certain Scandinavian companies financed by Germans at the price of £652,108, and that amongst the present registered share- holders of the company are the Deutsche Bank of Berlin, the Disconto Gesellschaft, the Dresdner Bank, and many other German and Austrian enemies, to the value of £93,095; whether he is aware that at the time of the flotation, when £1,000,000 was extracted from the English public by the salesmen of the Otswald process, it had been superseded by the Harben process operated by the Bædische Anilin Fabrik, which has been made the basis of a State monopoly by the German Government; whether he is aware that under the Harben process nitrogen products can be turned out at under half the price and with no risk to health, and that German explosives are now mainly or largely produced thereby; whether he is aware that since the formation of the company in 1913 it failed to make profitable use of the Otswald process and its balance sheet for 1915 discloses that it had on hand only £4,612 0s. 10d. in cash; whether he is aware that the money provided by the Government is now being used to erect works at Dagenham, Essex, for the purpose of treating stuff imported from Norway called nitrolim for conversion into nitrate of ammonia, and that in this process it has been proved commercially that the lime constituents give off dust and fumes so injurious to the workmen that loathsome skin diseases, difficult or impossible to cure, result; that, in consequence, Germany refused to allow any such factory to be established in the German empire, and that the only country in which one was tolerated before the War was Belgium, where batches of workers were disabled week after week, some of whom were never able to resume work owing to sores contracted on hands, feet, breast, and back; whether he is aware that, in the flotation of the company, profit shares were given free to persons closely connected with the Vickers' firm, its chairman, Albert Vickers, receiving 63,631 shares, and two other leading directors, Sir Trevor Dawson and Sir Vincent Caillard, 42,965 and 33,140 shares, respectively, and that the Alby United Carbide Company and its chairman, A. E. Barton, received free 500,035 and 57,248 shares, respectively; whether the Vickers' company are responsible for the shortage of munitions in 1914–15 by undertaking war contracts which they did not and could not perform; if so, can he say why the Government came to the rescue of a company controlling an obsolete process with which the Vickers' interest was identified, can he lay upon the Table the Papers connected with the grant of the subsidy or contract; and, if not, will he give the House the names of the persons who introduced this concern to the notice of the Government and those of the Departmental Committee responsible for helping it, and say if any official minutes relating thereto exist?

The Ministry of Munitions have made a contract with the Nitrogen Products and Carbide Company for the supply of nitrate of ammonia and nitric acid on favourable terms. The contract was made after careful consideration by Lord Moulton and his staff of offers received from this company and from an important competing company. Under the contract the Ministry advanced not £400,000, as stated, but £50,000, at 5 per cent. interest. The advance is repayable by deductions from the price of the goods supplied. There are six German, three Austrian, and one Turkish shareholders who own in all less than 2 per cent. of the capital; their names have been notified to the Public Trustee. In addition, the London branches of the three banks named hold one 250th of the capital. These branches are controlled by the Board of Trade. It is not true that the Otswald process has been superseded by the Haber process, which is a process for the manufacture of ammonia and not of nitric acid or nitrate of ammonia, the materials required by the Department. I understand that the statement as to the financial position of the company is incomplete and misleading. The Government grant of £50,000 is being used to defray part of the cost of the erection of works in this country.

I find that the hon. and learned Member's statements as to the deleterious effects upon the workers are without foundation so far as this company is concerned. Although they have produced very large quantities of the material they have not had a single case of any disease among the workmen caused by the manufacture of the product.

The hon. Member's statement that there are no factories in Germany is also without foundation. The process has been successfully carried on there. I have no information as to Belgium.

The statement as to the distribution of free shares is, I am informed, a grave misstatement of fact. The persons named received no free shares. Their holdings are approximately as stated, but they were paid for as to two-thirds in cash and as to the balance by the surrender of equivalent shares in other companies.

I do not feel it necessary or desirable to lay the Papers on the Table of the House; but I shall be glad to show them to any Member of the House who is interested in the subject.

My hon. and learned Friend will see that he has been seriously misinformed, since more than half of the statements contained in his question are incorrect or misleading. Further, his question has been the means of giving publicity to information which it was very undesirable to give to the enemy.

asked the Minister of Munitions whether the decision to establish twelve-hour shifts for women and girls at Messrs. Vickers' works at Erith is in direct contravention of the spirit and purpose of the recommendations of the Health of Munition Workers' Committee; whether he is aware that such hours in the case of women are disastrous from the standpoint of health and motherhood and therefore injurious to the State, and that twelve-hour shifts involve, after a few weeks, chronic fatigue on working women and decrease efficiency and output; and whether he will take steps to arrange for a better system in the matter of working hours?

I have already dealt fully with this matter in previous replies to questions. As my hon. Friend is aware, it will shortly be the subject of arbitration.

asked the Minister of Munitions whether an inquiry is now being made by the Clyde Dilution of Labour Commissioners into the circumstances leading up to the dispute resulting in the deportation of certain workmen without trial from Glasgow to Edinburgh, Leith, and Aberdeen; whether in such an inquiry any attempt will be made to prove or disprove the charges brought by his Department against the deported men; whether the men who have been deported will have an opportunity of giving evidence; and whether the result of the inquiry will be made public?

Inquiry is being made by the Clyde Dilution Commissioners into the causes and circumstances leading up to the recent strike at Beardmore's, Parkhead.

asked the Minister of Munitions if he will give the latest statistics of arrests and convictions for drunkenness in each of the areas scheduled by the Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic) as compared with similar statistics before the full restrictions were applied?

The latest figures are as satisfactory as those which I have given on previous occasions. I understand that a Report, in which details will be given, is in preparation.

asked the Minister of Munitions whether he will reconsider the Order made by the Central Control Board prohibiting the representative of a brewer from calling for orders or collecting money for the delivery of beer required for home consumption, in view of the fact that such restrictions operate with hardship in rural districts and have a general tendency to substitute the consumption of spirits for that of light ale?

As I have previously stated, there are strong grounds for the Order in question, and it would not be expedient to modify its provisions.

asked the Minister of Munitions whether he is aware that during the week ending the 1st April a number of women employed at a fuse-filling factory had their wages docked 1s. 5d. each; if he will say why this was done; and if he will give the average amount earned per week by the women in question?

I understand the question to refer to a factory at which, on the night of 31st March, the women were prevented from working for the greater part of the night through the danger of air raids. In accordance with the recommendations contained in the Circular L2, which has now been made mandatory, these women were paid for the period during which they were so stopped, without being sent home, at the rate of 15s. per week. The difference between this and the normal wages accounts for the sum mentioned in the question as having been deducted from the wages. The normal day rates at this factory are 20s. and 22s. per week, according to length of service. The average earnings of the women, including night shift work, are 23s to 25s.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether administrative and financial difficulties are increasing the work of the Lunacy Commissioners at the present time; whether the responsibility for the supervision and treatment of asylum inmates, together with the work of transferring patients from one asylum to another, devolves directly on the visiting committees and the medical superintendents with their staffs; and whether the functions of the Lunacy Board have now been reduced by the handing over to the War Office of thirteen asylums with over 14,000 beds for the accommodation of sick and wounded soldiers?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to his previous question on the 9th March. The care and control of inmates of asylums devolve on the visiting committees and the asylum officials, subject, of course, to the supervision of the Board of Control. The work of the Board has not been materially reduced by the handing over to the War Office of certain asylums.

asked in what particular way are Lunacy Commissioners specially qualified to undertake the supervision of war hospitals; whether such duties withdraw them from their ordinary functions; whether Lunacy Commissioners so engaged are receiving additional payment from the War Office; what amount of work and control has been vested in them; whether they are subject to the War Office or Home Office or both these Departments in such duties; what is the number of these hospitals under the supervision of the Lunacy Commissioners; and whether all the previous inmates have been removed from such hospitals?

The two Commissioners whose services have been temporarily lent by the Board of Control to the War Office are both medical men with high medical qualifications and wide experience in hospital organisation and administration. It is mainly through their advice and action that the Board have been able to place at the disposal of the War Office nearly 20,000 well-equipped beds for sick and wounded soldiers. Their duties in this connection have for the time being, to a considerable extent, withdrawn them from their ordinary functions. They are not receiving any payment from the War Office. The hospitals, as soon as they were organised, became military hospitals entirely under the control of the military authorities, but the latter still continue to have the advantage of the advice and assistance of the Commissioners in question in certain matters of administration that are from time to time referred to them. The number of hospitals so far provided by the Board of Control is thirteen, and another will be ready shortly. The previous inmates have been removed from the hospital, except a small number of patients with mild symptoms who have been retained for the purpose of carrying on the work on the farms attached to the hospitals and who are mostly housed in outlying buildings.

asked whether the powers and functions of the Lunacy Board of Control are strictly limited by Act of Parliament; and whether their powers and functions have now been extended in regard to cases of soldiers suffering from nerve-strain but uncertifiable, or in regard to the accommodation and care of physically disabled soldiers?

The powers and functions of the Board of Control so far as they relate to lunacy matters and to mental defectives are strictly denned by Acts of Parliament, but with the approval of the Lord Chancellor and the Secretary of State the Board have, since the outbreak of War, voluntarily accorded to the War Office their assistance by providing accommodation for soldiers suffering from nerve-strain but uncertifiable, as well as accommodation and care for physically disabled soldiers.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he can give the weight of manufactured preparations of cocoa, imported into this country from various countries for the whole years 1913, 1914, and 1915, showing the imports from each country separately?

The following statements give the information asked for by the hon. Gentleman:

Preparations of Cocoa, etc., not containing Spirit.

In the year 1913: Germany, 25,685 cwt.; Netherlands, 115,454 cwt.; Belgium, 291 cwt.; France, 1,810 cwt.; Switzerland, 96,027 cwt.; United States, 2,497 cwt.; other foreign countries, 1,459 cwt.; British Possessions, 501 cwt.; total from all countries, 243,724 cwt.

In the year 1914: Germany, 7,364 cwt.; Netherlands, 86,645 cwt.; Belgium, 51 cwt.; France, 2,659 cwt.; Switzerland, 92,646 cwt.; United States, 9,548 cwt.; other foreign countries, 672 cwt.; British Possessions, 251 cwt.; total from all countries, 199,836 cwt.

In the year 1915: Netherlands, 76,235 cwt.; France, 1,719 cwt.; Switzerland, 205,900 cwt.; United States, 38,619 cwt.; Ecuador, 1,090 cwt.; other foreign countries, 169 cwt.; British Possessions, 1,134 cwt.; total from all countries, 324,866 cwt.

Preparations of Cocoa, etc., in the Manufacture of which Spirit has been used.

In the year, 1913: Germany, 1,589 cwt.; France, 87 cwt.; Switzerland, 892 cwt.; Austria-Hungary, 97 cwt.; other foreign countries, 93 cwt.; total from all countries, 2,758 cwt.

In the year 1914: Germany, 1,692 cwt.; France, 83 cwt.; Switzerland, 3,278 cwt.; Austria-Hungary, 113 cwt.; other foreign countries, 81 cwt.; total from all countries, 5,247 cwt.

In the year 1915: Netherlands, 248 cwt.; France, 92 cwt.; Switzerland, 2,471 cwt.; other foreign countries, 3 cwt.; British Possessions, 5 cwt.; total from all countries, 2,819 cwt.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that, owing to alleged war economy in the administration of the Dublin Post Office, the letters arriving in Dublin from the country by the evening limited mails are held over for delivery till next morning, whilst the mails arriving by the evening mail boat, 600 or 700 in number, are delivered; and will he say why there should be any discrimination in favour of the English mail as distinct from the Irish deliveries at the same hour?

The last delivery in Dublin, which commenced shortly after 8 p.m., has been suspended as a measure of economy, and the country letters referred to arrive too late for inclusion in the earlier evening delivery, which commences soon after 6 p.m. The letters received from England by the evening mail boat, about 6,000 in number, are in time for the earlier delivery. On account of difficulties in arranging attendances the economy could not have been effected by suspending the 6 p.m. delivery and continuing that at 8 p.m.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he has any official information showing that agents of the German Embassy at Constantinople took an active part in the arrangements which preceded the deposition of the Sultan Abdul Hamid; and, if so, whether he can lay upon the Table of the House any correspondence or memoranda which could now be made public without detriment to the national interest, and would throw light upon the operations of German agents throughout the Ottoman Empire at that period?

I have no information that enables me to give any answer to the hon. Member.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he is in a position to supply any further information with regard to the identity of the writer of the letter to Captain W. von Papen, dated German Consulate, New Orleans, 4th December, 1915, published as Paper No. 21 in Parliamentary White Paper (Miscellaneous, No. 6, 1916)?

The translation of the document from which the White Paper was printed gave the signature as R. V. M., and it was presumed that this was Baron von Meysenbug who, according to the Almanach de Gotha was attached to the German Consulate in New Orleans. Examination of the original document shows that the real signature of the letter is Roh, which is the name of the German Consul at New Orleans. It is much regretted that there should have been any error.

asked the Secretary for Scotland, whether the Land Court has decided not to proceed with an extensive scheme of small holdings in the Island of Lewis; if so, whether this is due to the fact that every available man in the island is either serving in the Army or Navy; and whether he can assure the House that immediately on the cessation of war the Land Court will be prepared with schemes for settling such men upon the land in their own country?

The scheme referred to has been postponed on account of the War, but there is every intention of proceeding with it afterwards. I understand that the statement in the second part of the question is substantially correct, and this is one of the reasons for the course taken.

asked the Attorney-General if the Government will consider the advisability, with the view of economising both men and money, of reducing the number of jurors in all civil cases from twelve to eight, if not less, in conformity with the practice obtaining in the County Courts?

It is not, on the whole, thought desirable to make the change suggested by my hon. Friend.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he is aware that on the 25th January, 1916, two boys, John Mulligan and Owen Carrol, aged ten years, were summoned and fined 5s. each; whether he is aware that the children were not, as alleged, throwing missiles but playing after school hours; and, seeing that they were entitled to a caution under the First Offenders Act, whether he will consider the advisability of having the conviction quashed and the fines remitted?

The boys referred to were fined 5s. each at a Juvenile Court in Dublin on the 8th February last for throwing stones on the public thoroughfare to the danger of the passers by. The prevalence of this offence, leading to breakage of glass and other damage, has been the subject of numerous complaints in Dublin, and I understand that the Lords Justices, after due consideration of the facts of the case, were unable to accede to the prayer of a memorial for the remission of the fines.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he will consider the advisability of arranging that prisoners on remand in the King's County and adjoining districts be kept in the prison at Tullamore, in order that they may have the convenience of local legal advice and a consequent saving of expense in respect thereto?

It has been arranged that prisoners heretofore committed on remand from King's County and adjoining districts to Tullamore Prison shall continue to be committed to the minor prison there.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if he will state why William M'Naboe, of Ardagh, who was seventy years of age last June, was reduced in his pension grant from 5s. to 2s.; whether he is aware that this man has two sons who are aged thirty-eight and thirty-four, and who own no stock or land in his name; and whether he will represent to the Local Government Board the advisability and justice of restoring to this man his 5s. old age pension?

This man's case is under consideration by the Local Government Board, and has been referred to the Board's inspector for investigation.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether the Estates Commissioners have yet taken over the Jameson estate, county Galway?

The Estates Commissioners have not yet acquired this estate.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether the O'Rourke lands, Bellew Estate, county Galway, have been purchased by the Congested Districts Board; and, if so, how far has the sale proceeded?

The Congested Districts Board have agreed to purchase the Grattan Bellew Estate, county Galway, which includes 423 acres of the lands of Moyloughmore and Tomree of which Mr. C. D. O'Rourke is tenant. The estate is not yet vested in the Board and is not likely to be vested for some time.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether Government grants are made to teaching or examining bodies which in entrance or pass examinations make a knowledge of the dead languages compulsory or give to them a preference in marks over science or any other subject; and, if so, will he take steps to reduce such grant until the compulsion and preference are removed in order that the time now devoted to the study of the dead languages may be made available for the study of English language and literature, modern languages, and science?

The Board make no grants to examining bodies as such. As regards teaching institutions, I do not think that the object which my hon. Friend has in view could be effected by the means suggested. In view of the large choice of schools and other institutions now available, I am not prepared to say that grant should be withheld from an institution or reduced on the sole ground that it requires its pupils to study or have studied one of the dead languages.

asked the Postmaster-General whether his attention has been called to the case of Vincent O'Sullivan, who, having qualified at a competitive examination for a male learner vacancy in the post office, Wexford, took up duty there and was afterwards promoted to the position of sorting clerk and telegraphist at Fermoy, but suffering from a weak wrist was unable to continue duty as a telegraphist; whether, instead of being transferred to postal duty, as is usual in similar cases, Mr. O'Sullivan was refused such a transfer unless he passed another examination; and if he will state the reason for requiring Mr. O'Sullivan to pass a second examination, seeing that he had already qualified in open competition?

The examination passed by Mr. O'Sullivan only entitled him to a telegraph learnership, and did not qualify him for a postal appointment. It is not the practice to grant transfers in such cases, unless an officer competes with success in one of the examinations for postal appointments.