asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the proceeds derived from band performances in our public parks, for which a nominal payment is made for programmes and seats, are to be subject to the tax on amusements?

There will be no duty on charges made for programmes or for seats, but if there is a definite charge for admission to an enclosure the tax will be leviable.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he can see his way to allow clergymen and county and assistant county surveyors the same concessions or deductions from Motor-car and Motor Spirit Taxes as are allowed to medical doctors and veterinary surgeons?

For the time being I can only repeat that I am considering all questions relevant to the proposed increase of Motor-car Licence Duty.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware of the hardship inflicted upon persons whose income entitles them to a return of Income Tax deducted at source toy reason of their being compelled to wait for the refund until the year following the deduction; and whether, as this declaration causes a diminution of income at a time when the cost of living and special war claims have very considerably embarrassed these persons, he will augment the staff for dealing with these claims, so as to enable the refund of duty to be made expeditiously, and without waiting for the end of the financial year?

As my hon. Friend will appreciate, an effective augmentation of the trained staff at Somerset House dealing with Income Tax repayment claims is hardly practicable at the present moment. But he may rest assured that every effort will be made by the Board of Inland Revenue to deal as expediously as possible with those claims for relief from the normal rate of tax which can only be settled by way of repayment.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will state what addition to Irish taxation he estimates as resulting from his Budget proposals; and what the estimated true revenue of Ireland will be when they have come into full effect?

The estimates of the contribution of Ireland to the new duties are necessarily conjectural. The best estimates I can at present frame are as follows:

1. Estimated Irish contribution resulting from the Budget proposals:—

2. Estimated total Irish contribution to the tax revenue:—

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the Treasury Committee on New Issues lately refused permission to the Exploration Company to issue to its shareholders, on a programme of reconstruction, new shares of 10s. in lieu of old shares of £l, without any fresh subscription of money; and, if so, whether such refusal conforms with the principle which he has said guides its decisions?

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

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, if any, or what, payments are made to the Customs authorities in passing goods through the bill of entry; and, if not, whether a charge corresponding to the dock and harbour dues which are enforced in all ports at the time of passing the bill of entry could be collected on behalf of the Customs?

The idea of imposing a duty on all Customs entries has been considered on several occasions, but it has not been thought desirable to adopt it.

asked the Prime Minister whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that St. John's Lodge, Regent's Park, which occupies 6¾ acres in the centre of Regent's Park, is advertised to be let by tender; whether, in view of the fact that the amount of such space at the disposal of the people of London for relaxation and enjoyment is limited, he will take such steps as may be necessary to prevent any continuance of the private occupation of St. John's Lodge; and whether he can see his way to provide that it shall be devoted during the War to some war purpose and after the War demolished and the land restored to the park?

The area comprised in the present lease is about 12¼ acres. It has been arranged that of this about 5½ acres shall be thrown into the public part of the park, leaving about 6¾ acres to be relet with the house, or not much more than half the land that has hitherto been held therewith. This decision was arrived at after full consideration by the Commissioners of Woods and the Treasury in conjunction with His Majesty's Office of Works, and the Government are not prepared to make the sacrifice of revenue that would be involved in not releting the house and the remaining land.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether he will state the amount saved by the Treasury on account of Members not receiving the whole or a portion of their Parliamentary salaries for the last quarter for which figures are available?

The saving for the quarter ended 31st March is £12,400.

asked the the Chief Secretary for Ireland if he is aware that an old age pension of 5s. per week was granted recently by the Castlebar Pension Sub-committee to Stephen Bourke, Mile-bush, and that the local pension officer recommended a reduction of the pension to Is. per week because the claimant's wife was receiving a military separation, allowance at the rate of £26 17s. 4d. a year in respect of her son who joined the Army a few months previously; if his attention has been drawn to the opinion of the sub-committee that it is unfair to the claimant and injurious to recruiting to include this separation allowance to Mrs. Bourke in calculating her husband's income for the purpose of depriving him of the pension to which he would otherwise be entitled; and whether he proposes to take any action in the matter?

An appeal has been received from the pension officer in the case of the claim of Stephen Bourke, Milebush, Castlebar, for an old age pension, and the case will be carefully considered and attention paid to the statements contained in the question.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he will give further consideration to the rates of pay of midshipmen actually serving with the Fleet in the War; and whether he will consider the desirability of making during the process of the War a substantial increase in the pay of these officers and of suspending the payment of £50 per annum by the parents or guardians of midshipmen?

The question of the pay of midshipmen has been the subject of consideration on several recent occasions. It is not proposed, however, to increase it. As to the payment of £50 a year by parents or guardians, I would remind my hon. Friend that, where necessity exists, the Board of Admiralty is prepared to give favourable consideration to applications for whole or partial release therefrom.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he can assure the House that the productive capacity of the naval dockyards, as well as the yards in which naval contracts are being carried out for His Majesty's Navy, is being maintained at the highest possible level of output; and whether he can inform the House that the Board of Admiralty, particularly the Sea Lords, are satisfied that the requirements of the Fleets at sea are in every respect being provided for?

I am afraid I can add nothing to my reply of yesterday which referred my hon. Friend to the First Lord's statement on introducing the Navy Estimates on 7th March.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty how many non-commissioned officers in the Royal Marines and Royal Marine Light Infantry serving at headquarters have been promoted over the heads of senior non-commissioned officers serving with their brigades since the commencement of the War; and whether more consideration will be given to those serving with their brigades?

Non-commissioned officers, Royal Marines, are selected for substantive promotion from the general seniority list, whether serving ashore or afloat, according to their merits and re commendations. To obtain the exact number of those promoted over the heads of others since the commencement of the War would entail considerable time and labour which I am very loth to inflict upon a hard-worked Department.

asked the Secretary to the Admiralty if he is aware that Joseph Barry, late warrant officer in His Majesty's Ship "Albion," was killed in action at Gallipoli on 7th August, 1915, and that application for a dependant's allowance has been repeatedly made to the Admiralty on behalf of Ellen Barry, of Westport, county Mayo, sister of deceased; and will he say why the Admiralty has not even replied to the application?

Miss Barry is ineligible for a dependant's allowance since she is not an orphan. The case presents unusual features, and a reply to the application has been withheld pending consideration of the possibility of making some award to her father, with whom she lives.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether his attention has been called to the case of Private Michael M'Mahon, No. 6,609, D Company, Royal Munster Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion, British Expeditionary Force in France, who enlisted on 22nd October, 1915, and on 10th January, 1916, left 6d. a day to his sister to support a number of young sisters and brothers, the mother being dead; will he say why the usual allowance is not granted; and whether, if the reason be that the application was not made in time, he will take into consideration that the family had no competent adviser after Michael M'Mahon's departure, and that he had contributed to their support?

I will have inquiry made, and will inform the hon. Member of the result.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he will inquire into the case of Thomas Underwood, a resident in Sheffield, who, when he sought to attest on 11th December, 1915, was rejected as unfit for service on account of emphysema of the lungs; whether Underwood was nevertheless: ordered to report himself on 24th March, 1916, and forthwith taken to Pontefract and thence, on 25th March, to Boldon, in Durham, and attached to the 3rd Northumberland Fusiliers; whether on 24th March one doctor marked his paper, "Chest 2½ inches under size and 15 lbs. under weight"; whether any examination of his lungs was then made; whether a certificate from a Sheffield physician who has attended this man for the last ten years, was given on 30th March and communicated next day to the officer commanding the battalion, showing that T. Underwood had for many winters had a chronic bronchial trouble which had produced emphysema of the lungs, from which he is now suffering, and that he was in this doctor's opinion entirely unsuitable for military service in any capacity; and whether it is intended to retain this man in the Service?

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether his attention has been called to the death of William Thomas Davis, of the ¾th Battalion of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, stationed at Prees Heath Camp, who was aged twenty-one, but for two years had been a confirmed invalid; whether he is aware that his medical adviser gave him a note to the military medical representative that he was called up under the Military Service Act, 1916, and accepted; that at the first drill he broke down; that after light work he had a severe attack of asthma, was neglected, and died within a month from the time he was called up; and whether he proposes to make any inquiry into the case?

Inquiries are being made about these two cases.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he can now give any information concerning Walter Lewis, a conscientious objector, of Bristol; whether he is aware that Walter Lewis has been deprived of his spectacles and then ordered to read and sign two papers and, when he stated that without his spectacles he could neither read nor sign them, one was signed in his name and he was forced to sign the other; and whether it is the usual practice in the Army to deprive men of their glasses, without which they are unable to do their usual work?

I have sent my hon. Friend a statement about Walter Lewis and also about his brother Reginald.

asked the Attorney-General whether he is aware that a body called the "No-Conscription Fellowship" has stated that its fellows are willing to harbour and conceal men of military age who have been duly called to the Colours; and whether he has received any instructions from the Government placing members of this fellowship who may harbour a deserter on a different footing to ordinary criminals?

I have nothing to add to my previous answers.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War why the Regulations for the status of the Volunteer Training Corps have not yet been issued by the War Office?

On account of the prolonged and careful consideration which the question demands, and which it has received.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he is aware that the policy of depriving of certain educational facilities those scholars who are of alien enemy descent which has been adopted by the London County Council will prejudicially affect the families of Alsatian, Polish, Serbian, Czech, and other races, for whose rights we are now at war; and whether he will inquire whether this policy of educational restrictions is being so administered as to cause no injury or offence to those persons and people who are in sympathy with the Allies?

I understand that in the resolution of the county council of the 4th April, to which my hon. Friend presumably refers, provision is made for special treatment of particular cases. I have no reason to suppose that the Education Committee who have a discretion in the matter will not exercise it with due regard to the object which my hon. Friend has in view.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, in view of the opinion of the Health of Munition Workers Committee that the strain of the long hours is having a serious effect on the health of the women and girls employed on Munitions and that continuous work in excess of the normal legal limit of sixty hours per week should be discontinued as soon as practicable, he will withdraw the General Order for munition factories which allows overtime of seven and a half hours per week for women, girls, and boys under sixteen?

It is intended to issue very shortly a new General Order, the terms of which are now being settled with the Ministry of Munitions. In this Order effect will be given to the recommendation of the Committee that the weekly hours of work for women and girls should not exceed the normal legal limit of sixty. I would point out that the existing Order does not, as stated in the question, allow 7½ hours overtime per week for girls or for boys under sixteen, and in the case of women permits it only for those employed on certain specified classes of work which are of an exceptionally urgent character.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he has received representations from the committee of the Welsh Soldiers' Comforts Fund as to the free railway transport from London to Southampton and Devonport of gifts provided by Wales for the Welsh Forces at the front; whether he is aware of the interest of Wales in this fund and the value of the services already rendered to the fighting efficiency of the troops through this organisation; and whether, in view of the fact that goods provided by the Queen Alexandra Field Force Fund and other funds have the benefit of this free railway transport, he will place Wales upon a similar footing?

I have brought this matter to the notice of the Railway Executive Committee, and will communicate with my hon. Friend shortly.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware of the trouble and annoyance caused to farmers and gardeners engaged on the production of food supplies by the restrictions on farm implements and other articles used for agricultural purposes; and if he will consider the advisability of removing these restrictions?

Farm implements are not being treated as covered by any existing prohibition of importation.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if a permit for importation will be given to an agent for American laundry soaps who has paid the manufacturers for a supply to enable him to meet orders from customers in this country taken before 25th March?

The permit will be given only if the payment was made in America before 25th March.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether applicants for Board of Trade certificates have recently been refused these on account of their inability to pass the spelling test; and whether he can see his way to relax requirements of this kind during the period of the War?

A few candidates for certificates as master or mate still have to be rejected owing to inability to spell or ignorance of the English language. Since the War began the examiners, who are all seamen themselves, have been specially lenient with regard to spelling, and only very bad cases are failed. The standard cannot well be reduced further. The percentage of rejections for this cause is very small.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he has received a petition from 220 Members of the House of Commons asking for the prohibition of import of the plumage of wild birds, other than ostrich plumage; whether he intends so to prohibit its entry; and whether, if he is unable to prohibit the entry of all such plumage, he will prohibit the entry of all such species whose exportation is prohibited from the Dominions or by foreign Governments?

I have received the petition to which my hon. Friend refers, and the matter is being considered.

asked the Postmaster-General whether any special difficulties have been experienced in the delivery of letters and small parcels to the British Expeditionary Force in Mesopotamia; and whether he has received any complaints of the miscarriage or loss of mails to this force; and, if so, whether he can give any explanation with reference to the subject or make any statement?

Letters and parcels for the Expeditionary Force in Mesopotamia are being sent out with the same regularity as the civil mails for India; and apart from losses which have occurred through the sinking of ships on the Eastern Mail Service, I am not aware that any mails for the force have been lost or miscarried. Some complaints have been received about the non-delivery of correspondence for units recently sent out, but there must always be some unavoidable delay when units are being moved.

asked the Attorney-General whether, in view of certain prosecutions having been brought against persons for having communicated information concerning aircraft raids without wrongful intent and in ignorance of the law, he can make any statement on the subject?

The answer is in the negative.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether he will state the professional qualifications of each of the inspectors of audit (scale of salary £550 to £700 per annum) in the National Insurance Audit Department; and whether he is aware that not one of these inspectors is an Irishman and that there are Irishmen serving in that Department who have much higher professional qualifications than the majority of these inspectors but who are subordinate to the latter.

Of the original appointees, five are Fellows of the Society of Accountants and Auditors and the sixth is a chartered accountant (Edinburgh). Two further posts have been filled by promotion from within the Department. I am not aware that any of them is an Irishman or that there are Irishmen serving below them in the Department with better qualifications for the various duties of the office of inspector of audit.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether he is aware of the full circumstances, as well as the Departmental version of them, connected with the recent case of an Irish assistant auditor, who had served in the London division of the National Insurance Audit Department, who had declined for family reasons to attest for the Army when attestations were first pressed for by the Department, and who had some time afterwards left the Department and tendered his resignation from Dublin; whether he is aware that this assistant auditor was one amongst other Irish assistant auditors who, on a Departmental improvement in the status and salary of their grade, had not been included with the bulk of their British colleagues in the new and superior intermediate grade, notwithstanding the favourable recommendations of their immediate superiors; whether he is aware that, during the interval, which elapsed between the time the official in question declined to attest and the time he left the Department, he had been subjected to petty and other forms of victimisation, and that in the particular staff group in which this established assistant auditor had been serving other officials on a mere temporary footing in the department working immediately alongside of him, but not of Irish nationality, had been certified as indispensable, and, if so, why this established officer had not been so certified; whether he is aware of the treatment the official in question had received from the inspector of audit in charge; whether he is aware that the inspector of audit in question is an official of only short experience in the public service, receiving approxi- mately three times as much annual salary, nearly £700 per annum, as he received immediately prior to his entry into the National Insurance Audit Department three or four years ago; and will he say what action he proposes to take?

I understand that the official in question, whose circumstances have been put to me quite fairly and, it would seem, fully by his Department, absented himself from his duties in London without leave on l7th February last, and sent a letter of resignation from Dublin three days later. I am unaware of any victimisation, and there is no ground for the charge of unfair discrimination on the grounds of his nationality against this officer, conveyed in the latter part of the question. No further action on my part seems to be called for.

asked whether the headquarters of the Irish Audit Division of the National Insurance Audit Department has been transferred from Dublin to Liverpool because of the repugnance of the inspector of audit in charge to live in Ireland or in the Irish capital; whether this inspector of audit paid the expenses of his removal incidental to this transfer and, if not, what was the total charge to public funds in respect of these expenses; whether each of the inspectors of audit in charge of the Scottish and Welsh audit divisions still has his headquartsrs at Edinburgh and Cardiff, respectively; and, if so, whether steps will be taken immediately to restore to the Irish capital the dignity of the position which it, until recently, occupied as the headquarters of the Irish audit division?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the negative. The Irish Audit Division of the National Insurance Audit Department originally comprised, in addition to Ireland, dense industrial districts in Cheshire and Derbyshire. It was found, after the initial stages of the operation of the National Insurance Act were passed, that the work in England of the inspector of audit required more of his time than his work in Ireland. For this reason, and with a view to economy in the matter of travelling and subsistence allowances, the inspector's headquarters were moved from Dublin to Liverpool—a change which permitted an extension of the area of his division in England. The expenses of removal were borne on public funds and amounted to £36 16s. 6d. The inspectors of audit of the Scottish and Welsh Divisions still have their headquarters in Edinburgh and Cardiff respectively. It is not considered in the interest of efficiency and economy to retransfer the inspector of audit to Dublin—to which city, however, he will continue to pay frequent visits. He has the audits of more than 1,100 approved societies and branches to supervise in England as compared with 564 in Ireland.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, when prisoners go on hunger strike, their cases are immediately reported to the Home Office; and, if so, how many such cases have been reported during February, March, and the first fortnight of the present month?

Cases are reported to the Prison Commissioners if the prisoner abstains from food for more than three days. There have been four cases reported during the period in question.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether the Congested Districts Board have acquired the congested estate of Mr. Fitzgerald-Kenny, of Clogher-Lynch, county Mayo; and, if not, upon what grounds, Mr. Fitzgerald-Kenny refused the terms offered by the Board?

The reply to the first part of the question is in the negative. Mr. Fitzgerald-Kenny having refused a final offer, the Congested Districts Board forwarded a requisition to the Estates Commissioners to acquire the property under their compulsory powers, and the matter is still sub judice .

asked when the agreements signed by the tenants to purchase their holdings on the Blackwood estate, in the townlands of Kiltomey, Dysert, and Croughcroneen, North Kerry, were lodged with the Estates Commissioners; and when the vesting orders will be issued to the tenants?

Proceedings have been instituted for the sale of this estate by the owner direct to the tenants under the Irish Land Act, 1903, and purchase agreements at prices agreed upon between the parties were lodged with the Estates Commissioners in September, 1908. Having regard to the number of estates in priority to this estate pending for sale on the principal register of direct sales (all cash) the Commissioners are unable at present to say when this estate will be reached in its order. When reached it will be dealt with as expeditiously as possible.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland when the Report of the Irish Land Commission, from the 1st April, 1915 to 31st March, 1916, will be published; what is the entire number of rents fixed under the Land Law Acts by all methods enumerated in the Report to the 31st March, 1916, where the parties applied to have fair rents fixed for a first statutory term; what is the total rental dealt with; what is the aggregate judicial rent fixed in respect thereof; as the result, what is the average reduction over the entire country; what is the entire number of rents fixed to the 31st March, 1916, for a second statutory term; what is the total rental dealt with in this case; what is the reduction; with regard to land purchase, what is the total amount advanced under all the Land Purchase Acts down to the 31st March, 1916; what is the total amount of purchase money represented by all the agreements made between the landlord and the tenant under the various Land Purchase Acts down to the 31st March, 1916; how much money under the Land Purchase Acts has not been sanctioned where the agreements have been entered into; what is the total amount of land purchase money represented by agreements between the 1st April, 1915, and 31st March, 1916; what is the corresponding amount for the 1st April, 1914, to the 31st March, 1915; at how much per year is it proposed to finance the agreements that are still pending under the Land Purchase Acts; how much rental has been actually purchased, or agreed to be purchased, under all the Land Purchase Acts throughout Ireland up to the 31st March, 1916; and how much rental still remains to be bought in order to complete land purchase throughout the whole country?

The statistics necessary for the preparation of the Report of the Irish Land Commission for the year ended 31st March, 1916, are at present being compiled, and the Report will be presented to Parliament on the first possible opportunity. The figures asked for to the 31st March, 1916, in connection with the working of the Land Law Acts, including

The total amount advanced under all the Land Purchase Acts up to the 31st March, 1916, is £96,413,374. The total amount of purchase money of all the agreements made between the landlords and the tenants under the various Land Purchase Acts down to 31st March, 1916, is £104,478,481. The purchase money under the Land Purchase Acts which has not been sanctioned (i.e., advanced) where the agreements have been entered into is as follows:-

The total amount of land purchase money represented by agreements between 1st April, 1915, and 31st March, 1916, is as follows:-

The corresponding amount for the 1st April, 1914, to the 31st March, 1915, are those relating to a third statutory term, are as follows:-

In view of the uncertainty of existing financial conditions it is not possible to lay down in advance the extent to which in any given time it may be practicable to finance the agreements still pending under the Land Purchase Acts. The Estates Commissioners are not in a position to state how much rental has been actually purchased, or agreed to be purchased, under all the Land Purchase Acts, or how much rental remains unsold.