asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether pension officers have been instructed not to take into account any remuneration received by old age pensioners for casual labour on the land during the continuance of the War; and, if not, whether, in view of the shortage of agricultural labourers, he will consider the advisability of issuing such instructions?

In accordance with the undertaking given by the Secretary to the Treasury on the 18th May, 1915, action is not at present being taken for the reduction or revocation of existing old age pensions in consequence of temporary increases of means due to the pensioners' re-employment on account of the shortage of labour arising out of and during the War.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether S. M. Andrews and S. Andrews, of Hounslow, were sentenced by court-martial to six months' imprisonment; whether this sentence has been commuted to twenty-eight days; where these men now are; and what it is intended to do with them when their sentence is completed?

On the information afforded by my hon. Friend I have not been able to trace this case.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he will inquire into the case of J. Scott Duckers, who was, on the 19th April, fined £2 at the Marlborough Street Police Court as a conscientious objector; whether he has been subject to military trial and punishment; where he now is, and to what unit, if any, has he been attached?

I have not yet obtained the information necessary to enable me to answer this question.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War (1) whether he will inquire into the case of J. Pyne, of Merton, Surrey, who was, about 12th of April, sent by his parents to Croydon Infirmary, and thence removed to the workhouse; whether he was on that day fetched away by the police and sent to Kingston Barracks without any civil trial; whether he is aware that Mr. Pyne is of delicate health and of unusual character; where this man now is; whether he has been subject to military punishment; and (2) whether he has any information concerning a man named Bullard, of Stratford-on-Avon, who was granted a non-combatant certificate by the tribunal, but was ill-treated by the military authorities at Warwick; whether he is aware that this man was subsequently taken to Weymouth and, if so, will he say why he was removed so long a distance; whether he is aware that this man was there court-martialled and sentenced to two years' imprisonment with hard labour; will he state where he now is; and whether he intends to inquire further into this case?

I have called for reports on these two cases.

asked the Secretary of State for India on what grounds the recent Order has been made by the Government of India, and approved by him, prohibiting ladies from landing at Aden except with the permission of the Commander-in-Chief in India?

I must refer the hon. Member to the answer given by me on the 25th April to a similar question.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War what action he has taken in the case which has been reported to him of Private Horace Pile, of the 4th Bedford Regiment, whose death occurred at Felixstowe on 11th April last; whether he is aware that this man was called up under the Military Service Act, 1916, and passed by the Army doctor at Worthing as fit for service although he had been under treatment for years for hemorrhage and tuberculosis and that the doctor at Felixstowe who received him there said that he ought never to have been passed; and, seeing that this man has been killed by the action of the doctor at Worthing who passed him, what action he has taken or intends to take in regard to this medical officer?

A report on this matter had been called for previously to the appearance of my hon. Friend's question, but it has not yet been received.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War (1) whether his attention has been called to the fact that many of the picture postcards the sale of which is prohibited in Dumbartonshire were printed in Germany before the War; what military advantage is served by prohibiting their sale; and (2) whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that dealers in picture postcards in Dumbartonshire have been prohibited from selling picture postcards with views of Loch Lomond and other points of local scenery; and whether, seeing that the same postcards can be sold freely in Glasgow and other places outside the county and that these postcards are still being supplied to the trade by wholesale houses, he will say what action he proposes to take?

The only prohibition regarding the sale of pictorial postcards is that contained in Nos. 18 and 19 of the Defence of the Realm Regulations. Reference to these Regulations will show that the prohibition does not extend to points of local scenery that possess no military value either as landmarks or in any other way, and no distinction is drawn between Dumbartonshire and any other part of the United Kingdom. It is, of course, possible that military value would attach to some feature of the landscape which also had the greatest value from the point of view of beauty.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office why a charwoman engaged to clean offices rented by the district purchasing supply officer at St. Albans at a weekly wage of 3s. should not be paid regularly; and will he further state when the amount of £2 11s., passed for payment on 2nd March, will be paid to this woman, as well as the further amount of £1 4s. for the last eight weeks, also overdue?

This charwoman when first engaged requested that her money might be allowed to accumulate until she wanted it. She has now been paid up in full, and instructions have been issued that payment shall in future be made weekly.

asked the Secretary of State for India what was the price paid for the electric fans recently purchased from Messrs. Ercole Marelli and Company, of Garlick Hill, Queen Victoria Street, E.C.?

£5 6s. 6d. each delivered at Bombay.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that in the new arrangements the English mails arriving in Thomastown, county Kilkenny, are not delivered until the following day; and will he take steps to facilitate the delivery of the letters on the same day?

The revision of postal arrangements has not affected the second delivery at Thomastown, in which letters from England are ordinarily included. Possibly the hon. Member is referring to the suspension of the day mail car service between Thomastown and Inistioge, about which he has written to me. I am communicating with him on the subject.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will state the quantities of foreign hops imported into this country in each of the four weeks since the new brewing restrictions came into force, and the quantities for the corresponding weeks in 1915, with the percentage of increase or decrease, as the case may be?

The following statement shows the quantities of hops registered as imported into the United Kingdom in each of the four weeks ended 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th April, 1916, and in the corresponding weeks of 1915, with the percentage of increase:—

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, seeing that in the recent ballot in the parish of Llansilin, under Section 9 of the Welsh Church Act, 1914, it was decided by 255 votes to 228 that the parish should be included in Wales, while there were fifty-four irregular votes and five votes sent in too late, he will state which way these disqualified votes purported to be cast, and what was the chief cause of their irregularity?

I am informed that the papers rejected as irregular purported to record votes on both sides, and that the chief causes of rejection were imperfections in the execution of the papers of such a kind as to render inadequate the authentication of the vote by the person purporting to record it.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether changes are in contemplation in the National Insurance Audit Department involving transfers between the London division and the Northern division; if so, what is the estimated amount of removal expenses chargeable to public funds in respect of these transfers; whether the necessary changes could be made without involving any removal expenses as a charge to public funds; and, if not, what is the definite nature of the exigencies of the public service requiring the transfers contemplated at present?

Transfers of officers of the National Insurance Audit Department, as in the case of other Departments employing local staffs, are effected from time to time as required by the exigencies of the public service or in the interests of the efficient working of the Departmental organisation. Careful regard to economy is paid in arranging these transfers, more particularly at the present time, and no considerable changes of the kind referred to in the question are, in fact, in contemplation.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether he will state the date of entry into the public service and present annual salary of each of the inspectors of audit in the National Insurance Audit Department; whether the present annual salary of each of these officials has been reached by normal course of increment within the scale of salary attached to their grade; whether this present annual salary is in most cases approximately two, and even three, times as much as the annual salary received by them prior to their entry into the public service; whether the majority of them are largely employed on duties which connote duplication of work; whether an outline can be given of the effective work performed by the majority of them; and whether he will consider the advisability of holding an independent and full inquiry into this matter?

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply which I gave to the hon. Member for North Kerry on the 26th April.