asked why Colman Walsh, Talbot Street, Dublin, whose discharge was signed on last Saturday, is still detained a prisoner in England?

Directions for the release of the man named were sent to Wakefield on the 13th instant. I regret that some delay in dealing with such cases has been unavoidable, but every step will be taken to lessen it.

asked the Prime Minister if ten men, charged in connection with a riot which occurred at Tullamore on 20th March and on remand in custody of the civil authorities in Tullamore Gaol since that date, have been removed to Richmond Barracks, Dublin, to be dealt with there at a secret tribunal by the military authorities under the powers conferred on them by the Proclamation of martial law for Ireland, dated 28th April, 1916; if the military authorities have the power to make such proclamation retrospective so as to try by court-martial prisoners charged with an offence committed five weeks before Ireland was placed under martial law; and if the prisoners have been refused the right to be defended by their counsel and solicitor who represented them in the preliminary proceedings held under the civil jurisdiction by the resident magistrate at Tullamore, which preliminary proceedings were never concluded?

It is true these ten men have been taken into military custody and will be brought to trial by court-martial under the Defence of the Realm Regulations. This question of jurisdiction will no doubt be raised at the trial, and, as it is in that sense sub judice it would be premature to express an opinion upon it. The point referred to in the last part of the question will also no doubt come up at the trial. I have no information as to whether the prisoners were refused the right to be defended by the counsel and solicitors mentioned.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether the figures in the possession of the Allies, after making a reasonable allowance for German soldiers missing who are not prisoners and of whom the authorities can have no knowledge, such as desertions into Holland, Switzerland, and Denmark, point to the German official figures of 137,798 prisoners and 197,094 missing being accurate or an underestimate?

The hon. and gallant Member will be interested to learn that, according to the latest available returns, the number of German prisoners held by the Allies is approximately 62,000 in excess of the number of prisoners published in German official casualties, but there is no means of ascertaining whether the German official figures of missing are accurate or not.

I think I have made it plain in previous answers on this subject that the figures which I have published were those issued officially by the German Government, and, as such, should be accepted with the reserve which is their due.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War the explanation which a commanding officer should give to a soldier who asks how his position as a man who has been posted differs from that of a man who has been transferred?

Every commanding officer will be in possession of the Manual of Military Law and is, or should be, acquainted with what is said in explanation of the terms "posting" and "transfer" on page 461 of the current (1914) edition.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether men who have been posted to battalions other than those into which they originally enlisted are to be sent to be dealt with at the depots of their original units or at the depots of the units to which they have been posted?

I must apologise for the delay in answering my hon. Friend's question, as to the meaning of which I have not been quite clear. The records of men posted to battalions other than those which they joined on original enlistment will remain at the place where they were originally placed. In other words, these men's Record Offices will remain unchanged.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War if he can give an estimate of the number of men already out of the Army through expiry of term of service who would be liable for fresh service under the provisions of the Military Service Bill?

I regret that no figures are available and no estimate can be formed.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War if time-expired men who have left the Colours and are recalled under the provisions of the Military Service Bill will be brought back for service in their former regiments or treated as newly enlisted men?

As far as possible, time-expired non-commissioned officers and men will, on recall to the Colours, be sent to join their former regiment or corps.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that the Hastings and St. Leonard's volunteer fire brigade has recently asked for the exemption of five single and twenty-two married men out of the existing strength of about seventy-two, the peace establishment of the brigade being about eighty-five all ranks; whether he is aware that the application was withdrawn in the matter of the five single men, but that full exemption appears to have been granted for the twenty-two married men; whether he is aware that Hastings and St. Leonard's are largely residential as distinct from manufacturing localities, with together under 70,000 inhabitants, that the number of fires during the five years ending 1913 only averaged fifteen per annum, and that localities of like area and population find a volunteer fire brigade of from twenty to forty men sufficient; and whether, arising out of this instance at Hastings and St. Leonard's and other instances regarding the demands of volunteer fire brigades for the exemption of men who only give a few hours annually to local fire brigade service, he will give some intimation to the tribunals and the military representatives that the value of the occasional service rendered by volunteer firemen of a military age cannot be considered an indispensable service, seeing that some brigade officers have shown that they are able to obtain suitable substitutes who are not eligible for military service, as also to arrange for the suitable co-operation of special constables, Training Corps, Boy Scouts, etc., to meet the present War emergency?

I agree with the hon. Gentleman in thinking that the services rendered by volunteer firemen of military age cannot be considered as indispensable. The Reserved Occupations Committee sitting at the Board of Trade have considered this question most carefully, and have decided only to give protection to full-time permanent firemen engaged in a public professional fire brigade. Single men under the age of twenty-five do not receive even this protection after 1st July, 1916. The case of voluntary men who assist volunteer fire brigades and whose whole time is not given to the fire service must be considered from the point of view of their principal and usual occupations. There are, I understand, several fire brigades in the United Kingdom who have not retained in their employment one man of military age eligible for military service. In view of the fact that men are now very urgently required for military service I trust that every fire brigade, professional, private or volunteer, will endeavour to find substitutes so as to release eligible men for the Army. The co-operation of the Volunteer Training Corps should be encouraged. The co-operation of boy scouts and the training of special constables in the simple fire duties has also been found satisfactory in many localities. Women substitutes have been found most useful in several private brigades. I entirely agree, therefore, with the hon. Gentleman when he says that the exemption of volunteer firemen of military age should be discouraged.

asked the President of the Local Government Board if he is aware that the method of dealing with the exemption of chemists from military service by relation to the population, of areas has resulted in a position at Dorking where the Advisory Committee's recommendations, if used as a basis of the tribunal's decision, would cause exemption to be withheld from a married chemist, who is the qualified proprietor of an establishment doing the largest and most important dispensing business in the district, while exemption has been granted to the young unmarried assistant of a competitor who is himself over military age; and will he consider the desirability of directing that, as far as possible, the exemptions of chemists should apply preferentially to qualified proprietors on whom the responsibility of a business rests?

Inquiry is being made respecting this matter.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether attested married men, who were rejected after 14th August, 1915 and are, apparently, to be exempted until 1st August, 1916, are in a position to appeal for exemption at any time between 1st and 31st August, 1916, or must they appeal when their groups are called up?

Attested married men are in the Reserve from the moment at which they attest. Unless they have obtained exemption from service they are liable to be called up on due notice. The remainder of the question does not appear to apply to attested married men.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether Captain Colthurst, of the Royal Irish Rifles, has been placed under arrest; and, if so, what is the exact nature of his alleged offence?

This information is not available.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War if he is aware that No. 870, Corporal S. A. Roffey, lately serving in France, with the 11th Service Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment, after being invalided home and discharged from hospital, was sent to E.C. Depot, Shoreham-by-Sea, and there, for no fault of his own, reduced to the ranks, and that the reason given for this reduction was that the papers regarding his promotion had been destroyed by a fire at the Record Office, at Hounslow; if he has been informed that under these circumstances, in spite of his being able to produce authoritative papers regarding his promotion, he is no longer entitled to rank as or receive the pay of a corporal; and, if so, will he issue instructions with a view to setting the matter right?

Nothing is known of this case, but inquiries are being made.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office what were the establishments of each rank of non-commissioned officers and men of the Army Ordnance Corps, the Royal Army Medical Corps, the Army Pay Corps, and the Army Veterinary Corps, respectively, including the New and Old Armies, on the 1st of January, 1904, the 1st of January, 1914, and the 1st of January, 1916; if he cannot give the figures for the last date, whether the same proportion of each rank in the establishment existed as between the various corps upon that date as existed upon the two former dates; and, if not, what were the ratios and the reasons for the differences?

The figures asked for by my right hon. Friend have taken considerable time and labour to prepare, but as they are voluminous and not, I think, of general interest, I will put them at my right hon. Friend's disposal.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether it is intended that members now serving in the Royal Defence Corps who are liable for service in the United Kingdom only and are of military age shall be subject to transference without their consent to anothers corps and to be posted to a battalion or other body of the regular forces for foreign service?

Members of the Royal Defence Corps are serving on a Territorial attestation, and as Territorials will, under the provisions of the Bill now before the House, be liable to transfer without their consent to another corps. Those who come under the provisions of the Military Service Act or Bill will become regular soldiers under that Act or Bill unless they volunteer for foreign service.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War how many soldiers are employed in the Expeditionary Force canteens; what is the pay of the men so employed; and whether the canteens are carried on by a contractor or directly by the War Office?

The Expeditionary Force canteens are War Office institutions under the control of the Army Council, and all profits are to be expended for the benefit of the Army. The honorary director is Mr. A. W. Prince, of Messrs. R. Dickeson and Company, Limited, and the honorary general manager and secretary is Mr. F. Benson, of the Canteen and Mess Co-operative Society. The Army Council gladly recognise the valuable services voluntarily rendered by these gentlemen, and by the organisation of the Canteen and Mess Co-operative Society, Ltd. For canteens in the Mediterrancan area the staff are temporarily enlisted for the purposes of the Expeditionary Force canteens. Soldiers detailed for light duty may also occasionally be employed under the direction of the military authorities, but it is not possible to state the numbers. The staff in France are not enlisted, but are civilians in uniform.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether Walter S. Clarke, of Worple House, Epsom, was taken as an absentee under the Military Service Act, 1916, to Kingston on 3rd May; whether he is now in any regiment; if so, in what unit; where he is at present; and whether he has been put under arrest or punishment?

As I have already stated in reply to my hon. Friend, I cannot undertake to make inquiries as to whether individual soldiers have or have not been guilty of infractions of discipline, nor as to where they are at any particular moment.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the number of persons in prison had decreased during the War; whether he can state the figures at convenient intervals; and whether any prisons have been closed, and, if so, which?

The present prison population, compared with that of two years ago shows a marked decrease. The figures are as follows:— May, 1914. May, 1916. Local Prisons 13,667 6,904 Convict Prisons and Preventive Detention Prisons 2,876 2,103 Borstal Institutions 937 564

The prisons at Brecon, Chelmsford, Devizes, Hereford, Knutsford, St. Albans, and Stafford have been closed and lent to the War Office; some wings at Wandsworth Prison have been lent to the War Office, and Wakefield will be handed over shortly to the same Department. Reading Prison is closed for ordinary committals, and is being utilised for the detention of aliens. The Borstal Institution at Feltham has been closed, and lent to the War Office as a place of internment. The closing of five other prisons is under consideration.

asked the President of the Local Government Board what steps have been taken to notify local authorities of the financial help which will be placed at their disposal in order to provide facilities for the diagnosis and treatment of venereal diseases, and what, if any, conditions are attached to the receipt of these Grants-in-Aid?

I propose to issue immediately a circular letter to local authorities explaining the arrangements which are required for the provision of facilities for the diagnosis and treatment of these diseases, and the conditions on which grants will be made for this purpose.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether British officers imprisoned in Bulgaria receive any daily pay from the Government of that country; and, if not, what pressure he can bring to bear, by reciprocity of treatment to enemy prisoners or otherwise, to minimise the hardships endured by our officers?

According to our latest information, the Bulgarian Government have issued no pay to British officer prisoners. The United States Ambassador was requested on the 6th instant to ask the United States representative at Sofia to make further representations on the subject. I am glad to say that the last report from the United States representative at Sofia shows considerable improvement in the condition of the British prisoners of war at Philippopolis, and I hope that this improvement may continue.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether his refusal to grant a war bonus to the watchers in the Customs and Excise is based on the ground that a number of these men are in receipt of pensions granted for services in other departments, and, if not, will he state on what grounds his refusal is based; whether he is aware that a number of these men are in receipt of no pension and that, owing to the increased cost of living, they find it difficult to keep themselves and their families in food and clothing; and whether, in view of the fact that the maximum salary of these latter men is only 26s. per week, he is now prepared to make some concessions in their favour?

The refusal of a war bonus to watchers is not based on the ground that the large majority of these men are pensioners from other departments, but on the general considerations stated in the reply given by the Chancellor of the Exchequer to the hon. Member for Barrow on the 25th November last.