asked the Secretary to the Admiralty whether, in view of the increased cost of living, he could see his way to modify the memorandum prescribing that men whose dependants were in receipt of separation allowances were not to be paid the extra allowance of 6d. a day for subsistence?

I presume my hon. Friend is referring to the case of the Coastguard, where those members whose families were not in receipt of separation allowance were granted an increased provision allowance of 6d. a day. This increase was given specifically to those men who had not benefited by the grant of separation allowance, and who consequently had received nothing to meet the increased cost of living. I regret that I cannot recommend that any men shall have the increased provision allowance in addition to separation allowance.

asked the Under-Secretarly of State for War if instructions have been given to recruiting officers to inform youths who present themselves for enlistment in the Army that all youths of eighteen all over the country will be compelled to sign for seven years and not less; and, if such instructions have not been given, will he inquire why the recruiting officer at Hove, Brighton, so informed a youth named Tebbutt who presented himself at the recruiting offices of the Royal Field Artillery there on 18th May?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on this point to the hon. Member for Derby on the 25th May.

asked the Undersecretary for War if there is any appeal from the decision of the Army doctor who passes a man under the Military Service Act; and, if not, will he create an appeal medical board containing a certain number of civilian doctors to whom recruits may appeal if they are not satisfied with the decision in the first medical examination?

The final decision as to fitness for military service rests with an Army medical board. There is no appeal from the decision of the medical board, nor is it desirable to make any such arrangement as is suggested by the hon. Member.

asked if men who have been discharged from His Majesty's naval or military forces on account of ill-health and given a medical certificate of unfit-ness for further service are exempt from the amended Military Service Act?

A man who has been discharged from the naval or military service of the Crown in consequence of ill-health is not liable for further service under the Military Service Act.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War if he will have the recruiting officer at Galashiels, named Captain Tulloch, instructed in his duties in regard to the calling up of men whose badges have been taken away at his request by the Minister of Munitions, seeing that he has ordered a plumber, whose badge was taken away by the Minister of Munitions on 10th May, to answer a call to the Colours on 27th May and has further insisted that he must respond to this call after it was pointed out that the man was entitled to eight weeks' grace?

I am having inquiry-made about this case.

asked if time-expired men on re-enlisting are given a bonus; and, if so, what amount; does the bonus also extend to men in the Territorial Force who re-enlist for active service; and will the Secretary of State make regulations so that time-expired men who re-enlisted during last year may receive such bonus?

asked whether it is proposed to pay bounties to the Territorials re-enlisted, retained, or recalled under the Military Service Act?

Men compulsorily recalled or retained under the new Military Service Act will receive a bounty. This-includes Territorials. Men who voluntarily re-engaged before the Act was passed will be dealt with according to the Regulations which were in force at the time of their re-engagement.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War what is the position of men under the Military Service Bill who are in the Mechanical Transport, Army Service Corps, Category C, and received £4 per annum from the War Office before the War, but followed their occupations as cab or omnibus drivers; and whether they will have to continue when their thirteen months have expired?

Under the Military Service Act any such man, if serving with the Colours, will be required to continue serving till the end of the War; and if he has. already been discharged he will come under the provisions of the Act like any other discharged soldier if below the age of forty-one?

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether Alan M'Dougall, No. 6,634, G Company, 4/3rd London Regiment, has been sent to Parkhurst Military Prison as a conscientious objector; if so, when and where was he court-martialled, and with what result; whether it has been decided, or he has been warned, that he will be sent to France; and whether it is proposed to send unwilling and disobedient soldiers to the front?

No soldier would be sent to a military detention barracks for being a conscientious objector, though he might be punished for disobeying orders given. In fact, this is what happened to M'Dougall. I have no information that M'Dougall has been warned for embarkation for France. Non-combatant Corps are not sent into the fighting line.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he can now state the result of his promised inquiry as to the circumstances connected with the death at Blandford of Private C. Rundle, 9th Battalion Somersetshire Light Infantry?

Private Rundell joined the 9th Somerst Light Infantry as a recruit in January, 1916, and there is no record of his reporting sick before 7th March, when the officer in medical charge of the battalion noticed that his condition was unsatisfactory. On the 8th March he was excused duty and he was seen almost every day between that date and 23rd March except on 22nd March. On the 15th March he and other men in his hut were inoculated owing to a case of cerebro-spinal fever, but he did not as a result show any sign of acute illness. On 23rd March he was found by the medical officer to be seriously ill, and it was decided that it was desirable to send him to the military hospital at Wareham rather than to admit him to the Blandford Detention Hospital. He was sent in a motor ambulance wagon, well wrapped up, and in charge of a sergeant of the Royal Army Medical Corps, but died on the journey. Private Rundell was suffering from acute broncho-pneumonia, and at the same time had general tuberculosis; onset of the pneumonia was very rapid and severe.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether officers of the Territorial Force who were for a time unwilling to take the Foreign obligation and who have served with provisional battalions will, on taking this obligation and rejoining their units, take rank and precedence in the same way as if they had throughout been willing to serve abroad with their units?

If the officers referred to undertake the Imperial Service obligation they would, of course, retain their rank and precedence on the regimental roster.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War if he can state on what charge James Hefferman and Michael Morris were arrested at Gort-nahoe, county Tipperary, on the 11th instant; whether he can state their present place of detention; and whether their trial will take place by court-martial or before a civil court?

These men are at Glasgow, and their cases at present are under investigation.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War (1) whether any charge has been made against the undermentioned men from Dundalk detained at Stafford Detention Barracks; and, if not, whether their cases will be inquired into without delay with a view to their immediate release, namely: P. Casey, Castle-town Road; J. J. Walter, Maxwell Terrace; T. Sharkey, 7, Dublin Street; J. Barrett, 13, Dublin Street; and P. Halpin, Burns Row, all of Dundalk; and (2) whether any charge has been made against the undermentioned men detained at Wakefield Detention Barracks; if not, whether their cases will be inquired into without delay with a view to their immediate release, namely, William Atkinson, 3, New Street; Arthur O'Neill, Hill Street; Thomas Hamill, 37, Broughton Street; Daniel Tuite, Castletown Road; Samuel Hall, 9, Jocelyn Street; Patrick Kerr, Castletown Road; Phil M'Quillan, Maxwell Road; John Finegan, 21, St. Patrick's Terrace; James Hanratty, Mill Street; Jos. M'Guill, Bridge Street; and Owen Gough, 97, Clanbrassil Street, nil of Dundalk?

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether the young men arrested and carried away from the peaceful rural district of Drumraney, Westmeath, have yet been restored to their homes and business; and, if not, whether they will, without further delay, foe either restored or tried on any charge that can be brought against them?

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that during the recent rebellion in Ireland there was no trouble of any kind at Blackrock, county Dublin, but that in spite of this fact several men who took no part whatever in the rising have been arrested from that locality and deported to England; whether forms on which to apply for release have been supplied to Timothy Finn, No. 9, Brusna Cottage, Blackrock; Richard Carter, Booterstown Avenue; George Miller, Booterstown Avenue; Martin Tobin, No. 7, Main Street, Blackrock, all detained in Wake-field Detention Barracks; whether forms have also been supplied to Edward Finn, No. 27, Brookfield Avenue, Blackrock; M. Horan, No. 2, Annesley Avenue, Blackrock; B. Fox, No. 5, Brookfield Avenue, Blackrock; R. O'Connell, No. 9, Main Street, Blackrock; W. Alexander, No. 4, Brookfield Avenue, Blackrock; J. Gas-coyne, No. 74, Brookfield Buildings, Blackrock; and J. Brandon, No. 45, Temple Road, Blackrock, all detained in Stafford detention barracks; and whether these men will be released without delay if no charge has been brought against them?

All such cases are now being investigated as rapidly as possible, and where no hostile association detrimental to the public safety and the defence of the realm is apparent the military authorities will order release.

asked the Undersecretary of State for War whether William M'Gill, Barrack Street, Dunmore, county Galway, and Michael Ronayne, Dunmore, county Galway, who are both detained in Wandsworth Detention Bar- racks, have been supplied with forms on which to apply for their release; whether the case of these two men will be considered without delay; and whether in the case of Ronayne the fact will be taken into account that for weeks before his arrest he was on sick leave from his employment suffering from an attack of blood poisoning?

Commandants of Detention Barracks have been instructed to supply forms of application for release to all prisoners under their charge. These cases will be investigated with as little delay as possible, and all facts in favour of the prisoners will be given every consideration.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War if he knows through what blunder Michael Doyle, of 82, Lower Gardiner Street, Dublin, a confirmed invalid over seventy-five years of age and wholly unconnected with current events, has been arrested and deported; and whether this invalid will be released and sent home immediately?

This case has already been investigated, and the release of this man has been ordered.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether, to be in accordance with the regulations at the military hospitals, invalid soldiers are required to be within the percincts of the hospitals at 6.30 p.m.; and, if so, wlil he recommend the authorities to allow an extension of this limit to 7.30, so that the men may enjoy the advantage of the Summer Time Act?

The hours during which patients are allowed to be out of hospital vary in different places. They are fixed by the officer commanding the hospital. There is no general regulation that military patients should be within the precincts of the hospital at 6.30 p.m.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office if he is aware that compositors employed in the printing department of the Ordnance Office, Woolwich Arsenal, work from seven a.m. until one p.m. without a break, and from two o'clock until 5.30, 6.30, and sometimes 7.30 without a break, although the men recently petitioned the manager upon the subject; and whether he will make representations to the manager with a view to the men being allowed the necessary refreshment times?

I am in communication with my hon. Friend, and will let him know the result of the inquiries which I am making.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether he is aware that large shirt-making firms in Dublin and also the Central Committee on Women's Employment for Leinster, Munster and Connaught have failed recently to obtain any Army contracts, that special arrangements had been made, and that unemployment may result; whether he can state the amount of money expended in shirt-making in Great Britain and Ireland, respectively; and whether he is aware that much dissatisfaction has arisen owing to the disproportionate expenditure given to Ireland for war contracts?

The facts as regards recent orders for shirts are that out of a total of 8,846,000 ordered in January last, 1,251,000 were allocated to Irish manufacturers, the Central Committee for Women's Employment being accepted for all they offered, namely, 20,000; and that since January the Committee have received further orders for 53,000. It is true that no orders have been placed since the end of March, but this is because all existing requirements for shirts have been met. The total value of the contracts for shirts placed in Ireland since the War (exclusive of any local orders) is about £656,000. The corresponding figure for Great Britain is not available, but I see no reason to think that Ireland's share of orders has been disproportionately small.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether he is aware that, in the list of War Office contracts for April; excluding all contracts under £500, as well as war material and consumable stores, out of 965 contracts only twelve were awarded to Ireland, which figures show a percentage of only 1.24, the lowest yet recorded; whether he is aware that the delay in establishing an examining and receiving depot in Dublin and the refusal of a proportionate share of war contracts, with consequent unemployment, has been one of the causes of the recent disturbance; and whether he will take measures to enable Ireland to obtain a. reasonable ratio of war contracts in future?

The figures given in the first part of the question appear to be approximately correct. As regards the second part of the question, I cannot accept the view that the matters referred to have been one of the causes of the recent disturbance. As regards the third part, every opportunity is given to suitable firms in Ireland to tender for War Office requirements.

asked the Minister of Munitions whether thousands of Lancashire girls and women are to be brought to Woolwich Arsenal to take the place of men?

No such action as that mentioned by my hon. Friend is contemplated.

asked the Minister of Munitions if men who have been combed out of munitions works for the Army, and then on medical examination are rejected, can be reclaimed by their late employers under the Munitions Act; and, if such men refuse to go back to their former employment because they have the offer of better employment elsewhere, are they under that Section of the Munitions Act which forbids their re-employment for six weeks?

It is not competent for me to express an authoritative opinion on this matter, which could only be decided by a Munitions Tribunal, or, on appeal, by a Munitions Appeal Tribunal. The proper course for any man finding himself in the position described in the question, who does not wish to return to or remain with his previous employer, is for him to test the matter by applying to a Munitions Tribunal for a leaving certificate in case the employer refuses a certificate.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether any of the Crown Colonies or Protectorates, and, if so, which, have offered annual contributions towards permanent war debt charges; and what, if any, are such amounts in each case?

Of the many contributions in money and in kind which have been received from nearly every Colony and Protectorate, the following take the shape of direct, but not in all cases annual, contributions towards the cost of the War: Ceylon—£1,000,000 in ten yearly instalments. Mauritius—Two contributions of £10,000 each. Bermuda—£3,450 annually for fifteen years. Jamaica—£60,000 a year for forty years— to begin at the end of the War. Bahamas—£10,000. Dominica—£10,000. Turks and Caicos Islands—£1,000. Cayman Islands—r£105. Nigeria—The charges for interest and a sinking fund of 1 per cent. on a share of the Imperial war debt amounting to £6,000,000. Gold Coast—£80,000 in eight annual instalments. Zanzibar—£10,000. These are, of course, only a small part of the generous contributions which have been made by the Colonies and Protectorates for purposes directly or indirectly connected with the War.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he can yet say who were the consignees of the hops imported in 1915 from the part of Belgium in enemy occupation; whether a licence was granted to the consignee for such import; and what special circumstances existed to justify such a licence being granted?

I am informed that, whilst Messrs. Gaskain and Company took delivery of the hops for storage, they were actually consigned to Miss Bruydonckx and imported under her licence. Licences to import Belgian goods are issued on conditions which secure that the money paid for these goods remains in the United Kingdom and there were no special circumstances in this particular case.

asked how many licences have been granted since the beginning of the War for the importation of hops from enemy countries or from territory in enemy occupation; who were the licensees, and for what quantities were such licences granted; who were the consignors in each case; who were, in each case, the dealers or agents who negotiated the purchases; was the granting of such licences owing to any shortage of hops in this country, or for what other reason were the licences in each case granted; were any, and what, terms attached to the licences so granted; and was the application for such licences, or any of them, supported by any persons other than the actual applicants?

Only two licences to import hops from enemy countries have been issued, one in November, 1914, to Hartley's Brewery Company, of Cowick, for two bales, and one in March, 1915, to the executors of F. Robinson, of Stock-port, for eighteen bales. In both cases the consignors were Kauffmann and Company, of Nuremburg, and the goods were ordered before the War direct by the importers from Kauffmann. The licences were granted exceptionally because evidence was adduced to show that the hops had been paid for before the War. No conditions attached to the licences and the applications were not supported by persons other than the licensees. Licences to import goods from Belgian territory in enemy occupation are in general not confined to a specified class of articles nor are they limited as to quantity. They are, however, always subject to the condition that payment of the purchase money be made into a blocked account in a bank in this country.

asked the Secretary to the Board of Trade if he has evidence of any case in which a farmer is obtaining an increase over a year ago of 5d. to 6d. a gallon for milk?

The hon. Baronet appears to have misunderstood the statement which I made on Thursday last. The increase of 5d. to 6d. per gallon in the price paid for milk by London purveyors is, as I then stated, an increase on pre-war prices, and not on prices current a year ago.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what was the constitution of the Committee appointed in September, 1914, to carry out purchases of sugar on behalf of the Government; has there been any alteration in the personnel of the Committee since the names were announced on 11th September, 1914; how are the members of the Committee remunerated for their services; if by commission on the cost of purchases, at what rate is such commission; and what aggregate sum has been paid up to the present by way of such commission?

The constitution of the Commission was that announced in September, 1914. Since that announcement Lord Lucas and Sir George Barnes have ceased to be members of the Commission, and Mr. H. Fountain, of the Board of Trade, has replaced Sir George Barnes. The members of the Commission are not and have not at any time been remunerated either by commission or otherwise.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will lay upon the Table of the House a Return showing full particulars of all purchases of sugar made by the Government during the first six months of the War?

The information desired was furnished to the House on 11th May, 1915, in reply to a question by the hon. Member for East Birmingham, and similar information as to subsequeat purchases was furnished in reply to a question by the hon. and learned Member for York, on 21st March, 1916.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the feeding and treatment of prisoners of war is regulated by any international agreement or convention; whether Germany was a party to such contract before the War; and whether he will enumerate the conditions laid down and accepted in such international agreement?

The feeding and treatment of prisoners of war are regulated by Articles 4 and 7 of the Annex to The Fourth. Hague Convention of 1907, to which Germany was a party; Article 4 of the Annex provides that prisoners of war must be humanely treated; Article 7 provides that the Government into whose hands prisoners of war have fallen is charged with their maintenance, and that in default of special agreement between the belligerents, prisoners of war shall be treated as regards rations, quarters, and clothing on the same footing as the troops of the Government which captured them.

asked whether Denis Sullivan purchased a farm on the Travers estate, Ardmore, Timoleague, county Cork, in 1913, and went into possession in 1914; whether the purchase money was £484 and a free grant of £50 towards building a house and farm implements, and that the said £50 was added to purchase money and interest charged on it; and whether a refund would be made and in future no interest charged on the £50 referred to?

The hon. Member appears to have been misinformed in this case. The facts are as follows: In the year 1913 the Estates Commissioners allotted a farm on the Travers estate to Denis Sullivan, an evicted tenant, on his signing an undertaking to purchase it for a sum of £729 to be repaid by a land purchase annuity of £25 10s. 4d., and he further agreed in his undertaking to pay interest at 3½ per cent. on this purchase-money pending the vesting of the lands in him. A sum of £185 was sanctioned for buildings, and pending its expenditure he was required to pay interest on £544 only. The expenditure has been completed, and the holding will be vested as soon as practicable, whereupon the annuity of £25 10s. 4d. will become payable. A free grant was not given for buildings, but one of £80 was expended for the purchase of live stock.

asked whether as the case of Timothy Murphy, evicted tenant an the Thompson-Orpen estate, at Millstreet, county Cork, and on whose behalf a petition was sent to the Lord Lieutenant, the Estates Commissioners may not be asked to open up negotiations with the owners or the agent, Mr. A. M. Barton, The Bush, Antrim, with a view to a settlement; whether the evicted tenant informed the police-sergeant who inquired into his case at the request of the Lord Lieutenant, that he was quite willing to submit his claim for reinstatement to arbtiration, and to abide by any valuation put upon his farm by a land commission valuator; whether a protection hut has been built upon the farm during the past few weeks; at whose expense this was done and who is at present occupying the farm of the evicted tenant at Coolikerane?

The Estates Commissioners are not prepared to interfere in this case. A protection post was formed on this farm in 1908, but it is not true that a hut was built there recently. The farm is at present occupied by a caretaker.