asked the Prime Minister whether, having regard to his reply to the deputation who waited upon him, representing the Trade Union Congress, on the 19th July last, to the effect that with regard to old age pensioners who had gone into employment or were in receipt of separation allowances no reduction of pensions would take place with certain stipulations, he will state whether he meant his statement to apply to future recipients of old age pensions; and, if so, if he will cause his meaning to be made as public as possible with a view of allaying misapprehension?

Yes, Sir; persons who are in future adjudged qualified to receive old age pensions will hold their pensions under precisely the same conditions as obtain at present. My hon. Friend, no doubt, is aware that the law requires that all sources of a claimant's income must be taken into account in deciding his claim to an old age pension.

asked, with reference to the Report of the Liquor Trade Finance Committee recently issued as a White Paper [Cd. 3283], and bearing date 15th April, 1915, whether this Report has already been under the consideration of the Government; and, it so, with what result?

Yes, Sir; this Report was considered at the time it was presented.

asked the Secretary to the Admiralty whether the Regulations affecting the allowances for the travelling expenses of naval officers have been reconsidered and readjusted since the development of naval stations in Scotland; if not, whether any representations have reached him that reconsideration is desirable; and whether he can say that the matter will be inquired into?

The Regulations provide in all cases for repayment of reasonable travelling expenses incurred by officers making journeys on the public service. My hon. Friend's question presumably relates primarily to expenses in connection with leave, and I may remark that under the Regulations the Admiralty is not generally responsible for such expenses. Special concessions have, however, been granted during the period of the War, and all officers, including of course those on duty in Scotland, are allowed free warrants for leave on one or two occasions per annum. I may further add that when naval officers are not entitled to free travelling under the Regulations it is usual for them to avail themselves of a "leave form," which enables them to obtain a return ticket at the cost of single fare—i.e., they travel half fare.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he is aware that petrol has been until recently used for washing motor lorries in the Army Service Corps and poured on the ground in order to avoid showing a surplus and a consequent decrease in the supply issued; if he will take steps to put an end to the system of a fixed issue of petrol which has led to such practices; and if he will make investigations into the quantities of petrol which are really required for efficient service of the Army at home and stop unnecessary waste?

The strictest orders have been issued to ensure economy in the use of petrol, and the Army Council have not any information confirming the hon. and gallant Member's suggestion that until recently petrol was used for washing motor lorries in the Army Service Corps and also poured on the ground to avoid showing a surplus. There is no fixed issue of spirit. Log books which are kept for each vehicle are checked in order to ascertain that the petrol used is not in excess of that required for the mileage run. The attention of General Officers Commanding in commands has been repeatedly called to the necessity of economy in this connection.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether an issue of petrol at the rate of one gallon a week is allowed for the cleaning of each military motor cycle; whether any allowance is made for the cleaning of military motor wagons; and, if so, what?

No, Sir; no issue or allowance of petrol is made for the cleaning of any mechanical transport vehicles, and there are strict orders prohibiting the use of petrol for this purpose.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he will indicate which classes of nerve-shaken soldiers it is now proposed to discharge from the Army direct to pauper asylums, since the War Office has admitted that 198 have been discharged who do not belong to any of the three categories indicated last September, and some of these have had very short treatment and up to the time of discharge have been described in medical reports as uncertifiable and progressing towards recovery?

The following classes of cases are certified:

1. Cases of general paralysis of the insane.

2. Chronic epileptics.

3. Incurable eases, and cases where there is previous history of insanity.

asked the Secretary of State for India whether the orders issued by the Government of India in the case of the recent deaths of soldiers from heatstroke in the troop train from Karachi make provision for greater discretionary powers being given to local general officers commanding and principal medical officers to vary the orders received from headquarters regarding the movement of troops when local conditions appear to them to make such movement inadvisable; and, if not, will he communicate with, the Government of India on the subject?

I have suggested to the Government of India that they should issue special rules for safeguarding the movement of troops by rail during the hot weather. I have no doubt that these rules will meet the object which my hon. and gallant Friend has in view.

asked the Secretary of State for India whether he is aware of the extension of the cocaine habit in the bazaars and among certain classes of the people of India; whether he will state what are the restrictions at present imposed upon the traffic in this drug, whether the existing Regulations are sufficiently stringent to prevent its importation, possession, and sale except for medical purposes; whether he will give the number of offences connected with cocaine and the aggregate quantities of licit cocaine imported during the last five years; whether he will state what were the countries exporting cocaine to India, giving the quantity annually exported by each of these countries during the same period; and whether the action taken by the Government of India, through His Majesty's Government, to restrict the traffic by international agreement has led to a reduction of the supply of cocaine at its sources and, if so, to what extent?

Illicit traffic in cocaine continues to be a source of grave anxiety, both to the Government of India and myself, and stringent Regulations on the subject have been framed. I cannot within the limits of a reply give these in detail, but I may say generally that imports are prohibited except under licence, that private possession is punishable, and that sale to private persons by chemists and druggists is permitted only for medical purposes on the prescription of a qualified medical practitioner. The drug, however, lends itself to smuggling by seamen and others in ways which defeat the best conceived Regulations.Offences in connection with cocaine are not separately shown in all the provincial reports. A statement showing details of licensed imports into India for the last five years will be circulated with the OFFICIAL REPORT.In regard to the concluding portion of the question, I would refer my hon. Friend to the replies given by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs on the 6th and 18th May, 1915, to questions asked by the hon. Members for Nottingham and the Radcliffe Division.The following is the statement referred to in the foregoing answer:

IMPORTATION OF COCAINE INTO INDIA.
Quantity in ounces.
—	1910–11.	1911–12.	1912–13.	1913–14.	1914–15.
From United Kingdom	1,199	1,342	1,400	1,143	975
From Ceylon	2	—	—	—	—
	1,201
From Foreign Countries (not specified)	180	80	309	313	101
Total	1,381	1,422	1,709	3,456	1,076

asked the Secretary of State for India whether he is aware of the increasing prevalence of the use of cocaine in the bazaars of Indian towns and among the Indian populations; whether such extended use has followed the restrictions placed upon the growth, sale, and use of opium; whether the connection between the disuse of the less and the use of the more dangerous drug is established; and, if so, whether any steps are being, or will be, taken to facilitate the moderate and medicinal use of opium, and to withdraw such Regulations as incline to ignore anything but its abuse?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to a question asked by him on the 2nd March.

asked the Home Secretary if he will consider the advisability of exempting bonâ-fide unregistered practitioners of dentistry from the Order preventing the public from obtaining and using cocaine and its preparations?

I would refer the hon. Members to the reply which I gave yesterday on the same subject to the hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme.

asked whether permits will be issued to registered and unregistered dental surgeons, respectively, for obtaining the supply of cocaine and its preparations necessary for their practice; and, if not, what substitute for this drug it is suggested that they should employ?

Registered dentists are included among the classes of persons authorised by the new Regulations to purchase cocaine. As regards unregistered dentists, I would refer the hon. Member to the statement which I have issued on the subject, and of which I have sent him a copy.

asked the Secretary of State for India whether the requirement made by the India Office that money due to the widow and children of a Scottish officer in a native Indian regiment dying on active service with the British Army in a foreign country in respect of annual contributions to the Indian Military Service Family Pensions Fund is peculiarly and exclusively English estate, and that the same cannot be paid by the India Office unless the title granted to the representatives by the Supreme Court in Scotland is resealed in the English Probate Court has been drawn to his notice; whether the requirement rests upon statutory authority and, if so, upon what authority, or whether it rests upon a mere practice or habit at the India Office which can be brought to an end by an Order of the Secretary of State; whether the practice of the India Office is to exercise discretion as to the enforcement of this requirement in certain cases and its non-enforcement in others; and whether he proposes to permit the continued existence of such a practice?

When money is payable from the India Office to the estate of a deceased officer whose will was proved in Scotland, the law requires that the Scottish Confirmation should be re-sealed in England. The only exception is when the sum payable does not exceed £100. In such cases there is statutory authority to pay to the personal representatives of the deceased without probate. I have no discretion in the matter.

asked the Home Secretary whether his attention has been called to the action of Colonel William Baume Capper in the case of Rex. v. Thomas Ritson, which was heard before the Sunderland Borough magistrates on 20th June and subsequent dates; whether, with a view of protecting the rights and liberties of citizens and of upholding the authority of His Majesty's justices and the administration of the law, he will forward to the Army Council the depositions of the three witnesses for the Crown in that case, together with the telegraphic orders of Colonel Capper to the magistrates, which were read in Court by a subordinate officer; and whether Colonel Capper's action in interfering with the course of justice will be brought to the notice of the Lord Chancellor for such action as he may deem proper to take?

I have not heard of the case except from the hon. Member, and I am not sure that it comes in any way within my jurisdiction, but I am asking for a report from the magistrates.

asked what arrangements have been made to inform the relatives of the men concerned when conscientious objectors to military service are transferred to civil prisons by the military authorities; and whether at the same time information as to the regulations for correspondence is given in these cases?

When a person sentenced to imprisonment by court-martial is received in a civil prison he is, if necessary, allowed to send a note telling his friends of his arrival in the prison, of the state of his health, and of the date when he will be allowed to write a letter. The form on which this note is written contains in print full information as to the regulations with regard to correspondence.

asked the President of the Local Government Board if the employer of an unattested workman engaged in a certified occupation is, under penalty, obliged to report to the recruiting officer that he is employing the workmen in question; if his attention has been called to the conduct of Captain Burton, the recruiting officer at Bradfod, in stating to unattested men engaged in certified occupations and to a trade union secretary, who interviewed him on behalf of one of his members, win is an unattested workman in a certified occupation and who, furthermore, is a married man with a family of five children under thirteen years of age, that no man who has not voluntarily attested is in a certified occupation, and that Paragraph I. of R. 94, list of certified occupations, does not apply to men who have not voluntarily attested; and whether, having regard to the fact that Captain Burton has repeatedly made this statement, and that employers and workmen alike are being consequently misled, he will say publicly whether Captain Burton's reading of Paragraph I. of R. 94 is correct?

An employer is required under penalties to keep a list giving particulars of every male person of military age in his employment, and this list must at all reasonable hours be open for inspection by a recruiting officer. An inquiry has been made as to the statements alleged to have been made by Captain Burton, but no report has yet been received. The list of certified occupations R.94 applies to both attested and unattested men, but a man is not exempted from military service by reason only that his occupation is certified, since he is required to obtain an individual certificate, as provided in the Regulations and instructions.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether, having regard to the assurances given by the Under-Secretary of State for War on the reconsideration of the Military Service (No. 2) Bill (as amended in Committee), a man will be required to present himself for medical re-examination who offered himself for enlistment under Lord Derby's scheme in December, 1915, and was, after a careful examination, permanently rejected for organic disease by the doctor appointed by the military authorities to examine recruits, and full particulars of which rejection were entered by that doctor in the man's medical history and forwarded to the military authorities for entry in their register, and those authorities subsequently gave the man a formal discharge?

It depends entirely on the nature of the physical disability recorded and the nature of the medical examination which he had. It is quite possible that two men might accurately be described by the words of the question, of whom one would certainly and rightly be called up and the other would not, or if he were would be immediately permanently rejected. Many men with mild organic defects of the less important kinds are quite fit for some of the less exacting forms of service.

asked the President of the Board of Trade (1) whether the shares in Conrad Schmidt (F. A. Glaeser), Limited, are almost entirely held by German enemies residing in Germany; whether this company has since the outbreak of war, for their own purposes, been undercutting prices to the detriment of British manufacturers: whether this company is still allowed to carry on business under its German name subject only to the vesting of the German-owned shares with the Public Trustee; and (2) whether he is aware that there are British companies in existence who are capable of manufacturing and supplying the goods hitherto manufactured and supplied by Conrad Schmidt (F. A. Glaeser), Limited, and of giving employment to the workpeople hitherto employed by this German-owned company; and will he say what special reasons there are, if any, for not winding-up this company?

A large majority of the shares of Conrad W. Schmidt (F. A. Glaeser), Limited, are held by Germans resident in Germany, but the supervisor reports that he finds no evidence of improper trading. The case has been considered by the Advisory Committee, who came to the conclusion that the business, employing a staff of about 140 British subjects, was one which it is desirable to maintain, and advised that the shares held by enemies should be vested in the Public Trustee for the purpose of sale. A vesting order has been made in respect of all the shares held by enemies, and the Public Trustee is now taking steps to sell them to British subjects.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will state the estimated increase in the cost of food, rent, fuel and light, and clothing in towns with populations of over 50,000 in the first day of each month since July, 1914; and the increase in the cost of these items taken together, stating the proportions in which they are combined and the sources of the information?

The average percentage increase, as compared with July, 1914, in the retail prices of the principal articles of food in large towns in the United Kingdom at the beginning of each of the months specified, is as follows:

	Per cent.		Per cent.
September, 1914	11	September, 1915	37
October 1914	13	October 1915	42
November 1914	13	November 1915	43
December 1914	17	December 1915	46
January, 1915	19	January, 1916	48
February 1915	23	February 1916	49
March 1915	26	March 1916	51
April 1915	26	April 1916	52
May 1915	28	May 1916	59
June 1915	35	June 1916	62
July 1915	35	July 1916	65
August 1915	86

These figures are based on returns collected by the Board of Trade from retailers, conducting a working-class trade, in every town in which the population at the last Census exceeded 50,000. The changes of prices of the various articles of food are combined in proportions roughly corresponding to the relative expenditure on these articles by workmen's families before the War.In regard to other groups of expenditure inquiries have not been made every month. For the months stated below the average percentage increases since July, 1914, were:

	Rent.	Clothing.	Fuel and Light.	Miscellaneous Items.
	Per cent.	Per cent.	Per cent.	Per cent.
July, 1915	Nil	25	20	10
Sept. 1915	2	30	25	10
Dec. 1915	2	35	30	15
March, 1916	Nil	50	30	15
June 1916	Nil	65	40	30

In combining these figures with those shown above for food, the following weights are used as an approximate indication of the proportions spent by an average working-class family:Food 7½, rent 2, clothing 1½, fuel and light 1, and miscellaneous ½. According

to this calculation and assuming no change in the standard of living (

asked the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that a number of ex-telegraph messengers who would normally have been promoted to assistant postmen are now serving with the Colours; and whether he will take steps to certify the appointments of these ex-telegraph messengers as assistant postmen so that they may come under the Regulations dealing with the civil pay of such men and not, as now, be treated under the Regulations dealing with the lower pay of telegraph messengers?

I am aware that a number of boy messengers who would normally have been appointed assistant postmen by now are serving with the Colours. Under the Regulations a Civil servant can only receive balance of civil pay based on the wages of the class to which he was attached at the time of enlistment, and I have no power to allow these youths balance of civil pay at a rate higher than that proper to boy messengers.