asked the Secretary to the Treasury if he will give the decision respecting war pensions under which men who have earned a Service pension and who have been subsequently wounded or disabled are to have that Service pension deducted from their wound or disablement pension?

I would refer my hon. and gallant Friend to the answer which I gave to the hon. Member for East Edinburgh on 24th October last.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if he will take steps to extend the benefit of a war bonus to retired teachers in Ireland, seeing that in no case is the amount of pension more than half of the former salary?

I would refer the hon. Member to my reply of yesterday to the question on this subject of the hon. Member for West Limerick.

asked the Attorney-General for Ireland why the soldiers who shot Messrs. Sheehy Skeffington, Dickson, and McIntyre, three unarmed civilians, in Dublin last April, and the officers who ordered the shooting have not been put on trial and thus afforded an opportunity of making their defence, whatever it may be, and having a decision of a Civil Court on their character, instead of being left, as they now are, with no answer to the charge of murder?

The officer who gave the orders for the shooting of the persons referred to has already been put on trial and found guilty. It is not intended to bring to trial the soldiers who obeyed the orders of their officer.

asked the Attorney-General for Ireland whether the entire resolution adopted at a public meeting in Castlepollard on 24th September last adopting the Irish Nation League and undertaking to form a branch immediately in each of the parishes to co-operate in realising all the purposes of that organisation, maintaining Ireland's integrity and establishing all its rights as a nation, including representation at the forthcoming International Peace Conference, and for the immediate release of all Irish political prisoners, cessation of martial law and the Defence of the Realm Act, and resisting any form of conscription, which was wholly censored, was illegal; and, if not, will he state for public guidance what part of it was illegal and under what law?

The Attorney-General has never seen the resolution referred to, and consequently has formed no opinion upon its legality.

asked the Secretary of State for War the text of the written message borne by Miss O'Farrell from the late Patrick H. Pearse and delivered by her to the commander of the British forces in Dublin on the 29th April last and the text of the written reply?

I have nothing to add to the answer I gave on the 24th October.

asked the Home Secretary how many of the untried Irish prisoners now detained in this country have been, directly or indirectly, offered release on condition that they joined the British Army; how many of them have been successfully seduced; what special punishment, in addition to continued imprisonment, follows refusal; under what law is this offer made, if the men were guilty and deserved imprisonment; and how is the offer distinguishable from the offence of seduction from allegiance for Which Roger Casement has been hanged?

The answer to the first part of the question is none. The remainder does not arise.

asked the Home Secretary whether any new instructions have been issued to the commandant at Frongoch Camp with reference to the treatment of the Irish prisoners; if he will state what concessions have been granted; if there is any improvement in the dietary scale and general surroundings; and if the contractor who supplied the meat which was condemned as unfit for human use has been prosecuted?

I would refer the hon. Member to the statements I made in the Debate on 26th October and on many other occasions in reply to questions with regard to the treatment of the Irish prisoners at Frongoch, and the food supplied to them. They have been transferred to the North Camp, which I understand they prefer to their former quarters in the South Camp. Though some of the meat had to be condemned on one occasion, I am not aware that the circumstances were such as to justify any proceedings against the contractor. The matter was one for the local military authorities to deal with.

asked the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland), having regard to the diminution of tillage and of food produced in Ireland this year compared with last, notwithstanding undertakings to the contrary in this House, will he now say what steps the Department is taking to maintain an adequate supply of labourers in Ireland for increased food production, to have deteriorated pastures broken for tillage, and to retain in Ireland sufficient native food for the population until next year's crops are harvested?

While there is this season a slight diminution (less than .2 per cent.) in the tillage area in Ireland as compared with last year, it should be remembered that the figures for last year showed the considerable increase of 3.3 per cent, over those of the previous year, an increase which has been practically maintained. Against this slight decrease in the area under, tillage, there is the very substantial increase of 375,000 in the number of cattle, sheep, and swine in the country, so that the assumption contained in the first part of the hon. Member's question in regard to food production is incorrect. As intimated in the reply given by me on the 23rd August to a question put toy the hon. Member for South Kilkenny, the Department have received no complaints which would lead them to anticipate any such general serious shortage of agricultural labour in Ireland this year as would call for exceptional action. In any case the question of the supply of agricultural labour is not one in connection with which the Department possess any legislative powers. In regard to the last portion of the question the Department have no power to prohibit the exportation of food from Ireland, but the whole matter is receiving attention on the part of the Department and the Executive with a view to any action which may seem called for by the circumstances.

asked the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland) how many egg inspectors are at present in the Department's service; do these inspectors visit railway and shipping depots; are any of them of military age and is there a female egg inspector; are the reports of these inspectors available to the public; and how many reports have been received from these inspectors within the last twelve months, stating in how many cases any action was taken?

There are no inspectors in the Department's service who devote their whole time to egg inspection. Four inspectors in the course of their duties inspect or give instruction in the handling of eggs or report in connection with the transit of eggs. Two additional temporary inspectors have been employed from time to time on egg inspection at certain seasons when special inspection was necessary. Part of the work of these officers is to visit railway and shipping depots. Of the four regular inspectors referred to three are over military age. There is no female inspector. The written reports received from the inspectors are confidential documents and are not available to the public save in cases where it is considered desirable to furnish copies or extracts for the information of packers or shippers concerned. In addition, large numbers of verbal reports are made by the inspectors. In view of the short notice given by the hon. Member, it is impossible to tell how many separate written reports have been received by the Department from their inspectors during the last twelve months. Action has been taken thereon in every instance where, in the Department's opinion, it was called for.

asked the Secretary to the Admiralty whether, in view of the increased cost of living, he can arrange, through the Greenwich Hospital or any other agency, to increase the allowance-made to naval pensioners aged seventy years and upwards?

Naval life pensions, which are awarded at a comparatively early age, generally at about forty years of age, range from 5s. 10d. per week in the case of the ordinary seaman to 24s. per week in the case of the chief petty officer. Greenwich Hospital pensions are already given in many cases in supplement of these life pensions, and, so long as the money remains unexpended, are given in the order of age and necessity of the applicant. At the present time, age pensions of 5d. a day in augmentation of the naval life pensions are being paid to about 3,800 men, and increased age pensions of 9d. a day are being paid to about 5,500 men. I should say that the age pension of 5d. a day is now being paid to men having reached somewhere about the age of fifty-seven, and that the increased age pension of 9d. a day is paid at the age of sixty-five.

asked the Secretary of State for War if the Cap Martin Hotel in South France has been taken by the Government as a convalescent home for British officers, and if a Mr. Schubaker has been appointed manager; if so, will he state the nationality of this person; and whether any attempt was made to secure the services of a British or French manager?

The Cap Martin Hotel has been secured as a convalescent home for British officers. Orders were given on the 6th October that the services of the former manager, Mr. Schubaker, should be dispensed with, and a British or French manager appointed in his place.

asked the Secretary of State for War if members of the Non-Combatant Corps are employed in the loading and unloading of rifles and ammunition at Portsmouth; if so, whether this work is regarded as falling within the- work to which this class would be assigned; and, if so, will he have this altered, as the men refuse to handle rifles and ammunition?

No members of the Non-Combatant Corps are employed in the loading or unloading of rifles and ammunition at Portsmouth.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that there are a number of men between the ages of forty-one and forty-five who are desirous of joining the Army for active service; and whether, as many of such men are physically efficient, he can see his way to allow those who desire to volunteer to attest in the usual way?

A poster is about to be issued calling for volunteers who are over military age to enlist into the Royal Engineers, Inland Water Transport, and Royal Artillery.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether Private Kennedy, of the 75th Training Reserve Battalion, U Company, Prees Heath, Whitchurch, Salop, has been kept in close arrest for three weeks, although the charge against him does not involve violence, drunkenness, or insubordination; for how long can a commanding officer keep a man in arrest without either trying him by court-martial or dealing with the matter summarily; whether the period of close arrest in a detention room is limited by the King's Regulations to one week; whether the charge against Private Kennedy arises out of his refusal to be vaccinated; and whether he will investigate the case and see that this man is either tried or released?

Inquiries are being made.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that William Gordon, of Foxfield, Kilnalick, county Cavan, was arrested on Friday, 20th October, and remanded to Armagh the same day, deported thence on the 21st, and tried in Glasgow on the 25th, being fined 42s. and handed over to the military authorities; will he say if he has been returned to the Inniskillings at Omagh; whether this man was entitled to be tried and have legal advice at Kilnalick; and, in the interests of recruiting in this country, will he state whether such procedure will be altered or done away with altogether?

Inquiries are being made.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether the temporary female clerks employed in the Army Pay offices are entitled to the bonus of 4s. a week granted by Army Order of 1st July, 1916, to temporary clerks?

The question whether any bonus should be given to female clerks engaged since the War began depends upon the rate of pay already received, and is left to the discretion of the local authorities. The maximum bonus allowable is 2s. a week.

asked the Secretary of State for War why Bombardier Ralph Biggs, No. 161, of the 10th Provisional Battery, Royal Field Artillery, has not obtained his discharge, for which he made application on 22nd June, seeing that he is over forty-two years of age and has had thirteen years' service with the Colours?

Inquiries are being made.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether it is the case that no soldier is discharged from the Army, except for tuberculosis, into civil life whilst still in an infectious condition owing to any illness, and particularly any venereal disease; and whether, that is to say, such a soldier is retained under treatment until all danger of infection to others has passed, especially as regards any venereal disease?

Yes, Sir.

asked the Secretary for War how many alien civilian prisoners are at present interned in this country; whether any record has been kept and can be made public showing the trades and professions pursued by such persons before their internment; and to what extent has it been found possible to provide employment for them during their incarceration?

On 30th October there were 31,488 alien enemy civilians interned. Their occupations before internment have not been classified, and it would take a great deal of labour to make such a classification. At the present time, besides the ordinary camp fatigues and the cooking, baking, cultivation of vegetables, and road-making for the camps, the interned men are employed in tailoring, boot-making, joinery, plumbing, brush-making, mail-bag making, and other trades. In the Isle of Man small parties also work outside the camps at drainage, excavation, quarrying, road-making, farming, and peat-cutting. There are considerable difficulties in arranging employment, as to which I would refer to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for West Newington on 13th July; but every effort is made to devise new means of employment, and any suggestion to that end is welcomed.

asked the Minister of Munitions if his attention has been called to the position in which certain members of the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen are placed who received injuries or suffered serious loss through the destruction of their household furniture by the recent explosion at a large munitions factory in Yorkshire by reason of their inability to obtain compensation from the company which owns the factory; and whether he will relieve the men in question of the process of proving negligence on the part of the company by obtaining a Treasury grant and paying fair and equitable compenstion himself and recovering the cost afterwards from the company if it is possible and reasonable to do so?

The company have arranged without admitting liability to pay all reasonable claims; a considerable number of claims will be paid shortly, and investigation of the remainder is proceeding as rapidly as possible. Immediately after the explosion, the company made arrangements for dealing with distress. The second part of the question does not therefore arise.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is responsible for the suppression in the Annual Report on Ceylon for 1915, just presented to both Houses of Parliament, where what is described as an estimate of injury to persons and property in the riots of that year is limited to alleged injury to the persons and property of Moors; why the injury to the persons and property of Sinhalese by Moors, and subsequently by the military and police, are not included; whether he will state the number of Sinhalese lives taken; and when an impartial statement of the entire results of the riots will be presented to both Houses of Parliament?

The reference to the riots in the Annual Report stands as it was received from the Colony. So far as I am aware, the persons and property of the Sinhalese suffered no material injury at the hands of either the Moors or the police and military, except as a result of action taken for the suppression of disorder. Full information as to the loss of life was given in the correspondence presented to Parliament in January last, and I see no reason for any further statement.

asked the Postmaster-General whether ex-servants of his Department who have been dismissed by it as medically unfit have been accepted by the War Office as medically fit for that Department; and will he be prepared to accept in future the War Office standard of fitness in health?

I am not aware of any such cases. Some Post Office servants who have been retired on medical grounds may have obtained temporary employment at the War Office, but this fact would not necessarily indicate that they are physically fit for Post Office duties—possibly of an entirely different character.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether the present prices of tea on the London wholesale market are largely due to the gambling operations of a person or persons in that market; and whether, if his inquiries or knowledge satisfy him that such is the case, he will take action in the public interest to prevent such artificial inflation of prices?

The information available would not warrant me in assenting to the statement contained in the first part of this question. With reference to the second part, the Bill which, as has already been stated, I am proposing to introduce shortly, will provide a remedy for abuses of the kind which my hon. Friend has in mind.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he "will state the various classes of sugared goods which have, during the years 1915 and 1916, been exported from this country for sale in the United States, Holland, Sweden, and Norway; whether such exports were made under licence; and whether he can state approximately, within a few thousand pounds, the values of such exports during the years 1915 and 1916?

presented the following statement showing the value of the exports of sugar and the principal descriptions of sugared goods of United Kingdom manufacture to Sweden, Norway, and the Netherlands and to the United States of America during the year 1915 and the nine months ended 30th September, 1916:—

Nature of Goods. Exports to Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands. United States of America 1915 Nine months of 1916. 1915 Nine months of 1916. £ £ £ £ Sugar, Refined and Candy 2,769 1,400 70 — Beer and Ale 4,512 2,950 174,912 182,867 Table Waters 2,542 2,259 78,199 87,790 Biscuits and Cakes 27,740 14,315 29,569 21,339 Cattle and other Animal Foods 2,440 2,439 1,240 735 Cocoa. Preparations of Cocoa 17,059 551 4,249 1,857 Sauces or Condiments not specially enumerated in the Export List 12,236 11,889 102,686 94,511 Molasses 109,425 77,368 3,535 1,605 Confectionery 36,531 20,816 11,586 13,809 Marmalade, Jams and Fruit Jellies 2,364 1,221 46,302 32,381 All other 1,340 477 3,086 4,717 Totals 218,958 135,685 455,434 441,611 Exports of Beer and Ale, Table Waters and Confectionery, and Sauces and Condiments unenumerated (for the most part) have not been prohibited to any of the destinations specified curing any portion of the period covered by the above statement. Exports of Sugar and of Cattle Food containing molasses have been prohibited to all such destinations throughout the period, except under licence. The following statement shows the position as regards the other goods separately mentioned above:—

Sweden, Norway, and the Netherlands. United States of America. Biscuits and Cakes … Prohibited from 11th September, 1915 Not prohibited. Cocoa Beans … Prohibited from 8th January, 1916, to 3rd February, 1915, and from 30th July, 1915, to date Not prohibited. Cocoa Powder … Prohibited from 3rd February, 1915 Not prohibited. Molasses … Prohibited from 26th July, 1916 Prohibited from 26th July, 1916. Marmalade and Jam … Prohibited from 23rd February, 1916 Prohibited from 29th September, 1916. Fruit Jellies … Prohibited from 23rd February, 1916 Not prohibited.

asked the Attorney-General whether it is a punishable offence for a British subject in time of war to enter into friendly relations with the enemy from neutral territory and by means of such relations to enter enemy territory, and to publish in England false information relating to the War or the condition of territory of an Ally in enemy occupation alleged to have been obtained by means of such friendly relations with the enemy; and, if not, having regard to the conduct of Miss Emily Hobhouse, whether it is proposed to introduce legislation making such conduct a punishable offence?

To enter into relations with the enemy from neutral territory and by means of such relations to enter enemy territory is not, unless it amounts to adherence or is otherwise aggravated by the circumstances, a criminal offence. It is proposed by a Regulation to be made under the Defence of the Realm Acts to prohibit such acts for the future. The Government has at present no precise knowledge other than that contained in the published statement attributed to Miss Hobhouse of her activities in Berlin. The difficulty of obtaining evidence in order to determine the exact legal quality of her acts is apparent. It is an offence to publish in England false information relating to the War. If my hon. Friend will carefully read the published statement of Miss Hobhouse, he will see that it consists almost entirely of expressions of opinion, or of statements of fact, on matters which are not and cannot be within the knowledge of the Government. It may be added that inasmuch as Miss Hobhouse will not be permitted to leave the country as long as the War lasts, she will not enjoy any similar opportunity in the future of disparaging the cause of the Allies.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether a British subject who, during the War, obtained a passport to proceed to a neutral country and who then takes advantage of such permission in order to enter enemy territory and to consort with the King's enemies, is guilty of any punishable offence; and, if so, will the Government prosecute in all cases in which there is reasonable ground for supposing that such an offence has been committed?

I would refer my hon. Friend generally to the question addressed to me to-day by the hon. Member for St. Augustine's Division and to my answer thereto. If Miss Hobhouse at the time she obtained the visa to her passport had already conceived the intention of visiting Germany she ought most certainly to have informed the Home Office of that intention, and her failure to do so might justify proceedings; but the Government is naturally unaware whether Miss Hobhouse had formed the intention at that time or later, when she reached the neutral country.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs on whose application, and on what grounds, passports were given to the French ecclesiastics now in Ireland, and for what pur- pose they were allowed to proceed there at a time when no other civilian is allowed to travel from France to Ireland or from Ireland to France; whether the concession promised by the French Government to the Church is conditional on the success of those ecclesiastics in diminishing the opposition to Conscription in Ireland; and, in either case, whether it will be conceded immediately or not until after the War?

Passports are not issued for travelling to Ireland, and I have no knowledge of the matters to which the hon. Member's question refers.

asked the Home Secretary whether the restrictions of the sale of tobacco effected by the Early Closing Order will apply to all holders of licences for the sale of tobacco, including hairdressers and all others, as well as tobacconists?

The restrictions on the sale of tobacco imposed by the Order apply to hairdressers and all other retail traders, as well as tobacconists.

asked the hon. Member for West Essex, as representing the Kitchen Committee, whether he intends to ask Members to themselves acquiesce in those restrictions in the consumption of liquor and tobacco which by various Orders in Council the Government have recently imposed on the mass of the population?

My Committee have not received any orders from the House, whose executive we are, on this matter.