asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether it is intended to issue an additional volume containing emergency legislation supplemental to those previously issued; and whether, if so, he will have it expedited, in view of the public inconvenience caused by the want of such a publication?

I would refer to the reply given on the 29th ultimo to the hon. and learned Member for York.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether his attention has been directed to the inconvenience and disappointment caused in Ireland by the very short notice given of the regulation prohibiting special trains; and whether, in view of the appeals which have reached him, he can see his way to postpone the operation of the Order till after the 1st of January?

The matters to which the hon. Member calls attention have been taken into account. The Order will be brought into general operation at the New Year.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he will arrange that the proposed reduction of passenger trains in Ireland shall not apply to the customary travelling facilities in connection with the impending final hurling and football matches of the Gaelic Athletic Association, in which the general public are interested?

I would refer the hon. Member to the answer given to-day to the hon. Member for Mayo (East).

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if he is aware that, under existing conditions, owing to the restrictions on steel joists and other necessary building materials, the owners of destroyed property cannot? rebuild their premises; if he will cause the restrictions to be removed so far as the destroyed area of Dublin is concerned; and if he is aware that the building trade is at a complete standstill in Dublin and that urgent building operations are necessary amongst the working classes?

I am assured by the Ministry of Munitions that any application for permission to use qualities of steel which are not exclusively required for munitions of war will be sympathetically considered.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if he will specify the special measures, if any, taken by the Government to prevent a food famine arising from the partial failure of the potato and other crops, excessive exportation of food, increased cost of living, and the almost entire absence of that increased expenditure of public money which the people of Great Britain enjoy?

There is not, as I am advised, the prospect of famine which the hon. Member suggests, though the yield of the potato crop is unfortunately below the average. Control of the export of potatoes is being taken, and the measures of food control which are being applied to Great Britain will be extended to Ireland in so far as they are properly applicable. There is also a considerable, and I think increasing expenditure in Ireland, from the public exchequer.

asked the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland) whether he is aware that shipments of potatoes from Ireland still continue apparently unchecked; and will he say when he proposes to give effect to the resolution unanimously passed at the last meeting of the Irish Council of Agriculture, with a view to restrict the exportation of potatoes from Ireland?

An Order on this subject is in course of issue.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what quantity of wheat was exported from Canada, Argentine, and the United States of America for the year covering the harvests of 1915; and what is the estimate of the quantity available now for export from these countries?

The shipments of wheat from Canada and the United States in the year ending 31st August last were 63,700,000 quarters. In the case of Argentina, the shipments from the beginning of 1916 to the end of November were 9,950,000 quarters. The total quantity remaining and available for export from the last crops in these countries is variously estimated, but it seems probable that about 20,000,000 quarters from North America and about 3,000,000 quarters from the Argentine may still be expected to be shipped. The available surplus of the new crop in the Argentine is at present uncertain.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland what steps have been taken to secure representation for Ireland on the newly-created Imperial Trust for the encouragement of scientific research; whether steps will be taken to co-ordinate the facilities for scientific research provided by the National University of Ireland, Dublin University, the Queen's University, Belfast, and the Royal College of Science in Dublin, so that the fullest advantage can be taken of the new scheme; and whether the co-operation of the Irish Industrial Development Association, and of all local industrial associations in Ireland, will be invited with a view to securing the greatest publicity possible for the details of the work of the trust?

Some such representation as is mentioned in the question already exists. The Chief Secretary is a member of the Imperial Trust. Professor McClelland, F.R. S., of the National University, is a member of the Advisory Council who have charge of the application of moneys provided by Parliament for the organisation and development of scientific and industrial research, and Mr. George Fletcher, of the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction, is the Assessor for Ireland to the Council. The Advisory Council have already been in touch with the Irish Universities, and some grants have been made to research workers in Irish Universities. Proposals as to the representation of Ireland and as to increased facilities for scientific and industrial research in relation to Irish industries are being formulated.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty if he can give any information as to the sinking of trawlers recently in Start Bay by a German submarine?

So far as is known no trawlers have been sunk in Start Bay during the past few months. The following fishing smacks, however, were sunk by submarines in the English Channel at considerable distances from the coast between the 26th and 30th November, 1916:

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether he will consider the possibility of giving extended leave to all members of the original Expeditionary Force, and, if possible, to any men who fought in 1914 and who have served continuously in France since that year?

No, Sir; I cannot undertake that the Commander-in-Chief will give leave on the principle suggested. Various divisions and units followed one another to France at short intervals, and it is not feasible to make participation in fighting in the year 1914 the basis of special privileges in the matter of leave.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether his attention has been called to the fact that in certain cases recommendations for honours and awards on active service have not been forwarded owing to the commanding officer or adjutant in possession of the recommendations becoming a casualty; and whether he will consider the publishing of a posthumous list of dispatches to cover all cases of those whose names were submitted for mention or whose names would have been submitted for mention but for their deaths on active service?

The Army Council are not aware of any recommendation not having been forwarded owing to the circumstances set forth in the first part of the question. There is no restriction as to the inclusion of the names of deceased officers and soldiers in the mentions in dispatches.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office why no separation allowance was paid to Mrs. Mary Sweeney, Acres, Burtonport, in respect of her son, No. 3085, Private Hugh Sweeney, 6th Battalion Royal Irish Regiment, prior to the 28th June, 1915, having regard to the fact that the man enlisted on 23rd February, 1915; and whether he will see that the sum due to her for arrears, of approximately eighteen weeks, are paid to her without delay?

Inquiries will be made, and the hon. Member informed of the result in due course.

asked the Prime Minister whether this country has, by any treaty, convention, or other instrument, any authority to interfere in the internal affairs of the Russian Empire; and, if not, whether he will abstain from answering questions regarding Russian Jews with which His Majesty's Government, as such, has no concern?

My right hon. Friend has asked me to reply to this question. The answer to the first part of the question is in the negative. With regard to the second part, I do not know to what the hon. Member refers, but I see no reason why questions relating to Russian Jews in this country should not be answered in the usual way.

asked, the Secretary to the Treasury if he will state the gross amount received from the Dog Tax during the last financial year.

The revenue derived in 1915–1916 from dog licences was £713,942.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury why the old age pension of 4s. a week awarded by the Dunfanaghy Pensions Sub-committee in October to Mrs. Ellen Sweeney, Carnamaddy, Cashelmore, county Donegal, has not yet been paid to her, having regard to the fact that this woman's only source of income is a payment of 8s. 10d. a week separation allowance in respect of a soldier son?

I am informed that the failure to deliver an order book in this case has been due to inadvertence during extreme pressure of work, and that the omission has been rectified.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he has official information showing that an outrage was committed at the Clonmeen Boys' School, Banteer, county Cork, on the night of Wednesday, the 11th, or the morning of Thursday, the 12th of last October; whether a report was furnished by the teachers of the school to the local Royal Irish Constabulary sergeant; and what was the result of the inquiries made by the police into the matter?

I have received a report. The matter is still under investigation.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he has made himself acquainted with the disabilities under which future tenants in Ireland suffer, frequently acknowledged by his predecessor and by County Court judges and Land Commissioners; whether his attention has been called to the remedy applied in a small number of those cases by the Congested Districts Board, as shown on pages 8 and 9 of their Report for 1915–16; whether he will ask the Board to apply that remedy to the cases of all future tenants who seek relief; and whether he will ask the Estates Commissioners, now that their large operations are in suspense, to apply the same remedy to future-tenants applying to them for relief?

As was stated by my predecessor on the 13th May, 1915, in answer to a similar question by the hon. Member for Cork (South), the provisions of Section 65 of the Irish Land Act, 1909, were expressly designed to meet the case of tenants who had been evicted from their holdings and subsequently reinstated as "future" tenants, and there is no analogy between their case and that of new tenants who have entered into their contracts with their eyes open. In the particular cases to which the hon. Member alludes the creation of judicial tenancies was effected not by the Congested Districts Board, but by the owner before the Board acquired the estate.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been called to the Report of the local Government auditor for the year ending 31st December, 1916, in which it is stated that the financial condition of the Dublin Port and Docks Board continues to be highly unsatisfactory; whether he is aware that leading members and officials of the Board have recently resigned as a protest against the Board's decision to meet the situation by unnecessarily reducing expenditure which is essential to the upkeep and future revenue-earning capacity of the port; whether he has been informed that, having failed to provide for the repayment of large loans due in 1916, the Board are at present endeavouring to pay off such loans by borrowing at £7 per cent.; whether he is aware that the Corporation of Dublin is at present raising a large sum by way of loan from America at about £5 10s. per cent.; whether he is aware that the Port and Docks Board having to borrow at such a comparatively penal rate demonstrates the incapacity of the Board, as at present constituted, to manage the affairs of the port to the general advantage of the residents in the district which it serves; whether, having regard to the fact that the Board have now exhausted the financial powers conferred upon it by Parliament, he will immediately take steps to institute a searching inquiry into the affairs of the port, with a view to other suitable action; if he has received any of the resolutions of protest from the public boards in Ireland protesting against the system under which the Dublin Port and Docks Board is elected; and if he will take steps to alter that system so as to allow the people the opportunity of electing their own representatives?

I have seen a copy of the Auditor's Report on the accounts of the Dublin Port and Docks Board for the year ended the 31st December, 1915. I am informed by the Docks Board that they, hope for an improvement in their financial position owing to the steps they have taken to increase their revenue by raising their rates, and also to the payments to be made to them by the Government in respect of dues on transports, stores, etc., under the agreement recently come to. I am informed that one member of the Docks Board and the engineer have recently resigned, mainly owing to disagreement with the policy of the Special Expenditure Committee of the Board. The Docks Board tell me that owing to the issue of 6 per cent. Exchequer Bonds, and to the attractive terms of the recent French Loan, they have found it necessary to give 7 per cent. for five-year bonds and 6 per cent. for ten-year bonds. I have no definite information as to the terms of the loan raised by the Corporation of Dublin. I do not see that this borrowing demonstrates any incapacity on the part of the Docks Board, and there does not appear to be any reason for the Board of Trade instituting an inquiry into the affairs of the port, even if they had any power to do so. The only resolution of a public body which has reached me protesting against the system under which the Docks Board is elected, is one by the guardians of the North Dublin Union, which the hon. Member sent to the Board of Trade in September last. I can find no reason for altering that system, under which the parties principally interested in the welfare of the port appear DO be reasonably I represented.

asked the Postmaster-General if he will favourably consider the claim of John Scott, Narin, Glenties, county Donegal, for a gratuity, having regard to the fact that this man has had to retire, owing to ill-health, after twenty-nine years' service as rural postman?

I am making inquiry into this case, and will communicate with the hon. Member.