asked the Prime Minister whether he has received a communication from Baron Frederic Ropp addressed to to him from Berne on or about 21st December; whether Baron Ropp has appealed to him on behalf of oppressed nationalities; and whether any answer which can be published was returned to Baron Ropp?

The communication referred to was received by the Prime Minister, who did not consider it desirable to send any reply. I have no information to give on this subject.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury, whether, in consequence of the increased contributions of workmen to the State in payment of Income Tax on wages, the Treasury will so alter the rules and regulations governing old age pensions that all present pensioners not benefited by other concessions shall receive the 2s. 6d. per week extra without further investigation, seeing that all previous concessions are based on the rising cost of living which penalises all alike; and is he aware that all present pensioners have been subjected to a strict scrutiny as to means before receiving their present pension and by regulation have to report any increase of income?

I am aware of the facts referred to in the last part of the question; as regards the first part I would refer to the reply which I gave yesterday to my hon. Friend the Member for the Houghton-le-Spring Division.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether there are at present three different coercive codes in force in Ireland, none of which apply in Great Britain; and on what ground such a system of governing Ireland is justified?

Offences under the Defence of the Realm Act are triable by court-martial in cases where the competent military authority thinks it necessary, and offences of unlawful or riotous assembly are triable by two magistrates with a limited jurisdiction as to penalties. I am not aware of any other practical differences between the administration of justice in Ireland and in Great Britain at the present time.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he will confer with the railway executive in Ireland with a view to ensuring that there will be no unnecessary interference with the railway service to health resorts in that country?

Yes, Sir.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he is aware that upon the estate of the Rev. Robert Roe, situate in the parish of Moore, county Roscommon, there are five vacant farms from which the tenants were evicted; that these farms are now unoccupied and wholly unproductive; that the evicted tenants are in the locality and anxious for reinstatement; that on the occasion of their eviction they made an offer which the district inspector of police, who was present, declared should have been accepted; and whether, in view of the present necessities of the country for increased food supply, he will communicate with the landlord or with his agent, Mr. H. D. M. Barton, the Bush, Antrim, in order to bring about a reinstatement of these tenants?

I am informed that there are seven evicted farms on the Roe estate, and that all the evicted persons have stock grazing on their former holdings except in one case where the evicted tenant tills a portion. The district inspector referred to in the question is now serving in the Army, and it is not possible to verify the statement made in the question with regard to him. I cannot undertake to communicate with the landlord or the agent of the estate.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether adjutants-from the Regular and Territorial Forces are being appointed for Volunteer regiments; if so, what are the rates of pay and allowances for such appointments; and whether any clerical staff will be allowed?

As stated in the Debates in both Houses during the passage of the Volunteer Act, 1916, it is the intention to appoint Regular and Territorial Force officers as adjutants of Volunteer battalions, and steps are being taken to carry out this decision. These officers will receive the pay and allowances of their rank—not above that of captain. The necessary expenses of maintaining battalion orderly rooms will be provided by Territorial Force Associations out of the grants payable to them in respect of Sections A and B (Volunteers).

asked the hon. Member for Rugby, as Parliamentary Secretary to the Air Board, whether, in the event of aeroplanes of our own forces doing damage to fences or buildings in the United Kingdom, he will arrange that compensation shall be paid to those affected; whether he is aware that in certain cases compensation has been refused because fences or buildings have not been insured; and whether it is intended that people shall be obliged to insure against damage done by our own aircraft as well as by that of the enemy?

This question is under consideration.

asked the President of the Board of Education what steps are being taken to increase the supply of teachers to public elementary schools?

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply which I gave yesterday to the hon. Member for Oldham, a copy of which I am sending to him.

asked the President of the Board of Trade, whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that the Tottenham Light, Heat and Power Company have recently decided to increase the rental of gas stoves and other fittings already hired out to the consumers in their district by 25 per cent.; whether such increase has to have the sanction of his Board; and whether he is prepared to allow an increase in the rental of a gas stove when a landlord is forbidden to raise the rent of his house to his tenant?

I am informed by the company in question that the amount of the rental of gas stoves, etc., is a matter of agreement between them and consumers, and that it covers not only the interest on the original cost, but also the cost of repairs which has arisen by reason of the War. The increase is not subject to any sanction on the part of the Board of Trade.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether, without hear-in the local authorities, who had intimated their desire to be heard, his Board on the 11th ultimo made an Order, at the request of the Tottenham District Light, Heat, and Power Company abolishing the illuminating standard of their gas and substituting a calorific standard of 500 thermal units per cubic foot; if so, whether he is aware of the dissatisfaction felt by consumers at the lack of pressure and adverse manner in which many of the meters work; and will he have immediate inquiry made into these complaints?

Application has been made to the Board of Trade by the company in question for an Order under the Gas (Standard of Calorific Power) Act, 1916, and objections have been lodged by some of the local authorities concerned. There appeared to the Board to be no need for a formal inquiry, but they gave full consideration to the representations made to them in writing by the local authorities, to whom they sent on the 11th January the draft of an Order which they proposed to make substituting a calorific standard of 500 British Thermal Units for the existing illuminating standard and increasing the statutory minimum pressure at which gas is to be supplied. The Board have not yet made the Order, and before doing so they propose to consider any observations on the draft Order which the local authorities desire to submit.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what was the pre- war tonnage taken up in connection with the importation of grain, sugar, hops, etc., into the United Kingdom for brewing and distilling purposes; and to what extent tonnage will be released by the proposed reduction of 50 per cent, on the output of beer and corresponding restriction of spirits?

In the twelve months ended the 30th September, 1914, the materials (barley, hops, sugar, etc.) used in brewing and distilling had an aggregate weight of about 2,100,000 tons, of which somewhat over 1,500,000 tons were used in brewing. What proportion of the total materials used was imported cannot be stated, but, broadly speaking, any reduction in the use of these materials for brewing and distilling, by setting them free for other purposes, increases the tonnage space available for other imports by the whole amount of reduction. The space which would be occupied by all the brewing and distilling materials used in the period above referred to may be estimated at the equivalent of between 1,100,000 and 1,200,000 net register of tons of shipping. The brewing materials alone would account for about 900,000 net register tons, and a reduction of 50 per cent, in their use would therefore set free about 450,000 tons. In view of the requirements for industrial purposes and munition manufacture of the products of distilleries, the probable reduction in materials used in distilleries cannot be stated.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether representations have been made to the Department of Agriculture in Ireland by the occupiers of small holdings at Erritt, county Roscommon, to the effect that the only chance of availing of their labour for increasing the food supply of the country is to acquire for them, either temporarily or permanently, the untenanted grass lands known as Erritt demesne, the property of Lord De Freyne, who is said to be willing to dispose of them; and whether the Department has taken any steps to ascertain the views of the owner of these lands and to meet the wishes of those who are able and anxious to till them?

The Department of Agriculture is not in a position to undertake negotiations for transfer of lands. The matter is one for negotiation between the parties concerned.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he is aware that the nuns in charge of Newtownforbes Industrial School, county Longford, have, at a very large outlay, provided industrial schools capable of accommodating a large number of pupils; whether within the past few months, owing to the obstruction of the industrial school inspectors, the number of pupils have steadily fallen, and a further falling off is expected; whether quite recently the inspectors refused to allow two Dublin children to be sent to Newtownforbes for no cause assigned, and these children are now wandering about the streets of Dublin; and whether in the interests of such institutions in Ireland the Government propose to give some assistance to enable these institutions to pay their way and not have to close down as at present seems likely?

The inspectors of reformatory and industrial schools do not interfere in regard to the sending of children to industrial schools, and I am assured there is no foundation for the suggestions that they have been done so in the cases which the hon. Member mentions. An increase of 6s. per week in the capitation Grant has been sanctioned by the Treasury in respect of each child in a reformatory or industrial school towards whose maintenance the local authority is prepared to contribute a similar amount.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if he can state the names and addresses of the persons carrying on business at 99, Donegal Street, Belfast, under the title of the Dublin Advance Company; if such persons are registered moneylenders; if any complaints have been made to the police authorities in reference to the dealings of the firm; and if any action is contemplated against the principles?

I am informed that a registered firm of moneylenders carried on business in the circumstances stated down to April, 1916, but that the period of registration has expired. To answer the second and third inquiries in the question would not be in the public interest.

asked the President of the Board of Education what additional duties have been imposed upon local education authorities by law during the last nine or ten years; and what amount of special new Grant has been placed at the disposal of local education authorities accordingly?

The only provisions in any Education Acts which impose new duties on local education authorities in the last ten years are those contained in Section 12 (1) (b) of the Education (Administrative Provisions) Act, 1907, and in the Elementary Education (Defective and Epileptic Children) Act, 1914. The Grant paid to local education authorities in respect of expenditure under the first Act incurred in the exercise of their powers of medical treatment as well as in the performance of their duty of medical inspection was £l96,571 in 1915–16, and is estimated at £195,500 in 1916–17. The second Act makes the obligation imposed on the authority conditional on the provision of Parliamentary Grants equal to half the cost.

asked the President of the Local Government Board what the estimated population is of the following places in 1914, the county borough of Stoke-on-Trent, the municipal borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme, and the urban district council of Wolstanton; whether he will show how the population of the first named is divided between the Parliamentary constituencies of Stoke, Hanley, Newcastle-under-Lyme, North-West Staffordshire, and Leek Division of Staffordshire; and whether he will state the estimated population at the same date; of the Parliamentary borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme under the three heads, Newcastle-under-Lyme municipal borough. Wolstanton urban district council, and Stoke-on-Trent county borough?

The estimated populations of certain administrative areas (including counties and boroughs) for the middle of 1914, are given in the 77th Annual Report of the Registrar-General [Cd. 8236]. Similar estimates for Parliamentary constituencies are not available, and considerable labour would be involved in making them; but it may be pointed out that if effect were given to the recommendations of the Speaker's Conference on Electoral Reform the boundaries of Parliamentary constituencies would, in any scheme for the Redistribution of Seats, be made to coincide so far as practicable with the boundaries of administrative areas.