asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to extend to persons assessed under Schedule A in respect of earned income the right to pay the duty thereon in two equal instalments as is the case, under Section 33 of the Finance (No. 2) Act, 1915, in all other assessments in respect of earned income, whether under Schedules B, D. or E, and so remove the existing difference between such assessments under Schedule A and those under Schedules B, D, or E, and in many cases relieve the hardship which now falls upon certain persons, more especially ministers of various religious denominations, assessed under Schedule A, of having to pay the whole of the duty upon their earned income in one sum at the beginning of the year?

I am advised that it would be practicable, to extend the benefit of the instalment system to clergymen by transferring the assessment upon their tithes and other emoluments from Schedule A to Schedule E of the Income Tax. I am prepared to give careful consideration to the matter, though I cannot, of course, anticipate my Budget proposals.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether workmen whose income for the Income Tax year 1915–16 was less than £160 have to pay Income Tax?

Yes, Sir. The limit of income at which Income Tax became chargeable for the financial year 1915–16 was lowered from £160 to £130 per annum by the Finance (No. 2) Act, 1915.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether his attention has been called to a statement made by the President of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries in Birmingham on Friday last wherein he foreshadowed larger powers for the acquisition of land for the purpose of allotments; and whether, whatever extended powers are conferred in this country, he will see that Ireland gets similar benefits?

I have seen a copy of the statement referred to. Additional powers have been conferred on the Irish Department of Agriculture by an Order in Council dated the 16th instant, which I read to the House yesterday.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that friendly aliens, particularly in London, Leeds, and Manchester, are rapidly taking over the work of Englishmen who have joined the Army; and what steps he is taking to compel them to share the responsibilities of British citizenship, as well as its privileges?

I must refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my Noble Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to the hon. Member for North Somerset on the 13th February.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War on how many occasions during the year 1916 the Selection Board met; and whether regular meetings are now held?

The Selection Board met forty-eight times during the year 1916. Regular meetings are held once every week, provided that there are questions for the Board to consider.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether the military representatives attending local tribunals are paid in all eases for such services; and, if any payment is made, what is the amount?

The answer is in the negative.

asked the Home Secretary whether a dependent mother of a conscientious objector who had been granted separation allowance for so long as he should be employed on work of national importance under the control of the Committee on Employment of Conscientious Objectors is deprived of her separation allowance if her son's pay is stopped in consequence of his committing any irregularity, although her son is during the period of stoppage actually employed on such work and is therefore fulfilling the conditions attached to the grant?

If the hon. Member will communicate to me the details of any case he has in mind, I will cause inquiry to be made.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that a surveyor's circular has been issued instructing all Post Office servants who have not been medically examined since 25th May last to present themselves immediately for re-examination by the military authorities; whether this is in accordance with the terms of the Military Service Acts; and, if not, by whose authority the circular was issued?

Instructions have recently been issued that Post Office servants liable for military service whose medical classification has not finally been determined should submit themselves for medical examination by the military authorities. The object of this step was to facilitate the consideration of the question of the release of further staff for military service. I am considering whether in the case of certain grades which cannot at present be released further medical examination is necessary.

asked the Minister of Munitions whether he is aware that makers of sugar machinery and other apparatus for tropical agriculture are for the most part not engaged on direct war work but are intermittently employed as sub-contractors to armament companies; that between the execution of such sub-contracts they are able to proceed with their ordinary business, which is desirable in the national interest; whether he is aware that the Ministry of Munitions granted permission for such manufactures provided they did not interfere with war work, and that the production of such machinery has therefore occupied three or four times as long as in normal conditions; that when an order has been completed a licence to export has been refused in some cases by the War Trade Department, possibly owing to some regulation which forbids export of some of the materials which enter into the construction of such machinery; whether, seeing that there is no possibility of extracting these materials from the completed machinery to advantage for war purposes and that valuable machinery thus lies idle instead of being exported, he will take action calculated to abate this grievance?

If my hon. Friend will kindly inform me of the case of refusal of licences referred to, I shall be glad to have the matter investigated.

asked the Minister of Munitions if he will state the conditions under which petrol can be obtained for the use of tractors and motor vehicles for agricultural purposes, both as regards war tax and quantity?

My right hon. Friend has asked me to answer this question. Arrangements have been made under which licences authorising the supply of the full amount of petrol required for tractors and motor vehicles used for agricultural purposes will be issued by the Petrol Control Committee, provided that the applications are supported, by the War Agricultural Committee concerned or the Irish Department of Agriculture. No-Licence Duty on petrol is payable when the petrol is required for tractors or for motor cars in respect of which Motor Car Duty is not payable under Section 86 of the Finance (1909–10) Act. 1910.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether game dealers will be permitted to sell pheasants throughout the year or only to the 1st March, as is the case with hares?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the President of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, who now has this question under consideration.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food what steps, if any, will he taken to deal with persons hoarding up foodstuffs or withholding supplies from the market; and if he is aware that persons of the well-to-do classes are by storing up goods raising unnecessarily the prices of foodstuffs to the working classes?

The subject of hoarding foodstuffs is under serious consideration by the Food Controller, who regards any such action as unpatriotic. If particulars of any ease of unreasonably withholding supplies from the markets are furnished to the Ministry of Food they will be at once investigated.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether compulsory powers will be exercised to compel those landlords and graziers in Connemara who fail to comply with the Order to cultivate a certain portion of the grass lands for the production of potatoes, corn, etc.; and whether the Congested Districts Board will also be compelled to distribute to the tenants, for the purpose of tillage, those grass farms now in their possession?

The Department of Agriculture, as intimated in replies to previous recent similar questions, already possess, under the Defence of the Realm Regulations, powers of entering, after the 28th instant, upon lands the occupiers of which fail to comply with the compulsory Tillage Orders. The Congested Districts Board have offered the arable land at their disposal for tillage by local farmers and labourers.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether the decision of the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction in Ireland that the tenants of Connemara will only be supplied with seed potatoes known as Up-to-Date, although both the Clifden and Oughterard Unions have declared that this Up-to-Date seed is altogether unsuitable, to their districts, will be reconsidered; and whether steps will be at once taken to supply these unions with the seed potatoes that they require?

The Department of Agriculture were required to provide general supplies of seed for an emergency. They inform me that it would be impossible for them to secure sufficient seed potatoes of the Champion variety for the working of the scheme, and that the Up-to-Date is the only reliable variety of which a sufficient quantity of seed can be obtained. This does not fetter the action of growers or associations who are making their own arrangements locally, as farmers in large numbers have done and are doing.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether, having regard to the necessity of saving the crops arising from compulsory tillage, he will make arrangements with the Treasury whereby advances will be made to farmers for the erection of corn barns?

The Department of Agriculture do not consider that the erection of corn barns is a necessity for the saving of corn crops. In many of the best agricultural districts corn barns are not in common use, the corn being stored in stacks.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether, having regard to the low scale of wages paid to agricultural labourers in Ireland and the prospective dearness of food, he will make arrangements, where they form a cooperative society for the purpose, of taking conacre land to the extent of one acre each for the production of corn, and that the local authority will be supplied with and empowered to lend on hire motor tractors or such other machinery as may be required for its cultivation, together with an advance for the purchase of seed?

Motor tractors and machinery are hardly suitable for the tillage of labourers' plots Each labourer should be able to till his plot with the help of his family and the means locally available for ploughing.

asked the President of the Board of Education what is being done by the Board of Education to increase the income of certificated teachers in public elementary schools during the War?

I would refer the hon. Member to the answer which I gave on Monday last to the hon. Member for Hanley, a copy of which I am sending him.

asked the President of the Board of Education, whether, in view of the inadequacy under present conditions of the salaries paid to teachers, he will consider the advisability of a grant being made to local education authorities to assist them in meeting the reasonable claims of the teachers on the lines recommended by their national union?

I would refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the question asked me on the 15th February by the hon. Member for the Berwick Division of Northumberland, a copy of which I am sending him.

asked the Secretary of State for India whether commissions in the new Indian Home Defence Force will be granted to natives of India?

I telegraphed to the Viceroy to inquire what is proposed by the Government of India in this matter. He replies that it is intended that in the Indian units of the new Indian force Indians will be eligible for commissions under the Indian Army Act as soon as they are qualified for the same.

asked the Secretary of State for India what is the nature of the steps that are being taken by Sir Thomas Holland to mobilise the industries of India for the War?

A special organisation is being created in India to develop and control the resources and industries of that country with reference to needs created by the War. It is not desirable to specify the nature of the stores which it is hoped to derive from India, but inquiries already made show that India should be able to render substantial assistance in many directions, and is most anxious to do so.

asked the Secretary of State for India whether any and, if so, what steps are being taken to supply from India the expedition in Mesopotamia with shell and ordnance stores which have hitherto been supplied from this country?

Special steps are being taken to develop to the fullest possible extent the resources of India for the production and supply of these and other stores direct to the forces in Mesopotamia and the East spheres of operation, in order to relieve home industries and shipping. The Government of India have appointed a Controller of Supplies and Contracts, and I am in communication with the War Office and Ministry of Munitions to secure that Indian help is given in the most effective way possible.

asked the Secretary of State for India if he is now in a position to state the number of persons executed and sentenced to penal servitude, respectively, in connection with the alleged political conspiracy against British rule in India; and how the special tribunal which tried those cases was constituted?

There is no doubt as to the reality of the conspiracy, which has been the subject of three trials before special tribunals, each consisting of two Sessions judges and an Indian pleader. I gave the hon. Member on the 12th December particulars of the sentences in the first trial. In the second six men were sentenced to death (five of whom were executed) and forty-five to transportation for life; in the third six men were sentenced to death and five to transportation or imprisonment for life I have not yet received an official report of this last trial, which was not concluded until last month, and I do not know whether any of the sentences were commuted.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether it may be assumed that the reference of the Soldiers' Settlement Committee is intended to include ex-sailors as well as ex-soldiers?

Yes, Sir.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the Report of the Royal Dominions Commission has been received; if so, will he say when it will be presented to Parliament; can he also inform the House whether the Government propose to give a day for the discussion of the Report; and, if so, will the day be given before the assembling of the Imperial War Conference?

The Report is about to be submitted to His Majesty, and will be laid before Parliament. As regards the remainder of my hon. Friend's question, I must refer him to the Leader of the House.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is aware that the Dominions Royal Commission has taken important evidence in different parts of the Empire on the question of migration; is it his intention to limit the recommendations of the Committee just set up for the purpose of dealing with the emigration of ex-soldiers to the steps which should be taken by the Home Government in concert with the Governments of the States and Dominions for the constitution of a central authority to supervise and assist such emigration; and will he, when the Report of the Dominions Royal Commission on migration generally is presented to Parliament, consider the advisability of extending the scope of the reference of the Soldiers' Settlement Committee so as to include the constitution of a central authority to supervise and assist the emigration of women and children as well as that of lads and male adults not coming within the category of ex-sailors and ex-soldiers?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. The immediate object in setting up the Committee is as stated by my hon. Friend, and the wider question to which he refers will have due consideration at a later stage.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether, in view of his declaration that the colonies which were German will not be handed back to Germany, he has taken any steps to rescind earlier instructions to Colonial Governments that no arrangement must be come to with natives which involve any such definite policy and commit His Majesty's Government?

The remarks to which my hon. and Gallant Friend refers involve no modification of the principles on which the territories in question are being administered.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonics whether the scheme for the settlement of officers I and soldiers on the land in British East Africa is yet completed; and whether he is taking any steps yet to extend the scheme to what was lately German East Africa?

The Governor of the East Africa Protectorate has been authorised to appoint a local Commission, including unofficial representatives, to consider the proposals which have been made for the settlement of ex-service men on the land. The Commission's Report has not yet reached me. The answer to the last part of the question is in the negative.

asked the Home Secretary what proposals, if any, he intends to take to give Countess Markiewicz the facilities promised to Irish prisoners; if he will say whether any proposals have been suggested by the Irish National Aid Association (London branch); if these suggestions will be adopted, or the Countess be released; and if the evidence taken at her court-martial, with that of other prisoners, will be published?

The person mentioned receives all the privileges extended to the male Irish prisoners except that of association with other Irish prisoners, which is impossible in her case, as there are no other female Irish prisoners for her to associate with. As a special privilege, the duration of her visits has been extended, and I am considering whether additional visits can be allowed. I have not received any communication from the organisation mentioned in the question. The last part of the question does not concern the Home Office.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether, having regard to the reduction in the insurance premiums on aircraft policies, the Government intend to make a rebate to those insurances made prior to 1st March, and which cover periods lapsing in September and November, 1917?

I am afraid that it is not possible to make any refund of premium on insurances effected under the Government Aircraft Insurance Scheme prior to the 17th February.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether any restriction has been placed on the importation of feathers since the commencement of the War; if so, from what date and what are the terms of the restriction; is he aware that during the past three years no less than 1,805,431 lbs. weight of feathers of wild birds have been allowed to be imported into this country; and, in view of the shortage of tonnage for some time past, what has been the reason for this wastage of shipping accommodation, particularly as the ultimate destination of these goods is Germany, for which trade large stocks have been presumably accumulated?

I would refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Roxburgh on Thursday last.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs on what date the Austrian Red Book on the entry of Roumania into the War was published; and whether any of the Aliled Governments has published official correspondence on the same subject?

I have no exact information regarding the date of publication of the Austrian Red Book. It appears, however, from references in the German Press that it was published in the second week of October last. I do not know of any official publications by any of the Allied Governments on the subject.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether Rouniania has declared war on Germany; if so, on what date; if not, whether Germany has declared war on Roumania and on what date; whether a state of war exists between Roumania and Turkey; and whether Roumania has given adhesion to the pact of London?

We have no information leading us to suppose that the state of war now existing between Roumania on the one side and Germany and Turkey on the other was preceded by a formal declaration of war. I do not think it desirable in the public interest to reply to the last part of the question.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will place in the Library a copy of the reply of Greece to President Wilson's Note to Neutrals.

Yes, Sir, as soon as the text reaches us.

asked the President of the Board of Agriculture whether any Government grant or loan was made to the Vacant Land Cultivation Society in Great Britain; and, if so, how much?

A grant of £100 was made to the society last year out of the Development Fund.

asked the Secretary for Scotland in how many primary schools in Scotland is the subject of gardening taught practically, theoretically, or not at all?

Gardening is taught in 642 schools in Scotland. In all these schools the instruction is thoroughly practical in character, and is under the supervision of the agricultural college of the district. In many of the remaining schools, 2,500 in number, to which no school garden is attached, theoretical instruction is given as part of the course in nature study.

asked the Secretary for Scotland if he will now take into favourable consideration the question of releasing John Maclean, who was tried for an offence under the Defence of the Realm Act at the High Court. Edinburgh, in April, 1916, and sentenced to three years' penal servitude?

The offence of which Maclean was convicted was a serious one. He had, moreover, been previously convicted of a similar offence. In these circumstances I am not prepared, at a time when he has served ten months only of a three years' sentence, to advise any remission.

asked the hon. Member for Sheffield (Central Division) whether relatives of civilian prisoners in Germany are forbidden to send them sleeping suits, blankets, and tooth paste; and, if so, what is the reason for withholding from the prisoners these articles?

The Army Council has found it necessary for military reasons to foribd the dispatch of blankets to British prisoners of war in Germany. Tooth paste is allowed to be sent if not packed in sealed receptacles.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether Sir Henry Grattan Bellew has yet resigned his seat on the Congested Districts Board; and, if not, will he consider the advisability and the urgency of appointing a representative from Connemara on that Board, bearing in mind the fact that the Board was originally created for the special benefit of Connemara?

There has been no change of the facts in this case to call for action by the Government.