asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he is aware that the Foreign Office bags sealed and entrusted to Foreign Office messengers have been frequently used during the present War for the conveyance of private correspondence; and if he will take effective steps to stop all letters of private persons being conveyed in the Foreign Office bags either to or from this country?

Private correspondence is only conveyed in the Foreign Office bags under exceptional circumstances and with a special authorisation. I am satisfied with the present regulations on the subject.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether, in view of the charges which have been levelled against the late Czar and his Ministers, he will now give full information as to their action in opposing the intervention of Greece on the side of the Allies in connection with the attack upon the Dardanelles?

No, Sir.

asked the Prime Minister whether his attention has been called to the fact that the first act of the new Russian Government has been to direct the release of all political prisoners; and whether he proposes to direct that similar steps be taken in connection with Ireland?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. As regards the second part of the question, if the hon. Member is referring to the prisoners undergoing sentence in connection with the rebellion of last Easter, in the opinion of the Government the time has not yet come for their sentences to be reviewed.

How about those who are now undergoing sentences not in connection with the rebellion at all and against whom, in fact, no charge whatever has been preferred?

So far as I know, there are none of that character in prison.

Will the right hon. Gentleman consult his Friend on his left (Mr. Duke), who will tell him that there are?

Is it not a fact that these Russian prisoners who have been released were imprisoned on exactly the same charge?

I think not.

Oh, yes! The hon. Member asked: Whether M. Kerenski, the new Minister of Justice in Russia, has given a public pledge on assuming office that no person in Russia will be condemned without trial in the open Courts; and whether it is proposed to establish a similar practice in Ireland and to release those prisoners who were sentenced by secret military Courts?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative, and the answer to the last part of the question was given in my reply to the hon. Member's previous question.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland why the Congested Districts Board have not enlarged the uneconomic holdings of the following tenants of the Towerhill estate, county Mayo, which was acquired by the Board six years ago, Patrick Reilly, Pat Feeny, Pat Malley, Margaret Halligan, John Connell, and Darby Halligan, all of Rinaneel, Ballyglass, county Mayo; and, as the Board is in possession of sufficient untenanted lands in the district, will the Board proceed without further delay with the necessary enlargements so as to enable these poor people to increase their tillage in this year?

I am informed that the Congested Districts Board have no untenanted land in the district referred to out of which the tenants mentioned in the question could be provided with additional land for the enlargement of their present holdings.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland what steps the Department of Agriculture intend taking to enforce the increased tillage scheme on the large landholders in the Rathdowney, Donaghmore, and Aghavoe electoral divisions who have failed to comply with the Order; whether he is aware that a number of small farmers and labourers requiring allotments for tillage in these divisions have been unable to obtain such land; when the Department of Agriculture intend to carry out the powers vested in them under the tillage scheme against landholders who fail to comply with the orders issued; and, if so, upon what date the Department propose to enter on such lands?

Warning notices have been served by the Department of Agriculture on a number of landholders in the districts referred to, and the Department have received from the hon. Member a list of persons desirous of obtaining allotments in these districts. There will be no delay in taking any action which may be found to be necessary.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that large numbers of people have been unable to get land in this district?

Most of the population of Ireland, so far as my experience has gone, want land which they cannot get.

You will not allow them to get it!

(by Private Notice) asked the Chief Secretary whether his attention has been called to the serious condition of the tillage question in the Listowel Rural District Council owing to their inability to procure supplies from the Department of Agriculture in Ireland or from the merchants supplying the Department with artificial manure and seed potatoes, and whether he will take immediate action to secure the necessary seeds and manure for the land?

I have not had sufficient notice to obtain information from the Department of Agriculture, but I am communicating with the Department.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he is aware that his predecessor in office stated on the 24th June, 1915, that the question of making lands then used for grazing more productive would necessarily come before the Irish Food Committee then sitting; that the Committee afterwards rejected evidence offered relating to evicted grass. lands and the districts in which they are situated, and issued a Report without a word about the redistribution of those lands; and, in view of the increasing danger of food shortage, how long this greatest of available sources of food is to be spared in the interests of a class and of the Government which enabled that class to exterminate the people and replace them with cattle?

I am aware of the statement made by my predecessor, but I cannot find in the minutes of the Committee on Food Production in Ireland any rejection of evidence such as the hon. Member refers to. Much evidence was heard on the subject of the increase of tillage, and the Report of the Committee deals with this on pages 4 and 5. The hon. Member is no doubt aware that under recent Regulations a large area of land which had long been under grass, including the lands to which he refers, is being brought under tillage.

From whom did the right hon. Gentleman seek information; and is it not also the fact that this Committee refused to hear the Rev. Robert Barry, P.P. of Oldcastle, county Meath, who wanted to give evidence on this subject?

I told the hon. Gentleman I did inquire about the matter. The minutes have been searched, and no record has been found of such a matter. If, however, the hon. Gentleman will put down another question, I will again inquire into it.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if instructions will be issued to prohibit the exporting of all classes of foodstuffs from Ireland; if he is aware that, as a result of the prices being offered by English buyers, unemployment and low wages, the Irish people are in many towns and cities not able to purchase the ordinary necessaries of life; and if he will state the Government proposals in this matter?

The Department of Agriculture see no reason for the prohibition of the export of all foodstuffs from Ireland, and think it well to indicate that the chief items in the food of the poorer classes in the towns and cities of Ireland, e.g., breadstuffs, tea and sugar, at present are not home-grown but imported.

May I ask if potatoes are not one of the principal foodstuffs of the poor people of Ireland, and if there is a scarcity there at the present moment?

I have answered the hon. Member's questions about potatoes, I should think, at least half a dozen times in the last fortnight.

The answers conveyed nothing.

asked the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland) whether he has received resolutions from many county councils in Ireland pointing out the difficulty of procuring fertilisers for immediate use on the land without which, in many parts of Ireland, the food-production scheme cannot properly be carried out; and, if so, can he say what action, if any, the Department propose to take in regard to the matter?

The Department of Agriculture have received resolutions from some county committees of agriculture as regards the difficulty of procuring fertilisers for immediate use. The stocks usually accumulated by manufacturers at the beginning of the season have been almost cleared out owing to the extra demand for fertilisers this year, and dp-liveries are limited to the regular weekly output of about 3,500 tons. Every effort is being made to secure the importation of sufficient raw mineral phosphate to maintain the output and, if possible, to supplement it by the sale of a two parts to one mixture. I am informed that manufacturers are doing their utmost to distribute the weekly output as fairly as possible.

Have not some of these fertilisers been sent to Denmark?

No fertilisers are being sent to Denmark from Ireland. I do not know what fertilisers are being sent from this country to Denmark.

asked the President of the Board of Trade (1) whether he is aware that, since the Board resolved on the request of certain salesmen in Smithfield Market to withhold or largely withhold the marketing of Government imported sheep and lambs, a large consignment of River Plate sheep and lambs arrived from the Anglo-South American Export Company of Zarate; whether these were imported by the firm of W. Weddel and Company, Limited, of which Mr. Gordon Campbell is a director; whether, in view of previous admissions by the Government that Mr. Gordon Campbell was both employed and consulted by them, it was upon his advice as well as that of the salesmen that the Government marketings were reduced; (2) whether a deputation of Smithfield salesmen waited on the officials of the Board and requested them to withhold the Government-controlled supplies of Australasian mutton and lamb; whether, in view of the charges of meat gambling and market rigging now definitely made by responsible persons connected with Smithfield Market and the riverside cold stores, he will state the names of the persons composing the deputation; and (3) whether he is aware that the reason advanced by the deputation of Smithfield salesmen who requested him to withhold the 700,000 sheep and 900,000 lambs recently arrived from the Antipodes was that they would make English and Scotch sheep cheaper to the public; whether advantage was taken of this withholding by the firm of W. Weddel and Company, Limited, to introduce a large supply of River Plate meat of a character not hitherto imported into this country and in no sense affected by the Government arrangements with other South American companies for Army meat supplies; and why, if it was necessary or considered advisable to withhold the Government supplies, steps were not also taken to prevent the fresh importations of Weddel and Company, Limited, from being placed on the market?

The Board of Trade periodically consult their selling agents and the market salesmen as to the state of the meat market and the position of British and imported trade as well as Government meat. From the information so obtained and that solely in their own possession the Board came to a decision as to the best course to be taken from time to time, and there was nothing exceptional about the occasion to which my hon. Friend refers. The Board are satisfied that the advice given to them by those best acquainted with the market is given honestly and without regard to any private interest, and they strongly deprecate the unfounded suggestions on which the questions are based.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether, in view of the dissatisfaction caused by the method of distributing sugar in Ireland at present, he will consider the advisability of opening a sugar depot in each province in that country so that small traders and poor people generally may be assured of a sure and ready-supply of this article, no matter how small?

The Food Controller has been in consultation with the Chief Secretary for Ireland as to the desirability of establishing some local organisation to assist sugar distribution in Ireland. He is not, however, at present satisfied that the suggestion of the hon. Member affords the best solution of the problem.

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that the soil of Ireland is more suitable for the growing of beet, and will he make representations to the Food Controller or the Government for the establishment of two or three beet factories in Ireland in order to produce sugar?

Yes, Sir. I fully recognise not only the desirability of beet cultivation, but also the fact that Ireland is specially suited to its cultivation, but whether anything can be done during the War is quite another matter.

What is the Food Controller going to do unless he accepts what is suggested in the question?

As regards sugar, the supplies of sugar to Ireland are on a generous scale compared with the rest of the United Kingdom. [HON. MEMBERS: "No!"] The distribution of sugar in Ireland is being steadily improved every week, and every effort is being made to improve it.

Is it not a fact that in regard to sugar distribution a general state of disorganisation prevails in Ireland, and is it not absolutely necessary to open provincial depots in order that the traders may be supplied?

Every well-founded case of unequal distribution on a serious scale in Ireland is being thoroughly investigated, and every effort is being made to prevent it.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food if his attention has been drawn to the fact that certain potato growers are refusing to supply potatoes in some cases under £12 per ton; and whether he-will take proceedings against such firms if he is supplied with evidence to that effect?

Proceedings will be taken against any person who contravenes the Potato Orders issued by the Food Controller, if sufficient evidence of this contravention is available. If the hon. Member has any such evidence I should be glad if he will furnish me with particulars.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether he proposes to take any action in dealing with growers of early potatoes in Scot land to prevent them digging in this time of war early or immature potatoes in view of the fact that potatoes so dug yield only 4 to 5 tons per acre and are a luxury, whereas, if left in the soil until ripe, at least double that weight per acre could be secured?

It is not clear that the course suggested would increase the total production of food, as it might interfere with the raising of a following second crop from the same land, but I am communicating with the Scottish Board of Agriculture on the subject

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether he has any official information showing that a quantity of potatoes were received from England and were offered in the market in competition with those grown in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Western States; the date on which these goods were exported from England and the names of the firms exporting them?

I believe that a statement of the character referred to in the question has appeared in a Texas newspaper, and, perhaps, elsewhere. The statement is untrue. The importation of potatoes into the United States from Europe is prohibited. The export of potatoes from this country is also prohibited, except under licence, and no licences have been granted.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether he is aware that Mr. Sam Francis, of 156, King Street, Hammersmith, greengrocer, was selling, on Saturday 17th March, potatoes at 2½d. per lb. to women with market baskets, and that the greengrocer living at 198, King Street, Hammersmith, was charging 3d. per lb. and had a board up which advertised King Edward seed potatoes at 3d. per lb.; and, seeing that the local police refused to warn the greengrocers in question, if he intends taking any action in the matter?

I was not aware of the circumstances stated in the question, but I am causing inquiries to be made, and proceedings will be taken if it appears that a breach of the Food Controller's Orders has been committed.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food the amount of rice and other cereals annually consumed in the manufacture of starch for starching clothes in laundries; and whether it is proposed to put an end to this waste of the people's food?

There are no official statistics of the quantities of rice and other cereals used for the purpose of starch in laundries; but in view of the importance of conserving all cereals for food, the Food Controller is contemplating the necessity of a general Order limiting, if not entirely prohibiting, their use for this and other like purposes.

asked the Parlimentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether he can give any reason for the rise of price of River Plate sheep, River Plate lambs, frozen forequarters of beef, boneless beef, and frozen hindquarters of beef between 1st February and 1st March, seeing that between these respective dates there was an increase of supply and stocks, and that there had been a de crease of consumption of three-quarters of a pound per head per person?

The price of the particular items of meat mentioned by the hon. Member is, of course, affected by the total supplies of meat of all kinds. It is not the case that the total stocks of frozen and chilled beef and mutton showed an in- crease between the dates mentioned. On the contrary, they showed a slight-decrease.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food if Ulster bacon curers were asked to send representatives to the Conference on the 9th instant at which prices were fixed for Irish bacon and pigs; and if representatives of this interest will be present at the further Conference on the 23rd?

The necessity for rapid action, to prevent a further heavy rise in prices, made it impossible to secure the attendance of representatives of the Ulster bacon curers at the Conference on the 9th instant, but they have been invited to be present at the further Conference, which is being held to-day.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food if bacon curers and farmers in the North of Ireland resent the action taken by the Glasgow Produce Exchange in fixing Irish bacon prices without regard to Irish interests; that the fear of a further reduction of prices on the 23rd instant has caused Irish farmers to dispose of their pigs at prices much below the market rates ruling before the 9th instant; and if he will give an assurance that no further reductions in the price of Irish bacon will be authorized without a full opportunity being afforded to those concerned in this industry to state their views on the subject?

I have no knowledge of the facts alleged in the first two parts of the question. I can, however, assure the hon. Baronet that the future bacon prices will only be fixed after all interests concerned have been considered and consulted.

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that in the leading stores in the City of London Irish bacon and English bacon are quoted side by side at the same price, so that there is no difference in, price on the public market?

I am certainly not aware of that. As the hon. Gentleman himself is aware there has been for many years, as a rule, a substantial difference between the prices on the English markets of English and Irish bacon.

I am personally aware of the contrary. If the hon. Gentleman will look at the official organ of the grocers and traders in this country—the "Grocer"—he will see that every week Irish bacon quoted at the same price as English bacon.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food, if, following the conference held on the 9th instant, at which the prices of Irish bacon were settled, telegrams were received in Belfast from the Glasgow Produce Exchange intimating that the adjustment of smoked ham prices had been remitted to the Glasgow Association, and subsequently the maximum price was fixed by them at 176s., ex-Irish ports, although the price ruling for four weeks previously was 184s.; and whether the Glasgow Produce Exchange had any authority from the Food Controller for their action?

I understand that the facts are substantially as stated in the first part of the question. The committee of the Home and Foreign Produce Exchange made arrangements in consultation with the Provincial Produce Exchange for fixing agreed maximum prices. The Food Controller has no reason to question the fairness of the procedure adopted. As already stated the prices come up for revision at meetings every fortnight, when representatives of the North of Ireland bacon curers will, amongst others, be present

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether he is prepared to consider the advisability of insisting that all retailers of tea, cocoa, and similar commodities, whose habit it is to give short weight when retailing such commodities by weighing in paper or other wrapping, shall state in a conspicuous position on the outside cover of such wrapping the exact weight of such paper or other wrapping; and whether he will now state what is the maximum weight of wrapping which the Food Controller proposes to permit?

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food (1) whether his attention has been called to the fact that when tea, coffee, and cocoa-powder are sold in packages of certain weights, the weight being inclusive of the wrapper or wrappers, the notice to that effect required by law is sometimes so unobtrusive as not to attract notice: whether the Food Controller will issue a regulation on this subject under the Defence of the Realm Act; and (2) whether when tea, coffee, and cocoa-powder are sold in packages of certain weights, these weights being inclusive of the wrapper or wrappers, these wrappers which are sometimes of both foil and paper, in some instances make up an undue proportion of the weight, particularly in the case of the smaller packages; and whether the Food Controller will issue a regulation under the Defence of the Realm Act restricting the proportional weights of the wrappers?

The question of the full net weights of packages of tea and other commodities is the subject of a further conference with different sections of the trades affected, and a definite decision may be expected in the course of next week.

When that conference is held will the hon. Gentleman give attention to the fact that this particular thing presses most hardly on the very community which the Food Controller should look after himself?

I have already said that a decision will be come to as regards this matter next week. I hope I shall not be further pressed at the present time, because I cannot believe that an interrogatory fusilade will conduce to the decision being advanced.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether, in view of the fact that white flour, in accordance with the rubrics of the Catholic Church, is required for the making of altar breads, and that these have to be supplied to the Catholic chaplains in the Army and Navy as well as to the Catholic clergy in Great Britain and Ireland, he can state whether arrangements can be made for the necessary supply?

Licences are being issued for the manufacture for religious purposes of pure bread—that is to say, bread made of wheaten flour only.

asked the Secretary to the Local Government Board whether the transference of conscientious objectors employed on work of national importance from Warwick and other places to Dartmoor has been completed; can he give the number of such men now at Dartmoor and the general nature of the work on which they are engaged; and what is the rate of their pay per day or week, and who is responsible for their discipline?

Before this question is answered, may I ask what right the hon. Member (Major Newman) has to pry into the work conscientious objectors are forced to do when the hon. Member is drawing two salaries, and refuses to go to the front although posing as a soldier?

My right hon. Friend has asked me to reply to this question. The number of men now at Dartmoor is 407, and I understand that the Committee propose shortly to transfer to Dartmoor the majority of the men now at Wakefield and the whole of the men now employed at Warwick, except a few who will be employed on cultivating the land adjoining Warwick Prison. The men at Dartmoor will be employed on the large farm adjoining the buildings, and on the reclamation of land for agricultural purposes. The men are paid 8d. a day, and the former Governor of the Prison is, subject to the Committee on the Employment of Conscientious Objectors, responsible for their discipline.

Hear, hear. They have done their bit, which he has not.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he can give an estimate of the number of conscientious objectors now employed as teachers in elementary and other schools; and what steps have been taken, or are to be taken, to eliminate this class of teacher from our schools in future?

I am unable to form any estimate. The employment of teachers is a matter for the local education authorities, governing bodies and managers of schools, and there is no reason to believe that they are not competent to deal with the question.

Considering the examples we have had before us, does not the right hon. Gentleman think that a little recommendation to the local authorities to be more careful in future would be advisable?

I am by no means convinced that in present circumstances an inquisition by the State in a matter which the law recognises as one of conscience would be right or wise.

asked the right hon. Member for Barnard Castle whether it is the desire of the Director-General that Members of this House should enrol as National Service volunteers?

My right hon. Friend has requested me to reply to this question. The appeal to men to enrol as National Service volunteers is a general one and includes Members of this House.

If the idea is to set an example, would it not be well if some mark were worn to distinguish those who enrol from those who refuse to enrol under this scheme?

Will you be able to get any work out of them when you get them?

asked how many Members of the House of Lords and how many Members of the House of Commons, respectively, have enrolled themselves as volunteers under the National Service scheme; and to how many of these whole-time or part-time work has been assigned under the scheme?

Such volunteers have not been separately recorded, and the information asked for in the first part of the question is, therefore, not readily available. Members of either House of Parliament who have volunteered arc not being called up at the present time.

Could the hon. Gentleman say how many of the eighty-nine Members of the present Administration have volunteered?

I am afraid I have no knowledge. I am answering for my right hon. Friend.

asked how many of the volunteers for National Service have already been placed in situations by the Department?

National Service volunteers are not placed in situations by the Department, but by the Employment Exchanges. They are, however, only supplied to firms and industries indicated by the Director-General. I am informed that in response to demands received the Exchanges have submitted some 3,000 volunteers. It is expected that the number will be considerably increased very shortly as employers become aware of this source of supply.

Are we to understand that situations have been found for 3,000 out of 140,000 who have volunteered?

Could the hon. Gentleman say whether the Labour Exchanges could not have found those 3,000 jobs?

I am afraid I must have notice of that.

Can the hon. Gentleman say how many of those cases have been exchanges of employment, which has simply meant the payment of subsistence allowance for the people travelling from one place to another?

I regret that I have no personal knowledge.

Can the hon. Gentleman say whether the 3,000 he has mentioned are the number of names they have sent forward to employers, or the number of employés for whom they have found situations?

Perhaps I had better read again the sentence in the reply "I am informed that in response to demands received, the Exchanges have submitted some 3,000 volunteers."

Can the hon. Gentleman tell me how many of the 3,000 have got employment?

I am afraid I must have notice of that.

It is on the Paper.

asked whether employers have been asked to make returns showing the number of men and women required by each firm and the wages offered; and, if so, whether he can state the total required in each trade?

No such return has been required by the National Service Depart- ment, but firms asking for the services of National Service volunteers have been asked to supply the necessary information to enable the Employment Exchanges to allocate men to them.

If you do not ask how many they employ how are you going to find out the number which have volunteered?

I am sorry that I have not the information. I am only now answering temporarily for the Department, and until the Bill has passed through Parliament there is no Minister to answer these questions.

Would it not be possible to have the Minister here so as to give us a chance?

No, he is a wise man, and he stays away.

asked the right hon. Member for Barnard Castle whether he can state the total number of volunteers up to date under National Service; how many are women; and how many of the men are already engaged on Government work or in firms arrying out Government contracts or in essential trades?

The total number of volunteers enrolled, including war munition volunteers, up to Tuesday last was 157,323. None of these are women. It is calculated that nearly one-half of the volunteers may be in Government employment or engaged in industries of primary importance.

Does that mean that, after all, the colossal money spent on advertising has only resulted in discovering some 30,000 people who are not already on Government work?

I am afraid I cannot tell the hon. Member more than the answer I have read.

Is the Director-General satisfied with the result?

I should think that, as a great campaign is being run, that the Director-General is not satisfied with the result.

Are we to understand that 70,000 names have been received wanting employment, and only 3,000 have been sent forward?

No, I do not think that is so.

I think these questions are rather unfair, because the hon. Member is not responsible for this Department.

He ought to be here.

asked whether the appeal made to women to enrol under the National Service scheme is to be limited to women not already engaged in work of national importance whose services are required for specific work which they will be at once asked to. undertake?

Where a woman is so employed as to be giving her best services to-the State it is undesirable that she should enrol, as there is not the same shortage of female as of male labour; and it is only proposed to enrol women for the special purposes for which they are required.

Does that apply to males as well?

I really cannot answer these questions. Until the Bill setting up the Ministry of National Service is through both Houses of Parliament it is impossible for the Minister to be here, and as soon as that is done there will be a Minister here.

In view of the inconvenience caused, will the hon. Gentleman convey to the Minister concerned the wish of the House that he should be here?

asked the Prime Minister whether, in view of the paper and labour shortage in this country, he will take steps to secure that heads of public Departments refrain from encouraging members of their staff at present on Government work to enrol themselves under the National Service scheme; and whether steps will also be taken for calling upon any man in any Department who in the event of his leaving Government service, would refuse to take up other work of national importance to immediately advise the head of his Department to that effect?

My right hon. Friend has issued a circular to all Government offices, giving it as his desire that Civil servants should enrol as National Service volunteers, and if this is generally done the necessity for such steps as are indicated in the latter part of the question will not arise.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that one issue of a paper of the circulation of the "Sketch" will consume as much paper as the whole bill-posting trade throughout the Kingdom will consume in a week; and, if so, will he say whether his Department still considers it advisable to stop the bill-posting trade and continue comic papers?

I have no information as to the amount of paper consumed by individual newspapers, but their supplies are at present being severely restricted. As I have already indicated, I cannot undertake to prescribe which newspapers and periodicals shall and which shall not be published, within the limits of the supply of paper that still remains available.

Is it not time to review the position, and would it not be advisable to restrict the waste of paper used in advertising non-essentials and luxuries'?

That does not arise.

asked whether the informing of the public of the contents of newspapers they may wish to purchase by means of slates or on specially prepared linen surfaces has been forbidden under any article of the Paper Restriction Order, 1917; will he give the exact connection between the restriction of the use of slates and of paper; and is he aware of any crisis in the slate supply of this country which has made their restriction for this purpose necessary?

By the Paper Restriction Order, 1917 (No, 2), the restriction upon the exhibition of contents bills of newspapers and periodicals is extended to posters or advertisements of a similar character of whatever material they are made. The object is not merely to save the paper consumed in the production of the contents bills, but to restrict the circulation of the papers which they formerly advertised. In view of the urgent necessity for confining the consumption of paper to essential national needs, I feel sure that all concerned will loyally co-operate with the Government in this matter.

asked whether a printed slip may be attached to a wholesaler's bill indicating the local retailer of the article advertised, as has been the custom?

No, Sir. It is not permissible to mention the name of a retailer on any poster placed on exhibition by a wholesale dealer after 24th March.

Is the hon. Member aware that a great number of these posters have been printed, that permission has been given for their distribution, and that they are of no value unless they are allowed to draw attention to them by attaching a printed slip indicating the local retailer of the article advertised?

Permission is only given under the conditions of the Order. Therefore those who have secured permission are quite aware of the restrictions.