asked the Prime Minister whether, in conjunction with our Allies, and with a view to deterring the German High Command from its continuance in crimes against the recognised restrictions of international law and of humanity, he will announce that no terms of peace will be acceptable that do not provide for the investigation of such crimes, in order to fix responsibility on those, in whatever rank or station, who either ordered them or had the power to stop them and failed to do so?

I need not say that I share the feeling of indignation expressed in the question, but it does not seem to me desirable to discuss possible peace terms.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that a number of dependants of soldiers in Manchester cannot obtain payment of the Government separation allowances, though their sons have been in the Army three, four, and five months; whether this delay is due to the shortage on the staff of women investigators employed by the Board of Customs and Excise; and whether he will take the steps necessary in order to expedite the settlement of these Manchester claims?

There has recently been great pressure in this work in Manchester, and I understand that additional staff is being appointed and the work expedited as much as possible.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether he is aware that in years prior to 1915 a supply of foreign sugar was shipped direct into Ireland; whether he is aware that the English sugar refiners in 1915 refused in many cases to supply the merchants who had hitherto bought foreign sugar, thereby making the amount of sugar supplied in Ireland during the year 1915 considerably less than an average year's supply of sugar in normal times; and whether, seeing that sugar is now distributed on the basis of the 1915 supply, and owing to the scarcity of sugar in Ireland, he will base Ireland's supply of sugar on an average of three years prior to the War?

Foreign sugar was shipped directly into Ireland in the years prior to 1915. In that year refiners were in general selling sugar only to their pre-war customers, but other buyers who had been direct importers before the War were able to buy direct from the brokers acting for the Royal Commission on the Sugar Supply. Inquiries made do not indicate that Ireland is suffering from a greater shortage of sugar than the other parts of the United Kingdom, and the Food Controller regrets in these circumstances that he cannot adopt the hon. Member's proposal.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food what was the value of food exported and re-exported from the United Kingdom during the months of February and March, 1917; and whether, in view of the grave shortage of food in this country, he will see that an absolute embargo is placed on such shipments of food?

The value of food and feeding stuffs exported in February and March, 1917, was £3,683,000. All such exports are prohibited except under licence, and licences are not granted only in exceptional cases. It is, for instance, still necessary to supply certain British Possessions with articles for which they are dependent on this country, and to supply some of the Allied Governments. In some cases raw foodstuffs are exported for return to this country in manufactured form. In general the policy desired by the hon. Member is being carried out,

asked the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland) if he is now in a position to state, by counties, approximately, the amount of tillage in Ireland now as compared with 1916?

I cannot at present give this information.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland why the lands held by Mr. O'Connell, clerk of the Listowel Rural District, situate near Listowel, are not exempt under Section 1 of the Exemption Orders as the lands are used for paddock purposes; whether Mr. O'Connell offered the Urban Council of Listowel 6 acres of his land for tillage purposes; and why Lord Listowel's 25-acre field, situate in the town, which has never been used for paddock purposes, has been exempt for tillage purposes although the local people applied for it for food production?

Mr. O'Connell's claim for the exemption of his entire holding on the ground that it was used for accommodation paddocks was refused as the Department of Agriculture considered the area excessive for such a purpose. Portion of the holding, however, has been exempted for the grazing of milch cows whose milk is supplied to the Town of Listowel. The Department have not issued a certificate of exemption to Lord Listowel in regard to lands in his occupation.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if he is aware that feeling has been aroused in Dublin amongst sufferers from the recent outbreak at the publication of figures alleged to represent the details of compensation awarded to the Freeman Company; whether all shopkeepers have been refused compensation for loss of profit and the "Freeman" has been given £3,700, although its balance-sheets give no grounds to support such an award; is he aware that in the "Freeman" balance-sheet for 1915, lodged with the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies, all its combustible assets to 31st December before the fire amounted to £32,257; that at least £2,000 of these assets were not destroyed, being horses, vans, and stock housed elsewhere, reducing the destroyed assets to £30,000, and will he say whether the Government have awarded £60,123 on foot of this loss; and, if so, why in this case were the balance-sheets of the company discarded as a guide to value; has the Freeman Company this year, since receipt of compensation, withheld from its shareholders the balance-sheet for 1916; and will the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies take steps in this respect to enforce the law?

I have again looked into the matter referred to, and have ascertained that no compensation has been paid to the "Freeman's Journal" Company in respect of loss of profits. It is the case that the combustible assets of the company had been written down in the balance-sheet to 31st December, 1915, to the sum named, but this amount did not nearly represent the value of the assets from a fire insurance point of view. Portion of the assets were not destroyed, and no allowance was made in respect of such portion. The sum of £60,284 recommended by the Property Losses Committee to be paid covered not only the loss of assets referred to, but also the very substantial value of the superior interests in the buildings, as well as the rents payable by the "Freeman's Journal" Company. The balance-sheets of the company for the five previous years were used by the assessors as part of the evidence of value required by them to arrive at the assessment of the total loss. I have no information as to whether the balance-sheet for 1916 has been withheld from the shareholders. If this is the case, any shareholder has, I am told, a legal remedy. I observe that the company, through its chairman, protests that its legitimate dividends have been reduced by the Losses Committee to practically one-half.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether his attention has been drawn to the statement of a French doctor, quoted by Sir Henry Norman, M.P., in his Report on Treatment, etc., of Disabled Soldiers, page 10, as to the effect of the continued use of crutches; whether the result is due to pressure in the armpits; whether this can partly be avoided by the use of crutches with a cross-piece for the hands and two supports for the shoulder-piece, whereby the weight of the body is then borne by the hands; whether, with the straight T-crutches usually served out to non-commissioned officers and men, this is impossible; and, if so, whether he will take steps to prevent the issue of the latter crutches and obtain the withdrawal of those hitherto issued to soldiers and their replacement by a pattern with two shoulder-supports and a hand cross-piece?

The new pattern split-ash crutches with adjustable horizontal handles admit of the weight of the body being borne by the hands, and guard against possible ill-effects of the old pattern. The new pattern was adopted in December, 1915, for Army use, and none of the old pattern are now supplied. The old pattern crutches have for the most part been discarded and replaced by the new pattern.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that Private A. Bristow, No. 36222, E Company, 12th transport work battalion, Bedford Regiment, stationed at Croydon, who is quite deaf and was rejected as medically unfit, on re-examination was passed for general service; whether, in consequence of his deafness, he is unable to hear any command, and consequently has since been engaged in sweeping down the stairs and landings of headquarters; whether he is physically strong and was formerly a lumberman in Canada and a skilled gardener in London before enlistment; whether, before and after being called up, he applied to be sent to the lumber camp and was told that he would have to go as loader, but, though skilled in lumber and agricultural work and building, he is deprived of useful work and cannot undertake national service because he is a soldier; and whether it is intended to keep him in the Army?

There is nothing to show that this man was rejected as medically unfit, nor has he so stated himself. On re-examination he was classified B2, and not for general service. He has been employed as an orderly since he joined the battalion. As his deafness has become more pronounced since he joined he will be brought before a travelling medical board, and I cannot express any opinion as to his retention in the Army pending this board. He is described in his documents as a gardener; but I understand that he left Canada seventeen years ago, where he had experience of lumber work. I have no information that he is skilled as a builder.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether the Army Council has arrived at any decision to alter their predecessor's policy of giving particulars of air casualties; if so, what are the reasons; and, if not, whether he will give a list for each of the last six months stating the air casualties in killed, wounded, and missing on the Western front?

The answer to the first part of my hon. Friend's question is in the negative, and the second part does not, therefore, arise. With regard to the third part, I think that the question might be raised in the event of a secret Session being held.

asked the Minister of Munitions, as representing the Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic), whether he can state the convictions for drunkenness in the London area scheduled by the Central Control Board for the first quarter of 1917, with the figures of the corresponding periods of 1913, 1914, 1915, and 1916?

The convictions for drunkenness in the Metropolitan Police District and the City (which for this purpose are practically co-extensive with the "London Area" as scheduled) for the first quarter in each of the five years mentioned were as follows:

asked the Home Secretary whether he has received a resolution from the Urban District Council of Buckfastleigh, in Devon, in whose district there are forty alien enemies of military age in the Abbey, objecting to having to undertake the watching of the Abbey and asking for the internment of the enemy aliens there; and, if so, what steps he proposes to take?

My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary received the resolution referred to. I would refer the hon. Member to the answer given to a question by the junior Member for Devonport on 27th February.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether certain managers waited on the Board of Education on the 5th December, 1916, re the granting of the commission of the peace to Irish teachers; whether they favoured or oppoeed the proposal; and will he give the names and addresses of the members of the deputation and state whether they represented the views of the public elected bodies of the country, or, if not, whom do they represent?

I am informed that certain representative managers of schools were received by a Committee of the Board of National Education on the date mentioned, and in the course of the proceedings expressed themselves as strongly of opinion that it was not desirable that national teachers should act as magistrates. The Commissioners inform me that they consider it would not be in the public interest to state the names and addresses of the managers who were present at the meeting.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether Mr. Malone, of Lough Dingle, county Kerry, was declared an evicted tenant many years ago and thus entitled, under the Evicted Tenants Act, to have a farm provided for him; whether he is still unprovided for; and when it is proposed to do something for him?

Michael Malone's mother lodged an application with the Estates Commissioners in 1903 for reinstatement in a holding in the Townland of Ardbeg on? the Hickson estate formerly occupied by her late husband. The holding is in the possession of another tenant and Mrs. Malone's name was provisionally noted for consideration in the allotment of untenanted land. On subsequent inquiry it was ascertained that the applicant's husband had been ejected on title on expiration of a ten years' lease, and the Commissioners decided not to take any further action in the matter of her application.

asked the Lord Advocate whether workmen subpoenaed to attend inquiries into fatal accidents, and who, as a consequence, have to lose a day's work, are entitled to receive the sum of 4s. 9d. only; and whether he will consider the propriety of increasing the amount to the equivalent of the value of the day's wage so lost?

By the terms of the Statutes under which inquiries into fatal accidents are held, witnesses at such inquiries are entitled to such expenses as are paid in criminal trials by jury in the Sheriff Court. Under the scale fixed for the latter the maximum allowance for expenses is 4s. 6d., with the addition of railway fare in certain cases. I have no power to alter that scale, but I shall submit the right hon. Member's suggestion to the proper quarter.