asked the Prime Minister whether his attention has been drawn to the resolution carried at a meeting of the guardians of the Wolstanton and Burslem Union to the effect that, as the deterioration in the numbers and quality of our man-power is largely attributable to the unhealthy housing of our working classes, thus tending to pauperism and immorality, the Government is called upon to take immediate steps to formulate a national and compulsory scheme for the erection of suitable and healthy dwellings in the great industrial centres of this country; and whether he will indicate the intentions of the Government respecting this proposal?

My right hon. Friend has asked me to reply to this question. The Government recognise the urgent importance of the housing question, both urban and rural, and it is engaging their active attention at the present time.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether in view of the fact that many professional men have been seriously affected financially by the War, payment of the Income Tax due can be postponed for a reasonable period if the person can show that through War operations he has been deprived to an appreciable extent of his source of income and has no means at present to pay?

I think my right hon. Friend will find that Section 29 of the Finance Act, 1916, which is being continued by the present Finance Bill provides an adequate measure of relief in eases of the type suggested in the question.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether he still desires the consumption of meat per head to be limited to 2½ lbs. per week; whether the allowance to persons living in hotels or taking their meals in restaurants has been sanctioned at 12 ozs. a day or 5¼ lbs. per week; and if he can explain why the latter class are favoured in this manner, seeing that such distinction is likely to check a general compliance with his expressed request for voluntary meat rations to the community at large?

Yes, Sir; it is still desirable to limit the consumption of meat per head to 2½ lbs. per week. The allow- ances of meat specified in the Public Meals Order are maxima permitted to be used by public eating houses in bulk. Individuals taking meals in restaurants or living in hotels are in no way distinct from other members of the community in respect of their obligation of honour to conform to the voluntary ration.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food who are the members of the Central Committee of the Food Controller's Department which is dealing with the 40 per cent. imports of Indian and Ceylon tea commandeered by the Food Controller for distribution to the retail trade at 1s. the pound; how the distribution is being effected; and what proportion of the whole amount of the commandeered tea has been allotted to Messrs. Kearley and Tonge; and at what price that firm is selling this tea to retailers?

The Tea Control Committee is constituted as follows:

London Wholesale Tea Dealers:

Messrs. J. Travers and Sons, Limited.

Messrs. Joseph Tetley and Company, Limited.

Messrs. Davis Lloyd, Piggott and Company.

Messrs. Cross, Sons and Absolem, Limited.

Messrs. J. and I. Batten and Company.

Blenders:

Messrs. Brooke Bond and Company, Limited.

Messrs. Twining, Crosfield and Company, Limited.

Messrs. Brash Bros.

Retailers to the Public (including Company Shops):

The International Stores, Limited.

Messrs. Lipton, Limited.

The Maypole Dairy Company, Limited. David Greig.

Packet Tea Firms:

Messrs. J. Lyons and Company, Limited.

Messrs. W. H. and F. J. Horniman, Limited.

The Mazawattee Tea Company, Limited. Messrs. Black and Green.

Provincial Wholesale Tea Dealers:

Messrs. J. Burton and Sons, Limited.

Scottish Wholesale Tea Trade:

Messrs. Wm. Wright and Company.

Irish Wholesale Tea Trade:

Hugh Doherty, Esq. (c/o Messrs. J. and I. Batten and Company).

P. Howlett, Esq. (Co-operative Wholesale Society).

Co-opted Member:

H. A. Game, Esq.

Forty per cent. of all Indian and Ceylon teas is allocated to wholesale dealers at 1s per lb. market cost, to which must be added 1s. per lb. duty and other charges. The amount distributed is in direct proportion to the amount of duty paid by the several firms for the year ending June 30th, 1916, as ascertained by Customs returns and verified by a sworn statement of the recipient. Wholesale firms thereupon distribute tea among their retail customers in proportion to their normal purchases, and at a price enabling the latter to sell to the public at 2s. 4d. per lb. The particular firm mentioned receive their allotted. amount and pass it forward to retailers. on the above basis.

asked whether any maximum price for the sale of milk to the public has been fixed for the current month; if so, for what period is the price fixed; what rise or fall does it show with any price previously fixed; and are there any regulations fixing the price as between the dairy farmer, the wholesale dealer, and the retail dealer?

The answer to, the first part of the question is in the affirmative. The price of milk is governed by two Orders made on 26th January and 20th February respectively, which will remain in force pending the making of any further Order. Under these Orders the producer or wholesaler may charge an excess of 6½d. per imperial gallon over the price in the corresponding month of 1914, while the retailer may charge an excess of 2d. per imperial quart over such price. The price from month to month therefore varies in accordance with the prices in 1914.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether the official estimate of the cost of the land patrol of the coast at 2s. per mile per day is based on the total coast-line of the United Kingdom and adjacent Islands, amounting to about 4,000 miles, or whether it is based on the actual length patrolled by the personnel, whose cost is included in the patrol?

The estimate of 2s. per mile is based on the total coastline of the United Kingdom and adjacent Islands, approximating 5,895 miles.

asked the Secretary to the Admiralty whether he has received a request from the inspectors of work and other officials in His Majesty's dockyards that the question respecting their pay be referred to a conciliation or arbitration board; and whether he is prepared to accede to their request?

No official request appears to have been received at the Admiralty from the inspectors to be allowed to put their case before the Conciliation and Arbitration Board, and I do not think it would be desirable to accede to such a request, pending a decision on the question now under consideration of revising the conditions attached to the Grant of the recent temporary war increase of £25 a year to the inspectors.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is aware that Lieutenant John A. Kirkwood, of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (Clyde Division), served in that unit for thirteen years with advantage to the service, and that at the end of that time, in May of this year, he was discharged for some unknown reason; and, seeing that Lieutenant Kirkwood has asked for an explanation of his discharge or for an inquiry into his conduct and that both have been refused, will the Department take any action in this matter?

Lieutenant-Commander Kirkwood had served thirteen years in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve at the time of his discharge by Admiralty Order of April last. It is not proposed to take any further action in the matter.

asked the Home Secretary whether he is aware that a raid was made in the East End of London on Friday last, and persons in picture palaces, billiard-rooms, restaurants, and in the streets, to the extent of over 800, were arrested, and that notwithstanding the production of Army discharge papers, medical board rejections, exemptions issued by tribunals and alien registration cards, these men were forcibly arrested and detained; whether he will state on whose instigation this raid took place, and what instructions were given to the police officers concerned as to whom they were to arrest; whether authority for arresting persons in possession of duly authorised exemptions was given; will he say how many were arrested and how many charged; and whether some two weeks ago a similar raid took place, and how many were charged as liable to military service?

My right hon. Friend has asked me to answer this. I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave this morning to my hon. Friend the Member for the Elland Division.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that wounded soldiers in hospital in London have accepted invitations to entertainments provided by registered alien enemies; and whether he proposes to take any action in the matter?

No instances have come under my notice, but I should certainly regard the practice as objectionable, and shall be obliged if my hon. and learned Friend will give me any particulars which he may have to enable me to make further inquiry.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether any change has been made in the command of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force, or if any such change is contemplated?

No change has been made in the chief command in Egypt.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he can state the number of men enlisted during the present war in Scotland, giving the numbers for each county as compared with the population?

I must refer my hon. Friend to the oral reply which I gave him to-day.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether, in view of the fact that by the recent revision of the remuneration paid to viewers their income has been reduced by nearly 5s. per week and the condition of their employment made worse, he will reconsider the matter and restore the pay these men were promised when they were engaged?

This change was made after full consideration, and I regret that I cannot reopen the matter.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether Captain Ball refused to fly a R.E. 8 machine?

I am much obliged to my Noble Friend for affording me this opportunity of giving the most explicit denial to an allegation which is entirely without truth.

asked the Minister of Munitions whether the first prosecution to be instituted under Regulation 42 of the Defence of the Realm Act was directed against Mr. T. Rees, and whether the action was at the instance of the Ministry of Munitions; whether Mr. Rees has since been given a post in the Ministry of Munitions, and at what salary?

It is the fact that a prosecution was initiated against Mr. Rees under the Regulation mentioned by the hon. Member, and was subsequently withdrawn upon an explanation of the circumstances being given by the London District Committee of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers, under whose instructions Mr. Rees took the action in respect of which the prosecution was lodged. Mr. Rees has since been given a post in the Ministry of Munitions in the section dealing with complaints arising from the enlistment of labour and other kindred matters, at a salary of £350 per annum.

asked the Secretary of State for India whether he is aware that exporters of cotton and other goods to India are now forced to case or pack their goods, in compliance with the directions of the Director of Timber Supplies, in a manner different from the requirements called for by contracts with their Indian buyers; and whether he will initiate legislation or take other legal means so that buyers may not have the right to refuse goods if cased or packed in compliance with the instructions of the Director of Timber Supplies?

I am aware of the situation created by the Order made by the Army Council under the Defence of the Realm Act, and am in communication with the Government of India on the subject. I think that it should be possible without great difficulty to make arrangements which will be satisfactory to all parties.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is aware that exporters of cotton and other goods to Crown Colonies are now forced to case or pack their goods, in compliance with the directions of the Director of Timber Supplies, in a manner different from the requirements called for by contracts with their buyers in Crown Colonies; and whether he will initiate legislation or take other legal means so that buyers may not have the right to refuse goods if cased or packed in compliance with the instructions of the Director of Timber Supplies?

I understand that the Order in question was made in consultation with, and with the consent of, the Export Packers' Associations of London and Manchester. I have already addressed a communication on the subject to the Colonies that are chiefly concerned, and they will doubtless take any action that may be necessary.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he has received any official information as to complaints made in France that facilities are not readily accorded to the French to trade or take part in the development of British Colonies, particularly in Africa; and, if so, whether he will take any steps in the matter?

The answer to my hon. Friend's question is in the negative. There would in any case be no foundation for such complaints and I can hardly suppose that they would be made, seeing that in the Gambia the trade is largely in the hands of French merchants while both the Gold Coast and Nigeria come within the free trade zone defined by the Anglo-French Agreement of 1898. On the other hand, I may observe that the French have for many years maintained in Senegambia a differential tariff which operates against this country.

asked the Home Secretary whether his attention has been drawn to the case of Martha Ada Price who was, on or about 22nd May, sentenced at Ramsgate to three months' imprisonment with hard labour for supplying whisky to a wounded soldier; whether there was anything in the circumstances of the case to justify a sentence of such severity; and, if not, whether he will advise the remission of the sentence?

My attention has not previously been drawn to this case, but I am having inquiry made in regard to it and will let the hon. Member know the result.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that the new Order that hired motor cars can only be engaged from a hackney stand or public place will cause inconvenience in small country towns where there are no hackney stands and where such hackney cars as are available are kept in hotel yards and public garages, and are ordered by telephone or letter; whether he is aware that in a very large number of eases the chauffeurs of such cars are women who have patriotically undertaken the work in order to release men and who, object to have to wait about in the roads; and whether he will modify the Order in favour of the small country towns where there is no danger of the imposition. against which the Order was directed?

Arrangements have now been made under which it will be possible for motor cars to be hired for certain purposes in country towns and districts in which ordinary taxi-cab facilities are not available.

asked the Comptroller-of the Household, as representing the National Health Insurance Commissioners, whether, in the case of an uninsured person leaving his present work in order to-take up agricultural work for the duration of the War, it is compulsory for him to become an insured person under the-national scheme?

Under the National Insurance (Temporary Employment in Agriculture) Act, 1916, any person who proves that his normal occupation is not insurable employment may be granted a certificate excluding him during the duration of the War from liability to insurance while engaged temporarily in agricultural work.

asked the Secretary to the Admiralty whether he is aware that, under present Regulations, an officer or warrant officer of His Majesty's Navy who is sent to hospital or a sanatorium suffering from tuberculosis is allowed full pay during the period he is off duty; whether he has out of this allowance to meet all doctors' bills and expenses of treatment in a sanatorium or hospital; whether officers suffering from other diseases, no matter what the cause, are treated at the expense of the State; whether he is aware that this treatment of tubercular cases causes hardship, especially on warrant officers, who invariably have no other means of income than their Service pay; and whether the Admiralty will take action to treat officers suffering from tuberculosis in the same way as those suffering from other complaints?

The facts generally are as stated in the question. Arrangements are, however, provided for the reception of all such cases, after invaliding, into sanatoria at the public expense. It is, however, recognised that the treatment so given is not what we should supply for our naval officers, and steps are being taken to remedy this defect.

asked the Home Secretary whether his attention has been directed to the present arrangements for th use of prison libraries; and whether any steps can be taken to secure that prisoners have the opportunity of reading the books in the library which are likely to be most useful to them instead of having to rely on haphazard selection by warders, as is at present sometimes the case?

The whole matter of the supply of books to prisoners was fully examined by the Prison Library Committee, 1910, whose Report was presented to Parliament. The existing arrangements are as recommended by that committee. Library catalogues are available to the prisoners if asked for, and the books they desire can be noted in advance. If any example is furnished of "haphazard selection by warders," inquiry will be made.

asked the Secretary to the Local Government Board whether the records to be kept by medical officers of health of vaccinations and revaccinations performed by them will be open to search as are the present vaccination officers' records; whether copies of the entries will be obtainable; and, if so, what fee will be payable for the search and copy of the record?

The Public Health (Small-pox Prevention) Regulations, 1917, do not provide that the records to be kept by medical officers of health under them shall be open to search.