asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he can state the number of men employed by the Comptroller and Auditor-General on 1st July, 1914, and 1st July, 1917?

The total clerical staff employed by the Comptroller and Auditor-General on the dates in question was:

		Men.	Women.			Total.
1st July, 1914	…	247	…	2	…	249
1st July, 1917	…	275	…	30	…	305

In addition to the actual increase of numbers stated above, the whole staff have been throughout the War working longer hours, and their anuual leave has been curtailed. Further, steps have been taken, by applying a less complete audit to the Civil Service Accounts which are to a slight degree only affected by the War, to increase the staff employed on the accounts of war expenditure by more than 100 per cent.

asked me Secretary to the Treasury whether the question of continuing the printing and publishing of the "Kew Bulletin" has been reconsidered; and whether he can now give an assurance that this publication, or at least that part of it which is devoted to the spread of useful knowledge of plant culture and plant products throughout the Empire, will shortly be resumed?

I am informed that the question of the suspension of the issue of the "Kew Bulletin" was considered by the Select Committee on Publications and Debates' Reports last week, and that it was decided to recommend that the "Bulletin" should be continued, but with due regard to economy. Subject to the omission, therefore, of certain classes of information which, though doubtless of scientific interest, can, it is thought, be postponed without detriment to the welfare of the State, the publication of the "Bulletin" will be resumed.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food if he will state the result of the inquiries which have been made as to the prices being charged for potatoes by firms in Liverpool which have been importing under licence from Ireland; whether as much as £16 per ton has been demanded for Irish potatoes; if he will state the number and give the names of the firms which were licensed to export, potatoes to Great Britain prior to the 17th June.; and what licences to export potatoes have since been granted?

It appears that prices have been charged in Liverpool in excess of those authorised by the Potatoes (Prices) Order, and proceedings have been instituted. There is no evidence that the price asked from retailers amounted to £16 per ton. Licences to export potatoes from Ireland were given by the Irish Department of Agriculture, and I have no detailed information as to the number of. licences or the names of the exporting firms.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether Danish bacon recently landed in this country was sold at 6d. per pound, and the same bacon was afterwards retailed to the public at a price up to as much as 2s. per pound; and, if so, whether he can state who were the people through whose hands this bacon passed, and what steps are being taken to prevent such profiteering in the future?

Owing to heavy supplies of this bacon arriving simultaneously during hot weather it was found necessary to dispose of certain quantities at low prices, but I am not aware that any of the bacon so sold was afterwards retailed to the public at any such price as 2s. per pound. If the hon. and gallant Member will give me particulars, I will cause inquiries to be made.

asked what proportion of sugar the applicants will get for preserving home-grown fruit; and what precautions have been taken that none but bonâ fide fruit growers are supplied, and that sugar so supplied shall not be used for ordinary domestic purposes?

I cannot at present state the exact proportion of sugar which applicants will get for preserving homegrown fruit. All applicants have pledged themselves in writing, on the application form lodged by them with their grocers, that they are bonâ fide growers, and that they will use the sugar supplied to them for one purpose only, and any breach of this undertaking will render them liable to prosecution.

asked when the Food Controller expects to be able to make an announcement of policy in regard to the control of prices and profits?

I am unable to fix the precise date, but the announcement will be made at the earliest possible moment.

asked the Secretary for Scotland whether certain local authorities in Scotland are sterilising and placing for sale for the purpose of human consumption the meat of cattle affected with tuberculosis with a view to disposing of such meat to the poor; if so, if he can give the names of the local authorities which have taken this step; and if any recommendation has been issued by his Department on the matter?

With regard to the first two parts of the question, I understand that the local authorities at Glasgow, Dundee, Hamilton, and Aberdeen have made or are considering arrangements for sterilising parts of specially selected carcases of tuberculous animals for sale to the general public. The methods adopted have the approval of the Local Government Board for Scotland, who are satisfied that the selection of carcases and the methods of sterilisation are such that the meat is rendered harmless and may be consumed without injury to health; and that it forms a useful addition to the food supply of the country.

asked the Minister of Munitions whether his attention has been directed to the fact that an appeal was made by the Ministry of National Service for volunteers to enable men fit for service to be released from munition work; and whether he can offer any explanation of the fact that no application has been made to the Ministry of National Service for the employment on munition work of volunteers enrolled by that ministry?

I am aware of the appeal to which my hon. Friend refers. No application has been made by the Ministry of Munitions to the National Service Department for the services of substitutes, because the Employment Department of the Ministry of Labour have hitherto been able to supply the substitutes required to fill vacancies occasioned by the release of men to the Colours.

asked the Minister of Munitions whether the director of steel production has fixed a maximum price of 22s. per ton for ground fireclay as from 1st May; whether the pre-war price of this material was about 5s. 6d. per ton; whether the current price of ground fireclay in Scotland in April was generally under 11s. a ton; whether one of the largest producers of ground fireclay wrote to the Ministry on 5th June offering to supply at 50 per cent, less than the price authorised; whether any reply has yet been made to that communication; and whether, before paying a higher price, the Ministry will first avail themselves of all suitable supplies at 11s. or less per ton?

The circumstances in some areas necessitated the fixing of a maximum price of 22s. per ton. The pre war price of this material was generally considerably more than 5s. 6d. per ton; the current price in Scotland in April was generally more than 11s. per ton. A letter containing what appears to be the offer referred to was received and acknowledged. The Ministry are not direct purchasers of fireclay and consumers are at liberty to purchase fireclay from any maker at any price less than the maximum price referred to. The question of the price to be paid for firebricks offered by this firm has been submitted to arbitration and is now the subject of an appeal by the firm.

asked the Pensions Minister whether he is aware that W. J. Oates, No. 9460, who joined the Navy as a, boy of seventeen in May, 1915, was invalided out on 22nd March, 1916, with complete deafness, the result of scarlet fever caught from his comrades whilst in sick bay with a cold; whether he is aware that a claim to pension was made on his behalf by the hon. Member for the Thorn-bury Division in July, 1916, and after a lengthy correspondence and great delay the case was transferred to the Pensions Minister in January last; that he was eventually sent to Edinburgh to join a lip-reading class on 19th May, 1917, and that for the fourteen months between discharge and that date nothing was paid him and nothing was done for him; whether he is to be discharged from the lip-reading class on 19th July next because his defect is incurable; and when he will decide what this boy (whose father is serving his country as a sergeant-major), and who joined the Navy in perfect health and left it permanently incapable, is to receive weekly as monetary compensation?

The Statutory Committee approved on the 20th June of an extension for six weeks of the course of training in lip-reading which was procured by the Gloucestershire War Pensions Committee for this lad. He is also receiving instruction as a tracer in the engineering design branch of the Heriot Watt Technical College at Edinburgh. With regard to the question of pension, as the hon. Member is aware, the Naval Medical Board found that the deafness from which he was suffering was not attributable to his service. I am, however, having the case looked into again, and will communicate with the hon. Member.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he is aware that linotype and montotype operators are being taken for military service by the tribunals with the instruction that their places must be filled by female labour; is he aware that for this highly skilled and very delicate work few, if any, such female operators can be found, and when such have been employed the trade unions concerned have ordered the withdrawal of such substitutes; and is he taking any steps to overcome the difficulties arising from such action?

The work of monotype and linotype operators is not included in the list of certified occupations, and the tribunal is accordingly required to act upon the general assumption that men of military age engaged on this work are available for military service, unless the man or his employer satisfies the tribunal that it is in the national interest in the particular case that the man should continue in civil employment. I am aware that certain difficulties have occurred as regards the employment of female operators, and the matter is under consideration by the Departments concerned.

asked the Secretary for Scotland whether, in connection with the new Education Grant, he will set up a salary board, with a view to securing adequate salaries for teachers over the whole of Scotland and removing the present inequalities due to the varying standards adopted by school boards?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer which I gave on the 8th ultimo to a question by the hon. Member for South Edinburgh.

asked the hon. Member for Sheffield (Central Division) what are the most recent reports received from Turkish camps where English prisoners are interned; and whether the ex-American Ambassador to Constantinople was able to give any reassuring news on this subject when recently in this country?

His Majesty's Government have received no reports on internment camps in Turkey since those furnished by the International Committee of the Red Cross. The Turkish Government have withdrawn the permission granted to the former United States Ambassador at Constantinople before his departure for the inspection of the camps by representatives of the Embassy. The information given us by Mr. Elkus when in this country is, unfortunately, far from reassuring, especially as far as the rank and file are concerned.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he is aware that the existing allotment scheme has not provided a sufficient number of plots; whether he is aware that over 2,000 applications have been refused to Dublin dwellers as land could not be obtained; whether he is aware that dissatisfaction will be caused unless provision is made to enable plot holders to continue their tenancy or remove to some adjacent suitable place; and whether the extension of the Allotments Act to Ireland would solve those difficulties?

I am not aware that the present allotment scheme in Dublin has proved insufficient or that 2,000 applications for allotments were refused owing to inability to acquire land. No application has been received by the Local Government Board from the Corporation of Dublin for the exercise of compulsory powers for acquisition of land since these powers became operative. I understand that the land already acquired for allotments has been taken for a period of years, and there is no immediate danger of the allotment holders generally being disturbed. If need arises the question will be further considered.

asked the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland) whether he is aware that a number of cattle belonging to cattle dealers in Belfast and district could not be shipped by the cross-Channel steamers, owing to the fact that they had not been examined by the veterinary surgeons of the Department; whether for many years past the examination of the cattle being shipped from Belfast has been made upon the Great Northern Railway Company's premises; whether on a recent date when the cattle were brought by their owners to the railway company's yard at May-field, premises of the Great Northern Railway Company in Laganbank Road and Albert Bridge, the gate of the yard was closed by the railway company's servants and the cattle could not enter; whether the veterinary surgeons of the Department were on the premises ready to make the examination, but as the railway company's officials had closed the gates the cattle could not come into the yard and the examination could not be made whether as a result the cattle were kept in Belfast, and inconvenience and delay caused to the owners; and whether, in view of the fact that the railway company have no control whatever over the cattle which are brought to the yard to comply with the law which requires that all cattle being shipped must be examined, that the examination can only be made at the railway company's yard, and that all the railway company has to do, at any time it chooses, is to close the gates of the yard, and thus prevent the examination of the cattle and inconvenience the owner?, the Department of Agriculture will take action either to ensure that the cattle are allowed free access to the yard or have the examination by their veterinary surgeons in some other centre convenient for the cattle owners?

I am informed that the facts are as stated in the question. The cause of the difficulty is a dispute between certain cattle dealers and the railway company. The Department of Agriculture have no legal authority to interfere in the matter. Accommodation for the inspection of live stock prior to shipment is provided by the railway companies in Belfast, and I believe there are no other suitable premises for such inspection in the city.

asked the Home Secretary whether there are any statistics showing the percentage of men engaged in coal-trimming on ships who contract disease as a result of their occupation; whether any inspection is carried out of the conditions under which the men work; whether any consideration has been given to the possibility of introducing machinery which would render the occupation less unhealthy; whether further legislation in this direction is necessary; and, if so, will he take whatever steps are necessary as soon as practicable?

The Home Office has no information to show that coal-trimmers are specially liable to any disease in consequence of their occupation, and has not hitherto received any representations on the subject. If the right hon. Member will furnish me with particulars of the cases he has in mind and the injurious conditions to which they are attributed, I shall be glad to make inquiry.

asked the Minister of Labour what progress, if any, has been made towards the appointment of a wage board for Dublin city; and whether he is aware that this demand has been reiterated by resolutions passed many times by representative meetings in St. Patrick's Division?

I have nothing to add to my answer to the hon. Member's question of 28th June.