asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in reclaiming; Income Tax in respect of inscribed stock, the authorities are enabled to accept a statement upon the face of the claim showing what stock is in question and in whose name it is inscribed, but that where registered stock is in question the Inland Revenue is not in a position to adopt this procedure, and is obliged to call for certificates granted by the Bank of England proving deduction of tax; whether he will consider the practicability of relieving the holders of registered stock from this inconvenience; and whether the relief could be given quite easily by arranging that the Bank of England issue its warrants accompanied by counterfoils in accordance with the modern practice of commercial concerns-and their bankers?

My hon. Friend is under some misapprehension. No certificates are necessary to prove the deduction of Income Tax from dividends on either inscribed or registered stocks managed by the Bank of England, and there is no. difference in this respect between inscribed and registered stock.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether, in view of the glut of potatoes in Ireland, he can see his way to remove the restrictions on their export to England?

There is not now any prohibition of export of potatoes from Ireland, and there is, as I am informed, no glut of potatoes in the country.

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 I 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 Undersecretary of State for War whether his attention has been drawn to the case of W. C. Middleton, of Newton Abbot, who was passed as Class A in January last, entered the Navy, and on 16th May was called up at Devon-port, but on further medical examination by three doctors was rejected as medically unfit; whether he is aware that this man, a bread baker, holding an exemption certificate as being in a reserved occupation, was called before the local j tribunal for his case to be reviewed, that the tribunal agreed to medical re-examination in view of the previous medical rejection, that the military representative appealed against this, with the result that the Devon Appeal Tribunal, sitting at Plymouth on 29th June, upheld the military appeal, and the man has been passed into the Army as Class A without medical examination; and whether he will have inquiries made into this case, with a view to the man being placed in the proper category?

I have no information as to the points raised, but I am making inquiries and will write to my hon. Friend as soon as possible.

asked the Prime Minister if he will take steps to safeguard the students in the Irish College, Rome, against Conscription; if he is aware that in Italy a Bill is being introduced in Parliament which will oblige all British subjects living abroad to return home for Conscription or join the Army of the Allied country where they are; whether any arrangement on this matter is being made by an international convention of the Allied nations; if, since Irishmen are not subject to Conscription at Home, he will see that they are not included, wherever they are, in the proposed Bill nor in the arrangements of the proposed international convention; if he will see that the students of the Irish College and those of the Franciscan, Dominican, and Augustinian convents in Rome will be excluded from the proposed Bill; and if he will see that there shall be no interference with the Irish students in the American propaganda, English, and Scottish colleges in Italy and elsewhere?

In the event of legislation of the nature referred to in the hon. Member's question being passed in Italy, it would be necessary for an agreement to be concluded between His Majesty's Government and the Italian Government before British subjects resident in Italy could be called up for compulsory service in the Italian Army. Should such an agreement be concluded, it would be made under the provisions of the Military Service (Conventions with Allied States) Bill, Section. 1 (a) of which provides that the agreement shall ensure that the British Ambassador to the contracting country shall grant exemption in any case where a British subject resident in the contracting country proves that he is not domiciled in the contracting country and that before proceeding to the contracting country he was ordinarily resident in some part of His Majesty's Dominions other than Great Britain.

asked the Prime Minister whether his attention has been called to the decision of the American Government providing for the immediate construction of 23,625 aeroplanes; whether, as a point of policy, we have yet complied with the representations received from America for the loan of one or more of our latest types of aeroplanes for the purpose of bringing the American constructors down to date as to our latest developments; and, if so, how many machines have already been dispatched to America?

I have been asked to answer this question. I have seen the Report referred to in the first part of the question. As regards the second and third parts, steps have been taken, and are being taken, to give the United States Government the latest information, in whatever form is most suitable, in regard to aeronautical construction; but, as the hon. Member has previously been informed, it is not considered desirable to make a detailed statement on the matter.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if lie will inquire into the system of detailing escort duty in Londonderry Prison, and will he see that the duty is fairly detailed; how officers may be expected to gain a knowledge of duty they are never permitted to perform; how long officers are to do ordinary duty and local escorts before they are qualified to do the more important duty; is there a precedent in any other prison for this differentiation in the treatment of warders; can he give the names of the two warders who asked to be exempted from, escort duty; and will he see that more consideration is shown in the administration of the prisons in Ireland?

The arrangements for escort duty at all prisons are necessarily left-to the discretion of the governor, who is legally responsible for the custody of prisoners. Knowledge of the duties is easily attained, but as to the trustworthiness of the officers selected the governor must be the judge. I cannot, in the interests of the public service, give the personal particulars asked for.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if the scale of pay and allowances in the Irish prison service has been assimilated to that in force in England; why a trades warder in the Irish prison service is paid at the unpensionable rate of 8d. per day, while employed at his trade, while a man in a similar position in England receives an annual pensionable allowance of £18; by how much the annual pension of an Irish trades warder having thirty years' service who, prior to the new scale of salaries coming into operation, was in receipt of an annual pensionable allowance of £10 will be reduced by the forfeiture of his annual pensionable allowance of £10 and the substitution therefore of 8d. per day; and the annual difference in pension between that of a trades warder serving in the English prisons service and another in the Irish prisons service each having thirty years' service?

This matter has been disposed of by a recent decision, and I cannot enter into the details of the matter in a discussion by question and answer

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if he is aware that James Brien, Clonadadoran, Maryborough, has been deprived of his old age pension granted by the local pension committee, on appeal by the pension officer for the district, on the ground that there is no satisfactory evidence of age; if he is aware that Brien produced a written declaration from two old residents in the district who have known him for over seventy years; and whether, under the circumstances he will have further inquiries made into this case?

This claim was disallowed by the Local Government Board on the ground of insufficient evidence of age. I am informed that two neighbours of the claimant expressed their belief that he was seventy years of age, but no further evidence was submitted.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether his attention has been called to the fact that the lock-keepers on the Grand Canal, Ireland, are employed under the Irish Board of Works; and, if this is so, if he can say whether those lock-keepers come under the category of Civil Servants, seeing that they are pensionable?

The lock-keepers on the Grand Canal are in the employment of the Grand Canal Company and not of the Board of Works. The hon. Member is, however, perhaps referring to the lock-keepers on the canal between Killaloe and Limerick, about whom he asked a question on the 21st June. These men are not Civil Servants, their salaries and pensions not being provided out of moneys voted by Parliament, but out of the Shannon Navigation Funds.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he has received representations against the recent Medical and Dentists Registration Amending Ordinance (No. 3, of 1917) (Grenada); and whether, in view of the strength of local feeling against the proposed statute, it is his intention to submit the Bill for His Majesty's gracious assent without further reconsideration and reference?

I have received inquiries from individuals in regard to the Ordinance, and I have deferred consideration of it in order to enable them to make representations, but none have been received. The provisions of the Ordinance will, however, be given careful consideration before any advice is tendered to His Majesty with regard to it.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether his attention has been called to the allegations of mismanagement and faulty administration of the Colony Hospital in the island of Grenada, British West Indies; whether he is aware that the demands of the local community for an impartial and independent Commission of inquiry into the j state of affairs in this hospital has been refused by the governor; will he say what steps he proposes to take under the circumstances; and whether, in the best interests of the Colony, he will consider the desirability of sending out a medical Commissioner to investigate and report not only on this particular institution but on the general medical service in the West Indies?

I am aware of the allegations to which the hon. Member refers. The matter was discussed in the Legislative Council of the Colony in March last, when the Governor declined to appoint a. commission of inquiry as he was satisfied that he was in a position to deal with the question. In the debate the Governor indicated the measures which he proposed to take, and no action on my part appears, to be necessary. I see no reason for adopting the suggestion in the last part of the-question; and, in any case, the present time would be inopportune.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether his attention has been called to the state of the medical service in the island of Grenada,. British West Indies; whether he is aware that the post of resident surgeon to the-Colony hospital in that Crown Colony has now been vacant for a long time; and whether this and other medical appointments, considering the urgency of the matter, will be made as soon as possible?

The answer to the first and second parts of the question is in the affirmative. As regards the third part the hon. Member may rest assured that every effort is being made to fill the vacancies to which he refers, but he will no doubt appreciate the difficulty of finding suitable candidates for medical, appointments in present circumstances.

asked the Secretary for Scotland whether, seeing that the Education Department is furnished by Catholic school managers with Returns regarding salaries, he will state the salary paid to each of the following grades of teachers: male principals, excluding second masters; male assistants, including second masters; female principals, including infant mistresses; and female assistants, excluding infant mistresses, in the following Catholic primary schools in Glasgow; Maryhill, St. Charles's, St. Columba's, St. Joseph's, St. Patrick's,. St. Andrew's, St. John's, St. Francis's, St. Luke's, St. Alphonsus's, Sacred Heart, St. Mary's, St. Michael's. St. Anne's, St. Koch's, St. Aloysius's (Milton Street), St. Aloysius's (Springburn). St. Agnes's, and St. Mungo's?

The following table shows, for each of the schools referred to in the question, the salaries of the various classes of teachers as stated in the Returns supplied by the managers:—