asked the Prime Minister (1) the names of the Ministers composing the War Committee of the Cabinet during the period covered by the Report of the Dardanelles Inquiry Commission; and (2) the names of the Ministers composing the War Committee of the Cabinet during the period covered by the Report of the Mesopotamia Inquiry Commission?

The War Committee of the Cabinet during the periods covered by the Dardanelles and Mesopotamia Inquiry Commissions was known as:

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether any members of the temporary Valuation staff (which came into existence in 1910) have been placed on the Civil Service establishment during the War, and, if so, the number of each grade of such staff; what steps are contemplated to carry out the recommendations of the Royal Commissioners on the Civil Service in their Fourth Report, dated the 2nd April, 1914, in regard to the position of unestablished staffs of the solicitors to the public Departments, in view of the fact that such unestablished staffs have been in existence many years prior to 1910, and also to the fact that the Committee on Public Retrenchment urged upon the late Government in their Report on the 21st February, 1916 (see Sections 17 and 45, first two paragraphs (see Cd. 8200), the need for such recommendations of the Royal Commissioners being carried out at the earliest possible, date; what are the reasons for differentiating between the two bodies of unestablished staffs in question; and whether the present Government can see their way to carry out such recommendations as above indicated?

The permanent establishment of the Valuation office was fixed in 1912 at 457 technical and 123 clerical officers, and the number of these posts has not been altered during the War. With a view to securing the most competent officers, definite appointments, within this total, were not made immediately, but were filled gradually by selection among the temporary staff employed by the Department, the authorised establishment being completed in 1915. The position of the solicitors' staff is entirely different, as these men are not unestablished officers of the Department, but personal employés of the solicitors. The recommendation of the Royal Commission on the Civil Service in regard to their establishment has not been lost sight of, but it has been necessary to defer action on this, as on other proposals for the reorganisation of the service, until after the War. The hon. Member is, I think, mistaken in supposing that the Retrenchment Committee urged the late Government to take immediate action on this point.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether he is aware that in many cases applications duly and correctly made to Mr. Rewcastle for forms of application for the allotment of sugar for jam preserving received no acknowledgment and consequently the distribution of sugar for this purpose is unequal, and many people who have made application as instructed are unable to obtain any supply of sugar for preserving their fruit; and whether he will instruct Mr. Rewcastle even now to send forms of application to persons who applied in writing at the proper time and whose applications have received no attention?

I regret that I can add nothing to the answer given on 6th July to the hon. Member for South Tyrone.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food if he is aware that almost a month has passed since application was made by Mr. H. Goldup, of Durlock, Ash, Kent, to the representative of the Sugar Commission for a form on which to apply for sugar for jam making, but that up to the present he has received no reply; if he is aware that fruit is now rapidly spoiling through lack of means to preserve it; and if he will give directions that Mr. Goldup be immediately given the sugar he requires in order that the waste occasioned by the loss of fruit may be reduced as low as possible?

The lists were closed on 9th June for applications relating to sugar for the domestic preserving of fruit, and the supplies available for the preservation of soft fruit have already been distributed. It has, therefore, become impossible to review any individual case.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food (1) if he can give the figures of the quantity of fish imported into this country from Norway and Holland since 1st January, 1917, and the proportion of this which has been condemned as unfit for human consumption; and (2) if he can state the quantities of fish of all kinds destroyed or used as manure during the first six months of this year; and will his Department appoint fish depots in various parts of this country for the better distribution of our fish supplies, and thereby avoid the wastage of the people's food?

About 60,000 tons of fish of all descriptions were imported into this country from Norway and the Netherlands during the first six months of this year. There are no figures available as to the amount of home-caught or imported fish which has been condemned as unfit for human consumption during that period. A Committee has been appointed for the purpose of controlling the supplies of fish food throughout the country, with special reference to its marketing and distribution.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food if he will, take the necessary steps to issue an Order in the interest of the general public health, as well as that of our naval and military forces, making it compulsory for all bakers to exhibit in their shop windows or other equally suitable positions a boldly written and clearly legible statement of the precise nature, as well as the quantity per pound or other measure, of all substitutes which they mix from day to day with the wheaten flour used by them in the loaves they sell as bread?

The suggestion is, I fear, impracticable, as the process of admixture is complete before the flour reaches the baker.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether, in view of the unpalatable and unwholesome bread now being made by some bakers, he can see his way to lay down definitely the amount of wheat flour to be used with the various other ingredients, so that bakers could not use more than a certain percentage of maize meal or other ingredients mixed with wheat meal?

It is impossible, owing to difficulties of transport, to obtain regular distribution throughout the country of the various grains used for purposes of admixture. It is, therefore, necessary to allow the millers in different centres a certain discretion in the use of such substitutes as are supplied to them from time to time.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Shipping what is the freight per quarter of 480 lbs. of wheat from Australia to the United Kingdom, carried in British-owned steamers under requisition at Blue Book rates or at directed freights, and the freight on wheat from Australia to this country carried in steamers owned by the Commonwealth of Australia?

With regard to the first part of the question, as explained in my answer to a question on this subject by the hon. Member for Hanley on 28th March, the Blue Book rate on wheat from Australia to the United King- dom is, approximately, 70s. per ton, or 15s. per quarter. With regard to the second part of the question, I understand that none of the Commonwealth steamers have carried wheat to the United Kingdom.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food if he is aware that 16 tons of potatoes were retailed in Caerphillys, Glamorganshire, last week at 1¾d. a lb. in quantities of not less than 14 pounds, and that local grocers secured this supply from the Army Service Department at Cardiff; will his Department investigate what stocks of old potatoes are still held by such Departments; and will he see that such stocks are used up at once to avoid waste?

It has been ascertained that some potatoes were disposed of to the trade as their keeping qualities were so doubtful that their retention by the military authorities would have involved the State in loss. No stocks of any importance are at present carried by the Army authorities.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether Ernest Harrison, secretary of the Police Union, is undergoing a sentence of two years' hard labour as a conscientious objector in Wandsworth Military Detention Barracks; if so, whether steps have been taken to have him transferred in accordance with Army Order No. 10

If my hon. Friend will give me Harrison's regimental number and unit I will have inquiries made.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that Walter Lawson, of Dewsbury, was granted exemption as a conscientious objector conditional on his remaining in the employment of Messrs. Wonalds and Walton, of Dewsbury, blanket manufacturers; that on 11th May the military representative threatened the manager and foreman of the firm with prosecution if they continued to employ Lawson, stating that he was an absentee and a shirker; that Lawson was suspended by his employers in consequence; that on 17th May the chairman and clerk of the Colne Tribunal agreed that all conditions laid down by them had been fulfilled; and that on 12th May the military authorities, having induced his employers to suspend Lawson, served him with a calling-up notice and, in spite of Lawson obtaining other work of national importance with a market gardener, the local tribunal made an order declining to vary their certificate without any notice to Lawson; whether a warrant for his arrest has been issued; and what defence the military authorities have to the charge of inducing Lawson's employers to discharge him?

I have called for a report on the matters raised by my hon. Friend, and will communicate with him as soon as possible.

asked the Home Secretary whether any change has been made in the scheme for dealing with conscientious objectors; and when the new conditions or arrangements will be published?

I would refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Devonport on the 4th instant. The Committee's rules, as amended, were laid on the Table on the 5th instant.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether his attention has been called to the issue of the "Weekly Bulletin" of the Recruiting Service for 14th June, 1917, to the tone of the Notes of the Week, the references to weak tribunals, the criticism of chairmen of tribunals, and the note, "Refreshing," with its suggestion that there should be no appeals; and whether he will give instructions that the contents of this official War Office publication should be confined to statements of fact and not indulge in contemptuous criticism of bodies of men appointed to administer an Act of Parliament?

The "Weekly Bulletin" is issued to assist military representatives and others of the recruiting service in their work, and the notes referred to were written in consequence of inaccurate and misleading statements being made by certain newspapers purporting to quote as their authority the chairman of the Stepney Tribunal in regard to a decision of the Central Tribunal on one-man businesses. It was necessary that immediate steps should be taken to inform military representatives all over the country that the published statements were inaccurate and likely to mislead the public. The note "Refreshing" was a quotation from the statement of an Army chaplain, who had said that it would be refreshing if men who were called up would go without appealing. This is the first suggestion that has ever been made that the "Weekly Bulletin," which is of great use to the recruiting services, indulges in contemptuous criticisms of bodies of men appointed to administer an Act of Parliament, and the suggestion is contrary to the fact.

asked the Minister of Muniitons how many munition girls from the Cardonald National Projectile Factory had leave for the day of the Prime Minister's visit to Glasgow; whether they were entertained to teas and were present at St. Andrew's Hall; whether General Drummond was much in evidence; and whether the absence of so many girls from work on such an occasion interfered in any way with the output of munitions?

No munition girls from the Cardonald National Projectile Factory had leave for the day of the Prime Minister's visit to Glasgow. The girls referred to by the hon. Member were the night-shift operators, who were given the opportunity of hearing the Prime Minister's speech; these girls having worked on munitions all night were given breakfast by the manager at his own personal expense before proceeding to St. Andrew's Hall. The arrangements were entirely in the hands of the factory super- intendent and welfare worker, and General Drummond was not in any way associated with them. There was no loss of output.

asked the Minister of Munitions whether he is aware that in the iron mines of Messrs. Baird, at Raasay, German prisoners are being employed to the displacement of British workers; and whether he will use his powers to compel Messrs. Baird to find employment for the displaced islanders at wages not less than the trade union rate?

It is not the fact that German prisoners are displacing British workers at Raasay. On the contrary, there are now more natives employed about the mines than before the advent of the German prisoners. My right hon. Friend, however, is calling for a fresh report upon the conditions in Raasay, and I will communicate the results of this to my hon. Friend as soon as I am able to do so.

asked the Minister of Munitions if he is aware that Messrs. Fenton Brothers, of Sheffield, munition manufacturers, have been approached several times by the officials of the National Union of General Workers with a view to persuading the firm to pay the last national advance of 5s. to their employés, but the management of the firm have refused to concede the advance, and have told the officials that they can do their worst; and, seeing that such action tends to cause a state of unrest, will he say if he intends taking any action in the matter?

No complaint on the subject has reached the Ministry of Munitions. The firm, though not in time of peace an engineering firm, now holds munitions contracts. My right hon. Friend is having investigation made into the case, and will inform my hon. Friend of the result.

asked the Minister of Munitions whether his attention has been drawn to a case before the London. Munitions Tribunal, in which an apprentice was prosecuted at the instance of the employer for having lost over thirty hours in one week; whether he is aware that this lost time was largely due to the fact that the employer locked out the apprentice for the day when he arrived half an hour late owing to train difficulties; whether he is aware that another workman employed by the same firm was locked out for two and a half days as a punishment for losing time; and, since this practice involves diminished output, whether it is proposed to take any action against the firm in question?

If my hon. Friend will give me the name of the firm, and of the workmen he has in mind, I shall be obliged. But I may say that I had already seen a newspaper report of a case which may be the one referred to, and had called for a report.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Munitions whether, in view of the fact that 1 oz. of lead shot correctly applied will render available for human food from 1 to 8 lb. weight of game, and one small agency under the presidency of Lord Selborne collected for and delivered to the London hospitals for wounded soldiers 25,000 head of game in the seasons of 1915 and 1916, and that grouse, partridges, black game, pheasants, hares, and rabbits will consume human food in the early spring if an adequate number are not shot this autumn, and, in the case of grouse, if not shot, valuable food will be destroyed by grouse disease, he will consider the advisability of withdrawing the Order issued by his Department forbidding the provision of lead for shot?

I cannot usefully add anything to the answer given by my right hon. Friend on Monday to the hon. and gallant Member for Bridgwater.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether such cheap travelling facilities will be provided to munition workers in the large industrial centres as have been granted to the women land workers by the Board of Agriculture and the Ministry of Labour Unemployment Department?

I am not sure to what cheap travelling facilities for munition workers my hon. Friend refers. Munition workers in large industrial centres can obtain cheap tickets to take them to and from their work, and cheap tickets to enable them to go away for week-ends are issued by the Ministry of Munitions in limited numbers. The facilities referred to in the last part of the question are granted to enable the workers to travel to the places at which they are engaged to work, and arrangements have, I understand, now been made for their extension to all workpeople transferred to work of national importance through the Employment Exchanges of the Ministry of Labour.

asked the Secretary of State for India what were the Indian scale of medical equipment and the seal of medical equipment for British troops in India at the commencement of the War; what those scales are now; whether those scales continue to differ; and, if not, as from what date were they assimilated?

The regulation scales of medical equipment for field ambulances, clearing, stationary, and general hospitals for British and Indian troops respectively are given in Field Service Manual Medical Services (India), 1915, a copy of which has been placed in the Library. The scales laid down in the Manual have not been altered, and there are necessarily differences in equipment. I will deal further with this question to-morrow.

asked the Secretary of State for India how many private or secret telegrams and letters have been sent by him to the Viceroy, and how many received by him from the Viceroy since 27th May, 1915; and whether he can give any indication of the subjects to which these telegrams were limited?

I propose to deal with the subject referred to in the course of the Debate to-morrow.

asked the Secretary of State for India whether it was with his knowledge and sanction that in the autumn of 1915 Sir John Biles went direct to the builders of the "Medjidieh," belonging to Messrs. Lynch Brothers, and obtained a copy of the plans of the steamer; whether the India Office was aware that the barges and steamers supplied did not comply with the requirements of the military authorities in Mesopotamia; what was the total cost incurred in building and sending those steamers and barges; and whether Sir John Biles is still employed, and on a commercial basis, by the India Office as their naval architect?

I understand that Sir John Biles expected to obtain the design of the "Medjidieh" from the builders, and I was not and am not aware that there was anything unusual or unprofessional in this. The design was the property of the builders, was thirty-three years old, and save as to general outline was of little practical value for the construction of a modern vessel. The steamers supplied complied, so far as was practicable, with the specifications received from Mesopotamia, and are to-day running satisfactorily on the Tigris. Others of the same type have since been built for the expedition by the War Office. The barges were reported not to be suitable for the purpose for which they were ordered, but are now in constant use on the upper reaches of the river. The cost of the six steamers as delivered in this country was about £294,000. The cost of navigating them to Mesopotamia was about £11,500. The cost of the forty-three barges was about £250,000. They were mostly shipped as part cargo in enemy vessels controlled by the India Office, and the cost involved in carrying them is not at present available. The answer to the last part of the question is in the affirmative, and Sir John Biles is now employed by the War Office in constructing river craft for use in Mesopotamia.

asked the Secretary of State for India who is now Director of the Royal Indian Marine at Bombay; whether Captain Lumsden is now employed by the Indian Government in any capacity; and, if so, in what capacity?

The Government of India informed me in May that Captain Lumsden, R.N., had tendered his resignation, which I accepted. I have requested the Government of India to await the receipt by them of the Report of the Mesopotamia Commission before making any recommendation for filling the appointment, as it is obvious that that Report necessitates a careful reconsideration of the duties and position of the officer filling this post. Meanwhile I understand that Captain Wilson, R.I.M., is acting as Director, and that Captain Lumsden is not employed, but is taking the leave to which under the Regulations he is entitled. I ought to make it quite clear that Captain Lumsden's resignation was wholly unconnected with the Report of the Commission, which of course he had not seen.

asked the Secretary of State for India whether his attention has been called to Sir Havelock Charles' description of the Sepoys hospitals as a disgrace to the Government of India; and, if so, whether he has taken any steps, and when, to terminate this condition of affairs at all costs and without delay?

I will deal with the general question of hospital accommodation in India to-morrow. Meanwhile I will ask the hon. Member to refer to my reply to the Noble Lord the Member for South Nottingham on the 4th of this month.

asked the Secretary of State for India whether he is aware that Sir Malcolm Morris went out to India in 1913 to investigate the medical conditions there; whether he visited the military hospitals and reported on them; whether he made any such representations as to warn the India Office or the Government of India of the deficiencies now revealed; and whether any steps were taken as a result of Sir Malcolm Morris's visit?

Yes, Sir. It was my good fortune to preside at a meeting of the Royal Society of Arts on 27th March last when a paper on medical research work in India, prepared by Sir Pardey Lukis, Director-General of the Indian Medical Service, was read by Sir Havelock Charles, medical adviser to the Secretary of State and Dean of the London School of Tropical Medicine. In the discussion which followed Sir Malcolm Morris gave a brief but very interesting account of his visit to India and of the admirable scientific work which was being done there and spoke of the great opportunities which India offered for students and of the great results which might follow from their labours. I believe that Sir Malcolm Morris, while in India, was afforded facilities for seeing whatever he wished, but as far as I know he made no report to the Government of India and certainly he made none to the India Office.

asked the Secretary of State for India when the India Office first discovered that the Indian Government had, in October, 1915, suppressed information as to the availability of reinforcements for Mesopotamia; whether that suppression happened with the knowledge and connivance of Lord Hardinge; whether he has called upon Lord Hardinge for any explanation of this suppression; and, if so, what explanation Lord Hardinge offered?

I do not accept the hon. Member's statement of fact, but if he is referring to paragraph 16 on page 41 of the Report my only knowledge of the circumstances is derived from the Report.

asked the Home Secretary if any special alteration in the usual regulation of street traffic was made in any part of London on Saturday morning, 7th July; and, if so, who was responsible for this step and what was the object of it?

There was no special alteration in the regulation of the street traffic on the morning of 7th July, but after the air raid had taken place the police used their discretion in diverting traffic at one or two places.