asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the German submarine U 52 was. towed into Cadiz by a Spanish torpedo boat on 11th June and released on 29th June; whether he can state the nature of the repairs carried out and what representations were made by the Allied Governments to induce the Spanish Government to comply with the customary procedure of internment; and what are to be the future rules governing such cases in Spanish waters?

The U C 52 was sighted in Spanish territorial waters on 11th June and was escorted into Cadiz by Spanish warships. She was towed in, I believe, by a pilot tug. According to the statement of the Spanish Government she had suffered damage to her starting motors which rendered navigation impossible.

The Allied Government made all possible representations for her internment, but the Spanish Government considered themselves bound to apply the rules ordinarily applicable to belligerent warships visiting neutral ports, as contained in the XIIIth Hague Convention of 1907, and to allow the submarine to depart after such repairs had been effected as were strictly necessary to make her navigable. She actually left Cadiz on 29th June.

On the same day the Spanish Government issued a decree imposing internment on belligerent submarines which entered Spanish territorial waters in the future under any circumstances whatever. As the hon. and gallant Member is no doubt aware, a German submarine, the U-B. 23, which entered Corunna ostensibly to repair damage on the 29th ultimo has been interned in accordance with this decree.

asked the Prime Minister whether he will give an assurance that no Bill will be introduced to establish a Ministry of Health until consultation has been had on the Government proposals with leading Local Government authorities, representatives of approved societies, and other bodies affected, and until at least an outline of the proposed changes has been made available to the public?

No Bill will be introduced without full consultation with the parties interested.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury (l) whether, having regard to the fact that ex-soldier candidates will enter the various clerical grades of the Civil Service at an age two or three years in advance of the maximum age of entry, they will be allowed to commence on the salary scales at rates in excess of the minima, particularly in the case of such appointments as Post Office sorting clerks and telegraphists, clerks to surveyors of taxes, and assistant clerks; and (2) whether any decision has been arrived at by the Treasury as to the procedure by which ex-soldiers will be allowed to compete for situations in the Civil Service after the War?

I do not think it is possible at the present stage to lay down in detail the arrangements which may prove necessary after the War. I recognise the difficulties which may arise from appointments being made at an age materially in excess of that at which service in the various grades ordinarily begins, and I hope it may be found practicable to provide for them.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food why only 12,600 tons of maize has been allowed to Cork city and county for the months of May, June, and July, although Cork is the largest county in Ireland, with forty-eight corn millers; whether he is aware that these mills have been frequently closed down during these months for want of corn, while two other counties, Londonderry and Kerry, with few millers, have not only had larger supplies, but in excess of their needs; if the Food Controller will take steps to supply the needs of Cork city and county; and is he aware that, by acting in the future as he has acted in the past, he will bring about the ruin of an industry, important to the manufacturers, farmers, and labourers of the county of Cork?

The maize imports, exclusive of transhipment, into Cork during January-July of this year were 31,000 tons, or 1,000 tons in excess of the imports during the corresponding period of last year, and there is a further quantity of 9,000 tons in passage. The Cork importers have recently informed the Royal Commission on Wheat Supplies that there is no reason for complaint concerning the allocation of cargoes to that city and county

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether he is aware that the late Food Controller, in view of the fact that he allowed farmers to charge winter prices for their milk in April last instead of summer prices, according to the usual practice, promised the retail dairy traders that he would allow them, by way of some compensation for the loss thus incurred by them, to charge a correspondingly increased price for milk during the latter part of the summer; and whether he will take steps in order that such promise may be redeemed?

The Advisory Committee on Milk appointed by Lord Devonport made a recommendation to the effect stated in the question, but no promise was ever given, nor was it thought advisable that this recommendation should be carried into effect.

asked the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland) if he has made any representations as regards the price of Irish butter being 17s. per cwt. lower than Danish or Colonial; and, if so, with what result?

The interests of the Irish butter trade are in the hands of a committee selected by the trade. This committee attends the meetings of the body which makes recommendations as to prices to the Food Controller. The Department of Agriculture have not received any complaint from the Irish committee or from the traders whom that committee represents as to prices fixed for Irish butter.

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland if his attention has been called to the fact that a new industry of colour printing on satin which has been developed in Ireland since the commencement of the War, and which was previously in the hands of Germany, is now threatened with destruction owing to the issue of an Order by the Royal Commission on Paper prohibiting the insertion of insets in packets of cigarettes; and if he will state what action he proposes to take to protect this industry from extinction and to prevent a number of persons from being thrown out of employment?

My right hon. Friend has asked me to reply to this question. At present I can only refer the hon. Baronet to the reply given this afternoon to a similar question by the hon. Member for South Kerry.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether orders were issued for an Admiralty vessel to be provided to convey the right hon. Member for Barnard Castle and his party to France on their recent visit?

As I stated in my reply to the Noble Lord on the 1st of August, all that was done was to reserve accommodation for the party in the mail boat. It is not the fact that an Admiralty vessel was provided for the conveyance of the party.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether the right hon. Member for Barnard Castle and the hon. Member for Leicester were conveyed to France at the expense of the Government; and, if so, whether similar facilities will be granted to other Members of Parliament desiring to visit France even though their journey is not on Government business nor undertaken at the request of the Government?

I must refer the Noble Lord to the reply I gave him on the 1st of August.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether, in view of the need for expediting the output of aeroplanes, he will consider the desirability of facilitating transfers, rather than preventing them, of men who are of low medical category but who are skilled joiners, carpenters, mechanics, and other allied trades, to the Army Reserve for utilising their services in the aeroplane factories of this country?

If my hon. Friend is referring to applications for release by the Ministry of Munitions, which have been refused as the men applied for were employed at their trade as military artificers, I would remind him that it is usually not possible to spare such men for return to civil employment.

asked the Undersecretary of State for War whether he can state how many trade union officials have been granted exemption from military service on the ground that they are doing work of national importance; and whether their certificates can be withdrawn at any time, with the result that they are under the control of the War Office?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the negative. Exempted trade union officials are not under the control of the War Office.

asked the Undersecretary of State for War whether he can state how many editors and leader writers have secured exemption from military service on grounds other than medical; and whether their certificates of exemption can be withdrawn at any time, with the result that they are under the control of the War Office?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the negative. Exempted editors and leader writers are not under the control of the War Office.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether Emanuel Ribiero, a conscientious objector who has been forcibly fed, is now regarded as insane, and is in that part of the hospital reserved for mental cases; and, if so, whether there is any object in still retaining him in the Army?

I am not aware that Ribiero has been regarded as insane. There is no lunatic side of this hospital. In regard to the last part of the question, I would refer my Noble Friend to the answer given on 30th July to my hon. Friend the Member for Stirling Burghs.

asked the Undersecretary of State for War why a discharge certificate has been refused to Mr. F. Brand, 34, Northbank Road, Waltham-stow, who ten weeks ago was discharged by the Army medical board but was given no certificate, being told that it would be sent from the local recruiting office; why the recruiting officer at Artillery House, Stratford, has informed Mr. Brand that there is no record at the Shoreditch Medical Board that he had been discharged, whereas a letter was written to Mr. Brand from the headquarters, East London recruiting area, Artillery House, Stratford, a fortnight before, saying that Mr. Brand's discharge certificate was then under consideration and would be sent to him as soon as authority was received; and will instructions be given at once for the discharge certificate to be issued in accordance with the decision of the medical board?

I am informed that the medical board did not find this man to be totally and permanently unfit for any form of military service, but they are prepared to do so if Mr. Brand produces conclusive evidence that he is a sufferer from epilepsy. The evidence which he has produced so far is not that of a person holding medical degrees or qualification. If Mr. Brand produces the medical evidence required to determine the condition from which he has suffered the medical board will be able to deal with his case.

asked the Undersecretary of State for War if he is aware that Driver Robert Peake, No. 16148, 165th Brigade, County Palatine, Royal Field Artillery, was before enlistment working for Messrs. Withnell, brick and terracotta company, Withnell, near Chorley, Lancashire; if he is aware that the firm in question appealed for him to be released for Government work and that he was granted release on 30th October, 1915; if he is aware that in the district a concilia- tion board has been appointed for the purpose of settling all disputes; and that the firm in question have refused to pay the rates and wages agreed upon by the conciliation board; if he is aware that the workmen employed at Withnell's appointed Driver Peake as delegate to the conciliation board and also as shop steward for the works; if he is aware that the National Union of General Workers, of which Driver Peake is a member, has applied to the firm to pay the proper rates of wages; if he is aware that the foreman of the firm threatened Driver Peake that he would have him sent back to the Army unless he left his trade union and gave up his delegation and shop stewardship; is he aware that the conciliation board in the district recently granted a halfpenny an hour advance for all engaged in the trade, and that the firm in question have refused to grant such an advance, and that the firm have been successful in having Driver Peake sent back to his Colours again in consequence of his being the workmen's delegate; and, seeing that the firm is controlled, if he will take any action in the matter?

The services of Driver Peake were placed at the disposal of the Ministry of Munitions on 21st October, 1915, until such time as that Department found his retention in civil life was no longer necessary in the national interest, or alternatively unt the Army Council required his services again. I have no information as to the other matters raised in the question, and my hon. Friend should address his question to my right hon. Friend the Minister of Munitions.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether soldiers in the Army Pay Corps are eligible for the position of assistant paymaster; whether he is aware of the discontent among the soldiers in this corps at the practice of putting young men civilians who have had no previous experience into the position of assistant paymaster; and whether steps can be taken to secure the promotion of suitable men among the soldiers to these positions?

Soldiers of the Army Pay Corps are eligible for promotion to assistant paymasters, and forty-one have been so promoted during the War. Civilians are appointed acting paymasters, but soldiers not on the permanent staff are also eligible for these posts, and 100 have already been appointed.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether his attention has been called to the circumstances of the case of the late Private J. Stead, No. 6012, of the 2/5th Highland Light Infantry, who died of tuberculosis on 20th May, 1917; and whether he will grant an inquiry into the behaviour of Major Bennett, at Bradford Moor Barracks, who is, or was, presumably, the medical officer there, and to whom the lad was taken by his father on 29th January in the hope of receiving protection for his son, who was then obviously ill and unfit to return to his unit after being at home on leave?

I will call for a further report on this case, and will inform my hon. Friend as soon as I am in a position to do so.

asked the Undersecretary of State for War whether a man classified as C 2 is considered fit for service in a labour company in France; if not, whether he is aware that there are such men now serving in labour companies in France who are physically unfit for the work; and whether he will have such men relieved and brought home, where they can do necessary work under conditions more suitable to their physical health?

Category C signifies fit for North-Western Europe, which, therefore, takes in France. Any men who are physically unfit for the work to which they are put are either given suitable employment or are sent home.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War if he is aware that the men of the 49th Training Reserve Battalion, Prees Heath Camp, who are classified B1 and lower categories, are now being prepared for the duties of Class 1 men; if he is aware that, owing to the inability of the men to stand the hardship of the training, the sick parade of the battalion is now very much larger; and what steps he proposes to take to alter this state of things?

"Recruits below categories B 1 and C 1 will on joining be put through a special course of physical training, squad drill without arms, and graduated exercises at the discretion of the Commanding Officer in consultation with the medical officer of the unit. Any recruits who at the end of six weeks are not considered likely to become A, B 1, or C 1 will be transferred to other units or the Labour Corps. Recruits, on the other hand, who are considered as likely to become A, B 1, or C 1 will start their fourteen weeks recruits' training as soon as considered fit."

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War on what date the Great Central Hotel was transferred to the War Office and became a convalescent home for British officers; and whether the hotel staff was taken over as it was at the time of the transfer or whether careful selection was made, with inquiry into the antecedents of those members of the staff whose services were retained?

This hotel was taken over on 10th October, 1916. With the exception of those who resigned at their own request, the staff was taken over as it then stood. Their antecedents were carefully gone into. Germans and Austrians had already been discharged by the hotel company on the outbreak of war.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War if he will see that Mrs. Katherine Kennedy, 11, Lower Gardiner Street, Dublin, shall be paid the Government separation allowance; if he is aware that her son, Private John Kennedy, No. 260371, Army Service Corps, attached to A Battery 104, allows her 6d. per day, Ring Paper No. K/S 296,166; if he is aware that previous to joining the Army he allowed his widowed mother 26s. per week; and if he is aware that this woman has had to break up her home and sell her furniture to provide the means of existence for herself and an invalid son?

Inquiry will be made. I will inform my hon. Friend of the result in due course.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office why those who purchase horses for the Army in the North of Ireland are allowed to pay 10 per cent. more for them than in the South and West?

The horses bought in the North of Ireland are mostly draught horses, and their market value is at the present time higher than that of Cavalry troopers bought in the South of Ireland.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether, when a soldier insures under the National Health Insurance Act, he is informed that in the event of earning a pension the amount payable under the National Insurance Act will be reduced; whether he is aware that the Prudential Approved Society for Men, Holborn Bars, E.C., has refused to pay Sergeant Bernard Brady, No. 3,060,417, more than 5s. per week; and if he will have this case fully investigated?

I understand that Sergeant Brady was granted a total disablement pension as from the 21st September 1916, and in accordance with the provisions of the National Insurance (Part I. — Amendment) Act, 1915, the amount of sickness benefit to which a person in receipt of a total disablement pension is entitled is reduced by 5s. per week so long as the total disablement pension continues. The pension was reduced from one for total disablement to one for partial disablement from the 22nd March, 1917, so that from this date the reduction in benefit ceases.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether the Royal Field Artillery, to the number of 1,500, have been removed from Ballincollig without being replaced by any other troops; and, if so, whether it is now intended to leave the Ballincollig Barracks, which were erected at a cost of £100,000, lying idle?

Ballincollig is only temporarily vacant, and will be re-occupied at an early date by other troops.

asked the Undersecretary of State for War if proficiency pay is granted to ex-soldiers and Territorials who have had two years' service before the War; and whether it applies to men who have served in the Royal Navy also?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative, provided that, in the case of the Territorial, he attended camp for fifteen days each year. The answer to the last part is in the negative.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he is aware of the dissatisfaction in the Army on account of the practice of giving a man acting rank as a non-commissioned officer and then, if the man is transferred to another unit, reducing him to a private, where he is classed and drilled with raw recruits, although he may have served for a considerable time at the front; and whether he will have the whole matter reconsidered and see if it is possible to allow a man to retain the rank to which he is promoted?

This question is now under consideration in so far as the interchange of non-commissioned officers between units at home and abroad is concerned. All promotion given at home must be "acting" only as, if it were substantive, difficulties and injustice would result by the supersession in Expeditionary Forces of experienced non-commissioned officers by inexperienced men from home.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he will have inquiry made into the circumstances of three policemen in plain clothes belonging to the Dublin Metropolitan Police visiting the Army Ordnance Department, Island Bridge, Dublin, on the 8th May, 1916, to make inquiry respecting two officials employed there; whether the policemen reported their presence to the officer in charge who was on duty at the time or whether they communicated with other officials; and whether the persons to whom the police communicated the purpose of their visit informed the officer in charge?

I would refer the lion. Member to the answer given on 4th July by my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to my hon. Friend the Member for the College Green Division of Dublin.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether the war bonus given to civil subordinates under the Irish Command Order, No 1253, of the 20th June last was in the first instance paid to the barrack labourers employed at the Fermoy Barracks as storemen, gas and water men, and chimney sweep, at the rate of 5s. per week but was afterwards said not to be payable, with the result that the three men employed in the capacities mentioned were ordered to refund the bonus paid to

them on the 29th June; whether the bonus, in question is payable to all civil subordinates; and, if not, why this distinction is made as regards the employés referred to and what category they really belong: to?

I have no information as to the particular cases referred to,, but barrack labourers at Fermoy are not entitled to a 5s. bonus.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether private soldiers are required, when drawing pay accrued during active service, to affix a penny receipt stamp to the postal order before it can be cashed; and, if so, how long the Regulation has been in force and what are the reasons for it?

No, Sir. They are exempt under the Stamp Act, 54 and 55 Viet., Capt. 39.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office if he will state the rates of wages and the war bonuses paid to the following classes of labour at the depots of the Army Ordnance Department at Woolwich, Pimlico, Dover, Pembroke Dock, Harwich, and York, namely, to principal foremen, foremen, assistant foremen, and foremen writers?

The rates are as follows:

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that several well-known London firms having valuable goods in bond have repeatedly addressed communications with regard to licences for the same to the Controller of Import Restrictions, to which they cannot obtain any replies, and that meanwhile the Board of Customs has informed the said firms that unless they obtain licences to clear before dates now nearly due (in one case the 9th instant) the goods will be seized and the consignees deprived of their value, amounting to many thousands of pounds; and whether he proposes to take any action in the matter?

I cannot identify the firms or the consignments which the hon. Gentleman has in mind without further particulars, but it is quite possible that he is referring to cases which, I am sorry to say, are not infrequent, in which the importers have brought prohibited goods to this country without first obtaining the authority of the Board of Trade in the expectation that a licence will be granted when the goods have arrived. The hon. Member will see that if firms who thus infringe the law are permitted to profit by the infringement, the whole scheme of import restrictions, which is of vital necessity in order to economise tonnage, will be undermined.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether in view of the fact that out of sixteen members of the Board of Trade Committee on Electricity Supply there are no members distinctively representing the lighting companies working under Provisional Orders, and that the interests of the industry are often widely divergent from those of power companies or municipalities, he will nominate members to represent these companies?

There are two members of the Committee who are directors of the lighting companies working under Provisional Orders. As my right hon. Friend informed the hon. and gallant Member for Christchurch on the 11th July, he is of opinion that the Committee as at present constituted is sufficiently representative of all bodies owning electricity undertakings and he is not prepared to make any further additions to it.

asked the Secretary to the Board of Trade whether arrangements can be made in certain well-authenticated cases of chronic invalids that a limited supply of petrol will be granted?

I much regret that the shortage of supplies of petrol will not permit the issue of licences to those owners of private motor cars who do not use them for business purposes or public duties.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he has received a memorial from the temporary sorters in Dublin respecting dismissals; and, if so, whether he will arrange a satisfactory settlement?

I have received a memorial protesting against the discharge of certain temporary sorters at Dublin to make room for disabled soldiers. The disabled soldiers have, in my opinion, a stronger claim on the State, and I see no reason to reverse the action taken.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether his attention has been called to a resolution adopted at the congress of the Irish Technical Instruction Association, held in Dublin on 30th and 31st May, 1917, expressing its sense of the necessity for prompt action in the further development of technical education in Ireland and requesting the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction to urge on the Government the claims of Ireland for a full share of any public funds allocated to educational purposes in the United Kingdom, having regard to the fact that the War has brought into prominence the importance to these countries of technical, agricultural, and scientific-education, from which Ireland is debarred through want of funds; and, seeing that the congress was convinced of the need for co-operation between the primary, the intermediate, and technical branches of education, and that, in the construction of a broad educational system for Ireland due regard should be had to the exceptional conditions of the country and to its claims for the liberal and sympathetic consideration of the Imperial Parliament, will he say whether, in conformity with this resolution, the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland has submitted a statement to the Treasury of the additional amount required annually for the purposes of technical education in Ireland; and, if this statement has been received, whether a copy of it will be laid upon the Table?

The attention of the Department of Agriculture has been drawn to the resolution referred to. The necessity for obtaining additional funds for the purposes mentioned has received careful consideration in consultation between the Department of Agriculture, the Agricultural Board and the Board of Technical Instruction, and detailed proposals have been formulated. It is not intended to lay them on the Table of the House.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether the proposed scale of salaries and regular increments for Irish teachers will be made to apply in the case of lay assistants employed in convent and monastery schools?

The proposed new scale of salaries and increments will not apply to recognised lay assistants in convent and monastery schools paid by capitation, but it will apply to all teachers of other convent and monastery schools. In the schools paid by capitation the minimum salary of a recognised lay assistant will be £64 per annum; the present minimum is £44 for trained and £40 for untrained lay assistants.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether assistant teachers in Irish national schools who under the old rules were classed second will, under the new rules, have placed to their credit the time served in second grade?

Under the new scheme of salaries it is proposed to take account of a teacher's present grade and the length of his service in that grade when assigning to him a new grade salary.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether assistant teachers in Ireland with five years' service and over, and who are at present in receipt of a yearly bonus of £9, will still retain this sum apart from their grade salaries under the proposed new scheme; will assistant teachers who are in receipt of capitation also continue to receive this amount apart from their grade salaries; whether, in the case of assistants who have been at the maximum of third grade for, say, eight or ten years, past services will be taken into account when fixing their salaries according to the proposed new rates; and will such teachers who have given efficient service pass automatically into second grade?

The bonus is included in the new grade salaries, and no further payments of capitation grant will be made to assistant teachers. Assistant teachers at the maximum of the third grade will receive the maximum salary of the new third grade, and if such teachers have been a year or more at the maximum of the third grade and have complied with the requisite conditions of efficiency and are trained or excused from training under the Regulations hitherto in force they will be promoted to the second grade forthwith.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if he is aware that there is dissatisfaction amongst the assistant teachers in Ireland both with regard to the amount of the proposed equivalent grant for Irish education and its distribution; if the new scheme will involve an actual loss of income to the women teachers in Grade III. and an increase of only 5s. a year in the incomes of the men teachers in this grade; while the increases in maximum income in Grade II. are for men £2 5s. yearly and for women £l 15s. yearly; and if it is proposed to reconsider the details of the distribution of the grant so as to provide a greater equality of benefit as between principals and assistants?

The Commissioners of National Education have received from certain assistant teachers in Belfast a statement expressing dissatisfaction with the new scheme of salaries. The new scheme involves a great improvement in the emoluments of assistant teachers. The statements in the question comparing the possible maxima of the present scale of emoluments of assistant teachers with those fixed under the new scheme are correct, but the latter will be available for all assistant teachers irrespective of the Average attendance of the pupils, and will be reached after a very much shorter period of service and upon much less exacting conditions of efficiency. The answer to the last part of the question is in the negative.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he has received a resolution from the Armagh County Council protesting against the closing of Ballinahinch school; whether it is proposed that its present teacher, a principal for thirty-five years and holding the highest qualifications, is to become an assistant to a young man only twelve months a principal; and if an inquiry will be held into all the circumstances surrounding this experiment.

A copy of the resolution passed at a meeting of the Armagh County Council on the 24th ultimo has been received by the Commissioners of National Education. When ordering the amalgamation of Richhill No. 1 and No. 2 and Ballinahinch National Schools in the Richhill No. 1 Schoolhouse, it was decided that the teachers of Richhill No. 2 and Ballinahinch National Schools should be recognised as privileged assistants in the combined school. The principal teacher of the Richhill No. 1 National School, who is now recognised as principal teacher of the combined school, and who is referred to as "a young man only twelve months a principal," is a trained teacher, forty-two years of age, of nearly twenty-three years' service, and fully qualified to act as principal of any national school. In recognising this teacher as principal of the amalgamated school the Commissioners had regard to the religious denomination of the pupils, the great majority of whom belong to the late Established Church. Before finally approving of the amalgamation of these schools the Commissioners considered all the circumstances of the case, and representations received from parties concerned. They see no necessity for holding any further inquiry into the matter.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if he will have inquiry made into the case of Roger M'Dermott, of Bunninadden, county Sligo, whose claim to an old age pension was granted by the Tobercurry sub-committee, but appealed against by the pension officer; and when the appeal will be decided?

The case of Roger M'Dermott has been referred to an inspector of the Local Government Board for investigation.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he is aware that, at the time of the introduction of the 1903 Land Act, the late Mr. Wyndham said that the Estates Commissioners would not be required to act in a legal capacity; whether he is aware that one of the three appointed at that time was a Roman Catholic, and that there is a vacancy in the staff just now; and, if so, will it be filled; whether it is usual that such a vacancy should be filled by promotion; and, in view of that fact, will due consideration be given to applicants who have been in the service of the Estates Commissioners for fourteen years and who enjoy the confidence of all sections and classes but who are without legal qualifications; whether the Commissioners have a legal adviser which ought to be quite sufficient to meet their requirements; and will care be taken to see that an eminent and experienced official is not ruled out because he is a Catholic and because certain barriers had been raised against him by the legal profession who desire to see one of their own appointed?

I believe Mr. Wyndham said that the Estates Commissioners were to be administrative officers subject to the control of the Government and to the criticism of this House, and that the point he emphasised was that they should not have a judicial tenure. The position of the Commissioners was subsequently altered by the Evicted Tenants (Ireland) Act, 1907 which gave them the tenure of County Court judges. One of the original Commissioners was a Roman Catholic, and he was succeeded by a member of the staff of the Land Commission. The appointment is not of a class which is usually filled by promotion. Before the present vacancy is filled the claims of all the candidates will be carefully considered. Certainly no candidate will be ruled out on the ground of religious belief.

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that in many rural districts in Ireland, and more especially around small villages, poor people have found it impossible to acquire any land for tillage without having to pay exorbitant prices; and will steps be taken to give powers to acquire such land at reasonable rents, so that those who are most in need might be first served?

I am told that in rural districts very little difficulty has hitherto been experienced by the labouring classes and other persons in getting land for the purpose of tillage. Rural district councils are empowered to take land by agreement for a short term of years for the purpose of being parcelled up into allotments to labourers living in neighbouring villages and towns other than urban districts, and as the result of the extensive operations under the Labourers Acts, 17,335 tenants of labourers' cottages have already been provided with gardens not exceeding half a statute acre, 2,414 with between half an acre and three-fourths of an acre, and 27,600 between three-fourths and a statute acre.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if he is aware that, owing to the accidental death of the proprietor of the Clogrennan Lime Works, near Carlow, in April, 1916, the works have been shut down and many men thrown out of employment; if he is aware that the surrounding districts were supplied from these works, and the closing down of the same has resulted in inconvenience to the district and the removal of a source of employment; and whether the Department of Agriculture will undertake the working of the lime industry in the district, or, in the alternative, whether a Grant will be made to help on this local industry if some capital could be raised locally to revive the industry?

I am informed that the facts are as stated in the question. This industry is a matter for private enterprise, and the Department of Agriculture are not in a position to undertake its working or to make a Grant or a loan. The district will be visited by a mineral expert, and a report made to the Department at an early date.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if he is aware that 118 acres of land in Killeshin, Queen's County, occupied by a Mr. John Whelan, is about to be sold, and that hitherto this land has been let to a grazier on the eleven-months' system; if he is aware that this land is situate in practically a congested district containing a number of small bog holdings, the occupiers of which have to go from seven to ten miles into county Carlow to take conacre land for potatoes; if he is aware that for years these occupiers, condemned to a miserable existence, have been agitating to induce the Estates Commissioners to acquire suitable land in the district for division without success; and whether he will see that the Estates Commissioners get into immediate communication with the owner, Mr. Whelan, for the purpose of acquiring these lands for allotment amongst the small holders of the district?

I am informed that Mr. Whelan is not selling the land referred to. The district in which it is situated is fairly closely populated, but the people are able to get conacre for potatoes in the vicinity. One or two have taken conacre to suit their own convenience in the county Carlow, which is only a couple of miles from Killeshin. The lands have already been sold under the Land Purchase Acts, and the Estates Commissioners are precluded from making any further advance in respect of lands subject to a purchase annuity.

asked the Secretary of State for India whether he is aware that the proposed licensing of the importation and sale of ganja in Burma has aroused opposition in the province; whether his attention has been called to the resolutions passed by public meetings protesting against the opening of ganja shops on the ground that the traffic in intoxicating liquors and drugs is. repugnant to the tenets of the Buddhist faith; and whether, in deference to Burmese public opinion on this subject, the proposal will be abandoned?

I will make inquiries as to the facts.

REES asked the Secretary of State for India whether he has any and, if so, what proof that the use of ganja is forbidden by the Buddhist faith?

I am afraid that I have no information on the point.

asked the Secretary of State for India whether he has received a reply from the Government of India to the Memorandum on. Excise Advisory Committees which was submitted for consideration in March, 1916?

No reply has yet been received. I am inquiring of the Government of India when one may be expected.

asked the Secretary of State for India what proportion the administrative expenses of the Excise ' Department in India bears to the total revenue derived from the sale of intoxicating liquors and drugs for the latest period for which statistics are avail- able; how much of this expenditure is devoted to the detection of illicit distillation and sale; and whether steps will be taken to improve the machinery of the Department with a view to the more effective suppression of such practices before sanction is given to extended drinking facilities on the ground of illicit trade?

The latest period for which complete statistics are available is the year ending the 31st March, 1916, in which Excise revenue amounted to £8,632,209 and Excise charges to £470,321, charges thus being nearly 5½ per cent. of revenue. I understand that the greater part of this expenditure represents charges on account of preventive establishments and preventive measure's. It is the policy of the Indian Government—a policy that has my full support—to improve this machinery and to prefer it as generally the most efficacious means of combating illicit trade.

asked the Secretary for Scotland what are the salaries of the male principals, male assistants, female principals, infant mistresses, female assistants, and uncertified assistants of the following schools, attached to St. Mary's Cathedral, St. Patrick's, St. Ann's, St. Columbus's, Glen Street, St. Cuthbert's, St. John's, St. Peter's, St. Ninian's, and St. Mary's, Leith, respectively?

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: