asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he will cause inquiries to be made as to the present condition of police pensioners in Dublin, both Royal Irish Constabulary and Dublin Metropolitan Police; whether he is aware that, in consequence of the increased cost of food, many of the men find they are unable to exist on the pensions; is he aware that their average is £1 per week and in some cases as low as 10s.; whether he is also aware that numbers of these men have on various occasions applied to the several military and Government Departments in Dublin for employment, but without success; is he aware that there are numbers of the Royal Irish Constabulary on active service at the depot, being employed as clerks in the Production of Food and other Departments, whose chief duties consist of addressing envelopes; will he state whether the salaries of such men are chargeable to the War Office or are paid for out of the Irish police funds; and will he consider the payment of a war bonus to the police pensioners or providing them with suitable employment such as at present discharged by men on active service?

I am informed that there are only ten pensioners unemployed on the books of the Dublin Metropolitan Police Pensioners' Association, and that most of them were in temporary employment until recently. As regards the Royal Irish Constabulary, I have no special information; but as I stated in reply to the hon. Member for West Ham South on the 30th October, a large number of pensioners retired from the constabulary at their own request in order to obtain their positions. Out of 3,851 men who retired during the ten years 1904 to 1913 no less than 2,358 were men of less than thirty years' service who retired at their own request though they could have served many years longer. The general average of Royal Irish Constabulary pensions is: Ex-Head Constables £71 per annum Ex-Sergeants £53 per annum Ex-Constables £41 per annum The pensions of the Dublin Metropolitan Police are: Under 10s. per week 20 10s. and under 15s. per week 38 15s. and under 20s.per week 168 20s. and under 25s.per week 151 25s. and over 154 I am not aware that Royal Irish Constabulary pensioners have applied to Government Departments in Dublin for employment without success. A number of members of the Royal Irish Constabulary at the depot were employed on clerical work this year in the Department of Agriculture at the urgent request of the Department in connection with the compulsory tillage scheme, but they have now all returned to police duty. Two members of the force are employed on clerical work in the Intelligence Branch of the Headquarters, Irish Command. Their pay is charged to the Constabulary Vote. The conditions of the times affect pensioners from the public service as well as other classes, but I cannot hold out hope of the grant of a war bonus to these pensioners.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether it is intended to grant a war bonus to Royal Irish Constabulary pensioners in Ireland; and if he is aware of the difficulty experienced by the pensioners in existing on their present pensions owing to the cost of living?

The conditions of the times affect pensioners from the public service as well as all other classes, but I cannot hold out hope of the grant of a war bonus to these pensioners.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if he is aware that many Royal Irish Constabulary pensioners in Ireland are in straitened circumstances owing to the present cost of living; and whether it is intended to concede the demand of these men for an increased pension?

I would refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on this subject to the hon. Member for West Ham South on the 30th October.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if he will state the amount of the grant from the Constabulary Force Fund benefits branch paid to each of the two unmarried daughters of the late Pensioner Hynes, who died at Salthill, Galway, about a year ago; if he can state the number of years Pensioner Hynes was a subscriber to the fund and the total amount he contributed to the fund?

Two daughters of the late pensioner John Hynes each received a grant of £11 13s. 2d. from the benefit branch of the Constabulary Force Fund. Hynes subscribed for fifty-eight years, and contributed £33 12s. ld. Under the ordinary rules, children over eighteen are not entitled to any benefit, but, the pensioner's wife having pre-deceased him, the two daughters, though over eighteen years of age, became entitled collectively to one-third of the amount which would have been payable to their mother had she outlived her husband. I am informed that it seldom happens that the amount contributed to the fund exceeds the sum payable to the subscriber's family.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he is aware that between the years 1847–66 the sum of £43,000 was transferred from the Police Reward Fund to the Exchequer towards the payment of imperial pensions to the force; whether in these years a deduction of 2½ per cent. was made on the annual pay of the relative ranks of constable, sergeant, and head constable, £33, £40, and £60, respectively; and whether he will now consider the claims of the Royal Irish Constabulary pensioners by refunding that sum towards the payment of a war bonus in addition to any other contribution the Government may award them in response to their present demands?

In the period mentioned a sum of £42,809 was transferred from the Constabulary Force Fund to the Superannuation Fund of the constabulary Force, which at that time under an Act of 1836 was maintained by a deduction of 2 per cent. from the pay of the force. The transfer was not in contravention of the Statute. In addition to the deduction from pay which lasted up to 1866, there was ½per cent. deduction for the Constabulary Force Fund. These deductions were made from all ranks. In 1866 the deduction for the Pension Fund was abolished and all liability for pension charges was taken over by the Exchequer. In 1891 Parliament voted £150,000 to insure the ability of the Constabulary Force Fund to pay in full all claims which might arise against it under past and existing rules. The sum diverted from the fund between 1847 and 1856 (no transfer was made after that year) has therefore been more than repaid already.

asked under what statute or Order the Great Northern Railway Company discriminate amongst third class passengers travelling on the evening mail from Belfast to Dublin by preventing those from Londonderry and Strabane from travelling; is this company under a statutory duty to give the preference, in cases of limited seating accommodation, to passengers whose journey is longest: and is this rule disregarded in this case by the company?

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he is aware that one of the by-laws of the Great Northern Railway Company (Ireland) permits the company, in cases where the train is overcrowded, to remove therefrom passengers whose journeys are shorter in order to accommodate those who have furthest to travel; if he will say whether passengers whose journey is longer have a right to be carried in preference to those whose journey is shorter; and, if so, if he will explain how the preference which the company at present attempts to extend to third-class passengers from Belfast, Dundalk and Drogheda travelling on the evening mail from Belfast to Dublin at the expense of third-class passengers from Londonderry, Strabane, and Dungannon is justified?

The railway company is under no statutory obligation to convey third-class passengers by all trains. The by-law referred to is not peculiar to the Great Northern (Ireland) Railway. It is adopted by railway companies generally. It is made to meet certain eventualities, but I am informed that in practice it is rarely, if ever, acted upon. I am assured that the company do not extend preference to third-class passengers from Belfast, Dundalk, and Drogheda to Dublin at the expense of passengers from London- derry, Strabane, and Dungannon. No third-class passengers (other than military) are conveyed from Belfast to Dublin by the train in question; no third-class passengers (other than military) are conveyed from Dundalk to Dublin by that train, and no third-class passengers (other than military) are conveyed from Drogheda to Dublin by that train.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War what use will be made of the accumulated reserve of the Expeditionary Force canteen?

Any ultimate surplus funds derived from the trading of the Expeditionary Force canteens will be devoted to the welfare of the soldiers, under the orders of the Army Council, and in such manner as they, in their discretion, may think fit.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether there are many men in the Army with little or no pre-war experience of horse-shoeing employed as farriers and in some cases as farrier-sergeants, whilst there are many qualified farriers who hold the A.F.C.L. degree of the Farriers' Company who are variously engaged in the Army on noncombatant work unconnected with farriery; and, if so, will he take steps to prevent such waste of skilled men?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer which I gave on 23rd October to my hon. Friend the Member for Central Edinburgh.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether he has received a copy of the resolution of the Cork Corporation with reference to the system of employment in the Army Pay Office, Cork, and certain grievances which the civilian staff there complain of; whether some clerks now employed there in the lower grade were formerly in the higher grade but were discharged and replaced by soldier clerks, and afterwards re-employed in the lower grade on the assurance that their employment would be permanent, but are now informed that they are temporary clerks though their salaries are lower than those of temporary clerks; whether female clerks have recently, in several cases, been taken on for a week's trial and then dispensed with, notwithstanding favourable reports, and replaced by other female clerks who in turn are similarly treated; whether female clerks when employed are only paid 6s. per week and 4s. war bonus; whether he is aware that a clerk named William Clifford was dismissed without notice for bringing the grievances of the staff under the notice of the authorities, leading to the resignation of ten other clerks as a protest; and whether he will have inquiry made as to the present management of this office and have Clifford and his companions reinstated?

Inquiry is being made, and I will inform the hon. Member of the result.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether he is aware that all soldiers' families in receipt of separation allowance are charged 3s. per day for women and 2s. per day for children for admittance and attendance in the Louise Margaret Hospital, Alder-shot; and whether he will favourably consider the possibility of abolishing this charge and thus make the treatment of all soldiers' relatives identical?

As a general rule, wives and families of soldiers obtain hospital treatment from the usual civil sources without further cost to the public. Admission to the Louise Margaret Hospital at Aldershot is a matter of privilege, not of right, and the charges made are estimated to cover only actual out-of-pocket expenses. I am afraid I cannot adopt my hon. Friend's suggestion.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether there is in bond at the present time a very large quantity of whisky, brandy, and other spirits; and whether, in consequence of the shortage; steps will be taken in order that larger quantities may be released?

I have been asked to reply. I must refer the hon. and gallant Member to the answer given on this point yesterday to the hon. Member for Dublin Harbour.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the Treasury has vetoed the Manx Estates Duties Bill which earmarked certain proposed duties primarily to a fund for establishing old age pensions in the Isle of Man, and whether he has received a remonstrance from the House of Keys on this subject, and will he state the reasons for the decision of the Treasury?

By the direction of His Majesty's Government a full Memorandum has been laid before the Tynwald Court by the Lieutenant-Governor explaining the reasons for their decision. I am sending a copy to the hon. Member.

asked what is the difference between a third-grade teachers' maximum salary under the old system and under the new one?

The maximum salary exclusive of capitation Grant of a third-grade male teacher is £84, and under the new proposals will be £102. In the case of women the figures are £72 and £88, respectively.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether the secretaries of the Board of National Education submitted the memorial of the paper-promoted Irish national teachers to the Commissioners at a regular meeting of the Board; whether it was considered by them; if so, what decision did the majority arrive at; whether he is aware that the Commissioners were hertofore willing to pay this money; if he will say on what grounds they have now altered their opinion; and whether, seeing that these teachers are highly efficient, he proposes to take any action in connection with the Board's refusal of the wages covenanted for?

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether the Commissioners of National Education still persist in withholding from the paper-promoted teachers the arrears of grade salary which are legally due to them under rules sanctioned by the Treasury; how many of these teachers have applied to the Board's secretaries since the recent Debate on the Irish Education Estimates for the money wrongly withheld from them, and what is the amount so claimed; has the memorial of these teachers appeared on the agenda for and been considered by the Commissioners at a regular meeting of the Board, and with what result; whether he is aware that, in addition to the two wrongs already perpetrated on these men, the injustice, if not rectified, will lessen the salaries of some of them under the new scheme, and that it has diminished the pensions of those who have been superannuated; and if he will ask the Board and the Treasury to redress this penalty on these public servants by paying the moneys claimed?

I assume the memorial was submitted to the Commissioners of National Education in the usual way. It has been submitted to me with a Report from the Commissioners, which has been duly considered. The decision of such a matters rests with the Treasury. As I informed the hon. Member for West Cork on the 12th November, a concession was made to these teachers in September, 1913, by increasing the authorised number of places for teachers with first-grade salary, and I cannot hold out any hope of securing a further concession in respect of such promotions. Some teachers have applied to the Commissioners since the Debate on the Irish education proposals, but without an exhaustive examination the precise number or the amount of money involved cannot be ascertained.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he is aware that in certain localities in England the possession of special qualifications by elementary teachers is rewarded by special bonuses; whether similar rules apply to the teachers of Irish primary schools; whether, under the results system, the passing of an examination shortened the period of promotion to first class by four years; whether the passing the diploma in education examination shortens the period by one year; and whether the State puts less monetary value on high qualifications now than it did twenty years ago?

The Commissioners of National Education are not aware of the conditions under which special bonuses are awarded to teachers in England. As to the rest of the question, I would refer the hon. Member to the answer to a question on the subject by the hon. Member for South Down on the 7th November.