asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if, owing to the difficulty of procuring whisky in Ireland, cases of whisky containing twelve bottles of ten glasses each are selling by public auction at 150s. per case and over, with auction fees; that this whisky cannot be retailed in Ireland at less than twenty-five under proof; and that consequently this whisky costs the publican 1s. 3d. per glass, which he has to retail at 1s. to hold his connection in competition with his richer and more favoured competitors who happen to hold stocks; whether Scotch buyers are coming to Dublin and Belfast and buying this whisky and reducing it to fifty under proof in munition districts, thus creating a competitive demand to the detriment of the smaller Irish publicans, which position will be greatly aggravated during the Christmas festivities, except the Government does something to ameliorate the position; and, under these circumstances, if he will say what action he proposes to take?

I have been asked to reply. I am not aware that the difficulty of procuring whisky in Ireland is greater than in other parts of the United Kingdom. As I stated last Thursday, the Food Controller is considering what steps can best be taken in order to regulate the price of whisky. An announcement will be made so soon as a decision has been reached.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if he will state the number of claims arising out of the rising in Ireland that have not been settled; if he will state the number of claims which the Committee refused to consider and their reasons for so doing; if he will state the number of cases in which the claimants considered the award insufficient and only accepted it under protest; if he is aware that there are three firms in Dublin who cannot rebuild their premises on the compensation offered; and if facilities for the rehearing of their claims will be granted?

Of the 7,001 cases submitted to the Property Losses Committee, 28 were withdrawn, 225 were not proceeded with, 115 were received too late, and certain other claims or parts of claims were held inadmissible as being outside the terms of reference. The number of cases in which claimants accepted awards under protest is not recorded, and it could only be ascertained after a prolonged investigation, the result of which would not be of sufficient importance to justify the expenditure of the time and labour necessary to obtain it. As regards the cases of the three firms to which the hon. Member alludes, I would refer him to a written answer I gave to a question by him on the 29th November.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if he will recommend to the Government the advisability of paying to their employés in Ireland the same rates of pay as are granted in Great Britain for similar work; and when the employés of the Army Ordnance Department and the employés of the remount depots may expect a living wage?

As to the first part of the question, I would refer the hon. Member to the answers to his questions on the 12th March and 1st November. The other matters mentioned have been dealt with by the representative of the War Office in reply to the hon. Member on the 28th November and 3rd December, and in reply to the hon. Member for Woolwich on the 5th December.

asked the Minister of Munitions whether controlled iron and steel works in this country are instructed to obtain, as far as possible, their supplies of imported iron ore from mining companies under British control or from British merchants; whether a German firm in The Hague is treated in the matter of imports of iron ore in the same way as purely British merchants, and receive from the Government what is virtually a subsidy under the scheme of freighting iron ore to this country; and whether invoices of the German firm referred to are sent from Holland, and the profits realised thereby escape payment of British Income Tax and Excess Profits Duty?

Merchants resident in the United Kingdom who dealt in iron ore during the six months prior to March, 1916, have been included in a list known as the "Approved list of iron ore merchants," and are authorised to deal in iron ore under Regulations laid down by the Ministry of Munitions. As the great bulk of the iron ore required in this country is imported from neutral countries, it has been impossible to exclude citizens of neutral countries from the approved list. If my hon. Friend will supply me with the name of the firm which he has in mind, I will cause inquiries to be made.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether he is aware that the Cudworth Urban District Council, in defiance of the existing situation in regard to local elections, have refused to fill the vacancy created by the death of a Labour member by the nominee of the Barnsley and District Trades and Labour Council and the local branch of the Yorkshire Miners' Association; and what action he proposes to take?

I have been in communication with the urban district council with regard to this matter. Under Section 1 (2) of the Elections and Registration Act, 1915, the council have a discretion as to the person whom they may select to fill a casual vacancy, and I have no power to overrule their decision.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether, in order to accelerate the production and distribution of coal and to enable an increasing quantity of coal to be raised per man employed, and to make more effective use of the railway wagons employed, the scarcity and delays of which are causing diminished output at the collieries, and to ameliorate the position which will be caused by the enlistment of large numbers of the younger men employed, he is taking steps to close down temporarily the less productive mines, by which action labour may be transferred to the more productive mines; and will he consider the question of proper maintenance allowance to enable men so transferred to maintain properly their homes during their absence in other districts?

In certain cases the Controller of Coal Mines has already granted permission for the closing down of mines having a low rate of output, and the points to which the hon. Member calls attention are not being overlooked. It is essential, however, that provision should be made for the transfer of the labour that may be displaced to more productive work, and for that purpose the Controller placed before the Miner's Federation of Great Britain a proposal for the institution of mobility bureaus to be worked by the federation. This proposal has now been accepted in principle, and it is hoped that the bureaus will shortly be set up. The provision of separation allowances forms a part of this scheme.

asked the President of the Board of Trade under what power the enemy trade marks, Sanatogen (246,802 and 257,583) and Formamint (264,704), were removed from the Register of Trade Marks, seeing that applications made in 1914 under the Patents, Designs, and Trade Marks (Temporary) Rules Act, 1914, were refused; and whether, in the interests of the trading community, he will use the same power to remove from the Register of Trade Marks other enemy-owned marks which, like the two referred to, are the names of articles the patents for which have expired?

The trade marks in question were removed from the register by the Board on grounds of public interest under the powers conferred by the last paragraph of Rule (1) of the Trade Marks (Temporary) Rules, 1914. The Order was made after careful consideration of evidence which was not available in the former applications. Any suggestions for the removal of marks of the character referred to by the hon. Member will, of course, be carefully considered, but it is desirable that applications for such removals should be made in the ordinary way under Rule (1).

asked the Postmaster-General whether his attention has been called to complaints respecting an order issued at Rugeley Camp and at Prees Heath Camp requiring members of the Post Office staffs to perform Sunday duty from midnight Saturday until seven o'clock Sunday morning, a period of seven hours, for mere disturbance pay, namely, at the rate of 1s. for each disturbance; is he aware that this practice is regarded as a serious departure from the Regulation rates for Sunday duty; and will he make inquiry into the matter with a view to a satisfactory solution of the question referred to?

I am having inquiry made, and will communicate with the hon. Member.

asked the Postmaster General if he is aware that inconvenience is likely to be caused to a number of postal servants by the alterations which the Midland Railway Company contemplate making in their train-running arrangements during the Christmas week; and whether he will communicate with the Railway Executive Committee with a view to the running of the 9.7 a.m. train from St. Pancras to East Ham and the 8.10 p.m. train ten minutes later over the same route on Christmas Day, thereby avoiding for the men concerned a two-hours' wait in each case?

I am communicating with the Railway Executive Committee, and will let the hon. Member know the result.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether His Majesty's Government maintains one or more British officers or agents at the Société Suisse de Surveillance in Switzerland for the purpose of satisfying himself that agreements entered into between this society and His Majesty's Government are duly carried out; and, if not, what means has he of knowing that goods exported from this country to Switzerland, which may be of value for war purposes if passed to the Central Empires, are not so used?

There are no agreements between the Société Suisse de Sur- veillance and His Majesty's Government. The society is a body created by an agreement between the Allied Governments, including His Majesty's Government and the Swiss Government, and charged, under that instrument, with the duty of distributing to Swiss consumers commodities imported from or through Allied countries. It is responsible to the Swiss Government and to the Allies for the proper control of these imports in accordance with fixed rules. It carries out these duties in close co-operation with representatives of the Allied Government at Berne, including the Assistant Commercial Attaché to His Majesty's Legation, to whom it supplies full information and assistance whenever required. Every precaution is taken to secure that the agreements under which the society works are loyally and efficiently carried out, and I believe that this result is attained.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if he can state the number of subscribers, officers, and men, to the Constabulary Force Fund (benefit branch) who died while serving, and on pension, during the five years from 1st April, 1912, to 31st March, 1917; if he can state the number of grants made during that period to widows and children and motherless unmarried daughters over eighteen years, and also the number of cases in which the grants were made on account of lapsed payments during that period, and whether he is aware that the allowance to motherless unmarried daughters collectively is 33s. 4d. for every 30s. subscribed while serving, and only 3s. 4d. on every 20s. subscribed on pension up to death of parent, and that this fact accounts for so many grants being less than the amount contributed to the fund?

The number of officers and men subscribing to the Constabulary Force Fund who died while serving during the five years ending the 31st March, 1917, are 6 and 38, respectively; and numbers of deaths while on pension 24 and 854. The grants paid to widows, children, and unmarried daughters for above period numbered 673, 516, and 317, respectively. No grants can be made in cases where subscriptions to the fund have ceased because benefit from the fund has lapsed or for other reasons. The proportion between the benefit granted in the cases of motherless unmarried daughters over eighteen years of age and the subscriptions paid is as stated in the question, but the fund was not originally intended to benefit children over eighteen years of age, and in cases where the subscriber's wife predeceased him and left unmarried daughters over eighteen a concession was made to the extent of giving these daughters one-third of the amount which their mother would have received had she survived her husband. The rules of the fund only permit grants for widows to be calculated at the rate of ½ per cent. on the amount of pension drawn by a deceased subscriber.