asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he has now any official information to the effect that hundreds of British and French officer prisoners of war have been sent to Stuttgart and other places in order to be subject to the risks of air raids; and whether he will take steps to inform the German Government that, if and so long as they indulge in such practices, German prisoners of war will be brought from Donington Hall and elsewhere to London and other places where they will share with women and children and other noncombatants the dangers of attacks from the air by Germans?

Information has been received which leaves no doubt that the German authorities have placed officer prisoners of war in localities which are specially subject to air raids.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether there are any and, if so, how many hospitals in the London district where patients suffering from shell shock are treated; if so, whether steps will be taken to remove all such patients to the West country or some other area in which they will be free from air raids?

As many cases as possible are being moved out of the London district, and 450 have just left. My hon. and gallant Friend will realise that the difficulty of finding other suitable accommodation is considerable.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether his attention has been directed to the services rendered by officers commanding Special Reserve battalions in this country during the War in training troops and sending drafts for service abroad; whether any adequate recognition of the work and services of these officers has yet been given; and whether he will take steps to ensure that the work and services of these officers shall be suitably recognised by promotion or otherwise?

The Army Council is filly aware of the good services rendered by these officers, some of whom have already been rewarded. Further recommendations recently submitted by the Field-Marshal Commanding-in-Chief are now under consideration.

May I rest assured that the services of these distinguished officers are not being lost sight of?

I can give that assurance to my hon. and learned Friend.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War why second-lieutenants with more than eighteen months' commissioned service and recommended by their commanding officers have not yet received promotion in accordance with Army Council Instructions; whether it is the intention of the Army Council to penalise officers in the matter of promotion in cases where they have transferred from one unit to another; and, if not, will promotion in such cases be dated back to the time when the period of eighteen months' commissioned service was completed?

I would refer my lion. and gallant Friend to the answers given on 26th November and 17th January to my hon. and gallant Friends the Members for Lewisham and St. Pancras West, when I stated that up to the end of November 20,000 promotions were announced. A considerable addition has now been made to that number. The out standing cases are dealt with as soon as the recommendations are received. Officers are riot penalised when transferred to another unit solely in the interests of the Service, but are treated precisely as they would have been had they not been so transferred.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War how many officers of the Regular Army during the year 1917 were appointed to command Territorial battalions, and how many Territorial officers during the same period were appointed to command battalions of the Regular Army?

During the year 1917, 121 Regular officers have been appointed to command Territorial Force battalions, and two Territorial Force officers have been appointed to command Regular battalions. During the same period:30 Territorial Force officers have been appointed to command New Army battalions.

asked (1) the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that conscientious objectors in Wandsworth Prison are not allowed to see a copy of Regulation 243A, which affects them, and that the Regulation is not properly carried out; whether clear instructions to the commandant or governor will be issued; the Secretary of State for the Home Department (2) whether lie has received from certain prisoners in Wandsworth a petition requesting a statement as to their status under Regulation 243A; whether he replied that he sees no reason to take any action; and whether it is in accordance with recognised principles of prison treatment to refuse to prisoners information as to their status, restrictions, and privileges; and (3) whether he is aware that governors of prisons have declined to show prisoners affected by it a copy of Regulation 243A or to inform them of its contents; that Regulation 243A is unobserved in some prisons and partially observed in others; that prisoners have been punished for alleged offences contrary to it; and whether he will allow a solicitor to visit prisoners affected by Regulation 243A and take their statements, or whether an independent inquiry by Members of this House or other persons will be undertaken?

My hon. Friend has asked me to reply to Question 24. The Prison Commissioners have not thought it necessary to place these. instructions in every cell, but they propose to have copies available in each prison for the information of all the prisoners concerned. I understand that the privileges are now being given in all prisons, and uniformly, so far as the circumstances of the different prisons allow. If prisoners have any complaints to make, they should be made to the prison inspectors or to the visiting committees of the prisons in which they are confined.

Can the right hon. Gentleman state the number of men who have been placed on the land under this Regulation?

This has nothing to do with placing anyone on the land.

asked the Home Secretary whether he has received the resolution passed unanimously by the Labour Congress at Nottingham, which included members of the Government, asking for the immediate release of imprisoned conscientious objectors; and what reply he has sent or intends to send?

This resolution has not yet reached me.

asked the Home Secretary whether he has caused any inquiry to be made into the Report presented to the Labour Congress at Nottingham stating that a considerable number of imprisoned conscientious objectors had become insane through their sufferings; and what steps he proposes to take?

I have not seen the Report referred to, but the matter has been carefully examined by the Medical Commissioner of Prisons. There have been twelve cases in which conscientious objectors have developed symptoms of insanity in prison, and it is clear that in all of them the insanity was due to causes and conditions existing before their conviction, and was not caused by the imprisonment, though the imprisonment gave opportunities of observing their mental condition which did not exist while they were at liberty. This is indicated by the fact that in each case symptoms of insanity were observed shortly after their reception in prison. I see no ground for taking any further action.

Will the right hon. Gentleman state what action he has taken with regard to those cases in which insanity has occurred or developed?

I asked for full particulars and for a full report, and my answer is based upon the result of my inquiries.

Are there any prisoners who have developed insanity and who are still in prison?

I should think that it is very unlikely. No doubt they are being looked after in the proper place.

It is a matter of great public concern.

asked the Home Secretary whether John Taylor, a conscientious objector, has recently died in Wakefield Work Centre; whether an inquest was held; if so, what verdict was returned; and whether lie will have an independent inquiry by persons other than officials concerned into the circumstances of the deaths of the various conscientious objectors who have died during the last twelve months?

This man died on the 20th January at the West Riding Asylum, of which he had been an inmate for over two months. His death was the result of wounds which he inflicted upon himself on 2nd November while he was an inmate of the Wakefield Work Centre. As regards the causes leading up to the suicide, I would refer the hon. Member to my reply to a question addressed to me by the hon. Member for North Somerset on the 13th November, from which it appears that at the time when he committed the act he was in great anxiety as to the effect of the air-raids upon his home in London. An inquest was held on 25th January, and a verdict of felo de se was returned. I see no ground for any further inquiry.

asked whether the promised dispatch from the Commander-in-Chief dealing with the military operations at Cambria has yet been considered by the Army Council; and the approximate date when it will he ready for publication?

No, Sir. The last dispatch received from the Field-Marshal Commanding-in-Chief in France is that which was published in the Press on Wednesday, 9th January last.

asked whether soldiers are required to salute the wife of ex-Ring Manoel; if so, whether any soldiers have protested against this compulsion on the ground that the lady in question is a relative of the Kaiser and not a British subject; and whether, in these circumstances, the War Office proposes still to enforce the order?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the negative. The second and third parts do not, therefore, arise.

asked whether ex-King Manoel is a director of any military orthopædic institution, and in that capacity signs cheques as Manoel Rex; and whether, if so, considering that Portugal is our Ally and that the Republic has taken the place of the Royal regime in that country, the War Office will refuse to countenance any acts likely to give umbrage to the Government of Portugal, and will therefore put a stop to the cause of complaint indicated?

King Manoel is not a director of any military orthopædic hospital.

May I ask whether it is with the sanction of the Cabinet that the lion. Gentleman speaks of this gentleman as King Manoel?

No; but that is a question which the hon. Member can put to the Cabinet.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War if he is now in a position to make public the result of the inquiry into the death of Lance-Corporal Quinn, Royal Irish Rifles; and if the claim made by his two sisters, whom he supported, is receiving proper consideration?

As I stated on the 23rd November, the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief in Ireland directed, as the result of the Court of Inquiry, that the officer who appeared to be blameworthy should be tried by court-martial. This has been done, and the officer was acquitted. As regards the last part of the question, this is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Minister of Pensions.

Is the hon. Gentle. man aware that the sad death of Lance-Corporal Quinn took place last October, and ought not the matter to have been settled by now?

The hon. and gallant Member may remember that there was first of all a Court of Inquiry—and he knows, from military experience, how long that takes—and then subsequently there was a court-martial.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether, whereas a non-commissioned officer with fifteen years' service in the ranks at the time of being commissioned is allowed to count all such service in the ranks and to retire at the termination of hostilities on the scale as laid down for officers after fifteen years' service, nevertheless a noncommissioned officer with less than fifteen years' service in the ranks at the time of being commissioned is allowed to count only half of such previous service towards pension; and, if so, whether, seeing that many of these officers will materially suffer through being compelled to retire with a gratuity instead of the pension which they might reasonably have expected to secure had they not aceepted commissions, he will reconsider' their position?

The hon. Member has not read the Regulations aright. An officer who had fifteen years' service or more in the ranks does not count that service in full for pension, but may, on retiring at the end of the War, choose between a gratuity of £1,000 or the minimum officer's service pension of £80 in respect of the whole of his service in the ranks and as an officer, which may well amount to as much as twenty-five years. He is not obliged to retire at the end of the War, whether he had fifteen years' rank service or less, and if he elects to serve on his service in the ranks counts under the ordinary rules. Officers with less than fifteen years' rank service may, if they so choose, retire at the end of the War with substantial gratuities from £900 downwards, according to length of service.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office why the dependancy allowance in the case of Private Fish, No. 26739, East Lancashire Regiment, has been reduced from 12s. 6d. to 9s. 5d. on the death of the soldier's father and the transfer of the allotment to the mother; and whether the sum will be restored to the former amount?

When a dependant in receipt of separation allowance dies, an allowance may be granted to another member of the household, but the share of the deceased payee naturally lapses. I regret that in the case to which the hon. Member calls attention the paymaster reassessed the claim incorrectly. The correct rate of allowance under the Regulations is 11s. 1d. a week and payment will be adjusted accordingly.

asked the Pensions Minister whether the pension to widows and children is to be increased?

I cannot, I regret, yet make the statement which the hon. Member desires.

Can my hon. and gallant Friend say definitely when either the Ministry or the Treasury is going to pay a pension to the widows and dependants of soldiers and prevent them from starving, as they are doing at the rate at which they are being paid now?

I have told the hon. Member that I am not in a position to make a definite statement. The matter is under consideration, and I hope to be able to do so shortly.

Is not the hon. and gallant Gentleman aware that the matter has been under consideration now for nearly six months, and when is the Ministry of Pensions going to get a move on?

My hon. Friend is not correct. The proposals of the Ministry of Pensions were sent to the Treasury, I think, only about a month ago.

Is my hon. and gallant Friend aware that I put a question on this subject over a month ago, and I got the same answer as I have received to-day?

asked the Pensions Minister whether Mrs. Annie Downes, widow of Sergeant W. J. Downes, No. 2034, late 16th Middlesex Regiment, who was killed on the Somme on 1st July, 1916, has not yet received the allowance of £5 granted to dependants of men killed in action; whether he is aware that Mrs. Downes has made several applications to the Pension Office, has been informed that there were hundreds of cases to be dealt with before hers, and that she would receive notice in due course; that on making a subsequent appeal shortly before Christmas she was informed that the matter would be looked into and she would be written to; that, notwithstanding this, she has received no communication whatever; and will he have this matter looked into at once in order that the allowance may be paid without further delay?

The allowance of £5 in cases similar to that of Mrs. Downes was conceded in July, 1917, with retrospective effect, with the result that many thousands of cases required investigation at the same time. There was in Mrs. Downe's case the added difficulty that her husband was originally reported "missing." The matter has, however, now been settled, and authority to pay the gratuity was issued a few days ago.

asked the Pensions Minister if he will consider extending the period of three months allowed for appeal in regard to pensions of men discharged for medical unfitness to twelve months in cases where men can prove sickness or other good reasons for not having appealed within the ordinary period?

The period of three months to which the hon. Member refers is not the period within which an appeal must be made to be effective, but the period within which it must be made to carry arrears as from the date of discharge. I am, however, open to consider representations in any particular case where it appears that the application of the rule would cause injustice.

Will my hon. and gallant Friend tell the House whether the Ministry of Pensions have any authority at all to limit the period of the payment?

We have undoubted authority in the Warrant.

Where is it?

If my lion. Friend wants the exact Clause, he must give me notice.

It is not there.

asked the Pensions Minister whether Private W. Newberry, late No 1753, Royal West Kent Regiment, was notified on the 17th November, 1917, by the Ministry of Pensions that a temporary pension of 30d. a day had been granted to him from the 24th August, 1917, until the 27th August, 1919, his permanent pension of 24d. a day being in abeyance from the 24th August, 1917; and whether he will explain why Private Newberry has received no pension. since the 1st October, 1917?

I am having some difficulty in ascertaining the facts in this case. I will communicate with the hon. Member as soon as I have put it right.

asked if the new Army Regulation granting discharged soldiers who have not been overseas exemption from the Review of Exceptions Act on condition that they engage in work of national importance applies to soldiers exempted from the Act who have served overseas, or if the latter also are required to take up work of national importance as a condition of exemption?

My hon. Friend has asked me to reply. Men who were free under the Review of Exceptions Act itself as having been discharged on account of wounds, and men who were already the subject of the previous arrangement relieving from the operation of the Act men who had been discharged on grounds of disablement or ill-health after service overseas in the Armed Forces, are not under any obligation to take up work of national importance under the new arrangement, which applies to discharged soldiers who have not served overseas.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he is aware of the difficulty in many Volunteer Battalions of obtaining reasonably large daylight drills on Saturdays and Sundays, when a very considerable amount of important work is carried out; whether he is aware that this is attributable in a good many instances to the fact that men, although provided with arms and equipment, are not supplied with uniform; and whether, taking into consideration the stock of uniforms, both new and renovated, in hand in the Clothing Department -of the Army at the present time, he will, in the national interest, take steps to provide, where necessary, uniforms free of charge for Volunteer Battalions?

I am not aware of the difficulty referred to in the earlier part of my hon. and gallant Friend's question. As regards the latter part, I. am afraid that I can add nothing at present to the answer given on the 30th January to my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Cambridge University.

Can the hon. Gentleman say whether when a man joins the Volunteers he has to provide out of his own pocket uniform and boots?

No, he has not.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he will give the name of the Member of this House who in his private capacity suggested the scattering of leaflets from Government aeroplanes over Coventry during the recent industrial trouble; whether he is aware that the use of aeroplanes for this purpose, together with the character of the leaflets, has been much resented; and whether it is the intention of the Government to continue the sanction of the use of aeroplanes for purposes of this kind?

I am not aware that resentment has been aroused, as my hon. Friend suggests, but. as such a case is not likely to recur, I hope that the incident may now be regarded as closed.

Will the hon. Gentleman answer the first part of the question

Certainly; the hon. Member for Harwich.

I have been asked to postpone this question, but before doing so I should like to ask, in view of the urgency of this matter: firstly, is it true that there are between 40,000 and 50,000 men always in our hospitals from this cause; and, secondly, can the hon. Gentleman give me the actual figures between now and the beginning of next Session?

No, I cannot; I cannot trust my memory at the present moment.. I have promised to give my hon. Friend such information as I can get officially as soon as I can.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office if he has yet been able to ascertain the facts of the case of an Essex wheelwright who is said to have received two cheques for £05 each in payment of an account for Os. 5d.?

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office if he can now say whether the military authorities paid two cheques of £95 each to a wheelwright in Essex in payment of an account of Os. 5d.; and whether he can now state the result of the inquiries which were to be made in the matter?

I am much obliged to my hon. Friends for giving me the opportunity of dealing with the matter. We have been trying to get to the bottom of this story ever since it was first published several months ago, but so far we have been able to discover absolutely no foundation in fact. It seems to be one of those silly stories, starting no one knows how, or where, or when, which people apparently love to believe and pass from mouth to mouth till at length they are published. As far as we have been able to discover, the story is wholly untrue; but if the incident did indeed occur, I hope that I may be furnished with the name and address of the person to whom the payment was made. According to the story, he was moved by a sense of honesty and fair dealing in trying to return the overpayment, and in these circumstances I cannot understand why he should hesitate to reveal his name, if indeed he exists.

asked the Prime Minister whether, in view of the fact that this House is responsible for raising the sums of money entailed by the carrying on of the present War, he will consider the desirability of arranging for the Secretary of State for War to sit in this House and have an opportunity of replying to criticisms made in the House of Commons?

asked the Prime Minister whether he will consider the desirability of arranging that the Secretary of State for War should also be a Member of the House of Commons?

I cannot add anything to the reply which I gave to the hon. and gallant Member for Montgomeryshire on the 20th of December last.

Does the right hon. Gentleman think it consistent with the dignity of the High Court of Parliament that criticism should be replied to in a social club?

I think there are bigger questions than that involved. I am convinced that the Government would be put into many unnecessary difficulties if the holders of high office were confined entirely to this House.

Will the right hon. Gentleman see that the holders of high office do not use the luncheon table of a club devoted to advertising canvassers in London as a means for discussing high policy?

asked the Prime Minister if he can state in round numbers how many British non-combatants (including men, women, and children, and merchant seamen) have been done to death by German U-boats and aircraft; and how many German non-combatants have, according to German reports, been done to death in a similar manner by the British?

The answer to the first part of the question is, in round figures, 14,120 men, women, and children. As regards the second part of the question, no official reports are published by Germany regarding casualties to noncombatants as a result of enemy action.

asked the Prime Minister whether his attention was drawn to the offer by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food to a deputation of Manchester trade unionists headed by Mr. Albert Purcell, chairman of the Manchester and Salford Trades Council, to place the control and distribution of the national food supply in the bands of organised Labour representatives if willing to undertake the task; that committees of workers in the meat and refrigerated produce trades have already expressed their willingness to undertake the work if the proposition is intended as practical business; and whether, in the event of the National Union of Journeymen Butchers and the Agricultural Labourers' Union for the home-killed meat trades, the Dockers' Union, the National Union of General Workers, and the Notional Union of Dock Labourers for the refrigerated industries, being willing to undertake the work, he is prepared to hand over the control of the home-grown meat supply, the imported meat supply, cold stores and cold storage arrangements, refrigerated transport, and distribution to a committee of the bodies in question?

The statement referred to was first made by me at the Labour Conference at Nottingham and repeated at Manchester. It was made for the purpose of enabling the responsible authorities to formulate an alternative food policy to that now being followed by the Government and to act on the statement, if it is so desired.

asked the Prime Minister whether, in view of the unsatisfactory inquiry into food supply and food prices by a Departmental Committee of the Board of Trade in 1916, he will appoint a Select Committee to investigate the whole subject, with full power to inquire into the mismanagement of refrigerated shipping, neglect to provide proper cold-storage accommodation, neglect to provide adequate refrigerated railroad cars, neglect to acquire when possible a proper supply of cattle-feeding stuffs, neglect to act on the recommendations of the Departmental Committee of 1916, neglect to act on the advice of Lord Milner's Committee of 1915, neglect to fulfil the Board of Trade undertaking given in 1915 to utilise Western ports for discharge of refrigerated produce, and any steps to remedy the present deplorable situation, and to take evidence in public

I do not think that any useful purpose would be served by adopting the hon. Member's suggestion.

Does the right hon. Gentleman endorse the statement at the beginning of the question?

No. I do not express any opinion upon it.

asked the Prime Minister if he has received a resolution from the Derbyshire War Agricultural Executive Committee deploring a recent utterance of the Food Controller, expressing the opinions that if cheapness to the consumer is to be the sole policy of that Minister without regard to the cost of production the effect on home production must be disastrous, that the dual control of home production of food is detrimental, and urging that the stimulation of production and fixing of prices for produce to the producer should be left to the Board of Agriculture, and that on the basis of the prices so fixed the distribution of all produce and control of wholesalers' and retailers' prices should alone be left to the Food Controller; whether he is aware that this resolution was unanimously passed by the Federation of War Agricultural Committees on Wednesday, 30th January, 1918; that these Committees so passed it after an opportunity of consideration prior to the meeting of the Federation; that they are sparing no effort to carry into effect the Government's scheme for increased production; whether he has taken, or will take, any and what action; and if he will give an early day for discussion of this matter by this House?

The resolution referred to was received by the Prime Minister, who immediately brought it to the attention of the Food Controller. As this question can be raised during the Debate on the Address, I do not think that the House would wish the Government to give special facilities for its discussion.