asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether Viscount Esher has been appointed to serve in any capacity under the Foreign Office; and, if so, the nature of the duties which have been entrusted to him?

The answer is in the negative.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he has any further information to give this House with regard to the position of British residents and citizens in Finland?

As far as His Majesty's Consul at Helsingfors has been able to ascertain, all British subjects in Finland are safe and well, though they are necessarily suffering considerable hardships.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he has taken any steps in reply to the Red Cross appeal for the discontinuance of the use of poisonous gas in this War; and whether he is prepared to enter into an agreement on the subject with the other belligerent States?

I have not yet received the appeal from the Red Cross. His Majesty's Government propose to consult with their Allies as to the action to be taken conjointly in view of this appeal, and I can make no statement on the subject for the present.

May I ask whether the Noble Lord will use his influence with the War Office not to discontinue the use of gas so long as our enemies use it?

It is entirely a military question.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether there is any official medium through which accurate reports can be obtained of official pronouncements by statesmen of the Central Powers, in order that the misunderstandings caused by the inaccurate reports at present circulated by the Press may be obviated?

The answer is in the negative. His Majesty's Government have no other channel for obtaining the text of such pronouncements than newspaper reports.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether, in February, 1917, Lord Milner was present at a Conference of Allied representatives in Petrograd at which the ex-Czar and the Russian Government pledged themselves to support the return of Alsace-Lorraine to France and the creation of a buffer State on the left bank of the Rhine; and, if so, why the knowledge by His Majesty's Government of such an agreement between France and Russia has repeatedly been denied?

The reply to the first part of the question is in the negative; the second part, therefore, does not arise.

Is the Noble Lord aware that this statement appears in the "Daily Mail Year Book," which may be taken as a semi-official document, with Lord Northcliffe at the back of it?

The Noble Lord is not responsible for what appears in the "Daily Mail Year Book."

Could the Noble Lord say what language Lord Milner employed?

That does not arise out of this question.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he has any information as to the meaning attached in Germany to the phrase, "The freedom of the seas"?

The most recent declaration on the subject to which my attention has been drawn emanates from Count Reventlow, who is reported to have interpreted the meaning of the phrase as follows, at a public meeting in Berlin in March, 1917:

"What do we Germans understand by freedom of the seas? Of course we do not mean by it that free use of the sea which is the common privilege of all nations in time of peace, the right to the open highways of international trade. That sort of freedom of the sea we had before the War. What we understand to-day by this doctrine is that Germany should possess such maritime territories and such naval bases that at the outbreak of a war we should be able, with our Navy ready, reasonably to guarantee ourselves the command of the seas. We want such a jumping-off place for our Navy as would give us a fair chance of dominating the seas and of being free of the seas daring a war. (Cheers.) The inalienable possession of the Belgian seaboard is therefore a matter of life and death to us, and the man is a traitor who would faintheartedly relinquish this coast to England. Our aim be not only to keep what our arms have already won on this coast, but sooner or later to extend our seaboard to the south of the Strait of Calais."

Does not the Noble Lord think that a more important statement of the Central Powers is that of Count Czernin, in which he said that he accepted the interpretation of the phrase "freedom of the seas" given by the President of the United States of America?

The question here is as to the meaning attached to the phrase in Germany.

Would the right hon. Gentleman say whether Count Reventlow is supposed to be the official mouthpiece?

I do not know that he is. He is a member and a representative of that clique in Germany which has usually exerted its sway over the Government of the country.

Is he anything more than a private person who happens to be a German?

He may be a good deal.

Does the Noble Lord think that Count Reventlow expresses anything more than the opinion of the German Navy League?

It is impossible for me to say, but I should be glad if the hon. Member will tell me what in his judgment is the interpretation of this phrase in Germany.

Can the right hon. Gentleman give us the meaning attached to this phrase in the United States?

That does not arise out of the question.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland, in relation to local authorities and schemes for the better housing of the working classes, whether his attention has been directed to the reply of the President of the English Local Government Board to a deputation representing the newly-formed National Council to promote social centres, that local authorities would not bring forward schemes without promise of substantial financial assistance, that he hoped to be able to announce very shortly what the financial assistance would be; and that he had received a very generous response from the Treasury, but he could divulge nothing further at the moment; and whether he is in a position to give a similar assurance to Irish local authorities?

No change in the intentions of the Government has taken place since I answered the hon. Member's questions on this subject on 22nd October, 23rd November, and 28th January. The question of the best procedure for dealing with arrears of rehousing at the end of the War is still under discussion.

May I ask whether the Local Government Board of England have not been taking steps in this matter, and whether the Irish Local Government Board are taking any steps to, formulate a policy for housing after the War?

Oh, yes. The Irish Local Government Board were taking steps long before the announcement was made in the newspapers that the English Local Government Board were taking steps.

Could the right hon. Gentleman give us any idea of the nature of the policy or of the steps that have been taken?

There is a question on the Paper on which I shall have something to say on that subject.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether, in view of the steps being taken by the English Local Government Board to provide for the housing of the working classes in the towns and cities of England, he will explain what steps are being taken in Ireland to carry out a similar policy; can he state what sum is being made available in England for post-war housing purposes, and what has been done by the Irish Government to secure that an equivalent amount shall be placed at the disposal of the Irish Local Government Board for these purposes; is he aware that much of the social unrest and the conditions of health which prevail in the slum districts of Dublin, Cork, and other Irish cities and towns are due to the housing conditions that exist unremedied; and whether any definite steps have been taken or any actual constructive policy adopted to see that Ireland has a full share in whatever work of re-housing is undertaken on the conclusion of War?

Information as to housing needs in Dublin and elsewhere in Ireland has been and is being collected by the Irish Local Government Board, and I am in communication with the Board as to the best means of dealing with the matter in the several localities. A decision has not yet been arrived at with regard to the extent of assistance out of public funds which may be required or which will be available. I agree with the hon. and gallant Member's suggestion as to the serious consequences attributable to defective housing conditions in Dublin and elsewhere and am dealing with the question in consultation with the President of the Local Government Board, the Secretary for Scotland, and the Minister of Reconstruction.

Is the Local Government Board in Ireland acting in conjunction with the borough councils and other urban bodies in Ireland, and getting information from them?

The Local Government Board in Ireland, at the time I took office, had a very great amount of information on this subject. They have added to that information, and they go on adding to it, as far as it may be necessary. The real question is not the information necessary to gauge the amount of new housing that is required, but the mode of providing the accommodation at the end of the War.

Is a definite policy or a scheme going to be adopted and made known publicly, so that public bodies may know what they are going to do after the War?

If my hon. and gallant Friend had not been prevented from attending here by his other public duties he would know that I have stated on several occasions that that is intended.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if his attention has been drawn to the treatment of convent school teachers and assistant school mistresses in Ireland; if he is aware that the recent award of 4s. war bonus has not been paid to these teachers; if messenger girls in Government offices in England are better paid than those teachers; and whether he proposes to take any action in the matter?

The answer to the first and second inquiries in the question is in the affirmative. I have no information as to the third. No further action as to the teachers in question is open to me.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if he has received any complaints from Dublin builders or owners of destroyed property in Dublin with reference to the holding up of supplies of timber that are urgently required for buildings in the course of erection in Abbey Street and O'Connell Street; and if he will cause instructions to be issued immediately for the release of timber and other materials required for these buildings?

I am in communication with the Board of Trade on this subject. Perhaps the question will be repeated.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if he will issue instructions for the publication of the full Report of the inquiry which was held in Dublin and presided over by the right hon. Member for Walthamstow?

The Report referred to was published in 1916, Cd. 8376. As regards publication of the evidence taken by the Commission, I would refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to a question by the hon. Member or South Kilkenny on 19th October.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if he will state the wages paid to women cleaners in Government offices in Dublin; and when the cleaners in the Land Commission offices may expect an increase in wages?

The wages of charwomen vary considerably in different public Departments in accordance with the time for which they are employed. I would refer the hon. Member to the Estimates for particulars in the case of each Department. Office cleaners are only part-time employeés, and in paying war bonus to them this fact has been taken into account. A memorial has recently been received from the cleaners in the Irish Land Commission contending that they should get the full bonus, and a decision will be given on the application in due course.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether on the 8th instant a party of twenty-three young men who had refused to give bail for good behaviour were brought from Limerick to Ennis to answer the usual charges for cattle-driving and intimidation; whether they were met at the station by a military motor-lorry and armoured car and also by a large party of republicans in motor cars and on horseback; whether during the uproar in Court on the hearing of the proceedings the defendants left the Court on the order of the local commander of the volunteers, who was in uniform, marched back through the streets, and left the town; and will he say if further measures have been taken to vindicate the ordinary course of the law?

A party of twenty-three men were arrested on a charge of unlawful assembly and brought before the magistrates at Ennis Petty Sessions. As no conveyance could be obtained to bring the prisoners to the Court-house, a motor-lorry was used which was provided by the military authorities. They also sent an armoured car as escort. A large crowd met the train at the station, but no motorcars nor persons on horseback were observed. Uproar occurred in Court, and in the confusion which followed an order for the clearance of the Court the prisoners escaped. The hearing was adjourned, and they will, no doubt, be rearrested. Perhaps I may say, in palliation of their conduct, that there was no dock to separate them from the crowd in Court. They got mixed up, and they got away in the confusion.

Why was this local commandant wearing a public uniform allowed in the King's Court at all?

I confess that I was not aware of that incident, and I am not sure that there was any such person there, but I will communicate with the county inspector on the subject.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that I put that as part of my question?

I am sorry that it has been overlooked. No doubt the hon. and gallant Member will put it down again.

As there is nothing known as to how the prisoners escaped, is there any record as to how the police escaped?

I suppose that there were not enough police to prevent the mixed crowd in the Court getting out of hand.

Is is not a fact that one constable was badly assaulted by the crowd?

No; I think not. It has not been so reported to me.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he will state the conditions under which a motor-car can be used for other than business purposes in Ireland; whether, during the recent election in the South Division of Armagh, twenty cars left Dundalk with out authorised name-plates and the drivers furnished with licences signed by the hon. Member for East Clare authorising them to use a motor-car in accordance with the duties assigned to them in the name of the Irish Republic; and whether, in the event of a motor-car so used being contrary to any Regulations issued by the Irish Government, action has been taken against the owners?

I am sending the hon. and gallant Member copy of a notice containing the conditions under which motorcars can be used at elections. I am informed that the police have particulars of a number of motor-cars which were used at the Armagh election, and that a decision as to prosecution will be taken without delay.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he has been able to reconsider an answer he gave to the hon. Member for Enfield on 31st ultimo, when he informed him that the Irish Press had not been forbidden to publish reports of raids for or seizure of arms in Ireland by persons acting on behalf of the Irish army; whether, as a fact, an order to the above effect was sent to the editors of all Irish newspapers on the 16th ultimo; and is this order still operative?

The hon. and gallant Member's question to-day deals with a different subject-matter from that which I answered on 31st January. The answer I then gave was a perfectly accurate answer to the hon. and gallant Member's question. I am informed, however, that at the request of the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief in Ireland the Irish Press Censor has made a communication to the editors of Irish newspapers with regard to certain occurrences which might be thought to affect the security and safe custody of military arms. This communication was marked "Confidential." I assume from the hon. and gallant Member's question that he has seen a copy of the document, and that he thinks it right, as a Member of Parliament, to disregard the official injunction to secrecy. In my opinion it is not in the public interest that I should follow the example of the hon. and gallant Member.

Why did the right hon. Gentleman tell me, when I asked this identical question, that no such order had been given?

I have already said that the question to-day deals with a different subject - matter from that which I answered —

I say no!

If the hon. Member will refer to the question which he has carefully framed for to-day in order to suggest that inaccuracy, he will be reminded that he has added to it a statement which he draws from, as I suppose, the confidential communication to which I referred.

Is it not a fact that I wrote to the right hon. Gentleman, telling him that I was going to raise this question, so that he could have communicated with me privately if he wanted to do so?

I did not think fit to communicate privately with the hon. Member, who never loses an opportunity to put embarrassments in the way of the Administration in Ireland.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he has any information as to the continuance of the raiding for arms by persons acting on behalf of the Irish Republican force; whether he has any official information showing that on the 3rd instant a raid took place at Queenstown, when three Lee-Enfield rifles, a number of other rifles and shot guns, six revolvers, 1,800 rounds of Lee-Enfield and other ammunition were appropriated; that on the 8th instant a post office in county Cork was raided by a party of armed men, who drove up in a motorcar, and that 2,600 rounds of sporting ammunition were taken from two shops in Dundalk; and if he can say if any of these arms and ammunition have been recovered and restored to their owners?

Several raids for arms have taken place as mentioned in the question. The Queenstown case was not a raid, but a burglary, in which a number of arms and some ammunition were stolen from the house of a dealer. I am told that nearly all the arms were of an obsolete type. The constabulary authorities have received no report of an attack on a post office in county Cork by raiders in a motor-car; but on 7th February a man armed with a revolver knocked at the door of Banteer Post Office, and when it was opened he thrust in his hand and demanded arms. When told there were none he demanded money, and was handed £3 10s. by the postmaster. At Dundalk a, boy in the employment of a shopkeeper stole 500 rounds of ammunition. This case was one of larceny, and the cartridges have been traced and the boy arrested. In the other cases referred to the arms and ammunition have not been traced.

What is the difference between a raid and a burglary?

The hon. Gentleman had, I think, better get a dictionary and study it.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether a circular has recently been issued by the principals of the Marlborough Street Training College in Dublin to the effect that from September next all candidates admitted to training will be charged a fee of £3; for what purposes the money thus obtained will be used; and whether a similar innovation is being adopted by any of the other training colleges?

The principals of the Marl-borough Street Training College have, by direction of the Commissioners of National Education, issued a circular to candidates for admission to the college to the effect that from September next all candidates admitted will be required to pay a fee of £3 per annum. The money thus obtained is intended to meet the general increase in the cost of training of the King's scholars, as the State Grants have proved insufficient for this purpose. I am told it has been the practice of the authorities of most of the training colleges under local management to charge a fee to King's scholars on admission.

Will the students already there be called upon to pay this £3, and does the right hon. Gentleman consider that this is a suitable moment to raise the price of education instead of lowering it, considering the cost of living?

The hon. Member will know that the administration of the Marl-borough Street Training College is not a matter under my control. It is a matter under the control of the National Board of Education in Ireland. I am not responsible for raising the fees there. The Board must be the judge of whether it is necessary to raise them. I would point out, as I have said in the answer I have given, that what has been done in the way of raising fees at Marlborough Street Training College has not been more than what has been customarily done in the other training colleges in Ireland.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland the number of cottages which were erected under the Labourers (Ireland) Acts last year; whether any schemes are being at present promoted under these Acts; and the total number of cottages erected since the Acts first came into operation?

I am making inquiries.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, owing to the probability of an increasing number of air raids on London and to the services of special police constables being more often required in the future in dangerous areas, he can at once arrange that all constables required for street duty during air raids shall be supplied with steel protection helmets in order that these men, who give their services free, shall run no unnecessary risks?

Arrangements are being made to reduce the number of special constables assembling on an emergency call, and to increase the supply of steel helmets, and I am informed that helmets will be available for all special constables employed on street duty during air raids.

Will they be available for people going from their houses to their duty? They often have to go considerable distances.

I do not think that is possible or necessary, because they always have notice.

Not oven in case of air raids?

Will the right hon. Gentleman use his influence to persuade the Government that the only true defence against aeroplane raids is an. air offensive over Germany?

That does not arise out of the question.

asked the Prime Minister whether his attention has been called to the crushing to death of British children by aliens of military age during a recent air raid; and whether it is the policy of the Government to allow civilian aliens of military age to come into this country during the War?

My right hon. Friend has asked me to reply to this question. As regards the first part of the question, I am informed that there has been no such occurrence. The persons who were killed and injured owing to overcrowding in an air-raid shelter during a recent air raid were all aliens. As regards the second part of the question, I would refer the hon. and gallant Member to my answer to his question on the 22nd October last.

Can the right hon. Gentleman not tell us whether it is the policy of the Government to allow more aliens, including Russians, to come into this country and to eat the food of our people?

The hon. Member has already asked the same question.

I did not get an answer.

asked the Homo Secretary whether E D. Morel, otherwise known as Morel-de-Ville, is an alien by birth; whether he has received six months' imprisonment under the Defence of the Realm Act; whether he is now to be automatically interned: and. if not, will he say why this course is not to be adopted?

This man was French by birth, but became a British subject by naturalisation in 1896. He has served the sentence mentioned, and there is no power to intern him automatically on its expiration.

Will my right hon. Friend bring in a Bill to give power to revoke a certificate of naturalisation?

asked the Home Secretary whether he has any information showing that M. Kamaneff, who is reported to be on his way to this country from Stockholm, is the same man who was named in the order to the German Imperial banks; if so, whether he has been in German pay; and whether he is to be allowed to be at large in this country?

asked the Home Secretary whether, having regard to the fact that M. Litvinoff has caused revolutionary literature to be distributed among munition workers in this country, more especially in the Woolwich Arsenal, he will now have this gentleman deported as an undesirable alien?

These matters are receiving the attention of His Majesty's Government, but I do not consider it desirable to make any statement at present.

Has M. Kamaneff yet arrived in this country?

No. I think not.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the letter on which these statements are based have now been proved to be a forgery?

No, I am not aware of that.

May I ask why I am not allowed to ask Question 43?

It has already been answered.

How am I to be aware when a question in reference to this matter has been answered?

Had the hon. Member listened he would have known.

asked the Home Secretary what is the estimated cost of feeding, housing, and guarding the 29,000 civilian interned aliens in this country; and whether he proposes to reduce the incubus of these interned persons by offering them useful work or the option of repatriation?

I regret that it is not possible to give the figures desired. As regards the second paragraph, a large number of the prisoners are employed on useful work, either in the camps or outside, and the number so employed is constantly being increased.

Has the right hon. Gentleman given attention to the remarks of Lord Newton on this subject, who declared that this burden was an excessive incubus upon the country?

The hon. Member is giving information.

Having regard to the fact that, according to this question, 29,000 aliens are eating the food of this country, is it not in the public interest to deport them?

No; these are German prisoners, who must be kept here.

asked the Home Secretary whether he is aware that on the 6th February Harry Firth, of Norwich, died at Dartmoor Prison Hospital; that when he went to Dartmoor he was in an enfeebled condition, but set to work in a quarry, punished for not working hard, and only sent to hospital when past recovery; and whether an independent inquiry of persons not officials of the Home Office will be held into this and other recent deaths?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. Firth was sent to Dartmoor for work under the Committee at his own request, and before leaving Maidstone he was passed by the medical officer as fit for labour. He was put on light work in the quarry, and was at no time punished for not working hard or for any other offence. Symptoms of diabetes afterwards appeared, and he was immediately admitted to hospital, where he remained until his death. An independent inquiry has already been held by the coroner, and the jury returned a verdict of "Death from natural causes," expressing themselves satisfied with the treatment of the deceased by the doctors who had charge of the case. I may add that, although an average of upwards of a thousand men have been employed at Dartmoor for upwards of ten months, this is the first death which has occurred in that institution.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that cases of diabetes in young men, as this was, are always incurable, and that the rapid and progressive character of the disease, which is generally to be expected, is accelerated by exposure or hard work?

I am not an expert, but the important fact is that the moment diabetes is diagnosed it is properly treated.

Can the right hon. Gentleman really give an assurance that as soon as diabetes is diagnosed it is sent to hospital?

Yes.

asked the Home Secretary whether he has now completed the inquiries enabling him to come to a decision as to the date upon which summer time is to be introduced this year?

asked the Home Secretary whether, in view of the importance of daylight saving to allotment holders, he will consider the question of introducing summer time this year a month earlier than last year?

I hope to make an announcement on this subject early next week.

asked the Home Secretary whether he is aware that the pensionable pay of the Liverpool, Birkenhead, Bootle, and Wallasey police has been increased to such an amount as will entitle the constables of these forces who have completed their period of service to retire on a pension of 31s. 4d. a week at the end of the War, whereas the maximum pension of a Metropolitan constable is 26s. 8d.; and whether he is prepared to adjust the pay of the Metropolitan Police so that their retiring pensions may at least equal those given in the large forces of the Forth of England?

I understand that the maximum salary of constables has been increased in the towns mentioned, but the service entitling a constable to maximum pension in Liverpool is appreciably longer than in the Metropolitan Police district. The war bonus payable to the Metropolitan Police has recently been substantially increased at the cost of a heavy addition to the Metropolitan Police rate, and I am not prepared at present to reopen the question.

asked (1) the Home Secretary whether he can state the number of interned alien enemies who were carrying on businesses prior to the War; whether communications have been sent to the Board of Trade for the winding up of such businesses, or what steps have been taken; (2) the President of the Board of Trade whether he has any information as to the number of interned alien enemies who were carrying on businesses prior to the War, and as to the number of such businesses which have been subsequently wound up?

I have no information as to the number of interned alien enemies who were carrying on business prior to the War, and cannot without considerable investigation give the hon. Member the number of businesses owned by interned enemy subjects which have been wound up, as these have not been classified separately from those cases in which the owners were not interned or were resident in enemy or other countries. I may mention, however, that the Board have been furnished by the Home Office with lists of interned and uninterned enemy subjects who have been interested in businesses carried on in this country. Such lists have been carefully considered, and cases where it appeared desirable have been investigated with a view to determining whether they came within the scope of the statutory provisions as to winding up. In many of the cases on the lists, especially those where the owners have been interned, it was ascertained that the business was no longer being carried on.

Can the hon. Gentleman give an assurance that the policy of the House of Commons, expressed in the Act of Parliament, that all enemy businesses should be wound up, is being carried out by his Department?

All enemy businesses are being wound up where there is any suspicion whatsoever that they are being carried on contrary to the provisions of the Statute.

Is not the policy of this House, as expressed in the Act, that enemy businesses are to be wound up, and will the hon. Gentleman give an assurance that they are all being wound up, big and little?

Certainly; the Act is being carried out.

Will the hon. Gentleman say, at least, that enemy businesses shall not be allowed to capture the trade of one-man businesses, the owners of which have been called up to serve with the Colours?

That also is being carried out under the Statute.

asked the Home Secretary whether the correspondence, MSS., cartoons, literature, and all back numbers of "Satire" taken during the recent police paid on Leonard Motler's lodging, 47, Crowndale Road, N.W., have been returned; and, if not, whether he can say why they are being retained?

The back numbers of "Satire" will not be returned. The question whether the remainder of the material seized will be returned or not is under the consideration of the Advisory Committee.

Cannot they arrive at a quicker decision on this subject?

A Committee is now sitting.

Has the "Morning Post" been seized and the type broken up?

asked whether it is the intention of the Government to publish the last dispatch of Sir Douglas Haig as a White Paper?

It is not the practice to publish as White Papers military dispatches which have already been gazetted. Sir Douglas Haig's last dispatch was published as a Supplement to the "London Gazette" on the 8th January.

asked the Prime Minister whether his attention has been called to the disclosure of what purported to be the decisions reached at the last Supreme Allied Conference at Versailles; and whether, having regard to the reply given by the Chancellor of the Exchequer to the Leader of the Liberal party that it was not in the public interest to disclose the conclusions of the Allied Council, he is prepared to take immediate steps for the purpose of preventing such disclosures in the future?

The Government are taking and will take whatever steps seem most effective for the purpose.

asked whether the recent manifesto issued after the Versailles Conference represents the views of all the Allies, including the United States of America?

The answer is in the affirmative.

Will the right hon. Gentleman explain the discrepancy between the manifesto and the recent statement of the President of the United States?

Perhaps when I have seen the discrepancy I shall be able to explain it.

Is it any part of the functions of the Conference at Versailles to issue manifestoes on declarations of policy?

I can add nothing on that subject to what was said by the Foreign Secretary last night.

Was the consent of the President of the United States given to this manifesto?

The President of the United States never had an opportunity of assenting or dissenting, but the diplomatic representative of the United States in Paris was present.

asked the Prime Minister whether, having regard to the fact that King Constantine of Greece has received over £100,000 from German secret funds, any purchase he makes in this country, or the exporting to him of any goods of wearing apparel or otherwise, will be considered trading with the enemy?

My right hon. Friend has asked me to answer this question. The question of whether such proceedings would constitute trading with the enemy is a legal question on which I am not competent to pronounce, but any applications for such export are being discouraged.

Will the right hon. Gentleman say through whom the special messenger received the permit to take two trunks of clothes from a Sackville Street tailor to King Constantine at Berne within the last three weeks?

asked whether, having regard to the fact that the British forces have now succeeded in recovering Jerusalem, any special facilities will be given by the British Government to facilitate the return of the Jews to the land from which they have been so long exiled?

The Government have authorised the Zionist Organisation to appoint a Commission to investigate present conditions of the Jewish colonies in Palestine, and will await sympathetically its recommendations.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that a well-known Semitic in this country has offered to pay the expense of exporting them provided he is allowed to remain as Ambassador of his race in this country.

asked whether, in communicating with M. Litvinoff in the United States of America, on the occasion of his previous visit, Lord Heading was acting in his capacity as representative of the British Government or in a private capacity; and, if in the former, has the Government any information with reference to this meeting that it can give to this House?

I do not know to what meeting the hon. Member refers.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the papers in this country have published particulars in the past of this meeting, and would he take the trouble to inquire of the Lord Chief Justice whether on the occasion of his last meeting he did have communication with this gentleman; and will he also, when this gentleman is eventually arrested as a revolutionary leader in this country, inquire of that gentleman whether he had any communication with the Lord Chief Justice?

I do not look forward to having any communication personally with the last gentleman named. As regards the first part of the question, I know nothing whatever of the matter to which the hon. Member refers, and I do not intend to make any inquiry.

asked whether, having regard to the present position in Russia, that country is to be regarded as an Ally, a neutral, or an enemy country?

My right hon. Friend has asked me to answer this question. The position is so obscure that it is impossible to make any statement at present.

Will the right hon. Gentleman say when this House may expect to have a clear statement of Government policy on this subject?

When the public interest permits, and not a moment before.

asked the Prime Minister whether he can state the special qualifications of Lord Beaverbrook for the position of Minister of Propaganda; why it is linked up with the Chancellorship of the Duchy of Lancaster; and, seeing that the former office affects the United States, whether he can assure the House that he is a persona grata in America?

asked the Prime Minister if he would state precisely what duties will be carried out by Lord Beaverbrook in addition to the duties connected with his office as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster; and whether Lord Beaverbrook is a member of the War Cabinet?

Lord Beaverbrook will undertake the duties in connection with propaganda which were performed by the senior Member for Trinity College before his resignation from the War Cabinet. The Prime Minister offered him this appointment because he thought that he could do the work successfully. The answer to the last part of the question of the hon. Member for Pembroke is in the negative.

Will this work also include the work of receiving special reports from the paid, spies of the Government?

:I do not know to what the hon. Member refers when he talks about "paid spies," but it will include the receiving of reports from the servants of the Government.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that this appointment has created widespread dissatisfaction?

Perhaps the hon. Member is better able to judge of that than I am.

Will the right hon. Gentleman say whether a knowledge of international finance is a necessary qualification for this job?

asked the Prime Minister whether it is the intention of the Government before the end of the War to take steps to secure the formation of a League of Nations; and whether Lord Reading has been empowered to discuss the possible terms of such a league with the United States Government and to cooperate with the President in carrying out the views he has so often expressed?

I can add nothing to what was said by the Minister of Blockade on this subject yesterday.

asked the Prime Minister if he will give the terms of the Order in Council which at present defines the powers and duties of the Chief of the Imperial General Staff?

The terms of the Order in Council are as follow:

"The Chief of the Imperial General Staff shall, in addition to performing such other duties as may from time to time be assigned to him by the Secretary of State, be responsible for issuing the Orders of His Majesty's Government in regard to military operations."

Can the hon. Gentleman tell me the date of that Order?

The first Order in Council was dated 27th January, 1916, and it was reaffirmed on 20th April, 1917.

Can the hon. Gentleman say who is Chief of Staff now?

Is there any truth in the rumours in the papers to-day that Sir William Robertson has been offered, and refused, the principal position in the Versailles Council?

Can the hon. Gentleman say whether this Order in Council has been affected by the meeting in London last Sunday of Sir Douglas Haig and the Prime Minister?