asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether all clerks to the surveyors of taxes up to twenty-eight years of age have been released for military ser- vice; whether all surveyors and assistant surveyors of taxes under twenty-eight years of age who have been drafted into the Taxes Department during the past three years have been released for military service; and, if all surveyors and assistant surveyors of taxes under twenty-eight years of age who entered the Taxes Department during the last three years have not been released for military service, whether he will state the number of that age period who have entered during the last three years and the number released for military service?

Permission to join His Majesty's Forces has been granted by the Board of Inland Revenue within Grades 1 and 2 to clerks in surveyors' offices up to the age of twenty-eight, to a somewhat parallel class of clerks at headquarters up to the age of thirty-five, and to clerks at headquarters belonging to a superior grade up to the age of thirty-one. For these various grades of clerks it has proved possible to employ substitutes under the supervision of the trained staff remaining, although at some cost of efficiency. With regard to surveyors of taxes for whom no substitutes are available with the necessary qualifications, I may refer my hon. Friend to answers given by me on the 4th March and 15th April last to my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Reading. I am sending copies of these answers to my hon. Friend.

asked the Undersecretary of State for War whether in March, 1018, application was made for the transfer to Class W, Army Reserve, of Gunner A. J. Betts, No 135622, 15th Company Royal Garrison Artillery, Grey Point Battery, Helens Bay, county Down; whether this application was sanctioned provided that the medical category was not above B2; whether Betts was examined by a medical board on l7th April and passed B2; and why he has not yet been transferred to Class W, Army Reserve?

Applications for the services of soldiers for agricultural work can only be entertained if forwarded and recommended by the county war agricultural committee to the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the military command in which the soldier is serving. A request for the services of Gunner Betts was received in the War Office and, as soon as his medical category had been verified, the applicant was informed, on the 30th April last, of the correct procedure to follow in such a case.

asked the Minister of National Service whether men who held certificates of exemption, with no condition as to joining the Volunteers, granted by a tribunal prior to the passing of the last Military Service Act, and whose certificates have since been renewed by the tribunal with no mention of Volunteer service, are required under the new Regulations to join the Volunteers?

I think that the hon. Member's question is really one that involves the construction of Sub-section (6) of Section 4 of the Military Service (No. 2) Act, 1918; but I understand that unless the tribunal otherwise directs, such a man is liable, on being so required in such manner as may be prescribed by Order in Council, to join the Volunteer Force.

asked the Minister of National Service whether the doctors who examine men for medical service are paid a separate fee for each examination; if so, whether the fee paid for men passed into the Army is higher than the fee paid for the men who are rejected; and what is the fee in each case?

Doctors serving on any of the National Service Medical Boards are not paid a separate fee for each examination made. They are paid a fixed fee per session. The suggestion in the question is therefore, I am glad to say, without any foundation.

asked the Minister of National Service, concerning the case of Lloyd Warrener, 655, Great Horton Road, Bradford, the only remaining son at home out of five, two having been killed in action, one crippled for life, and a fourth still serving, whether he is prepared to take any steps for the protection of this last remaining son from the risks of military service overseas?

This is one of the cases which come within the Proclamations affecting men born in the years 1895 to 1900, and I regret, therefore, that I can add nothing to the answer which I gave on the 15th of May to the hon. Member for West Leeds.

asked the Minister of Munitions whether the agreements for boring for oil which were still under consideration on 21st March, 1918, by the Ministry with three firms have now been concluded; and if he will now make public the names of the three firms concerned, and state over what areas they respectively have the exclusive right to bore for oil?

A licence has been granted to one of the companies referred to in the question. further information is awaited from another of the companies referred to before a licence can be granted. A draft agreement has been prepared between His Majesty's Government and a third company, and is now under discussion. It is not desirable at this juncture to publish the names of the companies or the areas concerned.

asked the Minister of Munitions whether information affecting an official employed by the Ministry has been laid before Lord Crowe's Committee, to which it was addressed; whether any inquiry has been made by that Committee into the accuracy of the information; and whether the official concerned has been permitted to proceed abroad on behalf of the Ministry in a responsible and well-paid position?

Lord Crewe's Committee received a letter in May last containing certain statements regarding an official of the Ministry. The letter was duly considered by the Committee, but it was not felt that any action was called for. The official in question has proceeded abroad on behalf of the Ministry.

asked the Pensions Minister why the gratuity promised in his letter of December, 1917, to Thomas Farrell, Drogheda, No. 111361, late Royal Engineers, has not been paid; whether he is aware of the deprivations this man has suffered in consequence of its non payment; and will he compensate him accordingly?

The delay in issuing the gratuity in this case arose from an unfortunate confusion between Pioneer Thomas Farrell, late No. 111361 Royal Engineers, and another Thomas Farrell, who was also a pioneer in the Royal Engineers. The mistake has now been rectified, and the former will be paid the amount due to him at once, taking into consideration all the relevant circumstances of the case. He has also put forward a claim that his disability is due to military service, and this matter is at present being dealt with by the Appeals Tribunal.

asked the Secretary of State for India whether the families of Indian soldiers receive any fixed scale of pension and, if so, what it is; and whether there is any scale of disablement allowance in operation?

There is a fixed scale of family pensions for the heirs of Indian soldiers who are killed while performing military duty, or die from wounds or injuries so received, or from accidents or illnesses resulting from active operations in the field, or from foreign service. The rates of pension and the conditions under which pension is granted are set out in detail in the Army Regulations, India. I am furnishing my hon. Friend with a summary of the same. A fixed scale of disablement allowance is also in operation.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether, in view of the shortage of labour, he will consider the possibility of giving permission for old age pensioners to earn during the War anything they can, so that they may not, as they are at present, be prevented working half the week for fear of losing their pensions?

I regret that I cannot hold out any hope of any further extension of the present concessions to old age pensioners. In so far as the concessions relate to pensioners who are wage-earners, they are fully explained in my reply to the right hon. Member for Woolwich on the 17th April last. Under those concessions action is not in general being taken for reduction or revocation of existing old age pensions in consequence of the pensioners earning increased wages during the War, so long as their wages and other means taken together do not exceed 30s. a week. The concessions are only applicable to the old age pensions; they do not apply to the additional allowances of 2s. 6d. a week which the Government are paying during the War to those pensioners whose means as estimated under the Old Age Pensions Acts do not exceed the statutory limits for a pension.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he has received a resolution adopted at the annual meeting of the Association of Trades Protection Societies held recently in London, protesting against the Department of Overseas Trade and Status Inquiries, asking the withdrawal of a service equally unnecessary and undesirable; and what action will be taken?

My attention has been drawn to the resolution in question. The collection of information as to the standing of firms in certain foreign countries has been undertaken by the Department of Overseas Trade, after consultation with the Association of Chambers of Commerce and the Federation of British Industries, and I understand has proved of value to the commercial community. In these circumstances no action in the matter would appear to be necessary.

asked the Postmaster-General, in respect to two telegrams sent to Lance-corporal W. H. Wilson, No. 269439, B Company, Robin Hood's Battalion, 7th Sherwood Foresters, British Expeditionary Force, France, one handed in at the telegraph office on Thursday, 25th April, at 2 p.m., and delivered on Sunday, 28th April, and one handed in at the telegraph office on Saturday, 27th April, at 3 p.m., and delivered on Tuesday, 30th April, both delivered too late for the purpose for which they were sent, whether, seeing that the parents of the soldier were put to unnecessary expense on account of late delivery and that letters would have been delivered as soon, he will refund the cost of the two telegrams, which amounted to 8s. 10d.?

The telegrams in question were duly transmitted to France on the 25th and 27th April respectively. On arrival, they would be handed to the British military authorities for disposal; and the delay they sustained was probably due to difficulty in getting promptly into touch with the addressee's unit. There appears to have been no irregularity, so far as the telegraph service is concerned; and, as all telegrams to places abroad are sent at sender's risk, there are no grounds upon which the charges could be refunded.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he is aware that the pupils now in attendance at the recently established national school at Kilkeel, county Down, were, at the date of its establishment, on the rolls of neighbouring national schools; whether he is aware that these schools have been visited by the promoters of the new school for the purpose of canvassing pupils; whether such a practice is in strict conformity with the rules and regulations of the Commissioners of National Education; whether he is aware that the retention of the assistant teachers in the four existing schools in Kilkeel and the right of the principal teachers to promotion and increment depend upon a certain figure of average attendance being maintained; and will he say what steps do the Commissioners propose to take in the circumstances in order to safeguard the vested interests of the existing schools and teachers?

The Commissioners of National Education have no statistics that would enable them to answer the first part of this question. In the most recent report which they have received in connection with the proposed school at Kilkeel, dated the 8th April, 1918, it is stated that out of forty-eight pupils present fifteen had left school finally. The Commissioners are not aware that the neighbouring national schools have been visited by promoters of the new school for the purpose of canvassing pupils. The retention of assistant teachers in their schools and the right of principal teachers to promotion and increments depend on the maintenance of a sufficient average attendance of pupils. The Commissioners have, however, no information before them at present to warrant the assumption that the position of the assistant teachers in the existing schools in Kilkeel, or the right of the principal teachers of those schools to promotion or increments would be jeopardised by the transfer of pupils to the proposed new school.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he can state what is the cause of the delay in the publication of Mr. P. C. Cowan's Report on Dublin housing, and when it will be issued?

The delay in publishing the Report has been unavoidable, but I hope to publish it without further delay.

asked the President of the Board of Education who will be responsible for the appointment of managers of those continuation schools which under Clause 3, Sub-section (1), of the Education (No. 2) Bill are not directly established and maintained by the local education authority, but of which such authority has secured the establishment and maintenance?

The management of the school will naturally be a matter for agreement between the persons responsible for its establishment and the local education authority, who before accepting it as a continuation school under their direction and control will, of course, satisfy themselves that suitable arrangements are made for its management.

asked the First Commissioner of Works whether, as women are to be entitled to vote for the election of Members of this House, steps will be taken to enlarge and improve the accommodation afforded them to witness the proceedings of this House; and whether, as in another place, legislators have not found it necessary to obscure ladies from sight by placing them behind barriers, a similar policy might be pursued by this House with equal propriety?

The limitations of the present structure do not admit of any enlargement of the accommodation for ladies to witness the proceedings of the House, and the question of affording additional facilities for that purpose is not within my jurisdiction. I do not understand the hon. Member's reference to placing ladies behind barriers, as, in accordance with the directions of the House, I caused the Grille in front of the Ladies' Gallery to be removed last year.