asked the Prime Minister whether any decision has been come to on the question of municipal elections on 1st November?

This question has not yet been decided.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that the Federation of Women Civil Servants was informed on 27th April that their claim for increased remuneration would be heard and considered without delay; why this definite statement has not been carried into effect; what is the cause of the delay; and when he intends to consider the case of these public servants?

No, Sir. I would refer my hon. and gallant Friend to my answer of the 19th instant to the hon. and gallant Member for East Down, of which I am sending him a copy.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether, in the event of the new proposals in regard to milk distribution being adopted, the retail distributor in London will be given liberty of choice in regard to his wholesale supplier similar to what now obtains in respect of butter and margarine?

I cannot at present give any definite undertaking on this point, as the detailed arrangements under the proposed scheme have not yet been fully worked out.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether the Canadian Government is giving a bonus to fishermen on the East Coast of Canada in order to enable fish to be imported to this country at a low price; and, if so, can he state the price at which such fish is delivered at Liverpool and the price at which it is afterwards retailed to the public in this country?

I am not aware that the export of fish from Canada to this country is being subsidised by the Dominion Government. The second part of the question does not, therefore, arise.

asked the Secretary to the Admiralty whether Mr. Frank Moore, of West Kensington, has submitted certain inventions to the Admiralty which the Admiralty is making use of; if so, whether any payment has been made to Mr. Moore; and, if not, whether it is proposed to make any payment to him for his invention?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. I am advised that no invention of Mr. Moore's is being used by the Admiralty in respect of any device submitted by him.

asked the Minister of National Service up to what age men passed in Grade 1 are posted for general service?

All men accepted for the Army are liable for general service according to their medical category. It is not, however, the present policy of the Army Council to require the same combatant services from the man of over forty years of age as from the man of under forty.

asked the Minister of National Service whether his attention has been called to the case of Albert Thurlow, of Great Ryburgh, who has received a calling-up notice for 25th June, whose two brothers are serving in the Army, and who is in sole charge of the farm of his widowed mother; and, seeing that this man is unable to obtain other labour, so that the crops would be lost and the farm disposed of, what action he proposes to take?

Under the present scheme of recruitment from the agricultural industry, no man can be called up for service unless released as part of the quota for his county by the county agricultural executive committee, which is under the jurisdiction of the Food Production Department of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries. If the hon. Member can assure me that the man in question was not so released, I will cause inquiries to be made into the case.

asked the Minister of National Service whether he has received from the Chiswick local tribunal a representation on the subject of the ignorance which prevails among men called up for medical examination as to their right to appeal to medical assessors, and suggesting that an intimation of such right should be printed on the form M.N.S. Form R. 3,509; and whether he can see his way to adopt the suggestion and give instructions forthwith for it to be carried into effect?

I think that by now the position is very generally understood, and that it would be undesirable to single out for printing on an official notice, which has necessarily to be in a concise form, one point among the many which are applicable to the men to whom notices are sent.

asked the Under-Secretary of State to the Air Ministry if he will state the reason why Mr. J. C. Carpenter, examiner first-class, Aeronautical Inspection Directorate, has been suddenly released; and whether he is aware that within the last thirty days this inspector was reported upon as indispensable by the officer in charge of the district concerned?

I have been asked to reply. There is no official of the name given in the Aeronautical Inspection Department, but if the question relates to Mr. E. J. Carpenter, who is a first-class examiner, the facts are that the position of this officer as regards military service was considered in January last, and that it was decided to release him to the Army as soon as a substitute could be found. Mr. Carpenter has now received his calling-up notice, and is being released accordingly. His services have not been reported as indispensable by his superior officers.

asked the Home Secretary whether he will consider the release from prison of all conscientious objectors who have undergone two years' imprisonment with hard labour?

I would refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary to a question addressed to him by the hon. Member for Haggerston on the 13th May last. I regret that I am not yet in a position to add anything to that statement.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether he can now state the result of the consideration being given to the request that the ex-soldier clerks employed in the War Office since 1901 should be recognised as pensionable after fifteen years' continuous service?

This question is being dealt with by a Committee which is considering various matters connected with the status of ex-soldier clerks, but it is not yet possible to announce a decision.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether he is now in a position to state the result of his inquiries with respect to the application of the 12½ per cent. bonus to the messengers employed in the Ordnance College, Woolwich, in common with other War Office messengers in Woolwich?

The question is still under consideration.

asked the Minister of Munitions whether the agreement made with the War Munition Volunteers in regard to railway vouchers has been altered; and, if so, in what direction and for what reason?

No alteration has been made in the provision of the War Munition Volunteers agreement, or as regards railway fares, whereby a transferred workman, if brought from a distance beyond which he can reasonably travel daily, receives railway fare at the commencement and completion of the work. The special concession as regards the issue of free railway warrants to War Munition Volunteers assigned away from their homes on the occasion of a general holiday, or generally observed trade holiday, still continues.

asked the Secretary of State for India whether he is aware that the employés in the India Stores Department, Lambeth, are not yet in receipt of the 12½ per cent. bonus for time-workers already awarded to all other similar employés under Government Departments; and whether he will make immediate inquiries into the matter with a view to authorising payment of the bonus as from 1st January, 1918?

Before receiving notice of my hon. Friend's question I had caused the necessary inquiries to be made, and sanction has been given to payment of the bonus as from the beginning of the first full pay which followed 1st January, 1918.

asked the Home Secretary whether he is aware that Alfred Erenkel, aged twenty-six, is a German, unnaturalised, that he is the son of Gerald Frenkel, of Messrs. Jacquier and Securius, of Berlin, that when the War broke out ha was residing at Maidenhead, and since then at 14, Hereford Road, Harrogate; will he state why he has not been interned, and give the reasons for this answer; is he further aware that Mr. Frenkel has been in the receipt of a considerable income through a neutral country, and that he expects shortly to be repatriated; and will he state at whose instance this man of military age is to be repatriated and the reasons for this?

The person referred to in the question, Alfred Martin Frenkel, is an invalid, the state of whose health in the earlier part of the War rendered internment or repatriation impossible. He has now been certified as fit for repatriation, and will be sent back to Germany with his wife very shortly. It is understood that his family are well-to-do, and the fact that he received money through a neutral channel has been well known to the authorities. The case has been under constant observation. The Home Office and the military authorities have been, from the first, anxious to get rid of him, and it is only on account of the state of health of himself and his wife that he was not deported long ago.

asked the Home Secretary where Baron von Plessen was living on the outbreak of war; when he left this country was he supplied with a passport, and, if not, how did he escape; where and when was he captured; had he any papers on him when captured showing how he had managed to escape; and is there any evidence to show if any person or persons assisted him to escape?

He was not in this country at the outbreak of War. According to his own statements, he left England for Canada on 9th July, 1914, and embarked at New York for Genoa on 15th August, 1914. He was taken off the ship on which he was proceeding to Genoa from New York by the British naval authorities at Gibraltar on 24th August, and was subsequently brought to this country and interned here.

asked the Home Secretary whether he is aware that at a German compound at Flower Down, Winchester, a German prisoner has been put in charge of the lighting arrangements assisted by several other Germans; that some of the lights are essential for the sentries to keep guard; that this work was formerly done under the contractors by civilian electricians; and whether he will make inquiries into the matter?

My right hon. Friend has asked me to answer this question. I am making inquiries into the matter, and will acquaint my hon. Friend of the result as soon as possible.

asked the Home Secretary what steps are being taken to ensure that naval and military voters on the new register will be able to indicate their place of abode where they formerly resided with parents who have changed their place of residence, or have given up such place of residence, or where their wives have changed their place of residence, whether or not for reasons arising out of their husbands' absence on service?

I have been asked to answer this question. The Representation of the People Act entitles a naval or military voter to be registered in respect of a residential qualification for any premises in which he would have been residing but for his service. The postcards issued for the use of the forces give general instructions as to the qualifying premises, and the more difficult questions arising out of change of residence, such as are indicated in the question, are dealt with in an Army Council Instruction, a copy of which I will send to my hon. Friend.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if arrangements will fee made whereby the Great Eastern Railway Company and the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railways Committee will be authorised to issue three months' third-class season tickets to munition workers and others engaged in Government work instead of the minimum period of six months imposed under the new Regulations, so as to avoid the hardship inflicted on working people in finding the necessary amount to purchase a six months' season ticket in advance?

The Regulation in regard to the issue of season tickets for not less than six months only applies to persons who desire, for the first time, to take out a ticket for a distance exceeding 12 miles. If the hon. Member will give me any details of a munition worker to whom hardship is likely to arise under these conditions, I shall be glad to consider the matter.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he has received a request that he should grant the same award, that is, an increase of 5s. per week to temporary postmen and 4s. per week to temporary postwomen in the provincial towns, as has been granted to the same section of workers in London; and, if so, what action he means to take?

The question of the pay of temporary postmen and post-women in provincial towns has been referred to the Conciliation and Arbitration Board for Government Employés, at whose instance it is being discussed between representatives of the Post Office and the Postmen's Federation with a view to a settlement by agreement.

asked the Postmaster-General if he will reconsider the question of conveying the Sheringham morning mail from Cromer by road in view of the fact that, as letters under the present system are not delivered until about 10.30 a.m., it is impossible for the fish merchants to get their fish packed in time for the 11.22 a.m. train and that the next train, leaving at 3.10 p.m., does not enable the persons to whom the fish is consigned to deal with it until the following day?

Representations to this effect have already been made to me, but I cannot find in them a sufficient justification for the increased expense which would be involved in the provision of a road service.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Shipping Controller whether the policy of fitting cubicles for the crew to standard ships for the mercantile marine is still being adhered to; whether he can state in how many ships cubicles had to be removed because crews would not have them; and whether instructed merchant-service opinion, as distinguished from shipowners and shipbuilders, was sought when the standard ships were designed?

Under agreement with representatives of the National Sailors' and Firemen's Union, the policy of fitting cubicles in standard ships is not now being adhered to, and the present arrangements of the forecastles are being made in consultation with those representatives. The answer to the last part of the question is in the affirmative.

asked the Minister of Labour whether his attention has been called to the claim for arbitration against the Downhead, Waterlip, and Windsor Hill quarries, owned by the Mountain Granite and Basalt Company, Shepton Mallet, and the Moons Hill, Downside, and Ham Wood quarries, owned by Messrs. John Wainwright and Company, Shepton Mallet, and of the refusal of those companies to agree to arbitration; whether he is aware that this refusal of the companies has resulted in a stoppage of work; and what action he intends to take to bring this matter to a settlement?

The Chief Industrial Commissioner has been in communication with the firms concerned for some time, and also with the men's representatives. Negotiations are still in progress.

asked the Secretary for Scotland whether he is aware that some assessors in Scotland are raising the rating of houses under £30 per annum occupied by the owners to rentals above £30, thus depriving such persons of their rights under the Increase of Rents Acts; whether such action has the approval of his Department; and, if not, what steps he proposes to take to stop it?

I am not sure that I correctly appreciate the meaning of my hon. and learned Friend's question. I have had no representations, so far as I can ascertain, which would throw light upon it. As regards the action of assessors, I have no jurisdiction over these officers, whose duties in fixing valuations are prescribed by Statute and are exercised subject to appeal.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he can give the House any information regarding the occupation of Tabriz by the Turks?

The Turkish forces have been in occupation of Tabriz since the 7th instant. The British Consul and colony have left the city, and are on their way to Tehran. It is understood that the enemy forces have taken possession of the British and United States Consulates and the United States hospital, and have disregarded the protests made to them on this head by the Spanish Consular Agent, under whose protection these premises had been placed.

asked the Comptroller of the Household, as representing the National Health Insurance Commissioners, whether one of the representatives of the Insurance Commissioners on the London Insurance Committee is a German, whose business has been subject to special investigation by the Government; if he has been unable to obtain a man of British nationality and descent to represent the employers of London on the insurance committee; and whether the aforesaid German attended and voted at a meeting of the committee on 23rd May, 1918?

I have been asked to reply to this question. No members of the London Insurance Committee are representatives of the Insurance Commission. The members of that committee are appointed in accordance with the provisions of Section 59 of the Act of 1911, under which, in addition to the prescribed representation of insured persons and of local authorities, and to members elected by the medical profession, the Commission appointed a certain number of persons who would bring to the work of the committee various types of experience needed for that purpose, including employers' associations. The individual referred to in the question (who my hon. Friend understands, became a naturalised British subject in 1878) was placed on the insurance committee by the Commission in July, 1912, on his being nominated for that purpose by the Engineering Employers' Federation, who have made no suggestion to the Department for any change in that respect. My hon. Friend will, however, communicate with them on the subject.

asked the Lord Advocate whether it is proposed by his Department to prosecute other farmers for the misuse of petrol in attending cattle sales in their motor cars, notwithstanding the recent decisions of Sheriff-substitute Brown in Ayr Sheriff Court, in view of the facts that public notice is now being taken of farmers' misuse of cars and that petrol permits are given by agricultural committees composed largely of farmers?

The three decisions referred to in the question were arrived at on the special facts established in each case. Cases in which the prosecution is satisfied that a misuse of petrol has occurred will be prosecuted as formerly. There is no ground for the suggestion that farmers are placed in a more favoured position in relation to the Petrol Order than other members of the public to whom it applies.