asked the Undersecretary of State for War if youths under eighteen have been, and are being, sent out to the fighting line; if not, will he inquire why Private T. Campbell, Sea-forth Highlanders, who was not eighteen years of age until February of this year, was sent out to France in January notwithstanding the protest to his commanding officer by his father; and, as this boy has been reported missing since the 22nd March, will he say what action it is proposed to take against those responsible for sending out this boy to France?

I am making inquiries into this case, and will communicate with my hon. Friend in due course.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he can state the present whereabouts of Private Peter Kavanagh, Royal Defence Force; whether he is aware that this soldier is barely eighteen; why has his father never received the allowance made to him; and whether the case of this soldier and his father and the fact that the lad joined up voluntarily immediately after his mother's death will be taken into account?

Representations have already been made to me regarding this soldier's age, and the matter is being dealt with in accordance with the Regulations in such cases. I am also having inquiries made into the other points raised in the question.

asked the Undersecretary of State for War, seeing that the Volunteer Force (Tribunal Exemptions) Order, 1918, as regards additional or substituted military duties not exceeding twelve hours a week only applies to such men as may be called up under the above Order and not to existing members of the force, he will state the cause of this differentiation; and whether, in the event of the Army Council directing such duties, the men performing them will receive pay and allowances?

The provisions of the Military Service Act, under which the Order in Council was made, only apply to men dealt with by tribunals on or after the 1st May last, and there are no powers-to apply the special provisions of the Order to existing members of the Volunteer Force, unless and until their exemptions come up for review. The Order in Council provides, inter alia, that the Army Council may require men coming within its scope to do twelve hours a week of military duty, either in addition to or in lieu of the drills which they would otherwise have to perform as members of Section B of the Volunteer Force, but the question of the classes of men to whom this special provision should be applied is now under consideration, and I am afraid I cannot make any definite statement at present. It is hoped to issue full instructions shortly.

asked for what reason, on 20th June, a military escort took from Winchester Gaol to Maida Barracks, Aldershot, H. R. Cudbird, a conscientious objector, whose sentence of two years' hard labour was not due to expire until October next?

asked for what reason H. R. Cudbird, a conscientious objector who was serving a sentence of two years' hard labour in Winchester Gaol, due to expire in October next, was released on 20th June and sent, under escort, to Maida Barracks, Aldershot?

If I can be furnished with the name of the regiment to which Cudbird belongs and his regimental number I will have inquiry made.

asked the Prime Minister whether he is aware of the fact that the French troops receive a daily publication issued jointly by the French War Office and the French Foreign Office, which goes by the name of the "Bulletin Quotidien de Presse Etrangère," whereas the British troops in France only receive an occasional typed copy of the official communiqués; and whether the Government could arrange with the French for an English translation of the "Bulletin Quotidien" to be supplied to the officers and men of the Expeditionary Force in order that they may have fuller and more exact information about the War in different countries than is at present given to them?

My right hon. Friend has asked me to answer this question. I am in communication with the military authorities in France on the subject.

Will my right hon. Friend draw the attention of the military authorities to the fact that the troops on all fronts rely upon the German wireless for news, and could not a substitute be provided more British in nature?

I have asked for the whole subject to be looked into over there.

asked the Minister of National Service whether he has had his attention drawn to the calling up of the business manager of Vickery Brothers, cider merchants, Taunton, of which firm the two young brother partners are serving in France, and the business is in danger of being closed down; and whether, in view of cider being a healthy substitute for beer and the firm now paying £100 a month in cider duty, the manager may be specially exempted from military service?

My attention was called to this case by Mr. Vickery himself, but it appears from his letter, received on 1st July, that he took no steps to apply to a tribunal for the exemption of his manager, although he was aware of his right to do so. I gather from Mr. Vickery's letter that the man is working as a War Agricultural Volunteer, and in the circumstances I do not see how I can take any action.

Is the right hon. Gentleman not aware that it was simply because the man was doing part-time service on the land that he was prevented from applying and that when that condition was withdrawn he had no opportunity of applying?

I think there must be some misunderstanding, because no part-time service by a man prevents him from applying.

Did it not do so in this case, and was he not called up under such conditions as made it impossible for him to apply?

I think there must be some misunderstanding, and if the hon. Gentleman will see me afterwards I will go over the case in detail with him.

Perhaps the right hon. Gentleman will get a report from the area commander?

asked the Minister of National Service (1) whether, in view of the dislocation of the slate trade and the inconvenience caused to electrical works by the withdrawal of men under the Military Service Acts, and consequent shortage of slates, he will receive a deputation of the quarry owners and representatives of the men to discuss the position; (2) whether representations have been made to him by those engaged in electrical construction as to the delay caused by the failure of the quarry owners to supply the necessary slates, owing to the continued drain of their essential men into the Army; and whether he can see his way to enable the quarry owners to obtain protection for the workmen engaged in producing an essential commodity for war purposes?

In consequence of the representations referred to by the hon. Member a conference took place at Rhyl, on 21st June, between the North Wales slate quarry trade and the officials of the Ministry in the Welsh Region. Further particulars are being obtained from the trade, on receipt of which full consideration will be given to the requests put forward by the trade representatives at the conference. If the difficulties cannot then be adequately met, and a further conference is found necessary, it will be arranged.

asked the Minister of National Service whether he is aware that persons who have been exempted by the City of London Tribunal with a right to further appeal are being called up for service, although their applications for appeal had already been lodged; and whether, as this involves extra work both for the National Service Department at Newington and the tribunal in having the notices cancelled, he will issue full and proper instructions to his Departments that will prevent this extra work and annoyance to the men concerned in the future?

asked the Minister of National Service concerning Norman Hector Waite, of 137, Oak Lane, Bradford, who has been passed for military service in Grade 2, whether he is aware that this youth has been under medical care from the day of his birth; that at four years of age he had to undergo a serious surgical operation and at the age of seven he had rheumatic fever followed by St. Vitus dance, when his speech left him entirely for a month; that during the whole of his school life he had to be specially safeguarded against overstrain at school and for a period attended the open-air school under the orders of the school medical officer; that the Liverpool Victoria Insurance Company refused to accept him under the National Health Insurance scheme; that he was certified by his private doctor, on the evidence of twelve years as a patient, to have had an attack of chorea every year and was, on the date the certificate was given, namely, 27th June last, suffering from valvular disease of the heart and unfitted for anything other than the lightest employment; and that another doctor certified to similar effect on the same day; and if he intends to send this youth into the Army?

Inquiries are being made into these cases, and I will inform the hon. Members of the result.

asked the Minister of National Service if he will afford protection to two blind parents, aged sixty-seven and seventy-three, respectively, whoso only son, J. W. Muff, 57, Sandbeds, Cullingworth, Yorks, is called up for military service, the only other member of the family being a daughter, who resides in London and is obliged to work for her own livelihood (a waitress, receiving for her services 5s. a week in wages and a further uncertain and irregular weekly sum in gratuities, and paying out of her small weekly income 5s. a week for the supervision of her child during working hours), having regard to the fact that their son is a warehouseman employed by a firm engaged on Government contracts, and that they are dependent upon him for the management of their affairs and for care and attention every day of their lives?

I have inquired into this case, and have ascertained that Mr. Muff's application for exemption was considered by the Central Tribunal. Exemption was refused, but the tribunal recommended that he should not be called up for a month from the date of their decision. This period has, in fact, been considerably extended; but though I sympathise with the representations of the hon. Member, I feel that this is one of the cases which Parliament intended should be finally dealt with by the Central Tribunal.

Can my right hon. Friend say if the National Service Department are really going to call up a man who is the son of two blind parents, aged sixty-seven and seventy-three respectively, and put him in the Army without making provision for the two blind parents?

I have inquired into this case, and it has been dealt with by three separate tribunals. In each case the tribunals had all the facts before them, and they decided that the man should serve. He actually went to the highest Court of Appeal, which decided against him. Special consideration was given, extending over a great many weeks, and it is very difficult to overrule bodies such as the Central Tribunal, which had all the facts before it.

Do I take it, then, that the Ministry of National Service approves the taking of the only remaining son of two blind parents, aged sixty-seven and seventy-three respectively, and putting him into the Army?

Is it not a fact that they would be entitled to separation allowances?

That is, of course, a matter for the War Office. I can add nothing to what I have said.

So you do approve!

asked the Minister of National Service if a head carder in a cotton mill, aged thirty-three, married, is protected from being called up for military service under the Order of 9th April; if this be so, will he say if the decision of the tribunal in the case of James Scholes, 12, Bank Street, Hadfield, near Manchester—namely, that he must join the Army on the 4th August, 1918—is valid; and will he say further whether a man protected under the Order of 9th April requires to have a tribunal exemption so long as he is protected by that Order?

The hon. Member appears to be under a misapprehension as to the effect of the Order referred to, which withdraws exemption on occupational grounds held by men of certain ages. It does not confer any form of protection or exemption on anyone. A certificate of exemption held from a tribunal by a man not within the specified ages is not affected in any way by the Withdrawal Order. It may, therefore, be withdrawn by the tribunal in ordinary course or it may expire without renewal. In either case the man becomes liable for military service. It follows that the tribunal in the case of Mr. Scholes acted strictly within its powers.

asked the Minister of National Service if he will state the nature of the inquiries he made into the method of medical examination by the medical recruiting board at Blackburn; will he say if he confined his inquiries to the medical board itself; will he, in view of the inaccuracy of the report which has been furnished to him, have independent inquiry made into the following cases, names and addresses of which have been privately furnished to him, namely: the case of a man who took with him a medical certificate from the superintendent of the Grange Sanatorium and also a certificate from the borough health officer, stating he was registered as a tuberculosis patient, and produced medical evidence that he had lost a brother and sister by the same complaint, and had another sister in the sanatorium at that time, and yet was passed Grade I; the case of a man of forty-three years of age, always an invalid, who produced medical testimony that he had a very weak heart, also suffered from varicocele, was badly nourished, weighed only 100 lbs., and was passed by the Blackburn Medical Board Grade 1; the case of a man who, five years ago, had been superannuated from the Civil Service on account of physical unfitness, and who since has been unable to do any work, and who, after a perfunctory examination, was refused an opportunity to explain his circumstances, and was passed Grade 2; the case of a man who had been examined three times previously and deferred as unfit, who has suffered for nine years from gastritis, and for the last fourteen months has been under constant medical treatment and under strict dietary, but was passed, without a proper examination, Grade 1; the case of a man producing medical certificates that he has suffered from double inguinal hernia, very serious, produced evidence of an unsound condition of his system, examination of his lungs revealing a hollowness on the left side, confirmed by X-rays examination, with abscess discharge from lung, passed Grade 2; the case of a man, aged forty-four, weighing 7 stone 7 lbs., height 5 ft. 1½ ins., suffering from double rupture, bleeding piles, and who, seven years ago, had a serious operation on his head and part of an artery removed, and who is subject to frequent dizziness, passed Grade 1; and the case of a youth, aged eighteen, who had only worked for six months in his life owing to ill-health, and for the last twelve months has been constantly under the doctor, and was under medical treatment at the time he was called up and passed into the Army in Grade 2; and if he will suspend the officials of the Blackburn Medical Board until the result of his inquiry is known?

I am obliged to the hon. Member for sending me the cases referred to, and full inquiries are being made into them.

Will the right hon. Gentleman answer the first part of the question and state the nature of the inquiries which were made?

Inquiries are being made. The actual cases which the hon. Member sent me reached me this morning, and what I am doing to inquire into the working of the Medical Board at Blackburn is to take these cases and have them fully investigated.

asked the Minister of National Service whether he is aware that G. F. Herriman, of Atwood Road, Didsbury, who has had the misfortune to lose a leg and uses crutches, was called up for examination about a year ago and placed in category R R; that he was called up for another examination in the early part of the present year, when attention was called to his infirmity, but, notwithstanding this, he was again called up in the first week of last June; whether all men who have lost a limb are exempt from military service; and whether, seeing that the fact that a man who has lost a leg has been called up three times shows that the Department's system is defective, he will consider the desirability in such cases, with a view of saving trouble and expense, of issuing a cripple's rejection card?

I was not aware of the circumstances of the case of G. F. Herriman, to which the hon. Member refers. I am making inquiries, and will communicate with the hon. Member as soon as the result is known. As regards the second part of the question, no man who has lost the whole or part of a limb can be medically passed for the Army. There is, however, a provision enabling such a man to be accepted, at his own request, into the Army to do clerical and other work for which he has been specially trained.

May I ask the right hon. Gentleman whether he is aware that cripples and people who have been bedridden for years are now being called upon to attend for medical examination, in some cases twenty or thirty miles away from the places where they live, and could he not institute some system to avoid this obvious absurdity?

It is quite obvious that a clerk in a recruiting office does not know anything about individuals living twenty or thirty miles away. These people's names are on the National Register, and there is no possible description of their state of health in the register. They are therefore called up in the ordinary course, but there is a full procedure to prevent such things happening as have been suggested.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether the existing Regulations issued to tribunals can be amended so as to give to a man appealing to an Appeal Tribunal against his grading the right to be professionally represented?

It rests with the Appeal Tribunal whether to allow or not to allow legal representation in these cases, which, as my hon. and learned Friend knows, differ much from ordinary applications for exemption. I have not at present received evidence which shows that a change in the existing practice is necessary.

(by Private Notice) asked the Secretary for Scotland whether he is aware that teachers of the new military age are being called up with the consent of the Scottish Education Department, and that many schools in. Scotland are thereby depleted of male school teachers; whether, in view of the new arrangements as to the grading of the men of the new military age he will ask the National Service Department to suspend the calling-up notices in order to secure the best possible distribution of the available male teachers among Scottish schools?

Teachers in Scotland are being called up in terms of the Military Service (No. 2) Act, 1918, the consent of the Scottish Education Department being neither asked for nor required. In certain cases, however, school boards or managers have represented to the Department that serious consequences would be entailed by the removal of individual teachers from particular schools. These representations have been considered, and recommendations in favour of a postponement of the calling-up have been made to the Ministry of National Service wherever Inquiry showed that without such postponement the interests of education would be gravely endangered. The new arrangements as to grading may conceivably alter the position; and, consequently, since the announcement of these was made, in the case of any representation where the teacher concerned is of the new military age, the Department have asked for the postponement of the calling up, pending an understanding on the general question being reached. As my hon. and learned Friend will recognise, however, such an understanding cannot be limited to Scotland alone.

What reply did the Scottish Education Department get from the National Service Department?

I have had certain Departmental communications, but I propose to supplement them by consultations with the Minister of National Service at the earliest possible moment.

asked the President of the Board of Agriculture if he is aware that the Worcestershire Agricultural Executive Committee have ordered Mr. James Print, the occupier of a small farm of about 80 acres at Arms-cote, Newbold-on-Stour, which he is quitting at Michaelmas next, to plough up the remaining 40 acres of grass on that farm on or before 1st August next; whether 40 acres is already arable land; whether it is the policy of his Department to order the whole acreage of a particular farm to be ploughed; and, in view of the fact that the land in question will require five horses to plough it and that there is no stable or cottage accommodation, he will give instructions for this order to be cancelled or held over until proper inquiries have been made by his Board?

The Board have no information as to this case, but inquiry is being made, and the hon. Member will be informed of the result as soon as possible.

Will the hon. Gentleman say whether it is the Board of Agriculture or the Food Department who are still pressing for the breaking up of grass lands?

further asked the President of the Board of Agriculture whether it is with his knowledge and consent that the Worcestershire Executive Agricultural Committee are still ordering the breaking up of grass land, under threat of penalties, to be completed on or before 1st August next; and whether, in view of the shortage of labour to get in the harvest, he will give instructions that unreasonable orders of this kind should be withheld?

My right hon. Friend is unwilling to interfere with the agricultural executive committee's discretion in the exercise of the powers entrusted to them. But if the hon. Member will supply particulars of any orders made by the committee which he regards as unreasonable, inquiry will at once be made into the circumstances. Generally speaking, however, the local committees are in a better position than the Board to decide on the merits of particular cases, and in view of the necessity for maintaining the production of corn, any occupier who is able to cultivate a larger area, either by his own resources or with such assistance as the agricultural executive can give, may be reasonably required to do so.

Does the hon. Gentleman's Department think it more important to use labour at the present time in breaking up grass land rather than in securing the corn crop?

To whom are protests to be made when orders of this kind are issued, as to insufficiency of labour?

Protests should be made to the Board of Agriculture, and they immediately make inquiries.

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that the local war agricultural committees justify their pressure upon the farmers by the pressure put upon them by the Board of Agriculture? Is that policy of theirs continuing at the present time for the coming season?

My experience of the local war agricultural committees, which are mostly composed of farmers, is that they are not unreasonable if any representations are made to them.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether he is aware that brewers were refused, until the middle of July, 1918, permission to brew extra beer for consumption by agricultural labourers engaged in working long hours on haymaking; whether he is aware that by the date named the bulk of the haymaking is usually concluded; whether his attention was called some time ago to the fact that a Lancashire firm had asked to be allowed to brew from their own stock to meet the urgent requirements of haymaking and to recoup themselves when permission was granted in July; whether that request was refused; and whether it was the deliberate intention of the Ministry of Food to inflict an unnecessary hardship on agricultural labourers, many of whom are in advanced years and whose labour is essential to the saving of the crops in war-time and who, being temperate men, have always been accustomed to take beer during hay and corn harvest?

The hay crop in 1917 was secured without extra beer being brewed, and it was decided, in agreement with the Board of Agriculture, that it would be unnecessary to issue licences in 1918, except for the corn harvest. Brewers may brew a fixed amount in each quarter of the year, but they are not permitted to anticipate barrelage. The Food Controller is fully alive to the necessity of providing the agricultural labourer with a fair share of the limited supplies of beer available.

Will the hon. Gentleman say what ground he has for believing that it is possible to secure a hay crop without beer, whereas beer is necessary for the corn crop?

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether he is aware that his Department sent a letter on 16th April to a Mr. T. Stevenson, cake baker, in Curtain Road, E.C., releasing to him, through a City wholesale firm, fifty-five cases of damaged currants at a price to be fixed by the wholesale firm and conditional on these currants being used for cake to supply the Navy and Army Canteen Board, the Young Men's Christian Association, canteens, munition works, and institutions of a similar nature; and will he state in what condition these currants were, if they were fit for food, and what price was charged for them to this baker?

The City wholesale firm were instructed to pass these currants to the baker at a price not exceeding 89s. 6d. a hundredweight. The currants were white and sugary, and therefore unsuited for sale as groceries. They were perfectly wholesome, and were sold at the same price as the sound currants forming part of the same consignment. The condition limiting the sale to the institutions mentioned was imposed in order to avoid an-undue preference being given to a limited number of traders by enabling them to sell currant cakes to the general public.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether he is aware that the National Restaurant in New Bridge Street, E.C., serves at least 9 ozs. of cooked meat to a coupon, while other public eating-houses are only allowed to serve the equivalent of 8 ozs. of raw meat to a coupon according to the Food Controller's regulations; what weight of raw meat is represented by 9 ozs. of cooked meat; and if the National Restaurant is subject to the same restrictions and is working under the same Public Meals Order as other public eating establishments?

Six vouchers are given at the National Restaurant in exchange for one coupon. Two of these vouchers are available for butchers's meat, and four for made dishes composed of what are known as offals. Nine ounces of cooked meat as served at the restaurant represent approximately 13 ozs. of raw meat. The answer to the last part of the question is in the affirmative. I may add that the National Restaurant is well within its rationed allowance.

Is the State going to find the funds if there be any loss on these restaurants?

The hon. Member must put that down.

I will.