asked the Prime Minister whether Lord Milner is a naturalised British subject; where he was born; whether his father's real name was Muller; and at what time it was changed?

Lord Milner is and always has been a British subject, and therefore has not been naturalised. He was born of British parents in Germany. As regards the third part of the question the answer is in the negative. The fourth part does not, therefore, arise.

asked the Prime Minister whether steps have yet been taken to authorise the wearing of chevrons by escaped prisoners of war and by officers and men who were taken prisoner by the enemy after being wounded?

asked the Under-secretary of State for War whether it has been decided that men who have been prisoners of war are not entitled to wear chevrons for the period of captivity; and whether the possibility of allowing these men some distinctive mark can be reconsidered?

This matter is at present under consideration.

asked the hon. Member for Sheffield (Central Division) (1) whether he is aware that numerous complaints are still being received from Holland that many British non-commissioned officers interned in that country have not yet received clothing or underclothing of which they are in need; whether he is aware that British non-commissioned officers have to walk about in this friendly country in rags, without any change of underclothing, and that some of the men are still wearing the prison garb issued to them while they were in Germany; whether he will say what steps he proposes to take to compel the officer in charge of the Prisoners of War Clothing Department to carry out his duties with intelligence and dispatch; and whether he is aware that many requests have been sent by the military authorities in Holland to the War Office for clothing and underclothing for these men, and that these requests have either been ignored or been inadequately complied with; and(2) Whether he is aware that Reports are being received from Holland that the German Government is supplying the German non-commissioned officers who are prisoners of war interned in Holland with smart full-dress peace uniforms; and whether he proposes to take steps to prevent this superior treatment of German soldiers interned in Holland compared to the treatment meted out to British non-commissioned officers interned in that country who are still after many weeks of internment provided only with their prison clothes?

I am informed that clothing for all British prisoners of war interned in Holland was duly ordered by the general officer in charge of British interned prisoners of war, and supplied by the Army Clothing Department. An ample supply of clothing is now in Holland, though it is quite true that considerable delay took place in its despatch for reasons which I can explain to my hon. and gallant Friend. I am further informed that it is not the fact that British prisoners in Holland have to walk about in rags, or that their appearance compares unfavourably with that of the German prisoners in that country. I am informed that peace uniform is not issued during the War.

asked the hon. Member for Sheffield (Central Division) whether he can state, or will ascertain by telegraph, if money allowances are actually being paid by the Dutch Minister at Constantinople to all British and Indian prisoners in Turkey, and what the amount is for each camp; and whether His Majesty's Government considers the amount adequate, in view of the evidence in its possession as to the rise of prices in Turkey?

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether the maximum allowance which the Netherlands Minister at Constantinople is permitted by His Majesty's Government to pay to British officers in Turkey is £T18; whether the War Office or the Prisoners of War Department at the House of Lords has received evidence that the cost of living at certain towns in Turkey in which prisoners are interned is much in excess of this sum; and, if so, whether the maximum will be increased?

The relief allowances authorised by His Majesty's Government are being paid by the Netherland Minister at Constantinople to all British and Indian prisoners in Turkey, subject always to the difficulties attending all communications in that country. His Majesty's Government consider that the Netherlands Minister must be best able to judge of the amounts required in the several localities, having regard to the state of prices and other considerations. He has reported having fixed the following rates at certain of the camps, and inquiry has been made by telegraph as to whether rates have been fixed at any further camps since the date of his Report.

Constantinople.
European officers	…	£T 18
European soldiers	…	£T 6
Indian soldiers	…	£T 3
Broussa.
European officers	…	£T 18
Indian officers	…	£T 10
European soldiers	…	£T 6
Indian soldiers	…	£T 4
Afion Kara Hissar.
European officers	…	£T 15
Indian officers	…	£T 10
European soldiers	…	£T 6
Indian soldiers	…	£T 4
Yozgad.
European officers	…	£T 10
European soldiers	…	£T 6
Kedos.
European officers	…	£T 7
Indian officers	…	£T 5
European soldiers	…	£T 4
Indian soldiers	…	£T 3
Konia.
1 European officer	…	£T 10
Indian officers	…	£T 5

His attention has also been drawn to the complaints of high prices received from one of the camps, and inquiry has been made whether his information confirms this and would justify an increase in the rate of allowance fixed.

asked the hon. Member for Sheffield (Central Division) whether the ships which are to bring back the thousand British and Indian soldiers from Turkey recently agreed to be exchanged have yet sailed; and, if not, can he say why not?

I would refer my hon. Friend to my reply to my Noble Friend the Member for Nottingham on the 24th June in regard to the sailing of the vessel which is to repatriate British prisoners of war from Turkey. I may add that the desired communications from the Turkish Govern- ment have not yet been received, and that further representations are being made by telegraph not only to them, but also to the German, Austro-Hungarian, and Bulgarian Governments in regard to the assurance expected from them relative to the immunity of the ship.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food what arrangements are being made to provide feeding-stuffs for livestock, maize, corn, and oil, for the coming winter?

The Ministry of Food is at present taking over stocks of oil cake from the oil-seed crushers, in order to conserve the supply for use during the winter months. The question of increased supplies for the winter is receiving consideration.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food if, seeing there will be a glut of fat bullocks on sale during the autumn and a scarcity of such cattle during the winter months, because of the lack of hay and concentrated food to keep them on, he will make cold storage provision in order to preserve the surplus grass-fed beef and mutton for winter use and so regulate the supply?

It is proposed to rely mainly on supplies of home-produced meat during the latter months of 1918, and it is not anticipated that there will be any difficulty in utilising all the cattle which will come forward. There is ample refrigerated space for the imported meat which will be received during this period of reliance on home-produced supplies.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether his attention has been called to the delay in issuing new season's jam prices; if so, what excuse can be offered, inasmuch as the importance of prompt action has been repeatedly impressed upon the Ministry, and if the delay is due to insufficiency of staff whether he will see that this will be remedied so that the duties of the Department may be properly carried out; and whether he is aware that manufacturers have their factories filled with jam, which, owing to the uncertainty as to prices, they cannot send out, a hardship upon small manufacturers, although the stocks of retailers are exhausted, and the public demand for jam cannot be satisfied?

I am fully alive to the importance of issuing as soon, as possible the prices of the new season jams, and to the fact that the manufacturers have considerable stocks on hand. These prices could not, however, be fixed until after the fruit prices had been fixed and the manufacturers and distributors of jam had been consulted. The jam prices will be issued in a day or two, and I do not think that any serious hardship has been inflicted on the trade by the fact that they have not been issued already.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether, having regard to the shortness of this year's fruit supply, his Department can take any steps, in conjunction with district and parish councils and by means of village clubs, to preserve blackberries and other wild fruits from premature destruction, so that they may be used to the best advantage of the district in which they grow?

Owing to the failure of the fruit crops arrangements are being made by the Ministry of Food, in conjunction with the Board of Agriculture, to organise the collection of blackberries with the assistance of local organisations.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether he is aware that London butchers are still having allotted to them old cow meat which, in pre-war days, would have been condemned as unfit for human consumption, and that in many cases London butchers are having delivered to them meat of inferior quality which is practically nothing but skin and bone; on what grounds such meat is imported, seeing that there is no nutriment in it; and whether, considering the price that is demanded by the butchers in consequence of the cost to them, he will preclude altogether the importation into this country of such inferior meat?

No alteration has been made in the standard of meat fit for human consumption; I regret that some of the meat distributed in recent months has been inferior in quality to the bulk of that imported before the War, but the quality of the meat now being placed on the market shows a decided improvement, which it is hoped to maintain. A concession in price has been made to retailers in consideration of the waste caused by the use of meat of inferior quality.

asked the Food Controller whether any preference has been given, as promised, to men displaced from their situations in the margarine trade in staffing the Margarine Clearing House recently set up in Glasgow; have, in fact, men under military age been appointed there in preference to displaced men over military age; and, if so, will he see this matter remedied in the future?

Manufacturers of margarine in Glasgow were invited to submit the names of any suitable members of their staff whose services could be spared, and all such nominations were carefully considered. At present three men of military age have been appointed; two of these have been discharged from His Majesty's Forces, while the third, who is forty-seven years of age and has not yet been medically graded for military service, was already in the employment of the Ministry of Food.

asked the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland) if he is aware that farmers in Ireland find it impossible to get shotgun cartridges for the protection of their crops from the ravages of rooks and other farm pests; and, as damage will be done to growing crops until after they are harvested, what steps he intends taking to secure a sufficient supply of such ammunition?

Numerous complaints as to the difficulty of obtaining ammunition for destruction of rooks and other pests have been received by the Department, who have made representations on the subject to the Government. It is understood that a limited supply of such ammunition is now available in Dublin, Belfast, and the county town of each county for farmers who possess police permits to purchase it.

asked (1) the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland) whether heifers, two years old and under, have been shipped from the ports of Newry and Dundalk last week that were unfit for slaughter, and are likely to be exhibited and sold as stores in the markets of Bristol and York next Thursday; and why it is that the Order permitting such animals to be exported only when fit for slaughter has been departed from in these cases; and (2) the President of the Board of Agriculture why heifers exported last week from the ports of Newry and Dundalk as being fit for immediate slaughter at the port of debarkation are allowed to be trained to the markets of York and Bristol and there sold as stores?

The export of heifers from Ireland is controlled by the Maintenance of Live Stock (Ireland) (Cattle) Order, 1918, wherein it is provided that a heifer which has not four permanent incisor teeth fully up may not be exported. The Department are not aware that any such heifers except those licensed under Article 5 (e) of the Order, and considered on veterinary inspection to be fat and fit for slaughter, and previously certified under statutory declaration made by the owners to be fat and intended for slaughter, have been shipped recently from either of the ports mentioned. If particulars of any specific breaches of the Order can be supplied, the matter will be inquired into.

asked the President of the Board of Agriculture whether he proposes to bring in a Bill this Session to give security of tenure to the allotment-holders; and whether it will apply to Irish allotment-holders, and secure to them all the advantages given to British allotment-holders?

The Corn Production (Amendment) Bill deals with this matter so far as this country is concerned. As regards Ireland, I think my hon. Friend should ask the Chief Secretary.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether a soldier on home service who is a coal miner and fifty-three years old, and of medical category B1, can be transferred to the Reserve, provided a colliery firm notify on Part C of Army Form W 3980 that they are desirous of employing this soldier?

Soldiers in medical category B1 are not eligible, under present arrangements, for transfer to the Reserve for employment in collieries.

asked the Minister of National Service whether a notice has been issued to tribunals that joint committees of co-operative societies and representatives of the Ministry of National Service are to be set up as advisory committees to consider the exemption of certain classes of employés engaged in the retail distribution of food; and, if so, will the same opportunity be presented to recognised associations of traders engaged in the distribution of food?

asked the Minister of National Service whether he has issued a notice to tribunals to consider in a more lenient manner the cases of exemption of certain classes of co-operative employés engaged in retail food distribution; and, if so, whether, in view of the improvement in the military situation, he will consider extending this leniency to similar employés among private traders?

I have nothing to add to the full reply which I gave yesterday to questions put by the hon. Members for Merthyr Tydvil and the Tower Hamlets. So far as I am aware, no notice has been issued to tribunals on the subject, but any question on that point should be addressed to my right hon. Friend the President of the Local Government Board.

asked the Minister of National Service whether he received a letter from the hon. Member for Liverpool (West Derby Division), dated the 12th July instant, and a further letter, dated the 22nd July instant, calling his attention to Instruction 123, of 1918; whether the effect of such instruction is that in each region all over the country there will be a, Regional Advisory Committee of four members, empowered to consider the liability for military service of people employed by industrial co-operative societies, with a view to recommending their protection as indispensables engaged in the retail distribution of food; and whether he is aware that the issue of this instruction has caused dissatisfaction amongst thousands of shopkeepers engaged in the distribution of food and other necessaries of life, and especially the one-man-business owners, who are single-handed, and who thus see the co-operative societies favoured at their expense; and whether he proposes to take any action to remedy this inequality or to carry out any of the promises made from time to time, both publicly and privately, to the one-man-business owners, and more especially those between forty and fifty years of age with families?

I can add nothing to the full statement which I made yesterday in reply to the hon. Members for Merthyr Tydvil and the Tower Hamlets.

asked the Minister of National Service whether he is prepared to interfere in the case of Mr. A. Farrar, of Shipley, Yorks, aged thirty-five, Grade 2, married, two children, and the proprietor of a one-man business, who has been refused exemption from military service by the local and appeals tribunals although he is distributing 100 gallons of milk daily and sells 100 pigs annually?

asked the Minister of National Service whether his attention has been drawn to the case of William B. Ball, Main Street, Alrewas, Burton-on-Trent; whether he is aware that this man is a skilled agricultural worker, was rejected and therefore excepted from military service in June, 1916, re-examined in May, 1917, and graded C2, and has recently been called up to join the Royal Flying Corps; and whether, in view of the scarcity of skilled workers on the land and of the fact that Ball has very bad eyesight, is ruptured, and suffers from varicose veins, he will consider the possibility of his return to his work of national importance?

I am making inquiries into the circumstances of these cases and will inform the hon. Members of the result.

asked the Minister of National Service whether in view of the fact that Metropolitan special constables of six months' service who are over forty-five and in Grade 2 are to be exempted from military service, similar arrangements will be made as regards county special constables who fulfil the above conditions?

It is not proposed to extend to the provinces the general arrangement made with regard to Metropolitan special constables, but it has been arranged with the Home Office that lists of special constables forty-five years of age or over in Grade 2 who are essential to the carrying out of emergency measures in certain areas may be submitted to the Directors of National Service in the regions with a view to their being protected so long as they continue satisfactorily to perform their police duties.

asked the Minister of National Service whether a boy, aged seventeen and a half years, the sole surviving son of his widowed mother and her sole support, whose brother was killed in action, is exempt from service; and, if so, what steps should be taken to obtain his exemption before he is called up?

As my hon. Friend is aware, lads are not liable for military service until they attain the age of eighteen. Under the Regulations now in force the lad to whom he refers may apply to the tribunal for exemption on the grounds stated after he attains that age.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Munitions whether the Ministry will consider the propriety of using the cinemas through out the country for making known the conditions under which strikes arise, the merits of each case, and the disastrous results of such disagreements, seeing that 15,000,000 a day can be approached by this agency?

Whilst I am prepared carefully to consider my hon. Friend's Question, I am afraid that the practical difficulties in the way are almost insuperable.

asked the Parliamentary to the Ministry of Munitions what progress has been made in dealing with the claims and losses arising out of the recent explosion at a certain shell-filling factory?

The explosion occurred on the 1st July, and by the end of the week special staffs had been organised for dealing—

(1) With claims arising out of death of employés.

(2) With third-party claims and claims by the factory employés for loss of personal effects.

As regards the first class of claims, which have to be dealt with through the Courts, the judge and registrar of the local County Court hold special sittings. I desire gratefully to acknowledge the action of these gentlemen. By 21st July, out of eighty-six claims received, it had been possible for a responsible officer of the Finance Department of the Ministry to pass seventy-five of them. The total number of deaths notified is 134. That probably represents the maximum number of compensation claims receivable. I hope that within a further fortnight or three weeks practically all claims in respect of death will have been met. As regards the second class of claims, a section of the staff of the Ministry appointed to deal with these matters was immediately sent down, and they are settling claims on the spot. Assessors of this section commenced immediately after the explosion to deal with the claims for more serious damage, and arrangements at the same time were made locally for replacement of broken glass, etc. An adequate supply of glass has been forthcoming. As regards claims for injury to employés, these will be met under the Workmen's Compensation Act, and the factory authorities have had authority delegated to them to deal with cases up to the payment of five months' injury pay.