asked the Prime Minister whether he is aware that there are a large number of camps where women are employed on work connected with the War; whether these camps are under the control of different Departments of the Government and of other organisations; whether the provisions for ensuring discipline, recreation, housing, and health for the women workers vary very much in these camps; whether in some places such provision is inadequate and is detrimental to the welfare of the workers and to the efficiency of the service; and whether he will set up some committee to inquire into and to advise His Majesty's Government as to the general condition of affairs and the possibility of securing that the conditions under which the women are living and working shall be uniformly good throughout the country?

I do not think that the proposal of the hon. Member is necessary. I have no doubt that the Departments concerned realise fully the importance of the considerations mentioned in the question, but I am sending the Departments a copy of my right hon. Friend's question, and asking for a report on the matter.

asked the Prime Minister whether, under the scheme of Preference agreed to by the Imperial Conference, a preference will be granted to all sugar produced within the British Empire as against sugar produced in Germany and Austria?

I can add nothing on this subject to the answer given to the hon. Member for Northampton on Monday last.

asked the Prime Minister whether he will take steps to relieve the hardship imposed on many of the old servants of the country who retired on pensions presumed to be sufficient to enable them in their old age to pro/vide the necessaries of life, but who now find themselves, when too old to work, unable to pay the cost of living owing to the abnormal prices produced by the War; and whether he will appoint a Committee with instructions to investigate the whole matter and with power, in urgent cases to act promptly?

I have nothing to add to the answers given by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer and by myself in this House on many occasions during the current Session to similar questions.

asked the Secretary for Scotland whether he is aware that the Wick Town Council are charging plot-holders at the rate of £5 per acre for the ground of a public park granted as a free gift to the town; and, since these rentals are hampering food production, what action he proposes to take?

My hon. Friend has been misinformed. The rent charged to holders of allotments in the park referred to is at the rate of 30s. per acre and not £5. The latter part of the question does not, therefore, arise. I may add that I am informed that the rent charged is just sufficient to cover local and Imperial burdens on the park and expenses of upkeep.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if he will state the number of new Departments created since the present Government came into office; the total number of the staff and the salaries paid; how many of the staff are established Civil servants and how many are loaned from other Government Departments; how many are discharged or disabled soldiers; and the aggregate salary paid to each of these classes?

I regret that I cannot give the information asked for. It would take a considerable time to prepare, and its public utility would not be at all commensurate with the expense, labour, and loss of official time in its preparation.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether authority will be given to senior constables who purpose to present themselves at P examination which is to be held in Dublin next November considering that since the passing of the Police Emergency Act no non-commissioned officer is permitted to retire on pension unless he is debarred by physical infirmities from further service; whether he will have the examination in November held as a war measure and allow thirty places as formerly given; and whether promotion in the force at the present time is a rarity in most of the counties in Ireland?

The Constabulary Regulations provide, with certain limitations, that constables who have eight years' service and over who are otherwise considered by their officers to be eligible for advancement can be nominated by their county inspectors for the annual P examination for promotion. It has been decided to recommend that an increase should be sanctioned in the number of places to be given to successful candidates at the next examination.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty what is the status of sea-going pilots who hold masters' certificates; whether, during the period of the War, they are directly under the orders of the Admiralty; and has any recognition been made of the valuable services they have rendered to the country?

The status of a deep-sea pilot is not affected by his holding a master's certificate; when on duty a pilot is in responsible pilotage charge of the ship, and when off duty it is customary for pilots to be admitted to the privileges of the saloon, etc. During the period of the War pilots licensed by the Trinity House are under the orders of the Admiralty, conveyed through the Trinity House. Other deep-sea pilots have to conform to the general instruction issued by the Admiralty. Pilots are entitled to a badge if they have been at sea for not less than thirty days after having been mined or torpedoed.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty if he can state the number of casualties among sea-going pilots which have occurred during the war; how many pilots are prisoners of war in Germany; and whether they are treated, when holding masters' certificates, as masters or as junior officers?

As outside certain waters any person can act as a deep-sea pilot, information is not available in the Admiralty to enable a, complete reply to be given to my hon. Friend's question, but among Trinity House and Admiralty deep-sea pilots licensed by Trinity House the casualties are twenty deaths. In some other cases pilots have sustained injuries, due to having been mined or torpedoed, from which they have recovered. The figures I have just given do not include casualties amongst what are known as harbour pilots, of which, I regret to say, there have been a number. Two Trinity House pilots are prisoners in Germany. One is in an officers' camp, the other is interned at Ruhleben.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty if he is aware that the Clyde turbine steamer "King Edward" has been used for transport purposes for the last three years; is he aware that the late Captain Mackellar, of that ship, was killed while in the performance of his duties; and will he instruct the proper authorities to grant a pension to his widow?

Captain Mackellar, to whose valuable services the Admiralty desire to pay tribute, was knocked down and run over by a motor car at Havre. The question of the grant of a pension to his widow is a matter not for the Admiralty, but for the consideration of the Board of Trade.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he will inquire into the cases of Edward Yeomans, eighteen and a half, and Norris J. Parker, nineteen years, both of Feckenham, Worcestershire, who surrendered their protection cards on the promise that they would receive a trade test, but who were drafted into the Army without such test?

My right hon. Friend has asked me to reply. I have caused inquiries to be made into the cases referred to by the hon. and gallant Member, and will communicate the result to him.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War if the Army Council Instruction No. 502, of 1916, which states that officers and seamen of the Mercantile Marine are not to be called up for military service or accepted for direct enlistment is still in force; is he aware that Robert Griffiths, second mate, of 29, Watford Road, Anfield, Liverpool, was forcibly recruited for the Army on 19th June last, and is now doing labour work in the I. W. and D. R. E.; if he is aware that representations made in his behalf by the Mercantile Marine Service Association, the senior representative body of British shipmasters and officers, to the principal recruiting officer at Liverpool on 20th June are still without reply; if he is aware that, notwithstanding the urgent need for junior officers and seamen for merchant ships, the Army recruiting officers are enlisting seamen without inquiry into their protests; and, if so, whether he proposes to take any action in the matter?

My right hon. Friend has asked me to reply. The instruction referred to is in force, but with this modification, that seamen may offer themselves for voluntary enlistment. The case to which the hon. Member refers has already been brought to my notice. Inquiries are being made, and I will inform the hon. Member of the result as soon as it is known. The answer to the last part of the question is in the negative. In any cases which have been brought to my notice of members of the Mercantile Marine who have been irregularly enlisted, action has been immediately taken to effect their release in order that they may return to the Mercantile Marine.

asked the Minister of National Service if he will arrange that the newly-appointed regional Advisory Committee will include in their consideration of the liability of military service of the employés of co-operative societies, also the proprietors of one-man businesses?

I think my hon. and gallant Friend will find this question was fully dealt with in the answer given to my right hon. Friend the Minister of National Service to the hon. Members for Merthyr Tydvil and Tower Hamlets on the 24th of July and on the 29th of July to the hon. Members for Devizes and Great Grimsby.

asked the Minister of Munitions whether a man holding a protection certificate is under an obligation to serve with the Volunteer Training Corps if a tribunal certificate of exemption, which has since become inoperative, imposed that condition?

My right hon. Friend has asked me to answer this question. I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply which I gave him on this subject on the 17th July last.

asked the Postmaster-General what is the exact position of temporary postal workers as regards military service; and will men of certain grades and ages be released to take other work of national importance, such as munitions making or agricultural labour, or does he desire them to retain their present work in the Post Office?

I do not propose to regard temporary employés as indispensable for the work of the Post Office. They will not be debarred from volunteering as war work volunteers as an alternative to military service because they are serving in the Post Office.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War what steps are being taken to provide further accommodation for institutional treatment of neurasthenic and other patients in Scotland; and whether this provision is being made by means of special accommodation for military cases or is being made mainly at the expense of the existing inadequate accommodation for civilian purposes?

The Department has in hand three schemes for additional accommodation for soldiers in Scotland—one for neurasthenic cases and two for other patients. All these are in buildings which were incomplete, and which the action of the Department has caused to be completed. At the end of the War they will be available for the civil population, but if the military authorities had not used the buildings they would have been still incomplete.

asked the Pensions Minister what steps are being taken to provide further accommodation for institutional treatment of neurasthenic, tuberculous, and other patients in Scotland; and whether this provision is being made by means of special accommodation for discharged soldiers and sailors or is being made mainly at the expense of the existing inadequate accommodation for civilian purposes?

No steps are at present being taken to provide further accommodation for neurasthenic cases in Scotland. The question of further accommodation for tuberculosis is under consideration. A house in Perthshire, generously given to the Ministry, and a school in Glasgow, are intended to be converted into accommodation for paraplegic and general cases respectively.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether a Report by Colonel Pyke and Colonel Balfour in regard to the Army Medical Service in Africa has been received; when such Report was received; whether it disclosed a very serious state of affairs in regard to Army medical administration; whether any, and what, action has been taken upon it; and whether the Report can be laid upon the Table and an opportunity be afforded for discussion upon its contents?

The answer to the first and third parts of the question is in the affirmative. Immediate consideration was given to the Report which was received in May, and effective action has been taken. The Report is of a personal and highly confidential nature, and the answer to the last part of the question is therefore in the negative.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that there were on 31st May, 1918, upwards of 120 men in an Army signal company, British Expeditionary Force, who had not been on leave for over twelve months; and whether he will endeavour to arrange after this period of service that they may have an early opportunity of seeing their families?

I have explained on several occasions recently that the allocation of leave to the troops in France is entirely a matter for the Field-Marshal Commanding-in-Chief. As I stated in answer to questions on the 24th July, to which I would refer my hon. Friend, since the German offensive began in March last, the facilities for leave have necessarily been greatly restricted. From the 20th of last month, however, these restrictions have been somewhat relaxed, but it is not possible at present to revert to the arrangements which existed prior to March. I know that the Commander-in-Chief gives every consideration possible to the claims of those men who have been longest without leave. I hope to be in a position to make an announcement on the question of leave from the various fronts later in the week.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office if he will give instructions for Private Wells, No. 1221, Royal Engineers, British Expeditionary Force, France, to be furnished with a full statement of his accounts, it being alleged that there is a debtor balance against him, and his application to be furnished with a statement of his accounts having been refused?

Yes, Sir.

asked the Minister of Munitions whether he is aware that the official statement in connection with Knight's patent shell slings that there was no ground for the suggestion that the firm had been compelled to accept lower prices than its competitors is in contradiction to the Ministry's letter of 3rd November, 1917 to Mr B. Knight (M.I.D.R. 1,274) which admitted that a higher price was allowed to the other contractors; whether Harris Lebus, of Tottenham, was given a large contract for these slings at 1s. 11d. in March, 1917, after Mr. Knight's price had been negotiated down to 1s. 10d., the excess representing eight times the royalty asked by and refused to the inventor; and whether, in view of the inventor's estimate based on official data, of a saving of over £500,000 effected by his two-sling inventions of substituting folded hessian for jute webbing and his patented sliding band which together reduced the old price of 3s. 4d. per sling to 1s. 10d., he will recognise the right of an inventor to an account and supply Mr. Knight with the number and price of the articles made under his two inventions so that he can judge of the adequacy of the offer of £1,000 made to him?

In December, 1916, the slings were put out to public tender, and Mr. Knight's firm was given a contract for 400,000 at the tendered price of 1s. 10½d., which was the highest accepted. He was subsequently offered an additional quantity of 100,000 at a price of 1s. 10d., which was that paid to the majority of the contractors at this tendering. He accepted this "with pleasure." In March, 1917, fresh contracts were placed, and Mr. Knight's firm's tender was accepted for the price and quantity quoted. Other tenders were accepted at the same time, some dearer and some cheaper than Mr. Knight's.The Ministry is not aware of the grounds on which a saving of £500,000 is claimed, and no claim appears to have been put forward by Mr. Knight for credit for the substitution of folded Hessian for jute webbing. The reduction in prices was due to standardisation on the basis of a large output, and to competition between producers. That it is not due to Mr. Knight's invention is shown by the fact that in one of his contracts the price for the old official pattern was 2s. 3d. and for the Knight pattern 2s. 4d. The offer of £1,000 was not due to any saving in the cost of production of the sling, but to the saving of labour in the subsequent use of the sling.

asked the Pensions Minister if he will consider the case of J. Walshe, late No. 49781, Northumberland Fusiliers, now residing at Great Water Street, Longford, who was discharged from the Army on 16th May last suffering from caries of the spine and neurasthenia, and who has a wife and large family dependent on him and is unfitted to take up any employment?

Mr. J. Walshe, late Northumberland Fusiliers, is drawing pension at the rate of 5s. 6d. a week, with an allowance of 3s. 2d. a week for three children. This is one-fifth of the full rate of pension and is in accordance with the extent of disablement as found by the invaliding medical board. Any appeal by Mr. Walshe against this assessment supported by medical testimony, will be considered.

asked the Pensions Minister whether he has dealt with the case of Patrick Boylan, No. 390413, L. D. L. Corps, late Leinster Regiment, discharged from the Army for debility and defective eyesight due to a wound received on the Belgian front in November, 1917; whether he is aware that this man is a labourer with a wife and family to support; and will he see that his present allowance of 16s. 6d. a week is increased, as it is insufficient to support him and he is unable to work?

The award of pension at the rate of 16s. 6d. a week was made in accordance with the finding of the medical branch of the Ministry that the debility for which this man was invalided, with a resulting disablement of 60 per cent., was aggravated by service. No allowance was given in respect of children, as the particulars afforded by the documents were inadequate, but the inquiry has now been completed and an allowance of 12s. a week, additional to pension, has been granted and notified. The question whether the defective eyesight necessitates an increase in the award is being considered.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether his attention has been called to the case of 1st Air Mechanic W. Martin, No. 80005, Royal Flying Corps, who made an allotment in May, 1917, to his invalid mother, and, on the death of his mother in July, 1917, before the claim for separation allowance had been settled, applied to transfer his allotment to his sister, who, like his mother, was dependent on him; whether the separation allowance will be paid to the said sister, together with the arrears of allowance due to the late Mrs. Martin; and, if not, for what reason?

I will inquire into this case, and communicate with my hon. Friend.

asked the Home Secretary for what reason F. L. Kehrhahn is kept in internment; if he is supposed to be undergoing a sentence of imprisonment; if not, why he is subjected to prison food and prison regulations; and, if he be simply interned as a person it is not desirable to have at liberty, if he will see that he is given better conditions in regard to food, associates, and visitors?

I have dealt fully with this case in many previous replies, and have explained that Kehrhahn is interned under No. 14 B of the Defence of the Realm Regulations because, after careful consideration by the Advisory Committee and by successive Home Secretaries, it has been deemed necessary in the interests of the public safety and the defence of the realm that he should not be at large. He is not subject to the ordinary prison rules, but receives the same treatment as other persons interned at Brixton, which corresponds as nearly as possible to that of persons interned elsewhere under the Regulation.

asked the Home Secretary if Baron von Nettleblatt has been allowed out of camp since his internment; if so, for what purpose; and was he under constant supervision during his liberation?

I am informed that there is no record of Baron von Nettelbladt's having ever had leave of absence from the camp. Certainly no such leave has ever been given by the Home Office.

asked the Home Secretary (1) whether he is aware that a large number of persons of alien enemy birth are in this country and have registered as the subjects of neutral countries, some of whom have, as a precautionary and temporary measure, procured themselves to be naturalised in such countries; and is it proposed to investigate the circumstances of these cases by the Advisory Committee and to intern all those who are unable to prove an effective and binding denaturalisation from the point of view of German law; and (2) whether he has taken any steps to scrutinise or inquire into the registrations of professed neutral aliens and, in particular, Swiss; what are the means taken to test the accuracy of the statements and whether by examination under oath; to what extent has it been found that Germans have registered as Swiss; and what has been the practice as to internment in cases where technically a Swiss domicile has been obtained though the person is otherwise German?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the answers which I gave last Friday to his unstarred questions in the same terms.

asked the Home Secretary if a man of German origin named Theis controlled a bakery business at 90, Harrow Road, London, before the War; is this business now run under the name of Davies; is Theis still in charge of it; and when was he naturalised?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. Theis has lived in this country for forty-five years and was naturalised in 1900. In 1916 he became an invalid, and the business was taken over by the youngest of his four British-born sons, who in 1917 changed his name to Davies. Of the remaining sons two are serving in the British Army at the front, and the third has been rejected as medically unfit.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if, under the powers of the Trading With the Enemy Acts, the German-owned business of Heinrich Traun and Son, ebonite and vulcanile merchants, was ordered to be wound up; if the managers of the London branch of that business were two persons of German birth, Messrs. Winter and Almenraeder; if, after the winding-up of the Heinrich Traun business, the two managers in question opened up a business of a similar nature under the trading title of Winter and Almenraeder, ebonite merchants, 48, Great Sutton Street, E.C.1; if this firm has received contracts from any Government Department; and if he has any official information showing that this business of Winter and Almenraeder is simply a means of maintaining the trading connection of the German firm of Heinrich, Traun and Son until such time as conditions permit resumption of business with Germany?

The business of H. Traun and Sons, manufacturers of ebonite and vulcanite goods, of 25, Goswell Road, E.C., was ordered to be wound up on the 21st December, 1916. Messrs. Winter and Almenräder, naturalised British subjects of German origin, who had acted as manager and assistant manager respectively of the business, bad commenced to carry on a similar business in partnership in January, 1915, at the same address, under the name of "Winter and Company," and there seems to be no doubt that this course was taken partly with a view to the business of Traun and Sons being resumed after the War. I have no information as to the firm having received contracts from any Government Department. I propose to refer the case again to our Advisory Committee as soon as the amending Bill now before Parliament has become law.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will ascertain if the firm of Hermansen, furnace builders, Birmingham, of which the managing director is T. Jeisen, County Chambers, Corporation Street, Birmingham, is in effect a branch of a German company, the Offenban-Gesellschaft, with registered offices and headquarters at Berlin but with branches in Paris, Spain, and elsewhere; is he aware that recently the Paris branch was closed down and the manager, a Danish subject named Seedorff, fined and imprisoned for having attempted to have relations with the Offenban-Gesellschaft; and will he, in view of the fact that Hermansens is in reality an enemy-owned concern, though nominally controlled by a neutral, have this concern wound up?

I have no information in regard to the firm referred to except that which has been sent me by the hon. and gallant Member, but an inspector has now been appointed to make an investigation of the business.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is aware that the numerous firms and individuals of enemy origin which, at the commencement of the War, were engaged in the supplying of goldbeaters' skins to Germany for the construction of her lighter-than-air fleet, and are now placed on Government work as protected industries for the supply of certain surgical dressings, are allowed an ample supply of protected labour, including uninterned and released from internment Germans; and why the few British firms that are in the casing industry have the greatest difficulty in getting sufficient labour and have been allotted none of these enemy subjects to help them to carry on similar work to that being done by their alien competitors?

We have no knowledge of any arrangements for the protection of persons or firms of enemy origin for the supply of surgical dressings, or for giving them a preference, over British firms in the allocation of protected labour. As regards the supply of goldbeaters' skin for lighter-than-air craft, a number of British firms are engaged in this industry, and for that purpose they are protected under the Schedule of Protected Occupations; also the Admiralty has repeatedly taken action to assist them in securing labour.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether it is contemplated that the life of patents, interrupted through and by the War, shall be granted an extension equal to the period of that interruption at the conclusion of the War?

Proposals to amend the Patent Law in this respect were embodied Clauses 6 and 7 of the Bill to amend the Patents and Designs Act, 1907, introduced into the House on the 19th November last. This Bill was not proceeded with, but it is hoped that a new Bill dealing with this and other questions will be introduced after the Recess.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he proposes to appoint a Select or Special Committee to consider the future administration of British railways; and, if so, if traders will be represented on this Committee?

The Board of Trade are giving careful attention to the question of the future administration of the railways in this country, and they have the advantage of the advice of a number of gentlemen possessing expert knowledge or experience bearing on all the various aspects of the matter. It is not proposed to appoint a formal Committee to consider the subject.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what stock of coal and coke was held by Carl Englemann, of Saffron Walden, in the middle of July; and what stock of coal and coke per head of the population of Saffron Walden was held in that town at the same date?

The information desired is not available, as Saffron Walden is outside the area rationed before the new Household Fuel and Lighting Order came into force. Stops will be taken under the new Order to ascertain what stocks are held by Carl Engelmann.

asked the President of the Hoard of Trade whether he will have printed in the OFFICIAL REPORT a copy of the letter from the Department of Overseas Trade on trade rivalry and competition in China, which was read on 24th July before the Manchester Appeal Tribunal when Mr. Withington was granted six months' exemption from military service?

I do not think that there would be any advantage in printing the letter in question.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what are the names and addresses of the holders of the original 160,000 shares of 6d. each in the British Cellulose Company?

I am informed that 159,999 shares of the British Cellulose and Chemical Manufacturing Company, Limited, are held by the British Cellulose and Chemical Manufacturing (Parent) Company, Limited, of 8, Waterloo Place, the remaining share being held by Mr. F. G. Browne, of 108, Goodrich Road, East Dulwich.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if the Railway Executive has passed a resolution or a by-law with the object of preventing holders of season tickets from recovering from a railway company the money paid for a ticket on a journey when the holder is not carrying his season ticket; and under what authority such a regulation is made?

No by-law has been made on this subject, but instructions were issued by the Railway Executive Committee some time since to the effect that season-ticket holders, when unable to produce their season tickets, should be called upon to pay full ordinary fare. The principal object of these instructions was to check fraud and to relieve the reduced staffs of the railway companies from the labour involved in dealing with applications for the refund of fares from passengers claiming to be season-ticket holders but unable to produce their tickets on demand. I understand that one of the conditions on which season tickets are issued is that they shall be produced on demand.

asked the Minister of Labour what steps he has taken to organise labour on a national basis during the War?

The Minister of National Service is responsible for the general policy to be followed in the use of man power. The Employment Exchanges of the Ministry of Labour have been used throughout the War for supplying labour for purposes of national importance, and they have been adopted as the executive machinery through which the various schemes for the voluntary enrolment of labour have been put into operation.

asked the President of the Board of Agriculture what steps have been taken at the Holbeach Colony for discharged soldiers to give training and instruction to the men; whether the director personally gives assistance in this respect; and whether advantage is taken of wet weather to give instruction to the colonists?

The men are being trained by taking part in the practical work of the farm under the supervision of the director. No indoor instruction has yet been provided, but it is intended that this shall form part of the colony scheme when it has passed its initial stages. Expert advice is available to the men on any points on which they require it.

asked the President of the Board of Agriculture whether any outbuildings have yet been provided for the smallholders in the Holbeach colony; if not, whether steps will be taken at once to provide them; and whether some common meeting place of a temporary character can be provided for the use of the colonists in view of their isolation and the distance from the nearest place of any size?

No outbuildings have yet been erected, but tenders have been received, and the work in connction with twlve sets will be put in hand without delay. Some of the existing farm buildings are being utilised for this purpose and others will be so utilised. With regard to a common meeting place, an officer of the Y.M.C.A. has visited the colony recently, and it is hoped that the Association will proceed with the erection of a hut as soon as possible.

asked the hon. Member for Sheffield (Central Division) whether the amount which British officer prisoners in Turkey are to receive from the English Government is left to the discretion of the Netherlands Minister in Constantinople up to a maximum of £18 a month; whether he is aware that the maximum of £18 is at present inadequate owing to the increased cost of living in Turkey; and whether he will now have it removed?

The question of modifying the present arrangements is under consideration.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he can give the terms of the formal protest lodged by the German Government against the alleged common use of unlawful bullets by the British Army; if he can give the terms of the reply made by the Foreign Office; and whether, as the making of this allegation by the enemy may be held to foreshadow the employment of some prepared and concerted scheme violating the laws and customs of war, he can now make a definite statement as to the nature of the reprisals which in such event we shall make?

I will see that a translation of the German Government's protest and the text of the reply are printed in the OFFICIAL REPORT. As regards the latter part of the question it would not be desirable to make any statement at present.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if His Majesty's Minister at The Hague refused a passport to Troelstra on the ground that the Seamen' Union would interfere with his passage; and, if not, what reason was given?

In informing Mr. Troelstra of the decision of His Majesty's Government, Sir W. Townley pointed out that if he persisted in his request some regrettable incident might occur, such as the refusal of the firemen and crew of the vessel on which he attempted to sail to put to sea.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether the Congested Districts Board have considered the necessity for a pier in Ardgroom harbour, county Cork; whether any steps have been taken towards the construction of the same; and, if not, whether they will, having regard to the urgency of the matter, proceed with the construction of the pier forthwith?

The carrying out of marine works was suspended on the breaking out of war, when the question of constructing a pier at Ardgroom was under consideration. As soon as war restrictions are withdrawn the Congested Districts Board will again take the matter into consideration if applied to.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether it is proposed that Clause 20 of the Education Bill shall come into force seven years, after the appointed day?

The Clause will come into force on the Appointed Day, which will not, I anticipate, be before the termination of the War. Clause 51, however, provides that the duty of the councils of counties, other than the London County Council, to establish certified schools for boarding and lodging physically defective and epileptic children shall not be operative for a period of seven years from the Appointed Day.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether it is intended to pass the Midwives Bill through this House before the Adjournment?

When the Bill which was introduced in another place on behalf of the Lord President of the Council reached this House it was held that some of the Clauses infringed the privileges of the House, and that as a consequence it could not make further progress. I hope, however, that it may be possible to introduce a similar Bill into the House when the House reassembles after the Recess.