asked the Prime Minister what steps are being taken to demand and enforce the surrender of all steamers of the German and Austrian mercantile marine in accordance with the policy of ton for ton of our tonnage illegally destroyed by enemy action?

As I have repeatedly stated in the House, it is not possible to discuss possible terms of peace by question and answer.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer through what channels and by what authority all surplus Government property disposal will be carried out?

It has been decided to set up a Ministry of Supply for the public service generally to be developed out of the existing organisation of the Ministry of Munitions, and the duty of disposing of all surplus Government property will be undertaken by the Ministry of Munitions pending the completion of the arrangements for organising the new Ministry.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he can state the rates of Income Tax and Excess Profits Duty levied in France compared as far as possible with the rates similarly levied here?

I fear that it will not be possible to furnish this information before Prorogation.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether clerks whose income is of a fluctuating character can be allowed to take the three years' average for the purposes of assessment for Income Tax, as is the case with clerks in temporary employment?

Clerks in the employ of private firms are assessable under the rules of Schedule D on the basis of the three years' average. Employes of limited companies are assessable under Schedule E upon the earnings of the year of assessment but subject to the approval of the District Commissioners of Income Tax no objection is offered to the assessment of clerks and other persons employed in a similar subordinate capacity upon the three years' average.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, and to what extent, money will be provided by the Treasury to enable the county council of Gloucestershire to take advantage of the generous gifts of land now being made to it by landowners for the settlement of ex-sailors and soldiers?

For the erection of cottages county councils will share in such provision as will be made by the Treasury for housing purposes. They will also benefit by whatever sum is granted by the Treasury for equipment of land for ex-Service men. County councils can also raise money on land held under the Soldiers and Sailors (Gifts for Land Settlement) Act, 1916, for carrying out the purposes of the trust.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury, in view of the finding of the Working Classes Cost of Living Committee that there has been, since July, 1914, an increase in the cost of living of nearly 80 per cent., whether he will consider the immediate necessity of raising the scale of old age pensions by a corresponding percentage?

I am unable to add any thing to the previous replies given by myself and by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer on this subject.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether steps will be taken wherever possible to retain the discharged soldiers and sailors who are working as temporary clerks in the Civil Service in preference to other temporary clerks when the reduction of the staffs is being considered?

The special claims of discharged sailors and soldiers serving as temporary clerks will receive careful consideration in connection with the arrangements now being discussed in regard to the disbandment of temporary staff.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether he is aware that the pensioners from the Royal Arsenal are suffering through present high prices; and whether he will take steps to have the question of an increase in their pensions being granted brought under favourable consideration?

I have nothing to add to the numerous answers given to similar questions by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer and by myself during the present and the previous Session of Parliament.

asked the Food Controller if he is aware that vegetarians are unable in many cases to obtain supplies of nut butter from their registered retailers; and whether, in these circumstances, he will sanction a return to the previous arrangement under which vegetarians were permitted to obtain extra rations of butter and margarine in lieu of meat and lard?

There has been some unavoidable delay in the distribution of nut butter to registered retailers, due partly to the fact that vegetarians failed to inform their local food committees of their requirements by the specified date.

asked the Food Controller whether he is aware that retail fishmongers in London now refuse to cut up cod and other large fish and insist upon buyers taking the whole fish; and whether, having regard to the inconvenience and wastefulness of this practice and the hardship inflicted upon small consumers, he will take steps to ensure its abandonment?

In reply to the hon. Member, the Food Controller is aware that there has been a disinclination on the part of retail fishmongers to cut and sell large fish in small portions under the new schedule of fish prices. The matter is already under consideration and it is hoped that the difficulty will be overcome.

asked the Food Controller whether, having regard to the large stocks of tea now in the country and due to arrive shortly and the desirability of removing all unnecessary State control as early as possible, he will make arrangements to withdraw tea from the list of controlled articles at the expiration of the present registration period, namely, on 25th January next?

It is impossible to consider tea apart from other articles of food so far as relaxation of control is concerned. The withdrawal of the restriction on the quantities of tea which may be obtained by traders has already been announced. All retailers, catering establishments, and institutions will be allowed to obtain for sale on and after 2nd December whatever quantity of tea is necessary to meet any reasonable requirements on the part of their customers. It is necessary, however, for the present, to retain the distribution scheme and registration of consumers. Moreover, some control of price to the consumer must be maintained until the operation of supply and demand can safely be trusted to keep prices at a moderately low level.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland why it is not practicable to have the boilers at Mountjoy Prison stoked at night by a prisoner or by the temporary night guard, considering that at Maryborough Convict Prison, where a greater surveillance of prisoners is necessary, it is at present, and has been for years past, the practice to have the boilers stoked by a convict undergoing a life sentence; whether at Belfast Prison, where the boilers are equally as large and the responsibility as great, it has all along been found practicable to have this work performed by the temporary night guards; whether he will take the necessary steps to have the permanent staff at Mountjoy Prison relieved of this duty, it being the only prison in Ireland at which the permanent officers are engaged at this duty at night; and whether he will take steps to see that permanent officers employed at night duty are allowed the full day off after night guard so as to allow of more rest and sleep, a request which has already been asked of the General Prisons Board in a recent petition from the officers?

While the practice continues at Mountjoy Prison of having a permanent officer who is responsible for the maintenance of proper heating of the prison, he cannot be relieved of the duty referred to. The conditions at Maryborough, which is a convict prison, and at Mountjoy are entirely dissimilar. Owing to the construction of Belfast Prison, it has not been considered necessary to have a permanent officer employed on this work. In Belfast the prison is all under one roof, at Mountjoy there are two distinct prisons. In the opinion of the General Prisons Board, the existing longstanding arrangement is better both in the interests of prison administration and of the officers themselves than the proposal to allow a full day off after the duty.

asked the Postmaster-General if he is aware that letters conveyed by the down night mail from London are not due to be delivered in Belfast until about 12.30 p.m.; if he is aware that Belfast, with a population of over 400,000, is much the largest place in the United Kingdom where such letters do not fall into the earliest morning delivery; and if he will at once consider the possibility of establishing an air postal service between Great Britain and the North of Ireland?

The later hour at which letters conveyed by the down night mail from London are delivered at Belfast is due, as the hon. Member is no doubt aware, to daylight sailing of the night mail packet from Holyhead and the consequent diversion of the mails for Belfast to the Stranraer and Larne route. I hope that the pre-daylight sailing hours for the trains and boats on the Holyhead route will be resumed on the 1st December. Owing to its geographical situation there must always be difficulty in arranging that night mail letters from London should fall into the earliest delivery made at Belfast, unless, of course, that delivery is fixed at a late hour. The question of instituting some experimental air services for the conveyance of mails is at present under the consideration of the Air Ministry.

asked the Joint Secretary to the Treasury whether the temporary clerks in only two of the Government Departments in Ireland have been granted a war bonus; and, if so, why such a bonus is denied to the corresponding class of employés in the other Irish Departments?

The rates of remuneration of temporary employés have not hitherto been fixed on a uniform basis, and there have been corresponding differences as regards payment of war bonus. The question of fixing standard rates for the classes common to all Departments in Ireland is, however, under consideration.

asked the Postmaster-General whether the temporary clerks employed in the General Post Office, London, have recently been granted a war bonus of 3s. 6d. per week as from the 1st July; whether a similar bonus has been granted to the corresponding class of employés in the Dublin office; and, if not, why is different treatment meted out to the two classes?

The answer to both parts of the question is in the negative. The matter is still under consideration, both as regards London and as regards Dublin.

asked the Postmaster-General whether sick leave is denied to the temporary clerks in the Dublin office, though such leave with pay for six weeks in the year is given to such employés in every other Government Department; and, if so, whether the exception mentioned will continue to be made?

Under the ordinary Post Office regulations persons employed in a temporary capacity are not eligible for the privilege of sick pay, but are insured under the National Health Insurance Acts. I see no sufficient reason for making an exception to the ordinary Post Office practice in the case of the temporary clerks in Dublin.

asked the Secretary to the Admiralty if he is aware of the increased number of workers employed at the torpedo factory, Fort Matilda; and whether any scheme is being or has been considered to utilise the plant and machinery at that factory for purposes other than war?

Yes, Sir. We are aware of the increased numbers. Of course, we shall watch the course of events here, as elsewhere.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether his attention has been called to the fact that it is proposed by the French Government, at the suggestion of General Mangin, to give each French soldier on demobilisation his own helmet with the words inscribed thereon, "Soldier in the Great War," and to allow the relatives of each soldier killed at the front to receive the dead soldier's helmet with the inscription, "He died for his country"; and whether he will consider the propriety of following that example by allowing each soldier forming part of the Imperial forces to retain his helmet or some other equivalent item of his equipment to be suitably inscribed?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the replies which I gave yesterday to my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Enfield.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether, taking into consideration the necessities of the building trade in connection with the provision of cottages required on demobilisation, the early release of men connected with that trade may be considered as urgent?

The urgent necessities of the building trade will not be lost sight of in the administration of the scheme of demobilisation.

asked the Minister of National Service whether he can make any announcement with reference to the demobilisation of those men who were proprietors of one-man businesses; and if he has considered whether the services of Appeal Tribunals can be utilised for the purpose of hearing applications and either determining the same or make recommendations where the circumstances proved make release desirable?

The general scheme of demobilisation provides that proprietors of one-man businesses who will be able to recommence their business may be released from the Army on the same basis as other men with employment awaiting them. My right hon. Friend the Minister for Reconstruction, in his speech on 12th November, gave details of the provisions which will be made for cases of hardship among such men. It is not possible to utilise Appeal Tribunals in this connection.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether he is aware that, notwithstanding the statement that the War Office were aware of the urgent need for cloth-millers and that the Army Council had under consideration the question of reinforcing the woollen trade by releasing men from the Army, these essential men are still wanting, with the result that the finishing departments are congested with unfinished goods and production in other departments is being hindered; and whether he will secure the immediate return to work of cloth-millers for whom work is waiting?

The necessary steps for the release from the Army of these men, which involved the approval of the Ministry of National Service, have been taken, but I am considering whether any further steps can be taken to release the men referred to.

asked the Pensions Minister whether, in view of the fact that there are great numbers of old Regular soldiers who had finished their original engagement, of twelve years before the War broke out and who have since served with distinction in the War, he will consider relaxing the Rule which does not permit a modified pension to be granted to a man with less than eighteen years' service so as to ensure that these men, who would otherwise be discharged on demobilisation without a pension of any sort, shall be compensated for the worthy service they have given in this War?

My right hon. Friend has asked me to answer this question. My hon. and gallant Friend will remember that pensions for service remain in the province of the War Office. I am afraid it is not possible to adopt this form of recognition for the worthy service of these men.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether all available steps have been taken to secure the safety of the remaining gun trophies placed in the Mall; and if he will consider the advisability of having a guard placed over the guns during the evening hours with orders to arrest any persons tampering with them?

Since Tuesday night of last week military pickets have been posted in the Mall and on Constitution Hill every evening to prevent guns being taken away. I am afraid it is quite impossible to guard every gun owing to the length of the line and the number of guns. No material damage, however, has been done since last Thursday.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War if he is aware that officers transferred from Labour battalions to the Royal Engineers at their own request lose seniority, while those officers who are invited to transfer do not; and if he can recommend a redress of this inequality, in view of the fact that the former transference may be done from purely patriotic motives?

The position is as stated by my hon. Friend in the first part of his question. This has always been the rule and is governed by paragraph 217 of the King's Regulations. Where an officer is transferred from one corps to another in the interests of the Service he retains the date of appointment to his substantive rank. If the transfer is at the officer's own request, and not necessarily in the interests of the Service, he is placed junior of his rank in his new corps. This rule is considered to be the most equitable to all the officers affected, and I regret I do not see my way to make any variation.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War, if, taking into consideration the circumstances in which Dr. Edward Yeates, a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland and an officer in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force which occupied Samoa, is placed, in view of the distinguished services which Dr. Yeates has rendered to the Empire in the present War and in the Boer War, he can see his way to make some compromise with him which will relieve him of the financial burden which he has incurred in his attempts to increase the efficiency of the Services with which he has been connected?

This appears to be a matter for the decision of the New Zealand authorities, and I regret I cannot intervene.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War if the arrangements for sending parcels to soldiers now at the front remain in force as before, bearing in mind that some of the men may be sent home before they can receive the parcels; and if any arrangements have been made with regard to Christmas parcels sent to such men?

There has been no change in the arrangements for the dispatch of parcels to soldiers at the front. Parcels for any man who is absent from his unit are redirected, provided that the man has acquainted the post orderly of his unit with his new address. This arrangement will apply to Christmas parcels. Parcels intended for delivery to the British Expeditionary Force by Christmas must be posted not later than the 14th December, and for delivery to the Italian Expeditionary Force not later than the 9th December.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that thirty-five German orderlies Are replacing forty Royal Army Medical Corps orderlies at Belmont Camp; whether these orderlies will receive the same pay as British orderlies; whether they will drill and mess with our men; and what steps he intends to take to alter this state of affairs?

I am informed by the military authorities that twenty orderlies of the German Medical Service were recently posted to Belmont to attend the prisoners of war, in accordance with the policy of releasing our R.A.M.C. men from these duties. Before posting them, it was ascertained that special accommodation could be provided. They do not mess or drill with our men, and are kept absolutely separate. They are paid at British rates.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether the Red Cross Society is in any way under the control of the War Office in regard to compensation for its servants who may be killed in action or who contract disease and become incapacitated on Red Cross service; and if the Red Cross are under any legal obligations to give pensions or compensation in such cases?

No, Sir; the War Office has no control of the funds placed by the public in the hands of the Red Cross organisation. But where Red Cross personnel is employed with War Office approval on military duties with British forces, the British Government gives pension or compensation as for military personnel.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether officers and men serving in the North Russia Expeditionary Force are paid in roubles at 48 or some other and what number of roubles to the £; and whether, seeing the current rate of exchange at Archangel is about 100 roubles to the £, steps will at once be taken to enable officers and men to draw pay and allowances at the current rate of exchange or in English notes?

The rate of exchange for official transactions in Russia, as in other countries, is fixed by the Treasury from time to time, and is at present 48 roubles to the £ sterling. It would not be practicable to pay the troops in British currency in foreign countries.

asked the Under-secretary of State for War whether he is aware that the wife of Private A. Fisher, 2nd Northumberland Fusiliers, has received no allowances though her husband has served over three and a half years, although application has been made to the War Office, the Pensions Department, and the paymaster at York?

Separation allowance is not issuable for Mrs. Fisher as she was separated from and not supported by her husband prior to his enlistment, but allowance at the motherless rate is in issue for the child of the marriage.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office if he will accelerate the decision in the appeal case for separation allowance of Miss M. Westhead, 5, Adelaide Street, Blackburn, dependant of Private G. Westhead, No. 97440, 52nd Grad. Battalion, Manchester Regiment?

I will cause inquiry to be made, and let the hon. Member know the result.

asked the Pensions Minister whether he will consider the issue of a definite order directing local war pensions committees to pay the bonus due to a discharged man on completion of a course of training without any delay in cases where the committees are unable to find employment for him, and where his pension is insufficient to support him?

Local war pensions committees have already been given definite instructions to pay the bonus in all cases immediately on the completion of the course. I am sending the hon. and gallant Member a copy of the Instructions.

asked the Pensions Minister if there is a special attendance grant in cases where a discharged soldier in receipt of the full disability pension requires someone constantly in attendance upon him; if this grant is made through the local war pensions committee; and, in view of the fact that the local war pensions committees do not appear to be aware of this regulation, will he call their attention to it?

A totally disabled soldier requiring a constant attendant may be granted a special allowance of an amount not exceeding 20s. a week. The award is made by the Soldiers Awards Branch, at Chelsea, on the recommendation of the local committees (or in blind cases, "St. Dunstan's"), who investigate the circumstances of the case, and report as to the amount which in their opinion should be granted. The local committees have had very definite instructions as to the principles which should guide them in making their recommendations, and I do not consider that any reminder is necessary.

asked the Pensions Minister why the pension case of Private J. Davey, No. 6072, Loyal North Lancashires, has not been settled, seeing that this man has been missing since September, 1914, and the War Office, by letter dated 28th September, 1915, said that steps were being taken to presume his death; and will he say why a delay of three years took place before the Minister of Pensions sent the form to the late soldier's mother?

This case appears only now to have been brought to the notice of my Department. I am in communication with the regimental-paymaster and I will see that the case is speedily settled.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office if he has reconsidered the question of allowances to the wives of agricultural soldier substitutes?

I regret that it has not been found possible to reverse the decision that separation allowance cannot be paid in these cases.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Munitions, if he will state, down to the latest date for which the information can conveniently be given and as from the date of the establishment of the Ministry, how much capital has been advanced by the Ministry of Munitions to private capitalists for the extension of existing works, or for the establishment of new ones, or for any other similar purpose connected with the manufacture or supply of munitions or materials?

When the Ministry of Munitions was established it became necessary, owing to the shortage of munitions supply, greatly to increase the facilities for production. For this purpose measures were taken to increase the plant and extend the work of certain manufacturers, some of whom had been engaged on work of a related character, and others, at the request of the Ministry, undertook munitions production for the first time Extension of existing works, where practicable, ensured production more rapidly than would have been the case if new factories had been erected. The capital actually advanced by the Ministry of Munitions to manufacturers for the extension of existing works, or for the establishment of new ones, or for any other similar purpose connected with the manufacture or supply of munitions or materials, amounted, on the 31st October, 1918, to about £36,000,000. Of this sum roughly £12,000,000 represents recoverable banking loans, and roughly £17,000,000 recoverable loans for the extension of existing works or the establishment of new ones, while the remaining £7,000,000 represents grants and other advances, a considerable part of which will be refunded to the extent of special allowances which will be made to the firms by the Inland Revenue Commissioners under Section 40 (3) of the Finance (No. 2) Act, 1915.

asked the Minister of Reconstruction if he can make any definite statement as to the position and treatment after the War of soldier apprentices who volunteered in the early stages of the contest, who gave up their trade for a time, and who are now twenty-two or twenty-three years of age?

As I stated in the House, the Government has agreed to a scheme which makes provision for apprentices whose term of training has been interrupted by war service. The Ministry of Labour is in negotiation with some of the employers' and workpeople's organisations concerned, and it is hoped that they will be in a position to introduce a Bill early next Session.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what were and are the scales of pensions paid by the South African authorities to British South Africans, officers and men, not Regular British soldiers, who took part in the South African War and were totally or partially disabled; what pensions were paid to their dependants; what scales of pensions were paid to widows, children, and other dependants in respect of British South Africans, officers and men, who were killed; and what pensions were paid out of British or Boer funds to or in respect of Boers who fought in the South African War?

I regret that I have not in my possession the information which the hon. Member desires to obtain, but I will inquire of the Governor-General and let him know the result in due course.

asked the Pensions Minister whether those South African citizens who came to this country in the early days of the War at their own expense and enlisted and who, after being disabled, are returning to South Africa, are awarded pensions at the British rates, being regarded as British soldiers, instead of being given pensions at the higher South African rates; whether South African widows, whose husbands displayed similar patriotism and were killed, are granted pensions at British rates, with a supplementation from the Governor-General's fund; and whether he will take such steps as will ensure that pensions in such cases shall be paid on the basis of the higher South African scales, without charitable additions?

In the case of South Africans enlisting in British units and their dependants, pensions can only be paid by the British Government at the rates allowed by the Royal Warrant. The question of supplementing these rates is a matter for the South African Government, but I am informed that a disabled South African who enlisted in a British unit can be granted a supplementary pension which will put him on the same-footing as if he had enlisted in South Africa.

asked the Pensions Minister whether he will consider a modification to Article 19 of the Royal Warrant of 1918 or, alternatively, a modification of the regulations of the special grants committee so that the large number of war widows who had been deserted by their husbands prior to the enlistment of the latter may be awarded pensions, in view of the fact that if these men had not joined the Service they would have been compelled by the civil authorities to maintain their wives and families who are now deprived by the State of their means of support?

If the widow had obtained a maintenance order against her husband a pension, with children's allowances, can be granted under Article 19 of the Royal Warrant. If she had not obtained an order, and was not being supported by the soldier, no pension can be given, but the special grants committee will give a special allowance under their regulations where the failure to obtain a maintenance order was not due to the woman's own default or negligence. In this manner the genuinely deserving cases are met, and I do not consider that an amendment of the warrant or regulations is necessary.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether he will state the total number of pauper children under sixteen in institutions in the care of the State, including local authorities; and how many of these are orphans?

On the 29th December, 1917, the latest date for which complete figures are available, there were 61,974 children in receipt of poor relief in institutions in England and Wales, including 992 lunatics in lunatic asylums. Owing to the suspension of the usual returns during the War, I am unable to say how many of these were orphans.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether there is any authority in the United Kingdom which is able to compel friendly societies to maintain a proper degree of solvency?

Every friendly society is required by statute to have a periodical valuation, which must be submitted to the Chief Registrar of Friendly Societies, but the chief registrar has no power to compel the society to carry out the recommendations of the actuary.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether motors can now be allowed to be used for the purpose of attending church on Sundays when the distance from the church is two miles or over?

It is proposed to amend the Motor Spirit and Gas Restriction Orders, 1918, so that on and after Sunday, 1st December, it will be permissible to use a motor car for the purpose of attending church provided the distance does not exceed thirty miles.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if it is his intention to grant increased travelling facilities to workers at reduced rates during the Christmas and New Year holidays?

No such proposal is before the Board of Trade.

asked the Postmaster-General whether his attention has been called to the hardship of pensioned officers who, being recalled during the War, are being debarred from adding to their pension qualification the period of full-time service which they have rendered during the War; whether the Government will initiate legislation to remove this barrier and enable the pensioners to obtain pensions inclusive of their total service; and whether, in the meantime, the Post Office requests Treasury authority to grant pensions to pensioners who have been recalled to the postal service during the War?

This is a question which affects the Civil Service as a whole, and should be addressed to my hon. Friend the Financial Secretary to the Treasury. The administration of the Superannuation Acts is vested exclusively in that Department.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs when he expects to be able to lay upon the Table of the House the Report of the Committee appointed by the Foreign Office which is now investigating the charges of falsifying public documents and records in Egypt made by Lieutenant-Colonel M. R. Kennedy, late director of works to the Sudan Government, against the Egyptian Ministry of Public Works?

I am unable at present to give any indication of the date when the Committee will have concluded its labours.