asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the scheme for colonising in British East Africa by ex-service men for the development of flax-growing has been approved by the Treasury; and whether arrangements can be speedily made to enable the coming season to be taken advantage of, and the services of the men who desire to enter upon that pursuit to be engaged for working upon the land that has been earmarked in East Africa for flax-growing purposes?

I have been asked to reply to this question. The scheme referred to in the question of the hon. Member involved an expenditure which the Ministry of Labour was not prepared under the circumstances to take the responsibility of recommending. If the prospects are as good as claimed by the proposer of this scheme it should be possible to obtain financial support from other than Government sources; and I am informed that if a scheme of this kind making special arrangements for placing disabled officers and men were submitted to the Colonial Office, they would be willing, if satisfied with the nature and terms of the scheme, to urge the Governor of the Protectorate to grant land near a rail-way on preferential terms.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether he can give a list of the principal advances to highway authorities ( i.e., advances of £10,000 and upwards) made and promised by the Road Board since the issue of the Board's circular of 17th December, 1918?

I am circulating a list of the Grants exceeding £10,000 already made or promised.

The following is the list referred to :—

asked the Secretary to the Treasury what steps have been taken by the Road Board to encourage, assist, and put into operation immediately urgent and necessary road works in districts in which the percentage of persons drawing Government unemployment pay is above the average?

The Road Board are dealing promptly with all applications for Grants from highway authorities in whose districts unemployment exists.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury what steps have been taken by the Road Board under the scheme approved by the War Cabinet to stimulate the supply of road material and secure its distribution to highway authorities?

No necessity has arisen for any stimulation by special Grants or otherwise of the supply of road material and no difficulties are arising in connection with the distribution.

asked the Food Controller whether he has received a suggestion as to the bottling of milk from the Southgate Food Control Committee; and whether it will receive his favourable consideration?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. The suggestion received from the Southgate Local Food Control Committee will be met by a Clause in the Milk Summer Prices Order, 1919, which will be issued shortly.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture what is the amount of land under cultivation in wheat, barley, and oats in Great Britain and Ireland this year as compared with 1918 and 1917?

The table which follows will give my hon. Friend the figures for 1917 and 1918. There are no available figures at present for 1919, but I am informed that inquiries made show that the area under wheat in Great Britain on the 1st April was about 10 per cent. less than last year.

The figures for Great Britain and Ireland for the past two years are as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for War why compassionate grounds are refused in the case of David Arthur Rukin, No. 219522, 1098th Battery, Royal Field Artillery, 227th Brigade, Kirkee, India, seeing that his wife is ordered an operation but cannot undergo it till her husband returns to look after her little children in her absence, the more so as Rukin is over thirty-seven years of age and has been in India over two years?

My hon. Friend has furnished me with further details, and the case is being carefully considered. I will acquaint my hon. Friend of the result as soon as I am in a position to do so.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he will inquire into the cause of the delay in demobilising Private S. Y. Calder, Army Service Corps (Mechanical Transport), 1,009th Company, B Section, Egyptian Expeditionary Force, a man in a low medical category and over thirty-six years of age, at present acting as an officer's servant; whether the War Office have already wired for this man's release; and whether, in view of the responsible situation waiting for him on his return, they will be able to expedite his demobilisation?

Instructions have been given for the demobilisation of Private Calder, but whether this can take place immediately depends upon the exigencies of the Service and the situation in Egypt.

asked the Secretary of State for War if, in view of the continuous unrest in various parts of the world, he has considered the advisability of employing larger numbers of Indian and coloured troops to relieve those white soldiers who, after long periods of absence from home, should have been already demobilised?

We are already making great use of Indian troops to relieve British troops wherever possible, but have now reached a stage beyond which our various commanders advise us that it is unsafe to go. So much is this the case in Egypt that General Allenby is asking us for additional white troops. The limiting factor is not only the proportion of European to native, but also the necessity for providing the proper proportion of the more technical units, the bulk of the personnel of which must be British

asked the Secretary of State for War if he will inform the House how many men have been added to the Army since November last either through voluntary enlistment or through re-engagement?

The number of recruits since November last up to the 19th instant was 16,338, and the number of re-enlistment during the same period 65,788, making a total of 82,126.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether his atten- tion has been drawn to the fact that there is a number of Army reservists who were called to the Colours at the outbreak of War who were retained in this country for many months on account of their value as instructors to the New Armies, and who have not received the 1914 Star, the 1915 Ribbon, nor any other outward form of recognition; and whether, in view of the good service rendered by such men, it is possible for them to be given some visible recognition of their services?

A full statement as to the award of medals for service during the present War will be published shortly. The claims of the men referred to by my hon. Friend have not been overlooked.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he is now in a position to state what arrangements have been made for the preservation as permanent memorials of those battlefields with which British military prowess has been specially identified?

I am not yet in a position to make a statement, but I hope to be able to do so at an early date.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he will state the total amount of the moneys remaining in the hands of the State as a result of dealing in British wool while under control after all expenses have been paid?

I have been asked to answer this question. A large quantity of British wool, the property of the Government, still remains to be disposed of. There are in addition a number of other factors, which cannot at present be determined accurately, and which will ultimately enter into the Trading Account. I regret, therefore, that it is not possible at present to give the information asked for by my hon. and gallant Friend.

asked the Pensions Minister whether the claim to pension of Private C. S. Latham, late Army Service Corps, of Stafford House, Brewood, Stafford, has been considered, together with certain outstanding claims against the Civil Liabilities Commission; and whether the final decision of this case may be expedited?

Private Latham has now been awarded pension on the basis of a 20 per cent. disablement. I am informed by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Labour that steps are being taken to expedite the settlement of the claim against the Civil Liabilities Commission.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will favourably consider the insertion of provisions in the Aliens Restriction Bill for the exclusion of aliens from serving in British merchant ships?

I regret that I am not prepared to make a statement on the important issue of general policy raised by the question of the hon. and gallant Member. It is one which may properly be raised in connection with the Aliens Restriction Bill.

asked the Home Secretary if he has received any representations pressing for the closing of shops one hour earlier than is at present the case; and when he expects to be able to make a statement on general policy?

A number of representations have been received in favour of the continuance of the system of general early closing which is at present in force under the Defence of the Realm Regulations. Some of these representations also ask that an earlier closing hour than that fixed by the existing Order should be adopted. Others again ask for the maintenance of the present closing hour, 8 p.m. The various representations will be carefully considered, but I am not in a position now to say when I shall be able to make a statement of general policy in the matter.

asked the Home Secretary if he will consider an amendment to the law, which at present requires poor women who are compelled to take proceedings against soldiers or sailors for the maintenance of themselves or children to pay the railway fares and expenses of defendants to enable them to attend the hearing of the cases, as provided by the Army Act, 1881, and the Naval Discipline Act, 1915?

I have been in communication with the Admiralty, the Army Council and the Air Ministry on the subject, but am not in a position to propose any amendment of the law. The question is one on which considerable difference of opinion exists.

asked the President of the Local Government Board whether, in view of the fact that some municipalities have ignored the representations of the Board to reconsider the remuneration paid to their officials or to have the differences adjusted by arbitration, he will consider the expediency of initiating legislation to set up an Arbitration Court to which local government officers can submit questions relating to salaries or war bonuses in all cases where they are dissatisfied, and where recalcitrant authorities resist the overtures of the Local Government Board?

Not many cases have been brought to the notice of the Ministry of Labour in which local authorities have refused to grant war bonuses according to the Civil Service scale recommended to them by the Local Government Board, or alternatively to submit the matter to arbitration.

There have been cases in which the authority's agreement to arbitration was not given until the Ministry of Labour had communicated with them. The intervention of the Ministry and of the Local Government Board has been sufficient to secure the consent of the local authorities to arbitration in almost every case. The situation, therefore, is hardly such as to warrant special legislation.

asked the Minister of Labour whether any training centres for the training of discharged disabled soldiers in electrical work or motor engineering have yet been started under the Ministry of Labour; and, if so, where they are situated?

No training schemes for discharged disabled soldiers in electrical work or motor engineering have as yet been started by the Ministry of Labour, as the transfer of training powers from the Ministry of Pensions has not yet been made. Many such schemes are, however, in existence which were originally set on foot by the Ministry of Pensions, and these are in process of revision by and transfer to the Ministry of Labour.

At the following centres sources are provided for motor engineering: —

Newcastle, Rutherford College and Motor Supply Company.

Leeds, Central Technical School.

Wolverhampton, Technical Institute.

At the following centres courses are provided for motor mechanics: —

Northwood, Middlesex.

Blackburn, Technical College.

Bradford, Technical College.

Leeds, Central Technical School.

Crewe, Technical Institute.

Birmingham, City Garage.

Forfar, Simpson and Sons, Castle Street.

Hove, Denmark Garage.

Portsmouth, Eastney Barracks.

Swansea, Technical College.

Battersea, Polytechnic.

Glasgow, Apex Motor Company.

Edinburgh, Heriot Watt College.

Dublin, Technical School.

Borough, Polytechnic.

At the following centres courses are provided for various kinds of electrical work—

asked the Minister of Labour how many women and girls formerly employed in the dressmaking trade are in receipt of unemployment pay; how many applications have been made by firms for women and girls who have been employed in this industry; and whether he is aware that, owing to the difficulty in obtaining labour, certain firms are prepared to take unskilled girls between sixteen and eighteen, who are now getting 12s. 6d. a week, and pay them 15s. to 24s. a week and teach them a trade?

The number of women and girls drawing out-of-work donation on the 28th March and possibly suitable for the dressmaking trade was 3,663, including156 girls under eighteen, but I am unable to say what proportion of these had previously been employed in the trade. The corresponding number of vacancies recorded on notifications from employers at the same date was 1,846. My information is that the women and girls whom the Exchanges have not succeeded in placing do not possess the qualifications required by the employers; but in view of the hon. Member's statement in the last part of the question I am making further inquiries.

asked the right hon. Member for Cambridge whether he is aware that the London County Council tramway system is continuous with the Middlesex County Council tramway system at Stamford Hill, and that it would be a convenience to the public to have through running at Stamford Hill; whether he is aware that for years past there has been an insistent public demand for such through running of the trams at Stamford Hill, and that the London County Council and the Middlesex County Council have failed to come to an agreement, with the result that there is no such through running at Stamford Hill; whether under the Ministry of Ways and Communications Bill the Minister of Ways and Communications would have power to grant the right of through running to the London County Council and Middlesex County Council and to settle the terms thereof; and whether, if the Minister of Ways and Communications would not have the said power under the Ways and Communications Bill, he will propose an Amendment to secure such power?

Under the Ministry of Ways and Communications Bill, as at present drafted, the Minister would not have the power to control the through running of trams belonging to local authorities. The Government have, however, been pressed, by hon. Members of the Committee now considering the Bill, to insert a Clause which would give to the Minister power of control over municipal tramways, and my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has intimated that a Clause to this effect would have the sympathetic consideration of the Government.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs when a Report made by Mr Lockhart on the circumstances attending his arrest by the Russian Soviet Government at Moscow will be published?

A Report was received from Mr. Lockhart on his arrest by the Soviet Government, but as it also contained matter based on confidential information it would not be possible to publish it.