asked the Prime Minister if the refusal of Holland to hand the ex-Kaiser over to the Allies for trial for War crimes is to be regarded as final; what steps, if any, are being taken to enforce the demands of the Allies; if the continued refusal of neutral nations to surrender War criminals will be construed as an unfriendly act with a consequent break of diplomatic relations; and if Holland has given the representatives of the Allies an assurance that the ex-Kaiser will not be allowed to escape from that country.

The reply of the Allied Powers to the Dutch Government has been published in the Press. There has not as yet been time to receive an answer.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what is going to happen under the Government's proposals in regard to the nationalisation of mineral royalties to the mining engineers and the royalty surveyors of royalty owners; and whether, in the event of their not being retained in employment under conditions as favourable as they now enjoy, they will receive any compensation?

I cannot anticipate in matters of detail the Government's proposals regarding the acquisition of coal royalties for the State; but my noble Friend may be assured that the point raised in his question is receiving careful consideration.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board, which has a monopoly of the warehousing of leaf tobacco in Bond in Liverpool, is refusing to receive Nyasaland Empire-grown tobacco recently arrived via London, the only practical port of entry owing to the scarcity of steamers from the East Coast of Africa to other British Ports; whether he is aware that Liverpool is the chief distributing centre for leaf tobacco for the United Kingdom and that, in consequence of the action of the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board, the policy of His Majesty's Government to develop the trade in Empire-grown tobacco is being seriously handicapped; and whether, in the circumstances, he will instruct the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board to withdraw its embargo and to give a pre ference in the allocation of warehouse space to Empire-grown tobacco, irresspective of the port in the United Kingdom at which it may arrive.

I am in communication with the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board, and will inform my hon. Friend of the result.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he can state what additional cost in the price of beer per pint is effected by a rise of £1 per cwt. in the price of hops?

I have been asked to reply. It is impossible to give an exact figure in reply to this question since there is no indication as to the class of beer referred to, nor as to whether the figure of £1 per cwt. applies to home-grown or imported hops. If the Noble Lord will put down another question in further detail I will endeavour to supply him with the information which he requires.

asked the Under - Secretary of State for the Colonies if he can state the approximate number of casualties in killed and wounded sustained by our forces in the recent operations against the Somali Mullah, and how these casualties compare with those sustained in previous operations against the Mullah?

The recent operations against the Mullah have not involved any casualties among the European officers and other ranks engaged, and the only casualties of which information has been received at the Colonial Office are two: one native African soldier died of wounds, and one wounded. It is not possible to give, with any degree of accuracy, the number of casualties which have occurred in the course of military operations against the Dervishes extending over a period of twenty years, but it may be stated, for purposes of comparison, that in the operations at Shimber Berris in November, 1914. and February, 1915, which were of a minor character, and involved the destruction of one of the smaller of the Mullah's fortified posts only, our casualties amounted to one British officer killed and five wounded, and 43 casualties among the Indian and native rank and file.