asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Munitions whether the Ministry has advertised a sale of plant to take place at the Ailsa Craig Works, Chiswick, on the 20th instant; whether included in this sale are articles actually necessary to the restarting of work and the re-employment of the employés of this company, such re-instatement having been guaranteed in a Government statement to the effect that the company would be placed in a position to resume business and to re-employ their old employés; and whether he is aware that a proportion of the tools and material to be included in this proposed sale were actually purchased by the company and in the possession of the company before the outbreak of war?

The Ministry of Munitions has advertised a sale of plant to take place on the 20th instant, at the Ailsa Craig Factory, Chiswick (now being transferred to the Labour Ministry for the purpose of a Training Centre for ex-service men). The items included in that sale are the property of the Ministry. If any of such items were originally the property of the Ailsa Craig Motor Company, Limited, they became or remained vested in the Ministry under the terms of an agreement dated the 4th December, 1919, and made between that company and the Ministry, and all other necessary parties. I am not aware of any Government statement of the nature or to the effect indicated in the latter part of the quesion.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Munitions whether he is aware that an independent firm of valuers has assessed the material damage to the works of the Ailsa Craig Company at Chiswick at a sum of £11,155 7s. 6d.: that a great deal of this damage is due to improper arrangements made for the preservation and safeguarding of the buildings and their contents by the local managers in charge; whether any steps have been taken to refund this money to the Ailsa Craig Company; and whether any inquiry will be held into the removal of plant under the direction of responsible officials?

I have no knowledge of the assessment referred to, or by whom, or for what purpose it has been obtained. The whole of the matters in difference between the Ministry of Munitions and the Ailsa Craig Motor Company, Limited, were finally settled by an agreement dated the 4th December, 1919, and made between that Company and the Ministry and all other necessary parties. I am not prepared to reopen the matter.

asked the Secretary of State for India if the Government river craft in Mesopotamia has yet been sold; and, if so, to whom it has been sold, the date and conditions of sale, the description of the craft sold, and whether any monopoly of river transport is being created?

I have been asked to reply. A portion of the Mesopotamian river fleet, which is surplus to the present requirements of the civil and military authorities, was sold last month. The number of boats sold was 362 of various types, and the number of purchasers, 35. The sales were by sealed tenders in India and Mesopotamia, and the approximate amount realised is £1,750,000 sterling. No monopoly has been created.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the War Office whether he can see his way to revise the existing regulations in reference to the applications of relatives to go abroad to visit the graves of deceased soldiers; whether he is aware that the regulation requiring the parents of fallen men to pay full railway fares, etc., is far beyond the purse of a working man; and if he will consider the expediency of issuing special military permits at reduced railway fares as a return for the sacrifice of heroic lives?

I am afraid that I cannot add anything to the previous answers given on this subject.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether the regulations for the Territorial Army Reserve will be the same as they were before the War; and whether they will conform, as regards age and obligation for service overseas, to the regulations for the active list?

The question of the re-organisation of the Territorial Force Reserve is under discussion, and I can make no announcement on the subject at present.

asked the Secretary of State for War what number of officers and men occupy the military camp on Wimbledon Common; where the corresponding battalions were accommodated prior to the War; whether it is now possible to vacate part of the camp; and whether he can state the approximate date when the total evacuation will take place and the site restored to the conservators of the common for public use?

As I stated in an oral reply to-day, it is not possible at present to give an indication of the date when the camp in question will be evacuated. I am obtaining the information asked for in the earlier parts of the question and will communicate with the hon. Member as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for War on what grounds a decision has been given by the Assistant Financial Secretary to the War Office, dated 23rd March, 1920, that the county and group adjutants of the Volunteer Force are now eligible for a gratuity under Article 497, Pay Warrant, in respect of such appointment, having regard to paragraph 2 (7) of the Schedule of the Royal Warrant (Army Order 437), 1919, of 29th December, 1919; and whether an officer on retired pay who has been given a commission as county adjutant of the Volunteer Force ceases, on accepting such appointment, to be an officer within the meaning of paragraph 2 (7) of the Schedule to the Royal Warrant of 29th December, 1919?

The conditions attaching to the gratuity under Army Order 437 of 1919 are similar to those attaching to the gratuity under Article 497, Royal Warrant for Pay. Adjutants of the Volunteer Force are precluded from gratuity, not because they may draw special rates of pay, but because of the nature of their appointments.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs how many British subjects are still interned in Russia, and what is the reason for their detention?

There are about 350 British subjects still in Russia, of whom 150 should cross the Finnish frontier to-morrow. The remainder are expected to follow at an early date with the exception of a few persons who, having no connections with this country, are unwilling to leave Russia.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he has any information concerning the recent disorders and progroms in Jerusalem; and if he can make any statement as to the present situation in that locality?

I would refer the hon. and gallant Member to the oral reply given to-day by my right hon. Friend the Lord Privy Seal.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether, he will expedite the inquiry into the claim for compensation by the widow of the late Warder Thomas Harper, Parkhurst Prison, who died in the National Hospital, Queen's Square, on 29th June, 1919, from injury to the brain resulting from a fall, in a struggle with a refractory convict, whilst in the execution of his duty; whether the case is being considered from the point of view of the terms of The Workmen's Compensation Act, 1906; and whether, in view of the necessitous circumstances of Mrs. Harper, whose income from all sources for herself and four children does not exceed 30s. a week, he can recommend a grant from any funds at his disposal to relieve the situation temporarily pending the result of the inquiry?

On the information in my possession it would not appear that this warder's death was attributable to the effects of the accident referred to, which occurred in 1913, and I am unable to authorise any payment to the widow at present. Further inquiries are being made into the history of the illness, and a decision will be arrived at as soon as possible.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty if he is aware that the Royal Marine gunners are the equals in rank and for pay of the Naval warrant officers (gunners Royal Navy), and that during the War the Naval warrant officers were promoted without examination, to meet requirements, and were confirmed in the rank, but that the Royal Marine gunners had to pass severe tests, etc., before promotion, and that nevertheless it is now proposed that the so promoted Royal Marine gunners, some eight in number, because the number of gunners exceeds the number required, should be reduced in rank; and if he will inquire into the matter, with a view to putting it right?

When the Royal Marine gunners in question were given the acting rank of R.M. Gunner, it was on the definite understanding that they would hold it only for the period of hostilities or for so long as their services in the rank were required. Orders have therefore been given that they are to revert to their former position as from the official date for the termination of hostilities, in the same way as has been done in the case of other officers given acting rank on that understanding. No condition of this kind was attached to the promotions made to acting Naval warrant rank during the War, except in certain special cases, but in all cases in which such a condition was made those granted acting rank have been required to revert to their substantive rank, in the same way as the Royal Marine gunners. All warrant officers who were promoted during the War without going through their courses are now being required to undergo them.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he is aware that the draft of the Regulations proposed to be made by the Board of Education with regard to the payment of local education authorities of substantive grant in respect of elementary education for the year 1920–21 will entail an addition of 10½d. in the £ to the education rate in Tottenham, making the total 6s. 6d. and adding the sum of £23,500 to the local committee's precept; that this committee have recently raised very considerably the salaries of their teachers and are desirous of bringing about other improvements in their educational system which the Board desire, in the exercise of the powers conferred upon them by the Education Act of 1918, and that this cannot be done if they are obliged to impose a rate so high as to arouse in the district opposition to plans which would involve a still higher rate; and if he will take action to have the draft Regulations amended with a view to restoring the old limit of 27d. to the education authorities in necessitous areas?

I have seen a newspaper report to the effect stated in the first part of the question, but I have not at present received from Tottenham their estimates of education expenditure for the year 1920–21. I am aware that the authority have adopted a scale of salaries for elementary teachers substantially higher than the scale of any other authority. On the general question which I discussed yesterday with a deputation, I would refer the hon. and gallant Member to the reply which I gave on the 9th March to the hon. Member for Carnarvonshire (Major Breese). I see no prospect of being able to revert to the old limit of 27 pence.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he is aware that the practice of the Board, in basing instalments of grant payable to highly-rated areas during a year on the expenditure of the preceding year, acts unfairly at a time when expenditure is increasing; that at Tottenham the Committee's new scale of salaries came into force on the 1st April, and that the whole cost of the increase during the year must be borne by the rates; and if he will give further consideration to the possibility of paying grants upon the estimated expenditure for the year, with a sufficient margin left for final adjustment of the payment after the accounts have been completed?

In my opinion a case for the suggested alteration of the present grant system has not yet been made out. On the general question I would refer the hon. and gallant Member to the answer given on the 25th February by my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to the hon. Member for Kingswinford (Mr. Sitch).

asked the Minister of Labour whether, in view of the services of wireless operators in the War on vessels on Government charter, even if these services were remunerated by the Marconi Company, he will consider the desirability of placing such men in a position to enjoy a grant under the scheme for State assistance in higher education and training?

The Government scheme of training grants for ex-officers and men of similar educational qualifications applies to all persons of British nationality who served for an adequate qualifying period during the late War in naval, military or air forces of the Crown, for which payment was made out of monies voted by the Imperial Parliament. I am not prepared at this juncture to extend the scope of the scheme.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture if, in view of the fact that a large proportion of livestock is conveyed to shows by passenger train, he will make arrangements by which the inconvenience of prepayment of freight charges is avoided?

I have been asked to answer this question. As regards the general question of prepayment of freight charges by passenger train, I would refer the hon. and gallant Member to the answer given to a question by the hon. and gallant Member for Buckingham (Captain Bowyer) on the 13th April. In view of the difficulty of collecting railway charges on the show ground, it was a pre-War practice of the railway companies to re- quire prepayment of freight on show traffic, and there has been no alteration in this respect.

asked the Minister of Transport if he is aware that considerable interest was taken in the proceedings of the Committee dealing with the Cattie system of Transport; and whether he can state when the evidence will be made public?

The Minutes of Evidence of the Gattie Report was presented to Parliament on the 25th February. Copies were available in the Vote Office on the 10th instant.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give a complete list of the companies in which the British Government have invested in industrial undertakings, giving the name of each concern, the total authorised capital of each, the total issued capital thereof, and the amount of shares or stock held by the Government in each, par value?

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply which I gave to the hon. and gallant Member for Central Aberdeen (Major M. Wood) on the 25th ultimo.