asked the Secretary of State for War whether the Army is now up to strength, and, if it is not, how many recruits would be necessary to bring it up to strength?

On 1st July the strength of the Regular Army, including all ranks, but exclusive of the British Army in India, was approximately 9,000 in excess of establishments. The second part of the question does not therefore arise.

asked the Secretary of State for War how many officers have already been compulsorily retired, and how many further retirements are required?

Approximately, 630 officers have been, or are at present being, compulsorily retired under Army Order 179 of 1922. Exclusive of these, there is a surplus over the prospective establishment of approximately 600 Regular officers, and this is the number of reductions which have still to be effected.

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether the six fighting aircraft allocated to the Navy represent the provision agreed upon by the Admiralty and the Air Ministry in consultation, and whether reserve machines are available to replace any which may be damaged by accident, etc.?

The unit referred to is an item of the reduced programme which the Admiralty and the Air Ministry were required to accept, having regard to the reductions in Air Estimates decided upon by His Majesty's Government in the light of the Report of the Committee on National Expenditure. I may add that the Air Ministry have to date provided the full number of aeroplanes of all types contemplated in this reduced programme, and that they shared the Admiralty's expressed misgivings that no larger provision was possible in the circumstances. For further particulars I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer which I gave yesterday to a question by the Noble and gallant Member for Battersea (Viscount Curzon).

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty whether the Admiralty is in favour of the employment of rigid airships for naval purposes?

I would refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. and gallant Member for Buckingham (Captain Bowyer) on the 12th April last.

asked the Minister of Pensions whether it is proposed to cancel the grants already decided upon to children of soldiers killed in the War; whether he is aware that children are being withdrawn from secondary schools where part of their tuition has been completed: and whether he can reconsider this decision and allow those already at school to complete their studies?

There is no intention to withdraw any education grant properly given under the Regulations of the Special Grants Committee, but in some cases grants have necessarily been terminated because the conditions of the Regulations were not satisfied. I have no power to authorise the Committee to continue grants in such cases.

asked the Minister of Pensions whether it is now decreed that a disabled man's claim is to be regarded as from the first period of disability in spite of the probability in many cases of men returning to duty many times, and whose condition has been aggravated by such service; and whether, in view of the feeling of resentment among public administering these cases, he will insert a new interpretation in the Royal Warrant?

A man's eligibility for pension is not affected by his removal from duty on one or more occasions, except in so far as it may afford evidence of the existence of the disability, and thus help to establish connection between the disability and military service.

asked the Minister of Pensions if he is aware that many ex-soldiers of good social position and in no sense dangerous, who owe their state entirely to service during the War, are still confined in pauper lunatic asylums; and if he has considered the possibility of initiating legislation which will render possible more humane and advanced methods of dealing with these men?

Both ex-service and civilian patients in mental asylums, as elsewhere, differ in social status. Some of them, though neither dangerous to others nor actually suicidal, are quite unable, on account of their unfortunate mental condition, to look after themselves and cannot otherwise be suitably cared for. I may remind my hon. and gallant Friend that service patients are on the legal footing of private patients, and may, therefore, be removed at the instance of their responsible relatives, unless the medical superintendent certifies that they are dangerous to themselves or others. The point raised in the second part of the question is one for my right hon. Friend the Minister of Health.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty whether his attention has been called to the case of Private A. G. D., Royal Marine Light Infantry, who was discharged from the Royal Naval Hospital at Haslar, suffering from spinal consumption, on a cold November day last year without an overcoat, which was refused on the grounds that he had not served quite three years in the Navy: whether this man, although entitled to a pension, has up till now received nothing; and whether he will take steps to see that men who are discharged from the Navy are not treated in this way in future?

This man was not a patient in Haslar Hospital in November, 1921, but went there for a survey, after which he returned immediately to barracks pending the decision as regards invaliding. He was in possession of a greatcoat, but presumably did not consider it necessary to wear it on the day in question. I may mention that the cause of invaliding was "Tubercular Disease of the Ileum" not "Tubercular Disease of the Spine." The man was offered hospital treatment, which he declined for private reasons, although strongly advised to accept. The invaliding documents of this man were received on the 6th December, 1921, and, as in the opinion of the medical advisers of the Admiralty, his disability was neither attributable to, nor aggravated by, wag-service, he was awarded a gratuity of £15 in full compensation. This amount was based on length of service, and degree of disablement: (80 per cent.) under the non-attributable scale. The necessary papers were forwarded to the man on the 25th January, but he refused to accept the gratuity awarded until the 22nd May, when payment was made. On the following day the invaliding papers were sent to the Ministry of Pensions. The actual position at present as regards the man's pension was explained in the reply to my hon. Friend's question yesterday.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he is aware that serious delays are occurring in the payment of pensions to ex-members of the Royal Irish Constabulary: and whether, seeing that so many members of that force have had to move from the counties or towns in which they were serving as policemen and are in consequence often unable to obtain credit in their new domicile, he will make the necessary arrangements to have all pensions paid promptly on the days on which they are due?

I have looked into this matter very carefully, and am satisfied that, having regard to the volume of work to be disposed of within a limited time, and to the fact that the machinery for dealing with it had, to a great extent, to be improvised at short notice, the number of cases of serious delay has been remarkably small. Such delays as have occurred have been mainly I due to change of address on the part of the pensioner since his pension papers were filled in by him at the time of disbandment. It was inevitable that, in a number of cases of this kind, the pension should be issued before notification of the change of address, reached the Pensions Branch of the Royal Irish Constabulary Office, but these mistakes have been promptly rectified when brought to notice. Delays due to other causes than the non-receipt of notification of change of address have been very infrequent.

asked the Prime Minister what is the agenda for the meeting of the Council of the League of Nations to be held at St. James's Palace this week?

A copy of the agenda will be found in the Library of the House.

asked the Prime Minister what, if any, steps have been taken to secure the admission of every nation to the League of Nations; whether or no Germany has been, or is likely to be, invited to join, and upon what grounds is Russia denied admission to the assembly?

The procedure is that any fully self-governing State must make application for admission for consideration by the Assembly and must accept the conditions defined in Article 1 of the Covenant. There is no question of Russia having been denied admission to the League. No application has ever been received from Germany or Russia.

asked the Prime Minister whether, in view of the fact that the time of two conferences has been almost totally occupied with discussions with the representatives of the Communist Government of Russia, he will say what immediate and practical steps are being taken by the Allied Powers, including America, to help Austria, whose misfortunes are due to the Treaty terms imposed on her and not to any Communist theory of government?

This country has advanced the sum of £12,200,000 to Austria since the Armistice and advances have also been made by other Governments. The principal Allied Powers have agreed to release the liens on Austrian assets in respect of reparation and relief credits for a term of 20 years, in order to enable Austria to obtain a foreign loan, and have made repeated efforts to obtain the unanimous consent of the Powers entitled to reparation from Austria to this release. The United States Government have obtained from Congress power to agree to this measure, if it be adopted by substantially all the other Powers concerned. The Austrian Government have recently applied to the Reparation Commission for the immediate release of certain specific assets for a term of 20 years in order to enable the proposed Bank of Issue to be founded, and it is the earnest hope of the Government that the Austrian Government's proposals in this matter will be successfully carried through.

asked the Prime Minister whether, if fresh legislation be needed by the Report and recommendations of the Committee to be appointed to investigate the desirability or other wise of extending or modifying the Rent Restriction Act, he will endeavour to lay the Bill before the House in the Autumn Session so that both landlords and tenants may have adequate notice of what is proposed?

I cannot give any undertaking as to the introduction of a Bill in the Autumn, but I think it would meet my hon. Friend's point if the Government announce their intentions when the Committee have issued their Report.

asked the Minister of Health if he will give the figures submitted by each of the local authorities under Section 1 of the Housing and Town Planning Act of 1919 of their estimate of need of the number of houses required to be built in their respective areas?

As I have on various occasions informed the hon. Member, I cannot regard the result of this survey as an index of the present effective demand for houses, and in the circumstances I do not think that the labour and expense of printing the Return suggested would be justified.

asked the Minister of Health if he has any records showing the number of established cases of obtaining relief from boards of guardians under false pretences; and in how many of such have prosecutions been instituted?

I regret that, as I informed the hon. Member a fortnight ago in reply to a similar question, no statistics are available.

asked the Minister of Health upon what grounds the Board of Control have on four occasions deprived a medical practitioner skilled in mental illness, and whose name appears on two medical registers, of the right appertaining to medical practitioners to sign a certificate of sanity as prescribed under Section 49 of the Lunacy Act, 1890; whether, seeing that this constitutes defamation, the Law Officers of the Crown were consulted before such deprivation was decided upon; and, if not, whether they will now be consulted?

Under Section 49 of the Lunacy Act, 1890, the Board of Control have full discretion to authorise any medical practitioner to visit a patient for the purposes of the Section. In the exercise of their discretion the Board endeavour to select medical practitioners who are in their opinion best qualified to act. The mere fact that the Board have not selected any particular medical practitioner whose name has been submitted to them is in no way defamatory and there neither has been nor is any reason for consulting the Law Officers of the Crown in the matter.

asked the Attorney-General whether his attention has been called to the judgment in the case of Dr. Michelson, who was charged with having done wilful bodily harm to military and civilian prisoners in War hospitals in 1917 and 1918; who were the prosecutors in this case; and whether any decision has been, or is likely to be, arrived at by the Government in order to carry out their pledges that war criminals shall be punished?

This was one of the cases on the French list selected for trial at Leipzig. Beyond that, I have no information except the reports which have appeared in the newspapers. In reply to the latter part of the question, I have nothing to add to the answer I gave to the hon. and gallant: Member on the 11th of this month.

asked the Attorney-General whether he can make any statement with regard to the present position of the trial in Germany of offenders against the laws and usages of war whose names have been forwarded to the German Government by the Allies; whether such trials are to be continued; and whether the Allies intend to take any further part in putting forward the charges upon which the cases are based?

I can add nothing to the answer which I gave on the 11th of this month to the hon. and gallant Member for Leith (Captain W. Benn) to the effect that the matter rests with the Supreme Council and is still under discussion by the Allied Governments concerned.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether any reply has yet been received from the French Government to the protest of His Majesty's Government concerning the proposal of France to build harbour facilities, including a submarine base, at Tangier; whether a conference is about to be held; if so, when and where; what delegates will attend; whether Britain has insisted on Spain attending and France the Sultan of Morocco; and what is the next step?

In reply to the protest of His Majesty's Government the French Government have maintained the right of the Sultan to grant a concession for the construction of harbour works at Tangier without the consent of other Powers. It has never been proposed to construct a submarine base at Tangier. It is hoped to hold a conference in London shortly between the Prime Ministers of France, Spain and Great Britain. His Majesty's Government have always made it a condition that the Conference should be Tripartite. The Sultan of Morocco, being under French protection, will be properly represented by France.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the interests of the French subjects in the urban area of Tangier, as revealed by the returns under the inhabited house duty, are less than those of either the British or Spanish subjects there?

The answer is in the affirmative.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the British, Spanish, and American Governments have protested against the concession which the Sultan of Morocco has, at the instance of the French authorities, purported to grant to an international 'company for the construction of a port at Tangier; whether.

The answer to the first three parts of the question is in the affirmative. His Majesty's Government intend to raise the whole question at the forthcoming Tangier Conference.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs the note circulation of Germany for each period of six months since the Armistice whether the printing of paper money is still being carried on on a large scale; and whether, since this conduces to the steady depreciation of the mark, the Allies have made, or are making, any representations to Germany on the subject?

The figures asked for in the first part of the question are as follow:third part of the question, this matter is being dealt with by the Reparation Commission.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he is aware that the Egyptian bar requested permission to send Egyptian lawyers to defend Lieutenant Aly Abdul Latif, and that the Sudan legal secretary issued a communiqué throughout the Press bureau to the: effect that he could not allow any lawyers from Egypt or from Europe to plead before the Sudan law courts at Khartoum; is he aware that Egyptian lawyers pleaded before these courts two years ago: and will he say whether the present policy indicates a separation of the Sudan from Egypt?

Under the regulations as to advocates in the Sudan a licence to practice in the Sudan Courts is required, for which privilege a considerable annual fee is paid. Casual advocates, whether from Egypt or from Europe, are not, therefore, permitted to appear in official cases at Khartoum, so long as a choice of advocates who regularly practise there is available for anyone. These facts were alluded to in a recent communiqué issued at Khartoum on the occasion referred to by the hon. Member. I have no information as to the incident referred to in the second part of the question. As regards the last part, the policy of His Majesty's Government has undergone no change. The Sudanese legal authorities have always been at liberty to frame their own rules in these matters.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, if application be made by any public company, notably a railway company, to the Treasury to obtain a clear definition of the exact range of people in its employment who fall for assessment under Schedule D and Schedule E, such an answer can be given as will remove the misconceptions founded upon the decision of the House of Lords in the case of the railway clerk, Mr. W, H. Hall, and the reasons advanced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in refusing to accept an Amendment to the Finance Bill, Clause 15, at the end of Sub-section (6)?

Under the provisions of Clause 18 of this year's Finance Bill, all Employés become assessable to Income Tax on one common basis under Schedule E. The Bill thus removes the serious want of uniformity that has previously existed in the treatment of various classes of employés. As regards assessments for years prior to the current year 1922–23 still to be made upon employés who have hitherto been assessed under Schedule E but who might possibly be affected by the decision of the House of Lords in the case of Mr. W. H. Hall, I would refer to the provisions of Sub-clause (6) of Clause 18. My hon. and gallant Friend will appreciate that in these circumstances the question of discriminating, in 'the manner suggested, between the employés of a company for Income Tax purposes does not now arise.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the average gravity of the beer brewed in each division of the United Kingdom, and in the United Kingdom as a whole, in each of the three months, April, May and June of this year?

The average original specific gravities of beer brewed by brewers for sale in England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland, respectively, and in the United Kingdom as a whole, in the months of April and May, 1922, are as follow:

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether, in the Annual Report of the Inland Revenue Commissioners, the figures given in respect of Inhabited House Duty refer to numbers of separate tenements or to separate buildings, which may contain two or more tenements?

The numbers of assessments to Inhabited House Duty, contained in the Annual Reports of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue, represent the number of charges made to that duty. The duty is a very old one, and the law governing the question of the subjects to be included in a separate charge is very complex; but, if I have rightly understood what the hon. Member moans to convey by the terms buildings and tenements, then, subject to the limits of liability for Inhabited House Duty, it would be true to say that the number of charges would exceed the number of buildings normally used as dwelling-houses and be less than the number of tenements, though in what proportion it would be impossible to ascertain.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether teachers who pass the required examination are given a diploma known as the certificate; and, if so, on what grounds, if any, may this certificate be withdrawn or suspended, and by whose authority?

Persons who have passed the Board's final examination of students in training colleges or some other examination accepted for the purpose, and who have satisfied the Board of their physical capacity, are entitled to receive a certificate from the Board. The certificate of a teacher expires on his attaining the age of 65 years, or, if the Board on account of his special fitness allow his services to continue for a further limited time, then on the expiration of that limited time. As is stated in the Code of: Regulations for Public Elementary Schools, a certificate may also at any time be recalled or suspended by the Board. The withdrawal or suspension of a certificate usually occurs as a consequence of misconduct, and, as is indicated in the Code, the Board use every available means of informing the teacher of the charges against him and of giving him an opportunity of explanation.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether, during the recent epidemic of foot-and-mouth disease, any outbreaks are traceable to re-infection of fresh stock in previously infected premises: and, if so, how many?

I am advised that in two cases only, out of a total of some 1,150, have outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease been attributable to the re-infection of fresh stock on previously infected premises after they had been closed for the prescribed period.

asked the Minister of Labour if he will give the total number of wage earners in the year 1921; and whether he will state, as regards agriculture, the mining industry, the building trade, the engineering trade, and the textile trade, respectively, for the year 1921 the number of persons employed, the net increase in wages since 1914, and the highest and lowest wage in each industry?

The statistics available as to numbers employed and wages paid are not sufficiently complete to enable exact particulars to be given of the total number of wage earners in this country, or of the net increase in wages since 1914, in the industries referred to. The following Table, however, gives some information as to the numbers of workpeople and as to the increase in full-time rates of wages between July, 1914, and December, 1921, in agriculture, and in the coal mining, building, engineering and cotton and wool textile trades. It is not possible, from the information available, to state the highest and lowest rates of wages in these industries, but the Table gives particulars of the recognised time rates of ordinary agricultural labourers and of representative classes of skilled and unskilled men in the building and engineering industries. It should be noted that the figures given relate to full-time rates of wages and take no account of loss of earnings resulting from unemployment and short time, and that in all the industries referred to reductions in rates of wages have been made since December, 1921.

asked the Minister of Labour if he is aware that F. Whittock, 88, Abertillery Road, Blaina (Mon.), has had his unemployment benefit stopped after having only received 30 days' benefit since 10th October, 1921: that this unemployed miner contends that he has not exhausted his covenanted benefit: and will he inquire into this case with a view to having the matter complained of rectified?

According to the records of the Department, Mr. Whittock has paid 42 Unemployment Insurance contributions. The maximum amount of covenanted benefit due to him was, therefore, 42 days. He had on 15th of this month drawn 162 days' benefit since November, 1920, and was at that time serving a "gap" under the Act of last April. On the expiration of the "gap" his claim will be further considered, in accordance with the ordinary procedure, should he be still unemployed.

asked the Minister of Health whether any boards of guardians have been, or are still, paying a scale of relief greater than the actual wages paid in the district to unskilled labour; whether in that case he can state what they are; whether this has been the case at Barrow-in-Furness; and what steps he takes to ensure that this premium on idleness is not permitted to exist?

There are few cases in which there is any reason to suppose that the guardians give relief in excess of the wages earned locally by unskilled labour, and I am not aware that this has been the case at Barrow-in-Furness. Whenever occasion requires the attention; of the board of guardians is drawn to the importance of preventing relief from becoming more attractive than work for wages.

asked the Minister of Labour the percentage of trades unionists unemployed in each of the years 1913 to 1921?

The mean annual percentages unemployed among members of trade unions reporting to the Ministry during each of the years 1913 to 1921 are as follows: