asked the Secretary of State for War (1) what are the grounds on which men over 45 years of age now serving overseas in the Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps can secure an honourable discharge from the Army if they feel unequal to the burdens imposed upon them;(2) what is the proportion of men serving in the Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps who have been invalided home from the British Expeditionary Force since November;(3) whether, in view of the high sickness ratio in the Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps, he will consider the honourable discharge of men over 45 years of age who find themselves unable to endure overseas service conditions and are constantly reporting sick?

About 8 per cent. of the men serving in the Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps in France have been invalided home since November. Those who are not fit to carry out their duties overseas are returned to home service or discharged, as may be recommended by a medical board, whose opinion, and not that of the soldier, must naturally be the deciding factor.

asked the Secretary of State for War (1) whether, in connection with contracts entered into by his Department for the erection of hutments, any detailed arrangements are made in order that the methods of sub-contracting may be known to him; and whether he is satisfied that the same conditions of tendering between main and sub-contractors apply as exist between the War Office and main contractors;(2) whether he will cause inquiry to be made into all cases where detailed information ispresented to him in respect of the lack of open and equal treatment for sub-contracts connected with the erection of hutments for his Department and impose the necessary conditions in contracts to ensure the elimination of preference?

I would refer the hon. Member to the answer given to his Question on the same subject on 7th March. The only cases in which the War Office intervenes in the placing of sub-contracts are:(1) In contracts in which the contractor is refunded his prime costs, the conditions require him to submit tenders which he invites to the superintending officer before acceptance.(2) In lump sum contracts in which certain specialist services (for example, heating and lighting), are reserved by the War Office for separate tendering, the contractor for the main work is required to place a sub-contract with the selected tenderer at the quoted price.I cannot undertake to intervene in other cases.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that soldiers serving in France have been obliged to purchase from the canteen woollen comforts which have been supplied free of charge by volunteer effort; and whether he can give a definite assurance that all woollen comforts which are supplied by volunteer organisations will be distributed free to the troops?

I would refer my hon. and gallant Friend to the answer I gave to-day to my hon. Friend the Member for Perth and Kinross (Mr. Snadden).

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that there is dissatisfaction regarding the leaving of anthropometric considerations to the medical services; and whether he will now take steps to institute an Army anthropometric survey in Scotland, utilising the services of ex-officer anthropologists of over 50 years of age who have offered themselves for this work and the facilities of the universities for anthropological, medical and psychological investigation?

I would refer the hon. and learned Member to the answer given to him on 28th September last. I am advised that no military advantage is to be gained by carrying out an anthropometric survey in the Army.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he will consider granting an increased petrol allowance to seed and coal merchants who are holders of B or C licences in view of the difficulty these merchants are now experiencing in delivering seed and coal in rural areas where it is essential to provide these goods to ensure the steady progress of drilling the land and providing fuel for threshing and steam ploughing?

Special arrangements have been made for local distribution of coal and I recently drew the Regional Transport Commissioners' attention to the importance of seed traffic at this time of year. I have no reason to believe that the movement of either traffic is being hampered by fuel rationing.

asked the Secretary for Mines whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that certain schools in the county of Norfolk have had to be temporarily closed owing to the difficulty of obtaining supplies of fuel; and what action he proposes to take in the matter?

No, Sir. I had not previously received any intimation of schools in Norfolk being closed for lack of fuel. My present information is that nine village schools in Norfolk were closed for various reasons, but have now reopened.

:asked the Secretary for Mines whether he is aware that Doncaster Collieries Association have stated to the Brighton coal merchants that the congestion of loaded wagons awaiting removal runs into thousands of trucks; that they are unable to obtain relief owing to the failure of the northern railway companies to remove the wagons to their destinations; that the New Hucknall Colliery Company has a stop from the Welbeck pit on all traffic south; and a stop from the Bentict and Annesley pits on all traffic south of Kettering; and will he do something at once to relieve the acute shortage in Brighton and Hove?

I am informed by my right hon. and gallant Friend the Minister of Transport that the two railway companies concerned are regularly removing large trains of loaded wagons from each of the collieries in question, and that following railway working over last week-end there remained at 6 a.m. yesterday only 732 wagons in the sidings of the six pits comprised in the group. As regards the Welbeck pit, I am informed that there has been no restriction on the loading of coal imposed by the London Midland and Scottish Railway, and that the partial embargo, imposed by the London and North Eastern Railway on the loading of coal for stations via Banbury and Neesden, was removed at 9 a.m. on 15th March. No restrictions have been applied on the loading of coal at the Annesley pit, which is served by the London Midland and Scottish Railway. Arrangements have been made for additional supplies of coal to Brighton from the North of England.

asked the Minister of Economic Warfare why the newly-concluded Anglo-Norwegian Trade Agreement authorises Norway to import for overseas on the same scale as before the war, notwithstanding the fact that part of her imports were re-exported to Germany before the war; and whether he has any adequate guarantees that the surplus in excess of Norway's own requirements will not find its way to Germany?

I fear I cannot answer my hon. Friend's Question fully without explaining the terms of the agreement which, as I have had occasion to point out before, it is not possible for me to do. But I must not be taken as agreeing that the position as regards Norwegian imports is accurately stated in the Question. My hon. Friend may rest assured that we have obtained guarantees, supported by adequate administrative provisions that overseas imports will not be re-exported to Germany.

asked the Minister of Economic Warfare whether he has any information about triangular transactions arranged by Germany with Spain and Sweden, by which Spain exports raw materials to Sweden, Sweden exports iron-ore to Germany, and Germany pays for the iron-ore by transferring to Sweden part of her peseta balances accumulated during the civil war, thereby enabling Sweden to pay for her raw materials purchased from Spain; and whether he has taken any steps to stop such circumvention of the blockade?

We are continually on the watch for traffic of this kind. If my hon. Friend can furnish any particulars of the transactions to which he refers I shall be most grateful.

asked the Minister of Economic Warfare what is the reason for the suspension of the issue of navicerts for the shipment of lubricating oil from the United States of America to Belgium, Holland, and Denmark; and what is the nature of the guarantees he obtained against the re-export of the surplus to Germany?

The temporary suspension of the issue of navicerts covering lubricating oil was due to the comparatively large stocks which have been accumulated by certain neutral countries adjacent to Germany, though I have no evidence that any appreciable quantity of oil has found its way into Germany. The Governments of the countries concerned have prohibited entirely the export of such oils to belligerents.

asked the Minister of Shipping what tonnage is lost if all imported flour comes in as wheat to be milled here?

This country's normal imports of flour are of the order of 400,000 tons per annum. I am informed that this is the equivalent of about 550,000 tons of wheat. The difference between these two figures cannot be regarded as loss since it represents milling offals which are a valuable feeding stuff for animals.

asked the Minister of Shipping what is the daily cost of maintaining the steamships "Queen Mary" and "Queen Elizabeth" in idleness in America; and whether this cost will be borne by the shareholders of the shipping company or by the British taxpayer?

The arrangements to be made in respect of these vessels and of the remainder of the Cunard White Star fleet, most of which is under requisition, are now under discussion between the company, the Treasury and my Department.

asked the Minister of Food whether he will authorise the Official Paid franking of notices of intention to deliver fat stock to a collecting centre, form M.A.T., which farmers are required to forward to such centres, in view of the facts that these notices are required in the public interest and that the bacon and ham branch of the Ministry supplies franked postcards. No. B.H. 1006, for notifying area allocation officers of intention to deliver pigs?

I have already made arrangements for the form M.A.T. to be franked and I hope that 1,500,000 of such franked forms will become available in the next two weeks.

asked the Minister of Food whether he will take steps to ensure that only meat fit for human consumption is sent out from Government-controlled slaughterhouses; whether he will satisfy himself that the methods of handling the meat in the course of its distribution to retail shops are reasonably cleanly; whether his attention has been called to a particular case of the supply of meat considered unfit for human consumption to a firm of butchers at Fording bridge, Hants; and what steps he proposes to take to prevent such occurrences in future?

The co-operation of the local authorities, whose duty it is to ensure the healthy state of meat available for human food, has been encouraged and I am satisfied that the methods of handling the meat in the course of its distribution to retail shops are reasonably satisfactory. As regards the third part of the Question my attention has been directed to the case at Fording bridge, where a small quantity of meat was condemned by the local sanitary authority as being unfit for human consumption. As regards the last part of the Question, it should be explained that even in peace time condemnations of meat occur and it is then as now the duty of the local authorities to see that meat unfit for human consumption does not pass into consumption. I am watching the position closely and shall take such action as appears necessary in consultation with my right hon. Friends the Minister of Health and the Secretary of State for Scotland.