asked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether, at the present time, Japan is now receiving from the Dutch East Indies the normal quantities of oil it received in peacetime; and whether it is proposed to represent to the Dutch Government that this quantity be reduced in view of its use for war purposes?

According to my Noble Friend's information, exports from the Netherlands East Indies to Japan in recent years have shown considerable variations in total. As regards the latter part of the Question, the answer is in the negative. It is for the Netherlands Government to determine its policy in this matter in the light of all the circumstances.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he has any information concerning the forcible Germanisation of Alsace-Lorraine?

On 14th November the Vichy Government issued a communique stating that the German authorities in Lorraine had invited French-speaking Lorrainers to choose between transfer to Poland and leaving for unoccupied France. The Lorrainers had chosen France, and since 11th November their expulsion has been taking place at the rate of five-seven trainloads a day. The communique added that the French Government formally denied the allegation that this measure was in accordance with an agreement reached between the French and German Governments and had decided to refer the matter to the Armistice Commission. According to Press reports, 120,000 French-speaking Lorrainers are affected by this measure.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the Government will consider publishing, in a summarised form, an account of the methods being pursued by the German authorities towards the peoples of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Norway, Denmark, Holland, Belgium and occupied France?

It is for the Governments of the countries concerned to publish if they think fit official accounts of German methods in the occupied territories. His Majesty's Government welcome, however, publicity given to well-authenticated accounts of German proceedings in these territories.

asked the Minister of Supply whether, in view of the delay in requisitioning iron railings for purposes of scrap due to the necessity of obtaining the sanctions of all interested, including ground-landlords, leaseholders and tenants, he will, in order to expedite the work, arrange through the borough surveyors for printed forms to be circulated asking landlords and tenants to sign a declaration that they have no objection to the removal of their railings?

A scheme which was initiated some weeks ago to stimulate the voluntary surrender of non-essential railings for scrap includes the circulation of a form of consent on the lines suggested by my hon. Friend. The scheme has been applied up to the present to certain test areas, and if the results are satisfactory it will be extended to the rest of the country.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he will quote the text or the effective meaning of the King's Regulations under which serving soldiers are debarred from approaching their Members of Parliament with regard to grievances; and whether, in view of the large number of men who have recently been taken into the Army who are not clear as to their rights in this respect, he will consider the desirability of circulating an explanatory statement on the subject for the benefit of all concerned?

Paragraph 530, King's Regulations, provides that a soldier should make any complaint to a superior military officer, and that he is forbidden to use any other method of obtaining redress for a grievance. An Army Council Instruction, fully explaining the considerations involved, was promulgated last December, and enjoined that the rules on this subject were to be pointed out and explained to all ranks at suitable intervals.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he will quote the text or the effective meaning of the King's Regulations and Admiralty Instructions under which serving sailors are debarred from approaching their Members of Parliament with regard to grievances; and whether, in view of the large number of men who have recently been taken into the Navy who are not clear as to their rights in this respect, he will consider the desirability of circulating an explanatory statement on the subject for the benefit of all concerned?

Articles 9 and 10 of the King's Regulations and Admiralty Instructions set out the proper method of making representations on service matters and putting forward complaints, and Article 10 states that any other method of seeking redress from a superior authority is forbidden. Attention has recently been drawn by Admiralty Fleet Order to the provisions of these Articles for the particular information of men who are serving only for the period of the war.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether, in view of the increased cost of living and of the fact that they are unable to obtain assistance from naval benevolent funds, the widows of warrant officers can be granted an increase of pension or a war bonus?

The scales of pensions for officers' widows are common to the three Combatant Forces and were approved by the Government in 1920, following a general review of Service conditions, when the cost of living was considerably higher than it is now. In the circumstances, I feel that there are insufficient grounds at present for recommend- ing reconsideration of these benefits in whole or in part.

asked the Minister of Labour to what extent different Ministries have made use of the Central Register for filling special war-time vacancies; and what arrangements he contemplates for extending this avenue of employment in future?

As I have frequently explained, the Central Register is not primarily an employment agency, but all Government Departments are already required to notify to it all appropriate wartime vacancies and there is therefore no scope for extending this avenue of employment. Up to 31st October the number of persons reported as placed in such vacancies through the Central Register by different Government Departments since the war began was 8,864.