Sitting of 16 November 1914

Preamble
The House met at a Quarter before Three of the clock, Mr. SPEAKER in the Chair.

PRIVATE BUSINESS.
London County Council (General Powers) Bill.
The Bill, having been reported in Session 1914, ordered to lie upon the Table, pursuant to Standing Order of 6th August, 1914.
Glasgow Corporation (Celluloid) Bill.
The Bill, having been reported in Session 1914, ordered to lie upon the Table, pursuant to Standing Order of 6th August, 1914.
Aberdeen Corporation Order Confirmation Bill.
"To confirm a Provisional Order under the Private Legislation Procedure (Scotland) Act, 1899, relating to Aberdeen Corporation." Presented by Mr. McKINNON WOOD; read the first time; and ordered (under Section 9 of the Act) to be read a second time upon Tuesday; 24th November, and to be printed.

UNIVERSITIES OF OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE ACT, 1877 (CAMBRIDGE).
Papers [presented 11th November] to be printed. [Nos. 29 and 30.]
UNIVERSITIES OF OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE ACT, 1877 (OXFORD).
Papers [presented 11th November] to be printed. [Nos. 31 to 35.]
SUPER-TAX.
Return [presented 11th November] to be printed. [No. 36.]
IRISH LAND COMMISSION (PROCEEDINGS).
Copy presented of Return of Proceedings of the Irish Land Commission during the month of March, 1914 [by Command]; to lie upon the Table.

IRISH UNIVERSITIES ACT, 1908.
Copy presented of Statute IV. of the National University of Ireland [by Act]; to lie upon the Table, and to be printed. [No. 37.]
Copy presented of Amendment to Chapter XXXIII. of the Statutes of the Queen's University of Belfast [by Act]; to lie upon the Table, and to be printed. [No. 38.]

SHOPS ACTS, 1912.
Copies presented of Orders made by the under-mentioned Local Authorities and confirmed by the Secretary of State for the Home Department:—

The County Council of Glamorgan (Dulais Valley Area);

The Councils of the City of Oxford and Boroughs of Ealing and Ryde;

[by Act]; to lie upon the Table.

POST OFFICE (MONEY ORDERS).
Copy presented of the Postal Order (Foreign and Colonial) Regulations, 1914, dated 21st July, 1914 [by Act]; to lie upon the Table.
NEW ZEALAND (TRADE).
Copy presented of Report to the Board of Trade on the Trade of New Zealand for the year 1913 [by Command]; to lie upon the Table.

TRADE BOARDS ACT, 1909.
Copy presented of Regulations, dated 8th October, 1914, made by the Board of Trade under Section 11 of The Trade Boards Act, 1909, with respect to the Constitution and Proceedings of the Trade

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Board for making of Boxes or parts thereof made wholly or partially of Paper, Cardboard, Chip, or similar material in Ireland [by Act]; to lie upon the Table.

NATIONAL INSURANCE ACT.
Copy presented of Order, dated 11th November, 1914, made by the Scottish Insurance Commissioners, entitled the National Health Insurance (Transfer of Deposit Contributors) Order (Scotland) (No. 3), 1914 [by Command]; to lie upon the Table.
Copy presented of Provisional Special Order, dated the 11th day of November, 1914, made by the National Health Insurance Joint Committee, acting jointly with the Irish Insurance Commissioners, entitled the National Health Insurance (Employment under Local and Public Authorities) Exclusion Provisional Order (Ireland) (No. 2), 1914 [by Act]; to lie upon the Table, and to be printed. [No. 39.]
Copy presented of Regulations, dated 2nd October, 1914, made by the Welsh Insurance Commissioners, entitled the National Health Insurance (Special Order Inquiry) Regulations (Wales) 1914 [by Act]; to lie upon the Table, and to be printed. [No. 40.]
Copy presented of Provisional Regulations, dated 2nd October, 1914, made by the Welsh Insurance Commissioners, entitled the National Health Insurance (Officers, Warrant Officers, and Soldiers) Regulations (Wales), 1914 [by Act]; to lie upon the Table, and to be printed. [No. 41.]
Copy presented of Regulations, dated 22nd October, 1914, made by the National Health Insurance Joint Committee, acting jointly with the Scottish Insurance Commissioners, entitled the National Health Insurance (Medical Benefit) Regulations (Scotland), 1914 [by Act]; to lie upon the Table, and to be printed. [No. 42.]
Copy presented of Order dated 13th November, 1914, made by the National Health Insurance Joint Committee, acting jointly, with the Insurance Commissioners, the Scottish Insurance Commissioners, the Irish Insurance Commissioners, and the Welsh Insurance Commissioners, entitled
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the National Health Insurance (Special Customs, Crown Employment) Order (No. 1), 1914 [by Act]; to lie upon the Table, and to be printed. [No. 43.]
Copy presented of Order dated 6th November, 1914, made by the Insurance Commissioners under Section 2 of The Local Government Board's Provisional Order Confirmation (No. 18) Act, 1914, entitled the County Borough of Plymouth (Insurance Committee) Order, 1914 [by Command]; to lie upon the Table.
Copy presented of Order, dated 13th November, 1914, made by the National Health Insurance Joint Committee, acting jointly with the Insurance Commissioners, the Scottish Insurance Commissioners, the Irish Insurance Commissioners, and the Welsh Insurance Commissioners, entitled the National Health Insurance (Special Customs, Crown Employment) Order (No. 2), 1914 [by Act]; to lie upon the Table, and to be printed. [No. 44.]

CIVIL CONTINGENCIES FUND, 1912–13.
Return presented relative thereto [ordered 12th November; Mr. Montagu]; to lie upon the Table, and to be printed. [No. 45.]
TRADE REPORTS (ANNUAL SERIES).
Copy presented of Diplomatic and Consular Reports, Annual Series, No. 5398 [by Command]; to lie upon the Table.
ARMY (RESERVE AND SPECIAL RESERVE) REGULATIONS.
Copy presented of Further Regulations for the Army Reserve and Special Reserve [by Act]; to lie upon the Table.
ARMY.
Copy presented of Amendments to Rules for Military Detention Barracks and Military Prisons [by Act]; to lie upon the Table.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS.
  WAR IN EUROPE.

    PRISONERS OF WAR IN GERMANY.
    Mr. NEWMANasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, if the German Government have fully reciprocated with this country in furnishing lists of officers, non-commissioned officers, and men who may be prisoners of war and of civilians who have been interned or otherwise prevented from leaving Germany; and, if not, whether information with regard to German prisoners of war and civilians interned or otherwise detained is still furnished to the enemy?
    The UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE for FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Mr. Acland): The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. Lists of prisoners of war and civilians interned or detained continue to be exchanged.
    Mr. HAY MORGANasked whether any steps have been taken to secure the release of medical men who are British subjects detained in Germany; and, if so, whether any indication can be given as to the date when they will be allowed to return home?
    Mr. ACLAND: His Majesty's Government were informed on the 3rd October that the German Government might allow doctors and ministers of religion to return from Germany, and on 8th October His Majesty's Government made a definite offer of reciprocal treatment with regard to these and three other classes of person. On 22nd October His Majesty's Government were informed that the German Government had accepted the offer, and would permit the departure of medical men and ministers of religion, and since then medical men have been returning, though a doctor was detained at Bad Nauheim until last week. The answer refers to civilians only.
    Mr. D. MASON: What are the three other classes?
    Mr. ACLAND: Invalids, persons who, owing to weakness or physical infirmity, were not likely to make efficient soldiers, and persons who had not had military training. These classes were refused.

    WHEAT CULTIVATION.
    Mr. LEACHasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture, what his Department is now doing to encourage farmers to put more land under wheat so as to lessen the risk of a shortage of bread, owing to the failure of the supply of wheat from some of those countries which usually grow more than they need?
    The PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY to the BOARD of AGRICULTURE (Sir Harry Verney): I am sending my hon. Friend a copy of a Memorandum and a leaflet on this subject which the Board have circulated as widely as possible among farmers. Although in some districts the dry weather unfortunately interfered with autumn cultivation, the latest reports received by the Board indicate that in many parts of the country farmers have been able to sow a substantial increased area with wheat under satisfactory conditions.

    FARM HORSES (SCARCITY).
    Mr. LEACHasked what steps the Board is taking to remedy the scarcity of farm horses caused by the wastage of the war?
    Sir HARRY VERNEY: The estimated number of farm horses acquired by the military authorities does not exceed 2 per cent. of the total. The temporary inconvenience caused in districts where a larger proportion was taken appears from reports received from the Board's inspectors, who have been investigating the matter, to have been satisfactorily adjusted.

    AGRICULTURAL LABOUR (SUPPLY).
    Mr. LEACHasked if the Board of Agriculture Department is apprehensive of any serious lack of agricultural

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    labourers owing to so many men from the rural districts having joined the Army?
    Sir HARRY VERNEY: The Board are watching very carefully the supply of agricultural labour, and hope, with the help of the Labour Exchanges, to prevent any serious interference with farming operations. I may mention that in some districts where a shortage has already occurred an increase of the wages offered has had the desired result.

    AFFORESTATION.
    Mr. LEACHasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture if there has been any increase in the work of afforestation promoted by his Board since the War began; and, if so, to what extent?
    Sir HARRY VERNEY: Since the outbreak of the War the Board's Forestry inspectors have surveyed several areas in England and Wales and are in communication with the owners of suitable land with a view to the utilisation of unemployed labour in afforestation if occasion should arise.

    MILITARY CAMPS (BAD CHARACTERS).
    Lord CLAUD HAMILTONasked the Home Secretary whether His Majesty's Government will introduce and pass a measure empowering magistrates to issue warrants for the summary arrest of women of notorious bad character who are infesting the neighbourhood of the various military camps in the United Kingdom, to the detriment of the morals and health of the troops, and further to empower the magistracy to commit such women for detention in a hospital or reformatory until the close of the War?
    The SECRETARY of STATE for the HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. McKenna): While the Government recognises the serious nature of the evil to which the Noble Lord alludes, I fear it would not be possible to deal with it effectively by such legislation as he recommends. We must rely partly on the organised efforts
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    which are being made by voluntary women workers and partly on the firm enforcement of the existing law by the police and the magistrates.

    ALIEN ENEMIES.
    Lord HUGH CECILasked the Home Secretary whether he has received a memorial from the justices of the peace for the county of Hertford, acting for the division of Buntingford, relating to a farm colony known as Libury Hall German Farm Colony; whether he has replied to that memorial; and, if so, what is the tenor of his reply.
    Mr. McKENNA: The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. The receipt of the memorial was acknowledged, but I have not been able to send a final reply as the matter is still under the consideration of the Destitute Aliens Committee, to whom I referred the memorial. I may say, however, that most of the Germans in the colony have been removed, and there now remain only a few who are aged or infirm; and the question is being considered whether in future the colony should be used exclusively for this class.
    Mr. MacCALLUM SCOTTasked whether any steps have been taken to secure that uncensored news coming into newspaper offices shall not be accessible to persons of alien enemy origin or sympathies?
    Mr. McKENNA: All cables and telegrams are censored before they reach the newspaper offices. It is not possible to have a complete censorship of letters, or of news, brought by courier, but the newspapers submit to the Press Bureau any news the propriety of publishing which may be doubtful. English editors must be trusted not to give access to unpublished news to persons in sympathy with, the enemy.
    Mr. JOYNSON-HICKSasked the Home Secretary how many alien enemies are now interned in the various concentration camps; and whether he can give any estimate of the number of alien enemies still at large?
    Mr. McKENNA: I am informed by the War Office that the number of alien enemies, other than prisoners taken in action or on merchant ships, interned in the various concentration camps is about 14,500. Comparing this number with the figures of adult male Germans, Austrians and Hungarians registered at the beginning of the War, I estimate that about 29,000 are at large.
    Mr. KINGasked the Home Secretary (1) whether exceptional treatment, including freedom from arrest, is being extended to certain alien enemies, who being of Polish race are certified by the Polish Information Committee; whether similar treatment has been or will be extended to other enemies, such as Alsatians, Holsteiners, and Trentine Italians, whose friendly dispositions to this country are vouched for by responsible persons; and (2) whether persons of British nationality are treated with greater leniency in Hungary than in other parts of the Dual Monarchy, and that the feeling in Hungary has for generations been, and still is, much more friendly towards Great Britain than in Austria or Prussia; and whether he will consider the granting to alien enemies who are Hungarian subjects of approved goodwill a correspondingly favourable treatment?
    Mr. McKENNA: It is a matter of great difficulty to discriminate between races and to ascertain whether the sentiments of individuals are friendly or otherwise; but, so far as practicable, persons belonging to races friendly to the Allies who are themselves friendly are exempted from internment, and every consideration consistent with the law is shown them in the enforcement of the Aliens Restriction Act. I regret, however, that the circumstances of the present War do not justify the view that Hungarians can be regarded as generally friendly.

    TRADING WITH THE ENEMY.
    Mr. THOMASasked the Home Secretary whether he is aware that the firm of Messrs. W. T. Sargant and Sons, of 6, Mincing Lane, E.C., have been, contrary to the King's Regulations, trading with the enemy; whether he is aware that
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    the London County and Westminster Bank, Mincing Lane branch, parted with German warrants in trust to W. T. Sargant and Sons; whether he is aware that the City police have made investigations and are in possession of all copies of correspondence, which prove that these transactions have taken place, but were prevented from prosecuting by order of someone in authority; and, having regard to the importance of this question and in the public interest, if he will state whether any prosecution in this case has been stopped by order of the Home Office?
    Mr. McKENNA: I have made enquiries in the matter, which had not been previously brought to the notice of the Home Office. I find that the City police received anonymous allegations as to certain transactions by this firm, but, after inquiry, they were satisfied with regard to the transactions in question, and, no further action being necessary, did not report the matter to the Home Office. The firm had received express authority from the Board of Trade to sell certain goods which had been imported into Germany before the commencement of the War.
    Mr. THOMAS: Is the right hon. Gentleman aware the police were informed by two employés—men of position—who resigned their posts in this firm as a protest; further, is he aware that the police themselves informed these men that the Home Office had stopped the prosecution?
    Mr. McKENNA: No, Sir.
    Sir TUDOR WALTERS: Will the right hon. Gentleman inquire into the assertion that all these goods dealt with were sent into Germany in May and June, prior to the outbreak of the War, and will he make inquiry as to and ascertain the bona fides of the people who made these grotesquely incorrect allegations against this respectable firm?
    Mr. McKENNA: I will make further inquiries if the hon. Member desires. I have given all the information I have.
    Mr. THOMAS: Will the right hon. Gentleman also inquire as to the statement bandied about in regard to a very prominent public official, who is supposed to be

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    a relative of this firm, and will he, in fairness to that gentleman, investigate the matter thoroughly?
    Mr. McKENNA: Yes, I will investigate the matter as thoroughly as I can.

    INTOXICATING LIQUOR (TEMPORARY RESTRICTION) ACT.
    Mr. DUNCAN MILLARasked the Home Secretary if he will issue a Return showing the various districts within the United Kingdom in which the provisions of the Intoxicating Liquor (Temporary Restriction) Act, 1914, have been put into operation, giving in each case the hours during which the sale of liquor has been prohibited under Section 1 of the Act?
    Mr. McKENNA: As regards England and Wales, I obtained information at the beginning of the month, which showed that in 259 out of the 1,000 licensing districts Orders had been made under the Act suspending the sale, supply or consumption of intoxicating liquor. In ninety-six cases the suspension is from 10.0 p.m., in 156 cases from 9.0 p.m., and in seven cases from 8.0 p.m. In the case of fifty of the Orders the suspension extended also to the morning hours from 6 to 8, in some cases 9.0. As regards Scotland or Ireland, I must refer my hon. Friend to my right hon. Friends the Secretary for Scotland and the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant. I do not think that a return of the Orders in detail would be very useful at the present moment, as the action taken under the Act is still very far from complete. I should prefer to postpone it for a time.
    Sir ARCHIBALD WILLIAMSONasked the Prime Minister whether he has received a memorial from prominent citizens of Liverpool pointing out the inadequacy of the Intoxicating Liquors (Temporary Restriction) Act and the urgent need of curtailing facilities for the sale of drink at this time; and whether he will consult the Leader of the Opposition with a view to the passage of an agreed amending Bill?
    The PRIME MINISTER (Mr. Asquith): The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. As regards the latter part, if an agreed Bill can be introduced, the Government will be glad to proceed with it; but, in the absence of agreement, I fear I cannot promise legislation.

    STREET ACCIDENTS (LONDON).
    Mr. TOUCHEasked the Home Secretary whether he has received a resolution, passed by the Islington borough council, on the subject of the darkening of London; if he has any information pointing to the effect of the darkening as a cause of street accidents; and in view of the public inconvenience, the loss to shopkeepers, and the perils of the streets, can he say whether any early relaxation of the darkening Order may be looked for, or is he informed that its indefinite continuance is desired by the military authorities?
    Mr. McKENNA: I have received the borough council's representation. I am informed by the Commissioner of Police that the police returns show no increase in the number of traffic accidents occurring by night. The regulations are made on the advice of the Admiralty, who are responsible for the defence of London against aerial attack. They have already been relaxed so as to allow lamps inside shop windows to remain brightly lighted till 6 p.m., and I shall be glad to relax them further as soon as the Admiralty advise me that this can safely be done.
    Mr. J. M. HENDERSONasked the Home Secretary the number of street accidents in London during October, 1914, as compared with those of October, 1913?
    Mr. McKENNA: In the Metropolitan Police district, the number of street accidents known to the police was—

    During October, 1913

    …

    …

    5,093.

    During October, 1914

    …

    …

    4,597.

    The returns for October, 1914, have not yet been fully analysed, and the figure may, therefore, be liable to correction.

    NAVAL CADETS.
    Mr. JOYNSON-HICKSasked the First Lord of the Admiralty how many naval cadets were discharged from Dartmouth at the commencement of the War and placed on board ship; and how many of these have since been killed in action?
    The FIRST LORD of the ADMIRALTY (Mr. Churchill): The answer to the first part of the question is 434. Of this number I am very sorry to say that 23 have lost their lives in action. The chance of war has fallen with exceptional severity in the early stages on the ships of the reserve Fleets.
    Mr. JOYNSON-HICKS: Does the right hon. Gentleman include those in the "Monmouth" in that number? There were ten in the "Monmouth." I think there must be a mistake.
    Mr. CHURCHILL: The Return has been compiled from headquarters. It may be so.
    Mr. JOYNSON-HICKSasked the First Lord of the Admiralty what were the reasons which influenced the Admiralty in sending the naval cadets from Dartmouth on board ship at the commencement of the War; and whether he proposes that they should return to complete their education after the War is over?
    Mr. CHURCHILL: The decision to send the naval cadets from Dartmouth to sea in time of war was arrived at a considerable time ago. It was felt that young officers of their age would be of great use on board His Majesty's ships, and that they would learn incomparably more of their profession in war than any educational establishment on shore could teach them. They are a regular part of the ship's complement. The question as to whether these young officers should return to Dartmouth after the War is over must depend upon circumstances, and in particular upon the duration of the War. I do not think it is at all likely.
    Mr. JOYNSON-HICKSasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he intends to send at the end of each term at Dartmouth a fresh supply of naval
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    cadets on to the Fleet, or whether he proposes that those boys now entering Dartmouth should complete their education in the ordinary way?
    Mr. CHURCHILL: It is not intended to send any cadets from Dartmouth to sea at the end of the present term, and drafting in the future will depend on the requirements of the Fleet. The syllabus of their education is being arranged accordingly.
    Mr. JOYNSON-HICKSasked the First Lord of the Admiralty on what date were the naval cadets on the "Aboukir," "Hogue," and "Cressy" promoted midshipmen, and by whose orders did such promotions take place?
    Mr. CHURCHILL: The surviving cadets of the "Aboukir" were rated midshipmen from the 22nd September by order of the Admiralty. The cadets of the "Hogue" were rated by their captain from the 2nd August. The cadets of the "Cressy" were understood to have been rated midshipmen by their captain immediately prior to the loss of the ship, but the report did not reach the Admiralty. The captain having been lost, the Admiralty ordered the surviving cadets to be rated midshipmen from the 22nd September.

    SANATOGEN.
    Mr. JOYCEasked the Home Secreetary whether his attention has been drawn to a statement made on behalf of the proprietor of Sanatogen that the Home Secretary had assented to the business being carried on for the benefit of the proprietor and also to a company being formed for the purpose of acquiring the business from the proprietor; whether the proprietor is an alien enemy; whether any such licence and sanction as alleged has been given, which would have the effect of enabling dealing by a company with such alien enemy; and whether any step is proposed to be taken to prevent the continuance of such a business for the benefit of an alien enemy?
    Mr. McKENNA: The statement mentioned in the first paragraph of the question is untrue. The proprietor of the firm

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    is an enemy now in Germany, and application was made for permission to convert the business into an English limited company. I have declined to sanction such an arrangement, and effective steps will be taken to prevent any profits being remitted to the proprietor during the War.

    ROYAL NAVAL RESERVE (ASSISTANT PAYMASTERS).
    Sir C. KINLOCH-COOKEasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether any assistant paymasters, Royal Naval Reserve, direct from the shore, have been granted commissions and appointed to ships in charge of accounts; whether the experience of Royal Naval Reserve officers in naval work of this kind is comparable to the experience of writers in the Royal Navy; and will he say why vacancies for the officers' accountancy branch, Royal Navy, are not filled in the same way as other vacancies in the Royal Navy?
    The PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY to the ADMIRALTY (Dr. Macnamara): The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative; but generally speaking, vacancies in the accountant branch of the Royal Navy have been filled from the Reserve of officers, as is done in all other branches. With regard to the rest of the question, the claims to advancement to chief writers will not be overlooked.
    Sir C. KINLOCH-COOKE: Is there any truth in the statement that someone has been tried by court-martial and convicted?
    Dr. MACNAMARA: I have no knowledge. If the hon. Gentleman thinks it desirable to get any information on the point, he had better put down a question.

    ALLOWANCES AND PENSIONS (NAVY AND ARMY).
    Sir C. KINLOCH-COOKEasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether the wives of warrant officers serving in the Royal Navy are eligible for the separation allowance; and whether in this respect
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    they are treated in the same way as warrant officers of the Royal Marines; and, if not, can he explain why a difference is made?
    Lord CHARLES BERESFORDasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether the wives of naval warrant officers are not receiving separation allowance whilst their husbands are on active service with the Fleet; and, if so, whether it is proposed to grant such separation allowance to them?
    Dr. MACNAMARA: The wives of warrant officers of the Navy are not eligible for separation allowance. I am giving their case consideration, but can give no undertaking in the matter.
    Sir C. KINLOCH-COOKEasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether hardship has arisen in the case of widowed mothers of boys who have been lost in ships sunk during the War and who were within a short period of being rated; and whether he will consider the advisability of asking the State to pay these women something better than twelve months' pay at 7d. a day?
    Dr. MACNAMARA: While I fully share the hon. Member's sympathy with the widowed mothers in these cases, I am unable to hold out any hope that the general principle of assessing gratuities upon annual earnings will be modified.
    Mr. FALLEasked the Secretary to the Admiralty if the grant of allowances to wives and dependants and also to widows and dependants apply to all married persons whether married before or since the War began?
    Dr. MACNAMARA: So far as the Navy is concerned, yes, Sir.
    Mr. NEWTONasked the Prime Minister whether he will at once take the necessary steps to improve the pensions payable to the widows of and persons dependent upon soldiers and sailors killed in the War and to improve the pensions of soldiers and sailors wholly or partially disabled by wounds, illness, or accident sustained in or occasioned by the War?
    The PRIME MINISTER: I would refer the hon. Member to what I said on this subject on Wednesday last.
    Sir J. D. REES: Has the right hon. Gentleman taken into consideration representations made to him by different bodies?
    The PRIME MINISTER: Yes, Sir.
    Mr. BOYTONasked the Prime Minister, whether he is aware that the wives of soldiers married after the enlistment of their husbands and since the 14th August are not receiving separation allowances; and if there are many who if they had remained unmarried would now be receiving separation allowances?
    The FINANCIAL SECRETARY to the WAR OFFICE (Mr. H. Baker): Yes, Sir, as a general rule; but it is not intended that a woman who was qualified to receive separation allowance as dependent on a soldier should forfeit it by marrying him.
    Sir WILLIAM BULLasked the Prime Minister whether he is aware that, by legislation passed since the beginning of the present War, the French Government has undertaken to pay to the wives resident in France of British, Belgian, Russian, and Serbian Reservists called up for service the same weekly allowance as is paid to the wives of French Reservists; and whether His Majesty's Government will take steps to reciprocate this good office in the case of the wives resident in the United Kingdom of French Reservists, and to extend it similarly in the case of our other allies?
    The PRIME MINISTER: The question has already been brought to the attention of His Majesty's Government. The French Government have been officially informed that there is every reason to suppose that private agencies in this country will be in a position to render the necessary assistance to the families of French citizens serving in the War, but that, in the event of these agencies failing, the French Government may be assured that effective measures to provide the necessary assistance will be taken by His Majesty's Government.
    Sir GEORGE TOULMINasked whether evidence was taken in connection
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    with the inquiry into soldiers' and sailors' pensions and allowances and dependants' allowances; whether it was printed; and whether it can be laid before Parliament?
    The PRIME MINISTER: In the course of inquiries made by the Departments concerned, advice and assistance, for which the Government is most grateful, was freely forthcoming from many of those specially interested and informed; no formal evidence was recorded, and there are therefore no Papers which can be laid.
    Sir C. KINLOCH-COOKEasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he has had any adverse reports on the question of forwarding the lists of allotments from His Majesty's ships; is he aware that in many cases, owing to allotments not being forwarded in time, hardship has occurred to the dependants of the men making the allotments; that in several instances these dependants have had to seek advances from the Soldiers' and Sailors' Families Association when they ought to have been in possession of their own money, and that in some instances aid has had to be sought from charitable organisations; and will he see that in future, when a man makes an allotment, the officer responsible for forwarding the list does not make undue delay?
    Dr. MACNAMARA: I am aware that there have been some cases of hardship, which have been alleviated by the Soldiers' and Sailors' Families Association, owing to the non-declaration of allotments on the part of the men. As far as active service men are concerned, there need have been no hardship as the Admiralty facilities for regular allotment to their families existed before the War. As regards Reservists, it is probable that in some cases, owing to the necessity for extremely rapid mobilisation and departure for various stations, the men did not find time to declare allotments before sailing, and that such allotments, declared later, could only be forwarded from the next port of call. I am not aware, however, that the allotment once made, there has been any delay on the part of the responsibile officers on board ship in forwarding the lists. There has been no delay in making payment when the lists

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    were received, and every endeavour has been made, both by general Admiralty orders and by specific references to ships in particular cases, to induce men to adopt the method of allotment for forwarding part of their wages to their families; and I may add that the number of allotments has since the commencement of the War increased from 73,000 to over 160,000. I can only add for the information of the hon. Member, and any other hon. Members interested, that I shall be glad to receive personally particulars of any cases in which difficulties or delays occur.
    Sir C. KINLOCH-COOKE: Has not the right hon. Gentleman received any complaints that the assistant paymasters, Royal Naval Reserve, have not forwarded the allotment?
    Dr. MACNAMARA: I cannot recall them. I have received complaints that wives have not received their allowances. They have been attended to. I am only too glad of the opportunity to deal with them.
    Sir C. KINLOCH-COOKEasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether a man on promotion to warrant rank from the lower deck is as a rule married; whether he has had before him the case of a boatswain who has attained warrant rank receiving 6s. a day and paying 30s. to £2 a month for his mess and washing; and will he say what amount of money that man can allot a month, taking into consideration the basis on which the new separation allowance scheme is formed, and show that this sum is sufficient to support a wife and six children as well as to meet rent and other necessary outgoings?
    Dr. MACNAMARA: I am aware that a man on promotion to warrant rank from the lower deck is, as a rule, married, and I am, as I have already said, giving consideration to the question whether separation allowance ought to be extended to his case. I may add that a boatswain's pay on promotion is 6s. a day, of which he may allot £6 a month to his wife, but I have some doubt whether his ordinary messing and washing cost him as much as is stated in the question.
    Mr. GEORGE TERRELLasked whether all claims for separation allowance to the wives and families of men who have enlisted are now receiving prompt attention; and whether all arrears in this Department have now been cleared up?
    Sir CLEMENT KINLOCH-COOKEasked the Under-Secretary for War whether he can offer some reason for the delay in payment of separation allowances; whether he is aware that, notwithstanding the statements that have been made, hardship exists in homes owing to the non-arrival of separation allowances; and will he see that the department of the War Office which deals with this matter is better organised than appears to be the case in present conditions?
    Mr. BAKER: I will answer No. 74 at the same time. All known arrears have been cleared up.
    Mr. HUNTasked (1) the Under-Secretary for War, whether, in the case of men in the Army Special Reserve or Territorial Force who have served outside the United Kingdom and who die during the War, he can say whether their wives and those dependent on them will receive the same separation allowance till the end of the War as they would have received if these men had not been killed; and (2) whether, in the case of men in the Army Special Reserve or Territorial Force who have served outside the United Kingdom during the War and who die during the War, he can say whether their wives will receive the same weekly separation allowance after the War, unless they marry again?
    Mr. LEACHasked the Under-Secretary for War, if the Army Council is favourably considering, with a view to encouraging enlistment, the proposal to give a pension of £1 per week to every soldier so wounded in the War as to be unfitted to earn his own living, and a like pension to the widow of every soldier killed inaction or dying of wounds received in action?
    Mr. BAKER: I will reply at the same time to Questions 67 and 86. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has announced that he will appoint a Committee to inquire further into these matters.
    Mr. BOYTONasked the Under-Secretary for War whether he is aware that Mrs. Beckhurst, of 35, Upper Charlton Street, London, W., wife of Private William James Beckhurst, who joined the King's Royal Rifles on 28th August at Winchester, has only received the following moneys: £3 11s. 5d. to 11th October and £1 2s. 2d. each week from that date from the paymaster at Winchester; whether he is aware that the paymaster failed to answer letters of inquiry sent to him by the local Soldiers' and Sailors' Families Association, dated 4th, 22nd, 23rd, and 28th October, and that it was not until a telegram was sent on 7th November that a reply was received stating the above-mentioned payments had been made to Mrs. Beckhurst, and that in the meantime charges of neglect had been made reflecting upon the conduct of the case by the Soldiers' and Sailors' Families Association, although as a fact the late employers of Private Beckhurst have paid Mrs. Beckhurst over £12 upon her representation that she had received nothing; and whether he proposes to take any action in the matter?
    Mr. BAKER: I am having inquiry made into the facts of this case.
    Mr. BOYTONasked whether the wives and dependants of soldiers who make inquiries at the new inquiry office which the Government has set up at the War Office, after giving all particulars of their cases, are referred back to their local Soldiers' and Sailors' Families Associations?
    Mr. BAKER: As far as possible arrangements are made by the War Office direct with the proper paymaster for payment. It is only where the circumstances do not admit of this and the case appears to be necessitous that applicants are advised to have recourse to the Soldiers' and Sailors' Families Associations.
    Mr. BOYTONasked the Under-Secretary for War whether he is aware that the paymaster at the Army Pay Office, Hounslow, has told the wife of Private James Clancy, No. 2183, East Kent Regiment, that, as her husband has only allotted to her 4d. a day from his pay, which is 4d. a day less than the lowest allotment permitted for a wife and two
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    children, he has therefore to deduct 4d. a day for seven days (2s. 4d. from her weekly allowance of 21s.), and remits only 18s. 8d.; if the statement enclosed, upon which is printed that the lowest allotment a soldier must make (8d. a day) is included in the separation allowance, is correct; and whether, under these circumstances, if the Government are not receiving the balance of the money (2s. 4d. a week) from Private Clancy they will get it from him and not deduct it from his wife's allowance?
    Mr. BAKER: Enquiries are being made regarding this case, but I have not yet received any report.
    Mr. F. HALLasked the Under-Secretary for War whether some National Reservists recently rejoined the Colours on the distinct understanding that they were to be allowed a separation allowance for their wives and children; whether intimation has since been given to these men through their commanding officers that the allowance will not be granted; and, if so, in view of the importance of the question in regard to recruiting, will he state what course the Government intend to pursue?
    Mr. BAKER: I am inquiring into this case.
    Mr. HALL: When will the hon. Member be in a position to reply?
    Mr. BAKER: I hope very soon.

    ROYAL NAVAL DIVISION (ENGINEER UNITS).
    Sir WILLIAM BULLasked the First Lord of the Admiralty if the institutions of civil, electrical, and mechanical engineers were invited to obtain picked men for the divisional Engineer units and Signal company of the Royal Naval Division recently formed, and if a number of labourers and other recruits without engineering knowledge were afterwards added to these units on the same terms of enlistment; and, if so, will he explain why these unskilled recruits have been embodied in the units raised for the performance of technical duties which the engineering recruits were asked to undertake?
    Dr. MACNAMARA: The institutions were invited, as stated, and provided a considerable number of recruits, but owing to the nature of the work required of the Engineer company, which includes manual and unskilled labour, and also care of horses, other recruits whose qualifications are suitable have to be taken.

    H.M.S. "CANOPUS."
    Mr. MACMASTERasked at what date the "Canopus" was ordered to join the British squadron in the Pacific on the West Coast of South America; and when and from what place or port she proceeded to join that squadron?
    Mr. CHURCHILL: In order to form a true judgment upon this episode, it would be necessary for the hon. Member to know the dispositions of all the ships involved and to study the actual text of the orders under which they were acting. This is clearly impossible at present.
    Sir C. KINLOCH-COOKE: Has the right hon. Gentleman any news of the "Canopus"?
    Mr. CHURCHILL: I have every reason to believe she is quite safe.

    COAL-MINING UNDERTAKINGS (ALIEN CONTROL).
    Mr. NEWMANasked the Prime Minister whether he is aware of any coalmining undertakings in Kent or elsewhere in the United Kingdom now or previously under the control of alien enemies; and, if so, whether, in the interest of the public safety, he will have a systematic examination made of the buildings, shafts, and workings of these undertakings?
    Mr. McKENNA: The Prime Minister has asked me to reply to this question. All such undertakings believed to be controlled in any degree by alien enemies have been thoroughly examined and the necessary measures of precaution have been taken by the military authorities and the police. None are so controlled at the present time.

    ALIEN SPIES.
    Mr. JOYNSON-HICKSasked whether one Mark Auerbach, a German spy, has been found on a mine sweeper in the North Sea and, instead of being handed over to the naval authorities, has been prosecuted merely as an unregistered alien and sentenced to three months' hard labour; and, if so, why this leniency was shown?
    Dr. MACNAMARA: The man was removed from his employment on a hired trawler and full inquiries were made. No sufficient evidence, however, was forthcoming that the man was a spy, and it was therefore intended that he should be handed over to the civil authorities to be dealt with. Owing to a regrettable mistake at the port, this order miscarried, and the man was discharged to the shore. He was, however, rearrested and prosecuted as stated in the question. I may add that he entered and served in the trawler under the name of Alexander Gordon.
    Mr. JOYNSON-HICKS: In these circumstances, would it not have been better for the Navy to take charge of this man themselves?
    Dr. MACNAMARA: It is very doubtful how far we could proceed under the Naval Discipline Act. He was discharged because no charge was formulated against him, and then handed over to the civil authorities, who punished him as stated.
    Mr. JOYNSON-HICKSasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether, having regard to the probability that information has been conveyed to the enemy's fleet by alien spies, he proposes to take further and, if so, what steps to prevent this being repeated?
    Dr. MACNAMARA: I can assure the hon. Member that every step is being taken that offers any possibility of checking the practice, but he will readily understand that a statement by me as to measures being taken and to be taken would be more likely to defeat their purpose than assist it.
    Mr. JOYNSON-HICKS: May I take it, then, that the right hon. Gentleman agrees with the practice?
    Dr. MACNAMARA: You may take it from me that we will take every opportunity of checking it.

    ST. JOHN'S AMBULANCE BRIGADE.
    Mr. THOMASasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is aware that at the outbreak of War members of the St. John's Ambulance Brigade were asked to volunteer for service and were paid 4s. per day and 10s. per week separation allowance to the wife; that similar invitations have been issued to these men from the Admiralty, the remuneration being 3s. per day and 6s. per week separation allowance; and, having regard to the fact that these men are drawn from the same class and doing the same work, will he take steps to see that the remuneration shall be equal?
    Dr. MACNAMARA: Members of the St. John's Ambulance Brigade employed by the Admiralty are enrolled in the Royal Naval Auxiliary Sick Berth Reserve, and such enrolments have been made at various dates since the establishment of this Reserve in 1902. There are different grades in the Reserve, the pay ranging from 3s. to 4s. 6d. a day, according to rating and nature of employment, with increase of pay after six months' service. The separation allowances are in accordance with the Navy scale, a copy of which I will send my hon. Friend. It is not considered necessary now to alter these conditions of service, which have been accepted by the men on enrolment in the Reserve.

    YOUNG BOYS (HIS MAJESTY'S SHIPS).
    Mr. FALLEasked the First Lord of the Admiralty if he is aware that a number of very young boys are carried on His Majesty's ships; and if, in view of the loss of life which has already taken place in the Navy, he will arrange that very young boys shall be employed ashore?
    Dr. MACNAMARA: Naval ratings designated as "Boys" are not less than 16 years old when drafted to ships on com-
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    pletion their harbour training, and the majority of them are well over that age.
    Mr. JOHN WARD: I should like to know whether the Admiralty has received any complaint as to the employment of these young men, and if there have been any orders excluding them from active service. I hope he will make an exception in the case of my son who wants to get in touch with the enemy at the first opportunity?

    SCOTTISH OPERATIVE TAILORS' AND TAILORESSES' ASSOCIATION.
    Mr. BARNESasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is aware that many members of the Scottish Operative Tailors' and Tailoresses' Association are unemployed; and whether he will take steps to secure that the present orders for clothing will be spread over as wide an area and employ as many workpeople as possible?
    Dr. MACNAMARA: The existence of serious unemployment in the tailoring trade in the early days of the War was brought to the notice of the Admiralty, and efforts have been made to give opportunities to firms affected (including Scottish firms) to tender for Naval clothing. Recently the great demand for uniforms has afforded occupation to a large number of persons; but if there are still suitable firms in Scotland with unemployed workpeople capable of making naval clothing an application from any such firms, addressed to the Admiralty, will be duly considered.
    Mr. WATT: Is it the case that the right hon. Gentleman's Department will deal only with contractors who can do large quantities?
    Dr. MACNAMARA: No; I do not confine myself to large works.

    ROYAL AUSTRALIAN NAVY (ALLOTMENTS).
    Mr. FALLEasked if the men lent by the Royal Navy to the Royal Australian Navy can allot money to their wives and children; and if the wives, etc., can obtain the separation allowance?
    Dr. MACNAMARA: By an arrangement made with the Commonwealth Government men of the Royal Navy who are lent to the Royal Australian Navy can declare allotments to relatives in England, and such allotments are paid monthly by the Admiralty on behalf of the Commonwealth. I understand that owing to the high rates of pay received by these men, it has not been considered necessary to pay separation allowance to families resident in England.
    Mr. FALLE: Does that mean that separation allowances will not be paid?
    Dr. MACNAMARA: That is so. In consideration of higher pay they do not receive allowances. They receive allotments.

    VACCINATION.
    Sir CLEMENT KINLOCH-COOKEasked the Under-Secretary for War whether he is aware that many recruits prefer to be vaccinated by the Government calf lymph issued to the public vaccinators; and whether he will consider the possibility of allowing recruits who are desirous of or are required to be vaccinated to have the services of public vaccinators free of charge, irrespective of the area in which the recruit resides?
    Mr. TENNANT: I think there must be some misunderstanding. The vaccine lymph used in the Army is obtained from the Local Government Board's lymph establishment at Hendon, and is believed to be the same as that supplied by the Board to public vaccinators.

    HOME DEFENCE.
    Sir HENRY CRAIKasked whether His Majesty's Government can hold out any hopes of the recognition as part of the military forces of the Crown for Home defence of bodies of men above the age accepted for enlistment, many of whom have acquired some training at their own expense, are willing to pay the cost of their equipment, and are anxious to serve in any capacity in which they can be useful under the direction of the military authorities?
    The PRIME MINISTER: The Central Association Volunteer Training Corps, which has taken up this matter in a thoroughly practical manner, has been recognised by the Government for this purpose. Local bodies of the character referred to in the question should affiliate themselves to it—which may be done without charge—in order that suitable assistance and supervision may be given to local efforts of this nature.
    Sir H. CRAIK: In that case will the advantage of inspection by military authorities be given?
    The PRIME MINISTER: I think so. Yes.

    PARLIAMENTARY RECRUITING COMMITTEE.
    Mr. HOGGEasked who is supplying the funds for the Parliamentary Recruiting Committee, and to whom should questions be addressed concerning their methods?
    The PRIME MINISTER: The War Office has placed a small sum at the disposal of the Parliamentary Recruiting Committee, but the treasurers will be glad to receive voluntary contributions. The expenses of the Committee have not been heavy, as the Liberal, Conservative, and Labour party managers have placed their offices and staffs freely at the disposal of the Committee. I shall be happy to answer questions with regard to the work of the Committee.
    Mr. HOGGE: Could we discuss the methods of the Committee on that Vote?
    The PRIME MINISTER: I must have notice of that.

    MEN IN CAMP (LEISURE TIME).
    Mr. HOGGEasked the Prime Minister why the Committee called together on his own and the Secretary of State for War's initiative to deal with the organisation of the provision of facilities for men in camp to occupy their leisure hours has been disbanded; and whether he can say why the War Office so continually resents the co-operation of civilian committees?
    The PRIME MINISTER: A committee of officers under the presidency of the Adjutant-General has been dealing with this subject in the War Office, and on consideration it was not thought necessary to have another committee with the same object. There is, so far as I am aware, no foundation for the suggestion contained in the last part of the question.
    Mr. HOGGE: If Lord Kitchener knew that this committee was in existence, why did he sign the circular?
    The PRIME MINISTER: I am not aware of that. Perhaps the hon. Member will put it down.

    CIVIL SERVANTS (PERMISSION TO ENLIST REFUSED).
    Mr. BOYTONasked whether in many of the Government Departments, and particularly in the Valuation Department of the Inland Revenue, many Civil servants who desire to join His Majesty's Forces have been refused permission to do so?
    The PRIME MINISTER: Heads of public Departments are empowered to grant permission to Civil servants to join His Majesty's Forces whenever they are satisfied that no serious detriment to the public service will result. It is clearly not in every case possible in the public interest to give such permission. About 1,000 members of the Valuation Department have been given permission to join the Army.
    Colonel YATE: Has the right hon. Gentleman considered the offer which was made for retired Civil servants to take the place of the younger men going to the front so as to allow a larger number to go?
    The PRIME MINISTER: Yes, that has been considered.

    CZECHS INTERNED.
    Lord C. BERESFORDasked whether His Majesty's Government, if they consider it necessary to intern Czechs as prisoners of war, will grant permission for these people to be interned by themselves, looking to the fact that they are
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    not on friendly terms with Germans or Austrians?
    The UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE for WAR (Mr. Tennant): It is not possible to intern each nationality in a separate camp, but, where possible, every endeavour is made to keep Czechs separate. If persons of this class possess sufficient means to render themselves self-supporting, they are as a rule not interned.

    PUBLIC TRUSTEE'S STAFF.
    Mr. F. HALLasked when it is proposed to give effect to the recommendation of the Civil Service Commission that the staff of the Public Trustee should be placed upon an established basis; what would be the cost entailed; and whether it is proposed to delay the matter in consequence of the War?
    The PRIME MINISTER: I am not yet in a position to state what will be the decision on the recommendation referred to by the hon. Member, but it is at present engaging the attention of the Treasury. The liability in respect of pensions may be taken to be about 15 to 20 per cent. of the salary charges. This liability, in the event of the establishment of the Public Trustee's staff, will be covered by the receipts from fees.

    FIRST COMMISSIONER OF WORKS.
    Mr. HOGGEasked who will now reply to questions in the House of Commons addressed to the First Commissioner of Works?
    The PRIME MINISTER: My hon. Friend the Member for Dumfries Burghs (Mr. Gulland) will reply to these questions.

    SALE OF ALCOHOL.
    Mr. COWANasked the Prime Minister whether his attention has been called to the action of the Russian Government in prohibiting the sale of alcohol during the continuance of the War; and whether, with a view to minimising the temptations offered to British soldiers by the existing facilities for obtaining drink

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    he will take steps, by legislation or otherwise, to further curtail the hours during which, while the War lasts, licensed houses may open, and to close such as are situated in the vicinity of military camps, on the basis of fair compensation being paid to publicans in respect of the reduction of their average profits during the period of such restriction?
    The PRIME MINISTER: I fear I cannot say more than that the whole of this question is receiving the careful attention of His Majesty's Government.

    SEAFORD CAMP.
    Mr. GEORGE TERRELLasked the Under-Secretary for War when the hut accommodation for the troops at Seaford Camp will be completed; and whether it is proposed to allow the recruits to occupy the huts as and when they are completed?
    Mr. TENNANT: These huts will, I hope, be completed very shortly. Huts are occupied as soon as they are ready, if this can be done without impeding or delaying work on adjacent huts.

    TRAINING OF RECRUITS.
    Mr. GEORGE TERRELLasked whether the forty-eight hours a week training which recruits receive under the Regulations is to be interpreted as the maximum or minimum hours of training; and, if the former, whether, in view of the approach of winter and the conditions of discomfort at some of the camps, discretion will be given to officers commanding battalions to reduce the hours?
    Mr. TENNANT: The forty-eight hours training weekly is neither a maximum nor a minimum. The syllabus in which the reference to this amount of training occurs is published as a guide, and commanding officers are not debarred from using their discretion, the exercise of which must, of course, be affected mainly by the necessity for training the troops to the standard of efficiency which will be demanded of them. I think general and other officers commanding may be trusted to take into account all relevant considerations.

    OFFICERS' MESSES (ACCOMMODATION).
    Mr. GEORGE TERRELLasked whether it is proposed to supply hut accommodation for officers' messes during the winter?
    Mr. TENNANT: The answer is in the affirmative.

    RECRUITING.
    Mr. GEORGE TERRELLasked the Under-Secretary for War whether, with a view to encourage recruiting, he will issue a statement showing the number of recruits who have respectively been enrolled in each of the counties of England, Scotland and Ireland?
    Mr. STEWARTasked the Under-Secretary for War the number of recruits enrolled in the Army since the declaration of war up to 5th November; how many are from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, respectively; and, of the recruits from Ireland, how many have been enlisted in Ulster, and, of the recruits from Wales, how many have been enlisted in Glamorgan and Monmouth?
    Mr. TENNANT: I understand that my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister will deal with this question, so far as is possible, in the statement which he will make later in the afternoon.

    RESERVE TERRITORIAL REGIMENTS (SERVICE ABROAD).
    Mr. HUNTasked the Under-Secretary for War whether he is aware that, in the case of Reserve Territorial regiments, one of the great difficulties in getting men to sign on to go abroad is that the men greatly object to being seat in driblets to other units instead of going out with their own friends and under their own officers; and whether the War Office could lay down a rule that in a Reserve regiment in which a certain large majority signed on to go abroad they should be considered a complete unit and, if sent abroad, should be sent together under their own officers?
    Mr. TENNANT: The object the hon. Member has in view is not lost sight of, and when reinforcements are required from the Home Service unit for the Imperial Service unit the number asked for, if available, are sent out under their own officers to the Imperial Service unit, wherever that may be. The size of the draft sent has, of course, to bear relation to the number of men asked for.

    ALLOWANCES (COLONIAL SCALES).
    Mr. DUNCAN MILLARasked the Under-Secretary for War whether he can state the scale of allowances which have been authorised by the Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand Governments, respectively, for the dependants of soldiers in the Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand contingents on active service; and the amount fixed for pensions for disabled soldiers and for the dependants of soldiers killed in action?
    Sir GEORGE TOULMINasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he has any information as to the pensions and allowances provided for troops from the Dominions; and whether he can supply it to the House?
    Sir HARRY VERNEY: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Colonies states that he is not at present in a position to give this information, but he hopes to do so later.

    LETTERS AND PARCELS TO SOLDIERS.
    Mr. DUNCAN MILLARasked the Under-Secretary for War whether his attention has been directed to the delay occurring in the delivery of letters, parcels, etc., to our soldiers on active service in Belgium and France, amounting in certain cases to a period of over two months from the date on which the letters were posted in this country, and to the fact that many parcels containing comforts, tobacco, etc., sent out to men at the front have never been delivered; and whether he will see that steps will be immediately taken to ensure as far as possible the regular and prompt delivery of letters and parcels to
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    our soldiers at the front, and also the prompt transmission of their letters to their relatives at home?
    Mr. TENNANT: There have been cases of delay, as there must always be in campaigns of the nature of that now being conducted, but everything possible is being done to ensure the regular and prompt delivery of letters and parcels and to rectify any failures in the system, but my hon. Friend will realise that prompt delivery cannot be guaranteed. Letters sent from the front to relatives at home, which are, of course, directed to fixed as distinct from changing addresses, are, I believe, being delivered regularly and without undue delay.
    Mr. LEIF JONES: Is my hon. Friend aware that, while letters from the troops are arriving with pretty fair regularity the delay in the delivery of letters to them is very general and widespread?
    Mr. TENNANT: It is quite true that there has been delay, and I regret that it has occurred. I am sure that my hon. Friend will realise that when the soldiers are constantly changing their places it is impossible to have letters delivered to them promptly.
    Mr. CHIOZZA MONEY: Can my hon. Friend arrange with the Postmaster-General to have free delivery of small parcels?
    Mr. TENNANT: That question must be addressed to my right hon. Friend.

    CAMP EQUIPMENT.
    Sir HENRY CRAIKasked the Under-Secretary for War whether, in view of the fact that the training of the troops on Salisbury Plain has been interfered with by the wet weather, owing to the men being quartered in tents with no facilities for drying their clothes, it would be possible to provide at all camps to be used during the winter sheds with heating apparatus for drying clothes, so that the training might be carried on in all weathers without undue risk to health?
    Mr. TENNANT: In every battalion camp there will be a drying shed for drying clothes—this had been already arranged from the very first.
    Sir H. CRAIK: It has not been in existence.
    Mr. TENNANT: That is, I am afraid, owing to the fact that we have not been able to completely carry out the arrangements which have been made.

    CHIROPODISTS.
    Sir CLEMENT KINLOCH-COOKEasked the Under-Secretary for War whether chiropodists have been appointed to the Territorial and voluntary forces; and, if not, in view of the fact that so many of the new recruits are rendered inefficient for the time being on account of sore feet and other affections of the foot, he will consider the advisability of dealing in this respect with the Territorial and voluntary forces as is now done in the case of the Regular Army?
    Mr. TENNANT: The arrangements for the employment of chiropodists in the Regular Army have been made applicable to the Territorial Force.

    BRITISH CASUALTIES.
    Mr. HOGGEasked the number of British casualties to date?
    Mr. TENNANT: I would refer my hon. Friend to the figure given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister in reply to the hon. Member for East Denbigh on the 12th instant.
    Mr. HOGGE: Is my hon. Friend aware that, in to-day's morning papers, there are casualties given up to the 7th October? Are these included in the 57,000?
    Mr. TENNANT: Yes, Sir, I think they were included in the figures given by the Prime Minister up to the end of October.

    WAR OFFICE LEAFLETS.
    Mr. HOGGEasked the Under-Secretary for War whether he could distribute to Members copies of such leaflets issued by the War Office as would enable
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    them to reply to correspondents without continually having to make inquiries at the War Office?
    Mr. TENNANT: If there were any general desire on the part of hon. Members to receive leaflets as issued from time to time, perhaps some arrangement could be made, but, without assurance of such general desire, I should not like to inflict on hon. Members more printed matter than they already normally receive. I may add, too, that leaflets are necessarily altered from time to time. Every effort will, of course, be made to comply immediately with individual requests for leaflets, and I am to-day sending to the hon. Member a small packet for his use. I appreciate my hon. Friend's desire to relieve over-pressed Departments.

    MILITARY TRAINING CAMPS (ADDRESSES).
    Mr. HOGGEasked the Under-Secretary for War why the Brigadier-General Director of Supplies refuses the addresses of military training camps to large commercial firms for military reasons and the location of such camps are allowed to be stated in the military correspondence of the "Times" articles?
    Mr. TENNANT: I have not seen the articles referred to in the last part of the question, but I imagine the references to camps were incidental and disconnected, and my hon. Friend will realise that there is a difference in effect between such a reference and the communication of lists of addresses of the various training camps. Perhaps my hon. Friend will draw the attention of the learned Solicitor-General to the articles he has in mind.
    Mr. HOGGE: What is the difference of the War Office giving the names of camps to commercial firms and printing them in the Order Paper as they have done today?
    Mr. TENNANT: The answer to that would involve a definition of the difference between what is incidental and what is accidental.

    NATIONAL RESERVE.
    Mr. NEWMANasked whether, in view of the fact that the National Reserve was organised to increase the military resources of the country in the event of imminent national danger, it is the immediate intention of the War Office to mobilise for Home or Foreign service all men on the rolls of the National Reserve under fifty years of age?
    Mr. TENNANT: The War Office has no power to mobilise the men under fifty whose names are on the National Reserve register, as members of the National Reserve are not required to undertake a definite liability.

    DEVON REGIMENT (MOTOR CYCLISTS).
    Sir JOHN SPEARasked the Under-Secretary for War if he is aware that motor cyclists attached to the Devon Regiment are only paid 1s. 3d. per day, with 2d. for upkeep of kit, while motor cyclists attached to the Royal Engineers receive 3s. with allowances; whether men joining Lord Kitchener's Army for the same work are being paid 5s. per day; and, if so, whether he will consider the desirability of raising the pay of the men attached to the Devon Regiment to that received by cyclists attached to the Royal Engineers?
    Mr. BAKER: The variation between the Devonshire regiment and the Royal Engineers is based on the general principle of pay according to the arm of the service to which a man belongs. The men receiving 5s. are in a different category; they were specially enlisted for service with the Expeditionary Force.

    RECRUITS' CLOTHING.
    Mr. STEWARTasked if recruits who have gone to camp in their own clothes owing to lack of uniforms have had to pay the cost of returning their own clothes home?
    Mr. H. BAKER: These charges are borne by the public.

    RUM RATIONS.
    Mr. CHANCELLORasked whether 150,000 gallons of rum has been supplied for the use of the Army; whether rum rations are issued in coffee or other beverages to soldiers who do not ask for or desire it; whether many total abstainers have thus been obliged to violate their pledge and to act contrary to the advice of the Secretary of State for War, or to go without hot refreshment; and, if so, whether orders will be issued forbidding the issue of rum or other intoxicants to any soldiers except those who apply for them?
    Sir GEORGE TOULMINasked whether a rum ration is in some cases given to the troops in the field in their tea, thus allowing no option of refusal to those who object to alcohol as reducing the efficiency of shooting and reducing the power of resistance of the body to cold and damp?
    Mr. TENNANT: I will answer at the same time Question No. 93. A considerable quantity of rum has been supplied for the use of the Army, but I am assured that nothing corresponding to what is suggested in the second and third parts of the question of the hon. Member for Shore-ditch and in that of the hon. Member for Bury has actually taken place. The instructions provide that the rum ration is issued only on the recommendation of the medical authorities, and the unit is asked the number of officers, non-commissioned officers and men who desire such a ration, and the amount for that number only is issued by the supply branch. The actual issue is under the supervision of officers. Rum is not issued at home except in most exceptional circumstances. None has been issued this year.
    Mr. T. M. HEALY: Does the hon. Gentleman propose to allow a number of teetotalers to bully the Government in this matter?
    Mr. LEIF JONES: As there is a large number of teetotalers in the Army, will my right hon. Friend see that some alternative is issued to them?
    Mr. TENNANT: If my hon. Friend had heard my answer he would have realised that an alternative is given.

    NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS REJOINING COLOURS.
    Mr. THOMASasked the Under-Secretary for War whether he is aware that old non-commissioned officers, on being urged to rejoin the Colours, were promised the rank previously held by them, and in a large number of cases such promise has not been fulfilled; and whether he will take steps to see that such a promise is carried out?
    Mr. FALLEasked if any of the National Reserve non-commissioned officers who rejoined the Army at the call of duty are still serving as privates or in ranks lower than the rank they held on leaving the Service; and, if so, if it is proposed to promote the men so serving to their old rank, and when?
    Mr. TENNANT: If the hon. Members will give details of any cases in which the undertakings in reference to resumption of previous rank have not been carried out, I shall be very glad to have them investigated. As regards the question of the hon. Member for Portsmouth, I am unable to say how many ex-non-commissioned officers National Reservists who have rejoined the Army are still serving as privates, but, in view of the demand for competent non-commissioned officers I cannot think that any good man desiring promotion is still serving in that rank.
    Mr. FALLE: Does this also apply to Territorial non-commissioned officers?
    Mr. TENNANT: No. I am referring to the New Army.

    RECRUITS (ALLOWANCE FOR CLOTHES).
    Mr. THOMASasked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that a number of recruits who volunteered for service were promised an allowance of 10s. for clothes which were damaged in consequence of their uniform not being supplied; whether, notwithstanding that these men wore their own clothes for periods, in some cases, up to a month
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    before being supplied with proper uniform, the 10s. allowance has not been paid; and, if so, what action he proposes to take in the matter?
    Mr. BAKER: Some cases in which this allowance has not been received have been referred to the local military authorities for investigation and settlement. Fresh instructions have recently been issued which will, it is hoped, cover all cases in which men are fairly entitled to some recompense but have not benefited under the earlier regulations.
    Mr. WATT: When were these fresh regulations made?
    Mr. BAKER: I am not sure. I think about a fortnight or three weeks ago.

    OFFICERS' ALLOWANCES.
    Mr. FALLEasked the Under-Secretary of State for War if he is aware that officers on the Reserve of officers, who have their uniforms, who are obliged to serve if called on, are granted £100 allowance on rejoining, while officers not on the Reserve of officers or officers whose time on the Reserve has expired are allowed only £30; and will he say why this distinction is drawn between the Reservist officer and the officer whose term of service on the Reserve has expired but who nevertheless volunteers and between the officer not on the Reserve who, in many instances, gives up his civil profession to volunteer?
    Mr. BAKER: The hon. Member does not state correctly the effect of the Regulations. The allowance of £30 is given to ex-officers whose requirements are limited to Service dress and to officers joining the Army for the first time on temporary commissions. The Regular officer joining in the ordinary course has never received an outfit allowance.

    WOUNDED OFFICERS.
    Mr. FALLEasked the Under-Secretary for War if he is aware that an officer of the 60th Rifles was wounded in

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    action on Friday morning, 30th October, and taken to Boulogne next day, but that his next-of-kin was not informed of the fact by the War Office till Thursday afternoon, 5th November, and that even then the nature of the injury could not be stated and is yet unknown; if there is a special department at the War Office to attend to such cases and details; if so, whether the department did its duty in this instance; and if he can provide a remedy for the future?
    Mr. TENNANT: All information received in the War Office regarding casualties to officers is sent out as soon as possible by telegram. If, as is sometimes the case, no name of next-of-kin has been notified, delay would necessarily occur. I cannot identify the case the hon. Member alludes to on the particulars given, and am unable therefore to state what happened.
    Mr. FALLE: Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that in this case particulars were given to the War Office by myself, and I have not yet received an answer to the last part of the question from the War Office?
    Mr. TENNANT: I shall be very glad to look into it, and give the hon. Gentleman the information if I can get it.

    FIRST EXPEDITIONARY FORCE.
    Mr. F. HALLasked the Under-Secretary for War if, in view of the statement in General French's Report of 7th September that he was placed in a difficulty owing to the absence of his 3rd Army Corps, he will state the reason for not dispatching this corps with the First Expeditionary Force; and whether any of the British troops now taking part in the War have been raised since the beginning of August?
    Mr. TENNANT: It would be contrary to precedent and to the public interest to publish this information.

    UNITED STATES (TRANSPORT OF RECRUITS).
    Mr. TOUCHEasked what steps have been taken for the transportation from the United States of America to Europe, at the expense of the Government, of ex-Service men, being Boer War, Indian, China, and Mexican War veterans, time-expired Reservists, Special Reservists, ex-Territorials, and ex-Volunteers, who are anxious to serve in the British Expeditionary Force; does the provision made by the Government provide only for transportation from New York or does it provide the cost of medical examination in the various States and of transportation to New York; and are similar arrangements being made for the examination and transportation of the men scattered throughout the States, some of them untrained, but many of them aviators, chauffeurs, engineers, electricians, and craftsmen of all kinds, all of British birth, who are known to be willing and anxious to serve?
    Mr. TENNANT: British subjects residing in the Dominions or in foreign countries who offer their services in the Army are accepted, provided they are physically and otherwise qualified, if they present themselves for enlistment at any recruiting office in the United Kingdom. It is impossible to undertake to pay the passage home of these men, whose fitness or otherwise for Army service can only in most cases be determined after arrival at home. Passage has, however, as an exception been paid in the case of about 5,000 men who have been certified by our Consul-General in New York to have had previous military training, to have passed a medical examination equivalent to the examination on enlistment, and to be to all appearances in every way suitable men.
    Mr. TOUCHE: Will the Government consider the question of increasing the credit to the Consul-General in New York so as to enable many of these men to come to New York or be examined where they are?
    Mr. TENNANT: Yes. I shall be glad to consider that.

    ARMY CLOTHING CONTRACTS.
    Mr. TOUCHEasked if complaints have been received regarding the quality of clothing supplied to the new Army; if contracts have been placed at prices which constitute an incentive to scamp material and sacrifice quality, and to employ sweated labour; and what steps have been taken to secure good material and workmanship, and the payment of adequate wages?
    Mr. BAKER: No complaint has been received with regard to the quality of clothing supplied by the War Department. All contracts contain the Fair-Wages Clause, and any supposed case of its non-observance in the making-up of clothing has been referred to the Trade Board.
    Mr. BARNESasked the Under-Secretary for War whether he is aware that many members of the Scottish Operative Tailors' and Tailoresses' Association are unemployed; and whether he will take steps to secure that the present orders for clothing will be spread over as wide an area and employ as many workpeople as possible?
    Mr. WATTasked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether, in supplying clothes to the recruits, his Department refuses to deal with contractors who cannot supply 1,000 suits per week or other large number; whether he is aware that tailors in the large provincial towns such as Glasgow and Edinburgh are suffering from unemployment and yet are precluded from participating in War Office contracts by that Department's principle of dealing only with contractors doing large quantities; and whether he can see his way to lessen the unemployment in this trade by allowing small makers, able to do say twenty-five suits weekly and upwards, to participate in the War Office contracts?
    Mr. BAKER: A communication has been received from the association referred to. Every effort is being and will be made to relieve unemployment by distributing War Office orders as widely as possible, but there are practical difficulties in placing contracts with firms who are only able to deliver in small quanti-
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    ties. I shall, however, be happy to consider applications from groups of firms who can, through a trade association or otherwise, make satisfactory arrangements for the execution of a contract securing substantial weekly deliveries.
    Mr. WATT: What are the practical difficulties of having small men supplying suits of clothes?
    Mr. BAKER: We want enormous quantities. They have to be inspected. It is almost impossible to secure a competent inspection staff to deal with all those small firms. I think it perfectly possible for a number of these small firms to join together and tender, and I hope that they will do so.
    Sir C. KINLOCH-COOKE: Would the right hon. Gentleman consider a firm willing to supply 500 suits a week a small firm?

    NEW COLOURS.
    Mr. DUNDAS WHITEasked the Under-Secretary for War whether he is aware that, in addition to other recruiting, three new battalions have been formed in Glasgow; that, in reply to applications to sanction the presentation of new colours, it has been stated by the War Office authorities that it is not proposed to sanction the presentation of colours to battalions now being formed for the new Army; that this attitude has caused disappointment; and whether the question will be reconsidered?
    Mr. TENNANT: The decision that the presentation of colours to battalions raised for service during the War could not be sanctioned was only given after careful consideration, and my Noble Friend the Secretary of State does not see his way to reconsider it.
    Mr. CHAMBERLAIN: Has the right hon. Gentleman had his attention drawn to the effect which this refusal is having upon recruiting in certain parts of the three Kingdoms? I have heard of it as a matter of great complaint in Ireland.
    Mr. TENNANT: I shall be glad to represent to the Secretary of State what the right hon. Gentleman has said.

    PAYMENTS AND ALLOWANCES (LEAFLETS).
    Mr. PRINGLEasked the Under-Secretary for War whether he will issue a special leaflet, with the authority of the War Office, collating all the information regarding pay and allowances, both of officers and men, in order that those serving in the new Army or Territorials should be saved the trouble of searching through Army Orders, etc., to ascertain the payments to which they are entitled?
    Mr. BAKER: Much as I sympathise with the hon. Member's object, I fear that any such attempt would give rise to far more trouble to officers and men than it would save. The "leaflet," to be complete, would have to be a large book of regulations; and if it did not completely state all the conditions, etc., attaching to the grants there would be great danger of misleading those concerned.

    GERMAN PRISONERS (SHOTTON).
    Mr. STEWARTasked if German prisoners, at Shotton, near Queensferry, are provided with butter and vegetables, whereas the soldiers who have to guard them have no rations of the kind supplied to them?
    Mr. TENNANT: In the ration for prisoners of war there is the item: 1 oz. butter or margarine or 2 ozs. cheese. In the soldier's ration there is no butter. The soldier, however, receives 4d. a day as a messing allowance, and out of this it is customary to provide butter among other things.

    BARRACK ACCOMMODATION.
    Mr. DENNISSasked the Under-Secretary for War whether he will consider, in conjunction with the President of the Local Government Board, the feasibility of utilising as barracks some of the numerous and spacious workhouses in districts where exercising ground is available in the vicinity thereof, having in view the fact that such workhouses will hold many times more troops than the paupers now
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    housed therein and the paupers could be boarded out for the time with advantage to themselves?
    Mr. TENNANT: The value of workhouses to supplement barrack accommodation is fully recognised, and several workhouses are being used for the housing of soldiers. The inmates are boarded out or sent to other workhouses. These arrangements have been carried out in conjunction with the Local Government Board.

    RECRUITING POSTERS.
    Mr. BENNETT-GOLDNEYasked the Under-Secretary for War if he will give instructions to the recruiting authority at the War Office to issue a sufficient number of posters to all recruiting committees, setting out in clear and precise terms the exact amount which will be paid to Regular and Territorial soldiers, exclusive of stoppages, with the exact sums of the different separation allowances, the amount of pension the soldier will himself receive if wounded, and the amount of the pensions to which wives and children will be entitled in case of death?
    Mr. TENNANT: A leaflet dealing with the latest decisions in regard to the points raised in this question has been issued within the last few days in very large numbers to all concerned.
    Mr. BENNETT-GOLDNEYasked the Under-Secretary for War if he will now give instructions to the advertising authorities concerned that in future all notices and posters shall state clearly the approximate number in round figures of recruits required on Lord Kitchener's advice by the end of the present year; if he will give instructions that in future requests for smaller numbers than those really required shall not be issued, so that misunderstandings on this point may be avoided in future; and if his attention has been called to the fact that the driblet system of asking for only 100,000 men at a time when ten times that number were really needed has been found to be detrimental to recruiting and a source of discouragement to effort, even to members of recruiting committees?
    Mr. TENNANT: As regards the third part of the question, a very large number of men have been enlisted in a little over three months. I cannot therefore think that the methods followed have had such detrimental results as the hon. Member suggests. As regards future posters, advantage will, of course, be taken of all the experience accumulated and the advice tendered, so far as it may be relevant.

    ST. JOHN'S AMBULANCE.
    Mr. BENNETT-GOLDNEYasked the Under-Secretary for War if he can say whether St. John's Ambulance men called up for military duty are called up for the duration of the War or for a period at the discretion of the authority calling them up; if he is aware that a number of St. John's Ambulance men have been called up, that they have undertaken duties in connection with the transport and care of wounded soldiers, and that to do this they have had to leave their ordinary employment; and if he is aware that in a number of cases such men have had the greatest difficulty in getting payment from the military authorities for their services, although they have been deprived of their civil life salaries?
    Mr. TENNANT: Members of the St. John's Ambulance Brigade, who belong to the Military Home Hospitals Reserve, are enlisted into the Royal Army Medical corps for the "duration of the War" when called up for service. The services of other St. John's Ambulance Brigade men belonging to voluntary aid detachments may have been utilised locally by the military authorities in cases of emergency, and for unloading hospital ships, trains, etc. In the latter case the period of employment is temporary and depends entirely on local conditions. I am not aware of any complaints of non-payment for these services.

    TERRITORIAL FORCE (ALLOWANCES).
    Mr. BRIDGEMANasked the Financial Secretary to the War Office if men joining Territorial Forces immediately on mobilisation only received 10s. gratuity for small kit, and will receive no boots
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    until the force has been embodied for six months, whereas men joining a month later, when Territorial units were forming foreign service regiments, received a free small kit valued at 23s. and a pair of boots valued at 12s. 8d.; and, if so, when steps will be taken to reimburse to men who were first to do their duty the difference which they have had to pay out of their own pockets?
    Mr. BAKER: Any recruit or man of the Territorial Force who brings in a complete kit of necessaries of his own, including boots, serviceable but not necessarily new, may draw 10s. for it. If he does not do this, he receives what is required in kind. I do not know how the hon. Member has received the impression that the man who draws the 10s. will not be provided with boots for six months. Boots are issued as required in all cases.
    Mr. BRIDGEMAN: Were the boots supplied in the first six months charged to the Government or taken out of the men's pay?
    Mr. BAKER: The boots are provided free, when required.

    COLOUR-SERGEANTS (PENSIONS).
    Mr. BRIDGEMANasked the Financial Secretary to the War Office if colour-sergeants who go to the front receive higher pensions on leaving than colour-sergeants who are retained at home for the purpose of training newly-recruited forces; and, if so, what is the reason for the distinction?
    Mr. BAKER: No, Sir.

    CHILDREN ALLOWANCE.
    Mr. KEIR HARDIEasked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether any decision has yet been reached concerning the claim to allowance of a soldier's child born before the marriage of its parents; and whether the practice of the War Office in regard to such cases will be made to conform to the law of Scotland?
    Mr. BAKER: Yes, Sir, separation allowance will be made in these cases during the War.

    GOVERNMENT PURCHASES OF MEAT.
    Mr. JOWETTasked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether the Swift Beef Company, Limited, sold what are known in the trade as F. hinds mutton at 4¾d. on the 27th July last to ordinary customers, and if he will say whether the Government purchased from the same company on the 4th August last at 8d. for F. hinds and 6d. F. fores, or an average of 7d.; and, if so, whether he will explain why this difference in price was paid by the Government?
    Mr. BAKER: I have inquired into this, but have been unable to trace the purchase to which the hon. Member refers.

    FREE DELIVERY OF PARCELS.
    Mr. JOWETTasked whether, having regard to the fact that in many cases the relatives of soldiers on active service cannot afford to pay the heavy cost of carriage, he can arrange for the free delivery of small parcels sent by wives or parents to men serving at the front?
    Mr. THOMASasked whether numbers of friends and relatives of men serving at the front are prevented from sending small parcels of necessities and luxuries to the men at the front in consequence of the postage charged; and whether he will take steps to see that any parcels sent to give comfort and aid to our soldiers and sailors can be sent free or at a reduced charge?
    The POSTMASTER-GENERAL (Mr. Hobhouse): I cannot agree that the present rates on parcels for the troops impose a serious check on the despatch of comforts to the Army. The Post Office is at present despatching about 12,000 parcels a night to the Army Base Post Office in France. Any reduction of postage which resulted in a material increase in this number would frustrate its own object by increasing the difficulties already experienced by the Army Post Office in disposing of the heavy mails with which it has to deal. These comprise not only the parcels above-mentioned, but
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    also from 250,000 to 300,000 outward letters and newspapers every day. I understand that the difficulties of providing adequate transport in France are already very serious

    ALIEN POSTAL EMPLOYES.
    Mr. GEORGE TERRELLasked the Postmaster-General whether any and, if any, how many of the employés in the Scottish postal and telegraph service are of German or Austrian nationality or origin, and the dates of their respective appointments?
    Mr. HOBHOUSE: There are no persons of German or Austrian nationality employed in the Scottish postal and telegraph service, but there are thirty-one British subjects so employed whose parents or one or other of them were German or Austrian. The dates of their respective appointments are, for the most part, not recorded in London, and could only be furnished after inquiry in Scotland.

    POSTMEN EMPLOYED.
    Mr. GOLDSTONEasked the Postmaster-General how many postmen were employed by his Department during the week ending Saturday, 11th July, 1914, and how many during the week ending Saturday, 10th October, 1914?
    Mr. HOBHOUSE: Figures for the weeks quoted are not available, but perhaps the hon. Member's purpose will be served by a statement that the total authorised number of full-time and part-time postmen on the 31st March last was 82,382; that on the 31st October the number of these withdrawn for military and naval duties was 14,279 (leaving a force of upwards of 68,000); and that to meet the duties of the absent men 11,158 temporary full-time and part-time postmen were being employed on the 31st October.

    PRIVATE CABLE CODES.
    Mr. JOYNSON-HICKSasked the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that the bulk of commercial

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    cabling is done by the use of private codes; and whether he will consider the licensing of these codes in the event of application by reputable business firms under conditions to be arranged between them and his Department; (2) that of the four codes recently permitted under the censorship two of them are American, one of them is duplicated in the German language and has a large circulation in Germany, and three of them are prior in date to the International Code Convention of 1903; if so, whether he will reconsider the admission of later codes; and (3) that modern codes subsequent to the International Code Convention of 1903 enabled merchants and others to telegraph at from 25 per cent. to 40 per cent. less expense than by the user of the pre-1903 codes; and whether he took any technical and commercial advice as to the codes to be admitted under the censorship?
    Mr. HOBHOUSE: The question whether private codes could be admitted was carefully considered by the military authorities, who are primarily responsible for the censorship on telegrams; but they are strongly opposed to the adoption of private codes, which, apart from other objections, would probably result in considerable delay owing to the difficulty of decoding them for censorship purposes. The selection of the codes to be authorised was made on the advice of the Board of Trade. The question whether any other published codes can be admitted is under consideration.
    Mr. JOYNSON-HICKS: Will the right hon. Gentleman receive a deputation from the parties?
    Mr. HOBHOUSE: I have seen so many persons on that subject, and I hope I have satisfied so many that I hardly think it is necessary

    PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE (CENSORSHIP).
    Mr. OUTHWAITEasked the Postmaster-General whether private correspondence from Australia or America is
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    being opened by the Post Office authorities; and, if so, can he state for what reason?
    Mr. HOBHOUSE: The military censorship of correspondence is carried out, where such censorship is deemed desirable, by the military and not by the Post Office authorities, and any questions on this subject should be addressed to my right hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for War.

    Vera Cruz.
    Mr. TOUCHEasked the Secretary for Foreign Affairs whether any agreement has been arrived at between the United States of America and the Carranza Government in Mexico for the evacuation of Vera Cruz; and has he any information as to the ability and intention of the new authorities in Mexico to establish democratic rule, abolish military dictatorships, and suppress the operations of bandit forces?
    Mr. ACLAND: I understand that an arrangement has been come to between General Carranza's Government and the United States Government for the evacuation of Vera Cruz. The answer to the second part of the question is in the negative.

  NATIONAL INSURANCE ACT.

    TREATMENT OF TUBERCULOSIS.
    Mr. GEORGE ROBERTSasked the hon. Member for St. George's-in-the-East, as representing the Insurance Commissioners, if resolutions have been received from insurance committees expressing the view that, having regard to the large contributions which such committees make to the schemes of local authorities for the treatment of tuberculosis, provision should exist for the appropriate representation of insurance committees in the administration of this benefit; if so, whether such resolutions have been considered; and whether it is proposed to take action in accordance therewith?
    The PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY of the BOARD of EDUCATION (Dr. Addison): My hon. Friend has asked me

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    to answer this question. The Commissioners have received representations from certain insurance committees in England expressing the view referred to in the question. If I rightly understand the suggestion of my hon. Friend effect could not be given to it without legislation.

    Intoxicating Liquor (Temporary Restriction) Act.
    Mr. GEORGE ROBERTSasked the Home Secretary the number of licensing areas wherein orders have been made under the Intoxicating Liquor (Temporary Restriction) Act and the number free of such; what is the governing principle or fact accountable for discrimination; and if in all cases the consideration of the making of an order was upon the initiative of the chief of police, as required by the Act?
    Mr. McKENNA: As regards the first part of the question, I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer I have just given to the hon. Member for North-East Lanark. As regards the rest of the question, I can only point out that the Act contemplates that the question of making an order thereunder shall be decided according to the circumstances of each locality. I have no reason to think that any orders have been made by the justices except on the recommendation of the chief constable.
    Mr. STEWARTasked the Home Secretary if he will explain why he has sanctioned the order by which the licensed victuallers in the rural districts of Wirral have had their business hours reduced from 9 o'clock a.m. to 9 o'clock p.m., whereas public-houses in the immediate vicinity in Birkenhead and Wallasey have not suffered a similar interference, although the sobriety of the rural districts of Wirral will compare favourably with the surrounding neighbourhood; whether magistrates from Wallasey voted for the curtailment of the hours in Wirral while allowing the public-houses in their own borough to remain open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.; and whether he will consider the
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    possibility of securing a general adjustment of hours throughout the peninsula of Wirral?
    Mr. McKENNA: I gave my approval to the order referred to because I was satisfied that it was a proper one in the circumstances. I understand that twenty-seven magistrates were present when it was made, and that they unanimously approved the order, but I do not know how many of them were from Wallasey. No recommendation was made by the chief constable of Wallasey, and therefore no order could be made for the borough. I have no power to initiate the making of orders or to secure uniformity as between adjoining areas. Parliament has left the matter in the hands of the local authorities.
    Mr. STEWART: Will the right hon. Gentleman inquire again, because country innkeepers complain that they have a very real grievance?
    Mr. McKENNA: As to the distinctions that exist between one area and another, I have no power to put an end to them. I quite recognise that there may be a sense of injustice in those areas where the Act has not been put into operation.

    Temporary Postmen (Carlisle).
    Mr. DENMANasked whether the wages paid to temporary postmen in Carlisle will be raised to 6d. an hour, which is the recognised minimum rate for labourers in the district?
    Mr. HOBHOUSE: The present rates of payment to temporary postmen in Carlisle and elsewhere are based on the recommendations of the recent Parliamentary Committee, but the question whether any increase in these rates may be warranted is under consideration.
    Mr. DENMAN: May I ask whether the rates are below the rate paid to the labourer in any part of the country?
    Mr. HOBHOUSE: The hon. Gentleman is introducing a question which involves a large number of rates and a large number of persons.

ORDERS OF THE DAY.

  BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE.
  Mr. CHAMBERLAIN: With regard to the business to-morrow, we understand that we are to take financial business which was at first fixed for to-day, and I am not quite clear as to the right hon. Gentleman's intention. In announcing the original order of business the Prime Minister spoke of an adjournment after the Chancellor of the Exchequer's statement was made, in order to give the House time for further consideration. I think he then meant the adjournment of the discussion from Monday to Wednesday, taking the Vote of Credit on the Tuesday. Does the Prime Minister propose to adjourn the Debate after the Chancellor's statement to-morrow?
  The PRIME MINISTER: I am told that it will be necessary to take one or two Resolutions to-morrow, but, subject to that, I think it desirable to have an adjournment of the discussion.
  Mr. CHAMBERLAIN: I understand that after the Chancellor has made his statement the Resolutions are to be passed sub silentio, and that the discussion is to be adjourned to a further date.
  The PRIME MINISTER: Subject to what the right hon. Gentleman thinks.
  Sir GEORGE YOUNGER: If a serious alteration were proposed in taxation, I should oppose any Resolution being passed without a single word of discussion. I certainly object to that.
  The PRIME MINISTER: We will only take the necessary Resolutions. There will be ample time for discussion.
  Sir G. YOUNGER: If the Resolutions are passed first the thing is ended.

  DEATH OF EARL ROBERTS.
  The PRIME MINISTER: Both the House and the country learns with the deepest regret of the sudden death of that most illustrious soldier, Earl Roberts, and I beg now to give notice that to-morrow, at the commencement of business, I shall move a Resolution which I hope will give effective expression to our feelings.
  BILLS PRESENTED.
    LAND DRAINAGE BILL.
    "To make better provision for the execution and maintenance of land drainage works." Presented by Sir HARRY VERNEY; to be read a second time To-morrow, and to be printed. [Bill 1.]
    SHERIFF COURTS (SCOTLAND) BILL.
    "To amend section sixteen of the Sheriff Courts (Scotland) Act, 1907, relating to leave of absence to salaried sheriffs-substitute." Presented by Mr. McKINNON WOOD; to be read a second time Tomorrow, and to be printed. [Bill 3.]

  SUPPLY.
  Considered in Committee
  [Mr. WHITLEY in the Chair.]

  SECOND VOTE OF CREDIT, 1914–15.
  Motion made, and Question proposed, "That a supplementary sum not exceeding £225,000,000 be granted to His Majesty beyond the ordinary Grants of Parliament, towards defraying the Expenses which may be incurred during the year ending the 31st March, 1915, for all measures which may be taken for the security of the country, for the conduct of Naval and Military operations, for assisting the Food Supply, and promoting the Continuance of Trade, Industry, Business and Communications, whether by means of insurance or indemnity against risk, the financing of the purchase and resale of foodstuffs and materials, or otherwise, for Relief of Distress, and generally for all expenses arising out of the existence of a state of war."
  The PRIME MINISTER (Mr. Asquith): I propose to deal very briefly with this matter to-day because my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer will to-morrow present to the House a full statement of the proposals which the Government propose to make to meet in various ways the expenditure incurred and rendered necessary by the War. But in submitting to the House this Vote of Credit I must make one or two explanatory observations. It will be in the recollection of the Committee that on the 8th of August a Vote was taken

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  of £100,000,000, and the Supplementary Vote which we now propose is for no less than £225,000,000, which will raise the amounts which the House is asked to vote beyond the ordinary Grants of Parliament to £325,000,000. I do not know that it is necessary to point out, but I may perhaps say in passing, that our machinery in this matter, which is well settled by precedent and by usage, is that when Votes of Credit of this kind are taken the practice has been to use first the ordinary Grants made by Parliament so far as they suffice and only to fall back upon the issues of the Votes of Credit when those normal Grants have been exhausted. Ultimately, when the accounts of the year are made up, the sums chargeable against the Vote of Credit ought and will, roughly, at any rate, and approximately represent the extra expenditure due to the War. But at any intermediate period of the year the expenditure on the Vote of Credit need not, and often will not, exceed the actual total War expenditure incurred up to any given date. The House authorised on the 8th of August last a Vote of Credit of £100,000,000. I do not think it would be expedient in the public interest to disclose precisely at this moment the figures, at any rate, the items of expenditure, which have been incurred under the authority given by that Vote, but I may state them in general terms.
  In the first place, as the House will readily believe, by far the largest amount, if not the largest amount, of the sum authorised by that Vote of Credit, has been expended and is being expended week after week for what I may call military purposes, the actual conduct of operations of war. But, in addition to that, there have been large outlays under a number of other heads included in the general terms in which the title of the Vote is framed, and some of which have gone to the grant of loans to our Allies, and some also, a very large sum, towards securing the food supplies of the country, especially in regard to sugar and in regard to wheat and some of the other necessaries of life, which, although on the face of it, and, for the moment, will have involved very large disbursements of money, will, as we believe, be ultimately recouped to the Exchequer when the supplies so secured, have reasonably and prudently secured, have
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  been distributed and paid for by the traders and consumers. Then there is the sum—the not inconsiderable sum—which we have had to expend in order to secure the active control of the railways of the country, which was necessary at a time like this; and there are other smaller matters, some of which I do not think it is expedient at this time to particularise, but which include expenditure, which I am sure the House will gladly recognise as necessary and judicious, in regard to foreign refugees and destitute aliens. Of course, full and complete details of these various heads of expenditure will in due time be rendered. I trust that the Committee will be content for the moment with my assurance that it is under those various heads that that expenditure has taken place.
  I come now to what is more relevant and important for the immediate purpose of the Vote I am asking the Committee to entertain this afternoon, namely, What are the purposes for which we are asking the sanction of Parliament? There, again, I do not think it would be wise to name particular figures, but the great bulk of this new Vote of Credit for no less than £225,000,000 will be for Army and Navy expenditure. There are certain other categories as to which it is right the House should be informed in advance of what the intentions of the Government are. They fall under two heads—Civil Expenditure and Loan Expenditure. The Civil expenditure, I am glad to say, does not amount to anything considerable, and in point of money it is largely, if not exclusively, for the purpose of completing the supplies of food, sugar, and other classes of food, which owing to the contraction of the marker resulting from the War the Government felt bound in the interests of the community to take in hand. There are further certain particular commodities, some of them necessary for our own purposes and others of them necessary, so far as we can, to exclude from the use of our belligerent opponents. I shall not be expected to say precisely what they are. There are commodities which fall within both those classes, and with regard to them we think it will be right to give the Government certain latitude to deal with. The item of loans is a very large one. I do not think there is any objection at this

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  point to my stating the figure. The Committee will understand that this Vote of Credit is entirely for expenditure up to 31st March next, the close of the present financial year. All these loans, which, if the Committee authorise this Vote, we shall propose to take authority for ourselves to raise during that time and not for our own purposes, amount to £44,000,000. I said "not for our own purposes," but I ought to exclude, when I say that, a comparatively small sum which we may have to raise for the use of our local authorities here in relief of distress. I am glad to say that that is likely to be a very small sum of money. I hope it may not be necessary to raise any sum at all, but still we must, as a matter of precaution, take power to ourselves to raise a small sum for that purpose.
  The main item—and there is no objection, I think, in the public interest to disclose it—is with regard to the Government of Belgium, which has already, with the warm approval of Members in every quarter of the House, received a loan of £10,000,000, and, as I said already, a small amount has been advanced to the Government of Servia, which has received a loan of £800,000. I may say, with regard to both these loans, that we do not propose that any interest should be charged upon them until the conclusion of the War.
  Mr. T. M. HEALY: They ought to be gifts.
  4.0 P.M.
  The PRIME MINISTER: We are not charging any interest upon them. A much larger item is the item of loans which we propose to raise for the benefit of our Dominions. The Committee will like to understand what is the position of that matter. These great self-governing Dominions would, in the ordinary course, have been compelled during the present financial year to come to the London market for the purpose of raising money, sometimes for the renewal—I think to a large extent for the renewal—of loans which have expired, and the repayment of which was due, and, in some cases, for other purposes which were essential for their domestic interests. The Dominion of Canada, the Union of South Africa, the Commonwealth of Australia, and the
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  Dominion of New Zealand, are all in that category. Obviously it would be most inexpedient that these various Dominions should come into the London market each endeavouring to raise for itself upon its own terms the money needed for its own local purposes. We propose to relieve them of that responsibility and ourselves to undertake the raising of loans for them all to an amount which we estimate at the moment at about £30,250,000. I am sure the Committee will realise that, under the circumstances, that is much the best course to take in the interests of the Dominions and of the Empire at large. It is desirable that everybody should understand that out of this very large Vote of Credit which we are submitting to the House of Commons, a sum of nearly £45,000,000 is to be immediately devoted to that purpose. In other words, it will not be—certainly in regard to the loans to the Dominions—an ultimate charge on the Exchequer of the United Kingdom; but it is a necessary operation for financing our sister and daughter possessions in the exigencies caused by the War. These are the main items to which the Vote of Credit will be applied.
  The Committee might like to form some kind of estimate, or to know what kind of estimate the Government have formed, as to the cost of the War itself. I do not—it would be very undesirable to do so—pry into the future; I do not attempt to speculate as to what commitments it may in the course of the next few months be necessary for us to incur; but I think I may say—this is the only figure I will or ought to give, and it is one which anybody who carefully studies the national accounts as they are presented from week to week will be able, more or less roughly, to calculate for himself—that up to the present date—that is, up to last Saturday—the actual cost on the Exchequer of this country for carrying on the War over and above all our normal expenditure as voted by Parliament during the last Session, amounts to somewhere between £900,000 and £1,000,000 a day. I do not say that we shall keep it at that level. On the whole, having regard to the enormous scale of the operations, the gigantic commitments which we have had to undertake, not merely in regard to the Navy and the

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  Army, but in regard to other matters connected with the maintenance of the trade of the country, the food of the people, and, so far as we could, the prevention of supplies reaching our enemy, I do not think anybody will say that that is a sum which exceeds the expectations which might reasonably have been entertained. At any rate, I cannot hold out any hope that during the continuance of the War that daily expenditure is likely to be diminished. I believe that tins Committee, and all sections of the community, will agree that the Government ought to ask from the House of Commons a provision up to the 31st March which will not only satisfy calculations based upon the actual experience of the 105 days during which the War has lasted, but leave them with a reasonable margin in regard to such calculations as they can make for future expenditure up to the end of the financial year. I purposely confine myself to a very brief businesslike statement, because I do not think that this is an occasion upon which it is in the least degree necessary to appeal to the patriotism and the devotion of the House and country to the cause in which we are engaged. I can only assure them that the estimates have been most carefully considered and revised again and again, and that they represent the minimum of what the Government think it right to ask from the House of Commons in what is perhaps the greatest emergency with which in our history we have ever been faced.
  Mr. WALTER LONG: I am sure the whole Committee will have listened with a profound feeling of satisfaction to the statement just made by the Prime Minister. Not only is it clear and concise, as his statements always are, but he has made it evident to the Committee that the Government are determined to carry through this great War with due regard to wise economy, but with a steadfast determination that nothing shall be left undone to make the issue the only one which we can contemplate, namely, a successful one. We have all heard with satisfaction the announcement of the Prime Minister in regard to the items of expenditure to which he has referred. The loans to the Allies were welcomed by everybody in the country when we heard of them. The control over the railways
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  has not only worked without a single hitch, but with the most wonderful regard for the convenience of the public at large. It has been, I think, one of the most successful enterprises ever undertaken in this country. We had a variety of systems of railways; we had to make an enormous demand upon them for the conveyance of troops and stores; and we had, if possible, not to interfere unduly with the travelling public. I myself, have had occasion to travel about the country from the beginning of the mobilisation orders, and I do not believe that any reasonable person can by any possibility complain of the way in which the Government have expressed their control and provided alike for the needs of the nation and for the convenience of individuals.
  The right hon. Gentleman, dealing with other items of expenditure, expressed the hope that the Committee and the country would be willing to give the Government very wide latitude as to their expenditure and as to any explanation they might give about it at this stage. I believe that the Committee and the country will go further than even the Prime Minister has asked, and give to the Government, not only a wide latitude, but an absolutely free hand, so long as they are satisfied that the Government mean to prosecute the War with vigour and determination. That I believe to be the view of the country at large at this moment, and I am satisfied that any attempt to take a different line would meet with no support at all among the great masses of our people. I was very glad to hear what the Prime Minister said about Civil expenditure. I have had some little opportunity of watching the progress of distress and relief work in this country since the War began, and I believe that the Prime Minister has not been in any sense unduly optimistic in the view which he has expressed. There is every evidence that the country is facing the situation calmly and quietly, and on all sides there are indications, I am happy to say, that we are not going to be faced with that stupendous problem of unemployment which we might naturally have expected, and with which we were at one time threatened by many people, who probably were a little too quick to anticipate misfortune. Therefore I hope and believe that the demand of the Government for money for

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  the relief of civil distress will not be a serious one.
  With regard to the loans to Belgium and Servia, I am convinced that the Government have rightly interpreted the wishes of the country. This is not the time or the occasion on which to dwell on the heroism and sacrifices of Belgium, but I am convinced that everybody in the country feels that we cannot do too much to help that devoted country or to show to them how we appreciate the marvellous courage, the undying pluck, and the wonderful sacrifice which they have displayed since the War began. They certainly deserve the help which the Government have given. In this respect again we are quite content to leave it to the Government to decide not only when interest shall be payable, if they so decide, but what form their decision shall take. Whatever their decision is, we shall support them. May I speak in the same vein in regard to the steps taken to provide our great Overseas Dominions with money? Here, again, it is not the moment to speak of the wonderful way in which they have come to the aid of the Mother Country. Certainly, from the economic point of view, it is desirable to aid them as proposed, and I cannot help thinking that in our own interests it is a wise thing to do.
  We would like to make a few suggestions of a perfectly friendly character to the Prime Minister in regard to what, after his speech, may be regarded as somewhat minor matters, though they are of grave importance. I take it it would be in order to refer briefly to them now, and I think it would be for the convenience of the Prime Minister that we should do so, because the settlement of most, if not all of them, must rest mainly with the head of the Government. But if we raise them at this moment, it is not with the desire—far from it—that the Prime Minister should give us an answer now—that would be impossible—but that he may have these matters in his mind and be in a position to deal with them on some future occasion. The Prime Minister has dealt with the financial situation, and with the main purposes for which this vast sum of money has been or may be required; but, of course, it must be clear to the Committee that the main purpose for which the money
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  is required is for the increase of the Army, and for the supply of our Army in the field. Whatever money we may vote here, however ready we may be—and I am convinced we are ready to place at the disposal of the Government all the supplies that they need—money by itself will be useless if there are difficulties in the way of getting the men which cannot be overcome. I venture in this spirit to make a few suggestions to the Prime Minister with, I need hardly say, the assent and approval of my right hon. Friend the Leader of the Opposition, and to pray for them at his hands the most favourable consideration.
  The CHAIRMAN: Might I suggest to the right hon. Gentleman that it would be more convenient to take those suggestions on the Vote that follows—the Vote for one million men? It seems to me to be desirable to keep the discussion in one whole, rather than take part now.
  Mr. BONAR LAW: Might I make a suggestion? The course you have suggested is obviously the more convenient one at ordinary times. But the Session will probably be a short one. Would it not, therefore, be really more convenient to take all the speaking now, so long as it is relevant?
  The CHAIRMAN: The Vote to which I refer follows immediately on this to-day.
  Mr. LONG: We do not want to have to make two speeches!
  The CHAIRMAN: Perhaps not, and I do not wish for the moment to lay down any hard or fast rule, but I think it will be as well to keep the matter separate.
  The PRIME MINISTER: Perhaps I might offer a word. I think the most convenient course would be to take the whole discussion now, otherwise there may be undue duplication. It is unnecessary, perhaps, to point out that it is almost impossible to dissociate the question of money from men or men from money. Perhaps, if you think it will assist the general convenience, we might take the whole discussion on this Vote.
  The CHAIRMAN: Under the special circumstances I am quite willing to fall in with the wish expressed.
  Mr. LONG: I am very grateful to the Chair and to the Prime Minister for his observations. It was with that intention that I did propose to raise this question, because it seemed to me that if we took this discussion now the Vote would follow as a matter of course. There are two, comparatively speaking, small matters, but they are really of great importance as affecting the Army that we are sending abroad. The first is in regard to the officers. I would venture to urge on the Prime Minister and the Government that this is a singularly fitting opportunity to take some steps to improve the position of the officers as regards their pay and allowances. I doubt if anybody realises how hard are the circumstances in which officers' wives find themselves, especially the widows of officers who lose their lives on the battlefield. For many years there has been but a very small increase—made the other day—and made within limits—in the pay of officers. When we realise that the remuneration given to people who are paid for their labour has steadily increased during recent years, and that the cost of living has materially increased, and when we remember the many demands made upon officers in regard to the claims of their domestic arrangements and from their regiments, I think it may fairly be urged that the time has come when their position should be reconsidered. Some steps taken in this direction now would be especially welcome, and would, I think, bring relief to many a home that is darkened not only by the possible shadow of loss, but also by financial straights which might easily be relieved, and that at no very great cost to the country. I should like to urge a special case upon the Prime Minister in regard to officers who are called out for particular duties. I am not going to trouble the Committee or the Prime Minister now with the details, but if the right hon. Gentleman will permit me I shall be very glad to hand those details to him privately. I will only say this, that whatever the case of the Department may be, if you create a feeling of injustice, and if you give any foundation for the cry that the Government are departing from their undertaking, you thereby do an enormous amount of harm to the cause you have at heart, namely, urging the need for further
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  men for the country. That is undoubtedly the impression—I do not say it is well founded—which has been created. Let me take recruiting officers. They certainly were promised a grant in respect of their kits. That promise has gone through a variety of changes, and now these officers find themselves called upon to find the money, and not to get the grant.
  Passing from the officers to the men, that is a really small question, but it bulks very large in some districts in the country where the National Reserve are numerous. The National Reserve were promised a bounty of £10 in one case, and £5 in another to join the Colours. These men are among the best, the most stalwart, and the most loyal that we have got with the Colours. Almost in every case they left good civil places, and good wages, bringing with them excellent characters from that civil employment on joining the Colours. Many of them are engaged not with the Colours, but on work that is very difficult, not free from danger, namely, that of guarding our railway' bridges, etc., and many of these men have not received that gratuity. Why? One reason is that they did not sign certain cards which were issued to them and which they ought to have signed. It was a condition of their employment. I frankly admit that it was a condition of their employment, but I ask the Government: Is this the moment in which to enforce rigid conditions of this kind? I can give the Prime Minister one special case which I am sure will appeal to him. I myself am not familiar with the particular conditions on which this force exists, but I believe each local branch of the National Reserve is divided into something like a company and placed under a local commanding officer. The War broke out. As the Government knows full well, an immediate and very urgent demand was made upon the patriotism of all classes, and many men flocked to the Colours. One of these cases I investigated myself. The local captain was the first, or one of the first, to volunteer for service. He joined a Territorial battalion in Wales. The result of his going was that none of his men received their cards: the cards were never issued. I may be told that the men ought to have known how the thing stood. Perhaps they ought. But these men all

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  belong to the labouring or artisan classes. They have very little time to make themselves familiar with conditions of the kind. They leave home early in the morning, and when they get back from their work at night they are pretty well tired, and it is rather hard to punish them because they omitted a formality when they have given that which is of much more importance than their signature—that is, their service to their country, and this with the utmost willingness! I would earnestly ask the Prime Minister to himself look into this matter, because it is having an effect on recruiting.
  If we are to get all the men we want we must carry with us not only the men but the women of the country. It is the women who complain most loudly about this grievance, because they are left at home and expect this gratuity. They believe—and I am bound to say that I thoroughly agree with them—that they are entitled to the money. They ask, with considerable insistence, why is it, when their husbands have gone, and when there was an undertaking that they should get the money they have not got it, and "simply because my husband did not sign a particular card!" I do not think the case against the grant can be maintained, and I would most respectfully and as strongly as I can urge this matter upon the Government, because this particular case of the National Reserve means a very small sum of money. I know—as everybody that has been in a Government Department knows—that the danger of conceding a small demand is not to be measured by the size of the demand, but because it possibly will be used as a pretext and justification for other demands. But I really believe that in this case that not only are you creating an wholly unnecessary obstacle to recruiting, but you are doing an injustice to a body of men—not very large in number, but very loyal and very efficient who are at this moment giving service to the country which may ultimately lead to sickness, wounds, or actual loss of life. Under the circumstances any technical difficulty might be waived, and these men might be given the gratuity or bonus which they were promised if they came out when called upon.
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  In regard to the conduct of the War abroad, may I make very earnestly a recommendation to the Prime Minister? We believe—I think everybody believes—that we can get all the men we want. The country is magnificent. But do not let our enemies think that our men are wanting either in courage or in determination. If they are not flocking to the Colours as rapidly as they were there are many reasons to account for it. There have been difficulties. Nobody is to be blamed for them, for it is not extraordinary the difficulties have arisen when we remember—as the Prime Minister told us the other day—that the Army has been raised from a few hundred thousands to over a million. The machinery which dealt with two or three hundred thousand has had to deal with over a million men. No wonder then that there have been difficulties. I hope, nay, I believe, that those difficulties are being rapidly overcome. I can assure the Committee—and this, no doubt, is the experience of others beside myself—that it is not the hardships of temporary camps, it is not the severity of the work, it is not the repetition of the drill, or the weariness of the instruction—these are not the things which lead men to grumble. What they grumble about is the delay in getting their equipment; the long time that is allowed to elapse before they are served with their uniforms, and so on. I believe all that is being overcome, and that in future everything will go more rapidly and more smoothly, and that we shall get our men. There is no mistake about that!
  At the same time, what I want to urge upon the Government is something which really affects our men in the field, not those at home. But if the changes that I have suggested are made, I believe the effect on the men in the field will be excellent, and that it will react upon the men at home. I do not believe that in the long glorious history of the British Army that the men have ever done more wonderful work than has been done by the British Army on the Continent. I make that statement, not from news which we get from the newspapers. I make it from letters which I have received, and which others have shown me. Those letters do not tell me of the feats of arms of the particular corps to which the writers belong. In regard to their own corps the

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  writers are silent. But they tell one of the feats of the others, and very wonderful they have been. They are stories which thrill you as you read them. Splendid though the record of the British Army has been in the past, things more wonderful still, if that is possible, have been done in the last two or three months. The British Army has, I believe, done more than its full share to save Europe and the world from awful catastrophe. And if this be true, and I believe it is in no sense an exaggeration, then is it not possible to do something more to let them realise there that we not only appreciate their services—they know that—but to let them know that we know something of what is going on? They do not ask for our praise; they do not ask for our thanks; I do not think they even ask that these matters should be made known. But, after all, they are human, and is there any man, however brave and devoted, who does not like to think that when he is there passing through hardships and dangers, and doing wonderful things, that the people at home should know something of what he is doing, something of what is going on? But, Sir, we know very little.
  I believe the Government might at this stage establish some system of correspondents at the front—recognised, authorised men, limited in numbers. I do not know, I have not the knowledge necessary to enable me to say or express an opinion, whether there be any objection to this on behalf of the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces or the Commander-in-Chief of the British Army. But if there is, I hope their objections may be overcome by the statements made here at home. I am sure, in the interests of our Army abroad, it is desirable. I am sure it is only that to which they are entitled as a matter of justice that we should know something of their splendid feats. And while we should, in making this change, be doing only justice to them, I venture to say you would give increased enthusiasm to people here, and you would largely augment the stream of recruits from different parts of the country. Let the Committee remember what was the effect of the statement about the London Scottish—a magnificent regiment. I have watched it for twenty-five years, when it was commanded by a brother of my right hon. Friend the senior
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  Member for the City of London (Mr. Balfour). He did much to bring it to the state of perfection it was in then. It is a regiment with a splendid record, and has done justice to that record. The announcement of what the London Scottish have done was welcomed by every patriotic and loyal man, but can we wonder that the friends and relatives of other regiments, who know that their regiments have done just as heroically, and borne the privations and sufferings of the War over even a longer period and were just as fully entitled to commendation and to the fervid admiration of our people at home as the London Scottish, are surprised that all their doings are shrouded in silence. Surely this feeling is natural upon the part of the friends and relatives of other regiments. Is it to be wondered at that it leads to the demand for the publication of more news? I believe the only way to get that information is by having accredited and carefully selected correspondents. Soldiers, God knows, have got enough to do to conduct their campaign, and correspondence is not after all the work of the soldier. He is not trained to that kind of business. It is a special work. We have all read in our time the stories told by those great war correspondents who made their names famous by their accounts of various campaigns, and we know that the records of those war correspondents have often been the foundation of most valuable reforms in our Army and in the conduct of campaigns. I venture to say it would not only be in the interests of the soldiers at the front, and not only in the interest of recruiting at home, but in the interests of the future of our Army, that this system should be adopted, and I most earnestly hope the Government will consider it and adopt it, with as little delay as possible.
  Why should there not be a daily statement for us here in England? It need not necessarily cover the whole field of war; it need not necessarily deal with all that is done by the Allied Forces. We have sent abroad a little Army, as it was called, but it is the grandest Army this country has ever sent from its shores to guard its honour; and well indeed and nobly has it done! And may we not have here every day some statement from

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  authorised people telling us what our Army has been doing and what it is doing now. It is not necessary to include in these statements anything that would give information to the enemy. That is the last thing we want. If we cannot have this information without aiding the foe, then we will go on without it. But we believe it can be done, we believe you can give a great deal of information which would give enormous pleasure and comfort and consolation to the people of this country, and would give thousands in this land practical proof of what our men are doing out there, and therefore additional reason to be proud of them. If this feeling could be aroused in the country I believe it would do more to get recruits than all the flags and all the bands you could parade throughout the land. If that suggestion is adopted I hope it may take the form of producing an English bulletin for the information of those specially interested in the English Army.
  I want to urge upon the Government something in regard to which I feel very strongly indeed. During the War in South Africa I heard a great deal of the subject I am going to mention now, and I ventured at the beginning of this War to write to a high military official at the War Office about it. I am sure the Government ought to take action in regard to it, I mean the rewards to officers and men, and the promotion of officers and men, especially regimental officers and men. We hear a great deal about the German Emperor and the Iron Cross. We have our own V.C., our Distinguished Service Order, and other decorations, in addition to which we have promotion. Now I know there are difficulties in connection with this. At present recommendations under our existing system for these coveted honours have to go through a rather long process. I do not know anything which goes more to my heart than the notices one not infrequently sees in the papers that an honour or a promotion has been conferred upon so-and-so, and then in brackets "since dead." Those who won these splendid and coveted rewards died without knowing they had this honour conferred upon them. I remember one of the first cases that occurred in the War in South Africa—I am now dealing specially with cases of promotion in the
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  regiment. An officer who was devoted to his regiment—and I am sure the Committee will realise that one of the great foundation principles of an Army has always been the affection of officers and men for their own regiments and their pride in their own regiments—an officer, who was very proud of his regiment, and had done extremely good service in the past, had frequently been offered promotion in another regiment. He refused and preferred to stay in his own regiment, which was a very good one. But he was very anxious indeed and very keen to get promotion which had been long overdue. He was senior officer of his rank in the whole of the British Cavalry. He was grieviously wounded somewhat early in the South African War. He lay suffering greatly for several days, and he constantly asked whether his promotion had come. He lost a great deal of self-control naturally, and this thing was uppermost in his mind. He wanted to know whether his promotion was gazetted. He died one evening in South Africa, and the "Gazette" practically the next day contained his promotion. This can be avoided. There is power resident. I believe, in the Commander-in-Chief in time of war to confer these honours, decorations and promotions on the field—I speak in complete ignorance of this—if necessary that power ought to be strengthened. He ought to be given the widest possible authority to confer these decorations, to sanction these promotions without any delay or reference to home. We can trust our Commander-in-Chief.
  The Commander-in-Chief of the British Army enjoys the fullest possible confidence, and deservedly so, of every man and woman in this country. He is not only a most brilliant commander, but we know he has the confidence of the Army, and deserves to have it. Surely he could be entrusted in the fullest possible way with the power of conferring these decorations and of making promotions. And I would earnestly ask the Prime Minister to give a moment of his time—I know he is heavily burdened—to the consideration of this branch of the question, because regimental officers and men are too often overlooked. Those who are on the staff come more easily into view, their claims are more easily pressed, and they are more

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  in evidence throughout the whole campaign. But the success of our Army depends more upon regimental officers and men than any other officers and men in our Army, and their reward has not been, I think, as great as it ought to have been in proportion to their services, and I am convinced if the Government could see their way to intimate to the Commander-in-Chief that he can exercise his own discretion, untrammelled by any regulations at home in regard to these matters, it would do much to show our troops at the front that we not only realise what they are doing, but that we are anxious that so far as humanly possible men should be rewarded on the spot for the splendid deeds they have performed. I have no other suggestion now to make to the Government. It only remains for me to say, speaking for those with whom I am associated, that we make these suggestions in no spirit of criticism, certainly in no spirit of hostility I have endeavoured to put them forward in such a manner as to make that clear. They are made in a spirit of pure friendliness. We all desire but one thing, the success of our Army, and a speedy termination of this terrible War; but I think we also desire that in accomplishing those two things we shall do everything in our power to bring home to our soldiers and sailors, not only that we are grateful for their services, not only that we know they are giving us of their best, but that we are determined that they shall be fed from home with all that they need, and that they shall get with as little delay as possible on the spot these small rewards, which are little enough in themselves, but are greatly coveted by those who defend our shores, and which mean, at all events, the outward and visible sign of the good work done by men who deserve not only our gratitude but command our admiration and deserve to be described as the finest body of heroes who have ever gone from this land to fight for our Sovereign and our Flag.
  Sir HENRY DALZIEL: I rise to urge upon the Government in a very few sentences that a greater amount of this Vote than was the case with the previous one should be spent in taking care that no supplies are going from this country to assist the enemy. No doubt the right hon. Gentleman will be able to give the House
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  a reassuring statement on the point, but I can assure him that very considerable anxiety, and not a few risks, exist in the country with regard to this matter. One or two figures may be of interest. In September, 1913, before the War, 154,000 tons of coal went to Holland. At the end of this year, after the War, the figures for September were 276,000 tons, which shows an extraordinary increase for the month of September this year as against last year. In the case of Denmark the increase went up from 275,724 tons to 405,842 tons. With regard to Sweden the figures are more alarming. In September last year, the total was 394,314 tons, and this year for September 633,546 tons. To Norway the figures have increased from 174,000 tons to 233,754 tons. Of course, if these coals remained at their first destination there would be no cause for anxiety, and it may be suggested that the difficulty in getting coals from Germany is the explanation. But I am not satisfied that this is a complete explanation, and I hope we shall have some statement as to what the Government are doing to satisfy themselves that the enemy is not getting the advantage of this extraordinary increase in the exportation of coal to neutral countries. I have received a letter from a gentleman on the East Coast of Scotland whom the Prime Minister knows very well, and I am sure that what he says will be regarded as correct. He writes to me from a very small port on the East of Scotland, not far from the right hon. Gentleman's constituency—
  The PRIME MINISTER: In Fife?
  Sir H. DALZIEL: Yes.
  "The Government are not strict enough yet on the East Coast. There is far too much coal going away in alien vessels. Eight hundred and twenty tons left here the other day for Fredericia, which is quite close to Schleswig-Holstein. We shipped lately in a week 2,246 tons to Norway and 1,390 tons to Denmark. Last year we shipped about 400 tons a week to these places combined. The quantities are nothing, but the increase is very significant. Whisky from bond is being shipped to Norway and Denmark in large quantities, and I am told—I won't guarantee its truth—but I am told the vessels make very quick voyages and get back with extraordinary rapidity."
  If that is the case in a small port in the East of Scotland, what must it be in some of our larger ports? Some of that coal was going to places in close proximity to where the German Fleet is at the present

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  time. Perhaps there is some explanation of this large increase. In regard to other articles the increase is equally significant. Take cocoa, for example. In September, 1913, we sent to neutral countries 79,000lbs. of cocoa, and in 1914, 189,000lbs., or an increase of 109,727lbs. For October the figures are even more significant, and they have gone up by a very large percentage indeed. Tea is also very alarming from the point of view of the figures. In September, 1913, we sent to neutral countries 424,000 lbs. of tea, while in the month of September, 1914, we sent 1,721,000 lbs., or an increase of 1,296,000 lbs. In October before the War, we sent to neutral countries 595,353 lbs., whilst in September, 1914, we sent 10,384,000 lbs., or an increase in one month of 9,789,644 lbs. I think that is a very important fact, because it is hardly conceivable that the people of those countries have been drinking six times more tea than they did before the War. The case is very much the same in regard to other articles, and I want to know what is the explanation of this extraordinary increase in tea alone.
  It will not do for the Government to say that none of it is going to Germany, because I know that some of it is going to Germany, and if the President of the Board of Trade were here I have no doubt he would be able to confirm my statement. I can state on my own authority that one parcel of tea alone of 40,000 kilograms went from Gothenburg to Germany, and was sent from this country, representing about 80,000 lbs. of tea. I think in a matter of that kind an investigation should be made from the shippers who sent that tea. I also know from facts in my possession that 1,300 chests of tea from this country went from Copenhagen to Germany, and how much more was sent I do not know. I think greater efforts should be made to see that Germany is not getting any advantage from this increase. Some people say that the kind of tea we are sending abroad is not the kind that Germany likes. You might just as well say that a soldier would not drink Scotch whisky on the battlefield because it was not his own particular brand. In time of war the Germans will be glad to get any kind of tea, and it is our business not to
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  allow them to get any kind of tea or anything else likely to help them in the course of this War. With regard to the exportations to neutral countries, cigarettes have gone up by 99 per cent., cocoa by 78 per cent., bicycle tyres by 66 per cent., motor bicycles by 41 per cent., bicycle parts by 44 per cent., and boots by 21 per cent. Generally speaking, the increase to the neutral countries on the borders of Germany is greater than can be fully explained, and I ask the Prime Minister whether he can give us an assurance that an increased effort will be made to take care that none of the exports from this country are allowed to go into the enemy's camp? I think in a crisis like this we ought to secure all these supplies for our own people, and take the risk of offending some of the neutral countries, because after all the previous demand was not of such a gigantic character as to merit any special consideration. I hope the right hon. Gentleman will be able to give some assurance on these points.
  Mr. T. M. HEALY: With regard to this expenditure, I think the Vote asked for by the Government is a moderate and modest one. I had expected, and, indeed, I should have voted for a much larger amount. I rose to say a few words upon a different topic. I think the House thoroughly appreciates the action of the Ministry in the conduct of this War, and more especially the anxious care which has been thrown upon the shoulders of the Prime Minister. The right hon. Gentleman need never fear coming before this House and asking for a Vote, no matter how large it may be for this purpose, for I am sure the House will cheerfully grant every subsidy he requires. Having said this I now wish to make a small criticism upon a possible form of this expenditure. I entirely agree with every word which was said by the right hon. Gentleman on the front Opposition bench (Mr. Walter Long). I think he voiced the general opinion of this country. I also heartily associate myself with the demand of the Labour party in respect to the remuneration of soldiers, and compensation to widows and dependants. This is the first real national War in which this Empire has been engaged, and it appeals to the hearts and souls and activities of every one of us. The notion that any poor

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  dependant of a soldier or sailor shall suffer from want in this struggle is repugnant to all our minds.
  In former times, when we have had battles, we have seen unfortunate cripples in our workhouses, and people have said, "This is how they are treated." We are not going to have this again. We are not going to have poor people risking their lives and getting maimed and then seeing their dependants thrown upon the scrap heap. I assure the Government that any sums that may be required in the interests of these soldiers, sailors, or dependants, will be cheerfully voted by every Member of this House. Having said this, I wish to take up a small point with regard to another form of expenditure. While we are willing and glad to vote expenditure on behalf of the poor who have lost relatives in this War, I myself view with some anxiety a certain tendency with regard to the rich, especially in the City of London. I quite agree with what the Government have done with regard to the banks. I think that is a wholesome and necessary operation; but if there be anything in the rules that are to be made, that will give relief to stockbrokers, I only say let the names be published, and that will be a sufficient protection. When people are put upon outdoor relief through ordinary poverty their names are published on the union wall.
  Mr. JOHN WARD: And they lose their votes.
  5.0 p.m.
  Mr. T. M. HEALY: The hon. Member for Stoke says they lose their votes, and they are disfranchised. I quite agree that after the catastrophe of War unusual steps may be necessary, and I do not quarrel with any action the Government may take in regard to any individual case, but what we shall insist—and I hope the whole House will remember it—is that the facts shall be made public, not now, because they might be used to the detriment of the individuals, but when this business is over and we have cleaned the slate. Then I think we shall be entitled to know that any money we vote here to-day has not gone into the pockets of those individuals. There is a strong temptation in connection with the Treasury to ingratiate themselves with City magnates, and for my part this is one form of expenditure which I shall
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  scrutinise, criticise, and watch very carefully You may vote as much as you please for the Army and Navy, but as little as possible for the City of London. Having said that, I now wish to make another observation with regard to Belgium and Servia. Although the Government are bound, with their responsibilities, to be careful and prudent with regard to any statement they make having an international character, I think I might speak and tell the Belgians and the Servians that the House of Commons will never exact one farthing of the sums which have been given as loans. I have no authority whatever—except my own view—to say that, but I think I know enough of the temper of this House to be able to tell the Belgians that we shall never collect a kopeck of this amount. What the right hon. Gentleman who has just sat down said with regard to the censorship is really only a moderate expression of the feeling of the people of this country, and not merely of the people of this country but also of people abroad. Does not the Government realise that we are making ourselves a laughing-stock over the censorship? I will take only yesterday. Not a battle picture, but some invocation to Mahomed on behalf of the Turk was censured, according to the newspapers. He was invoking the powers of Mahomed on behalf of the Turkish arms, and then he was suddenly deleted by the Censor. Who is responsible for all this?
  It seems to me that the Government are really over-cautious. It is very natural that they should have that feeling, having regard to their responsibilities, but will they please remember what the wireless system has put Germany in possession of? Spending a short holiday in America, this is what I noticed: A long telegram every morning from Berlin by wireless to a place in Rhode Island copied into all the American papers stuffed with German lies, and then on our side an attenuated abortion giving an account of the Allies and their proceedings. How can such a thing be reconciled with common sense? We have not control of the air, we have not control of the wireless system, and Germany is pumping into every country of America her own version and her own side of the story. How, then, can you expect that you are concealing something from the Germans

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  which they know much better than we do yourselves? Then there is another absurdity. The Germans have a fight with us in a particular town, but you do not state the name of the town. [An HON. MEMBER: "Or the regiment!"] Was there ever such an absurdity? An American asked me if I could explain this extraordinary system of newsmongering, and I must say now in public what I said in private. I gave the explanation that the Government had put the whole of this work under a Chancery lawyer who was accustomed to drafting affidavits. He is a most able man in his profession, but would anybody have selected him a priori where questions and news were concerned? I would as soon think of asking a plumber to make illuminated manuscript. I say that with great respect to the right hon. Gentleman. He is an admirable lawyer, but this is not a job for lawyers. I respectfully think that the whole system of Press censorship needs immediate and absolute revision. Having said that, I can only say, in conclusion, that I cordially support the Vote, and if it were much larger, I should be quite willing to support it.
  Mr. HODGE: I desire to associate myself with the very timely criticisms of the right hon. Gentleman (Mr. Long). We on these benches support him in what he said in relation to officers. The salaries paid to officers are all too low for the purpose of enabling them to make arms their profession, and I think those who used to talk about the swank of officers must have realised by now their courage and heroism so far as this War is concerned. There is not one of us who is not full of the greatest admiration for our British officers, and if the Prime Minister would do something by way of improving the conditions of the officers during the existence of the War, or increasing the pensions to the widows, it would meet with my colleagues' hearty approval. I happen to have a letter in my hand from a gentleman in a moderate position in life whose son is an officer, and who says that unfortunately he himself is not in a position to do for the wife of his son what he would like, and undoubtedly there must be many cases of hardship. I have already said
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  that we, at any rate, would hail with satisfaction any improvement that the Prime Minister chooses to effect.
  I also desire to associate myself with what the right hon. Gentleman said with respect to bounties. My colleagues and myself have been inundated with letters from men who feel that they have been deceived. Let us have a little less red-tape and a little more common sense and equity with regard to these bounties. I should also like to associate myself with the criticisms which have been made with respect to the Press censorship. Everyone unable to fight who has been doing something else for his country, such as attempting to help recruiting, has had a great many questions addressed to him as to the misdeeds of the Censor, and I have wondered why it was that we could so quickly receive that glowing account of the splendid charge of the London Scottish and yet have not had depicted to us the deeds that other regiments have accomplished. There cannot be any doubt that the reading of deeds of that kind thrills one, and would have a similar result as in the case of the London Scottish of bringing in recruits. With regard to Belgium, I am sure that I voice the opinion of my colleagues when I say that we would gladly make the money advanced to Belgium a gift. Later on we can collect it from the Kaiser.
  The right hon. Gentleman referred with satisfaction to the fact that unemployment had not been as great as we anticipated in the earlier stages of the War. I am glad to say that my own estimate with respect to my own trade has been absolutely falsified, as last month, to take that as an example, we had a lower percentage of unemployment than in the corresponding month of last year. I hope that it continues. It is well, however, that the Government should realise that as soon as the huts for the soldiers have been completed an immense army of carpenters and joiners will be thrown out of employment, and, if some of our local authorities would take time by the forelock and get on with their housing schemes so that some of these men might be utilised in the next two or three months, it would be very much better than waiting until the crisis is upon us. Generally speaking, with respect to the sugar coup and various

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  other matters, we all realise the great things which the Government have done in that direction. I cannot boast of any claim to be a financial expert, but I have had letters—I do not know whether other Members have had letters of a similar character—asking: "Why go to the money market for money?" The Bank of England are permitted to issue so many million Bank notes every year upon which they pay no interest and upon which they reap a profit. The Scottish Banks also have the right to issue so many Bank notes. Why not issue the whole £225,000,000 as Bank notes by the Government, redeemable by them as and when they like? You would have no interest to pay on it, and it would do very much in the shape of interest saved to pay some of the expenses of the War. I am not, as I said, a financial expert, but I do not see why it could not be done. The Government of the Commonwealth of Australia took away from the Banks the right to issue Bank notes, and they are now issued by the State itself. Some four or five years ago the amount of Bank notes issued was something like £6,000,000 or £7,000,000. They have no interest to pay on that money. I do not see why we should not follow their example. There is not anything in the shape of money so far as my colleagues and myself are concerned that we will not give the Government to prosecute the War to a successful and triumphant conclusion.
  Lord C. BERESFORD: I should like to thank the last speaker for the generous remarks he made about our officers at the front. We have not always heard such kindly observations from those benches. However, what is past is past, and I am satisfied that the hon. Member has conveyed to the House the sentiments of the whole of the Labour party on the gallantry displayed by our officers. My right hon. Friend below me spoke just now of the lack of information that is being given to the country regarding the gallant acts performed by various regiments. I have been accustomed to handle men all my life, and I say there is nothing that more works up enthusiasm or makes for better comradeship, which is the thing to have in action and in fighting, than appreciation. It is fatal, no matter how honest the sentiments are, to individualise either a ship in the Fleet or a regiment in the Army.
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  For what the gallant Scottish regiment did every praise should be given, but let us remember there are other regiments which have done equally well—regiments which have been longer in the field and which have gone through the harassing and trying time so shattering to the nerves. Their acts have not been mentioned at all, and I would ask the Prime Minister if he cannot see his way to let our countrymen know more of the gallantry of these regiments. It is only fair that the information should be made public. More than that, it would encourage recruiting. There are friends of men connected with every regiment, and it must give rise to a little feeling of soreness, not against the gallant regiment which has been mentioned, of course, if certain regiments should be picked out for mention while others are not mentioned at all. It would be quite easy for the Prime Minister to see that there should be issued such a bulletin as my right hon. Friend has suggested. It could not help the enemy in any way. It would not involve disclosing information vital to the plan of campaign, and it does give us a thrill when we hear of regiments performing such wonderful feats of heroism as they undoubtedly have done in this War. Do not let us pick out one regiment from another. Do not let us star one regiment when others have done equally well. I hope the right hon. Gentleman will also bear in mind what my right hon. Friend said on the question of promotion and appreciation on the field. It is most necessary that while the event of heroism is fresh in the mind of a man's comrades he should be given promotion or some other mark of appreciation. The General has a right, I believe, to give promotion and award decorations, and I think he should exercise it more freely, and that the conferment of the honour should be immediately communicated to the countrymen of the recipient. I hope the right hon. Gentleman will bear that in mind.
  Then there is the question of people who are maimed, and people who lose their health in the service of the country. My right hon. Friend in what he said in regard to that voiced, I think, the sentiments of those who are a little better off than other people. I have often found fault with the Chancellor of the Exchequer for

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  the way in which he has taxed that class, but I believe that, on this occasion, those who are a little better off are prepared to be taxed to any amount in order that the dependants of those who have lost their lives in the field, or have lost their health, or have come home maimed, shall never want anything again so long as they live. I am old enough to remember the Crimean war and the Indian Mutiny, and when I was a young man I often blushed with shame at seeing those who had risked their lives and lost their health in those campaigns ending their days in the workhouse. In this House we have to see that that shall never again happen, and I believe that is a sentiment which is universal, not only in this House, but throughout the country. The hon. and learned Member for North-East Cork (Mr. T. M. Healy) also voiced an opinion, which, I am sure, is universal throughout the Empire, when he urged that whatever we elected to give to Belgium should be a free gift. We can afford it. We must remember that Belgium has been fighting our battle, and I hope the Prime Minister will be kind enough to bear that also in mind.
  Mr. CHIOZZA MONEY: I should like to offer a few observations regarding what has been said by the right hon. Gentleman the Member for Kirkcaldy (Sir H. Dalziel). He is not unnaturally alarmed at any prospect of giving any help to the enemy, and I should like to say we are quite with him in desiring that nothing shall be given to the enemy that can be of use to him. But with regard to the four articles which the right hon. Gentleman specified, I think he entertains undue alarm. As to whisky, it surely is not necessary I should offer any remark.
  Sir H. DALZIEL: Whisky was not my point.
  Mr. CHIOZZA MONEY: I can only suggest that if all the whisky produced in Scotland were sent to Germany, there would be no cause for regret or alarm on my side. I will pass on to the question of coal. In regard to that I think my right hon. Friend forgets that Germany is one of the greatest coal-producing countries in the world. There is no reason to believe that the coal that is being exported from
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  this country to Scandinavia is required for Germany. The Scandinavian countries have told us that they need it for themselves, because they cannot get supplies from Germany.
  Sir H. DALZIEL: They said that about tea, which I can prove is going into Germany now.
  Mr. CHIOZZA MONEY: That is the explanation which has been given, and I think we can accept it, and accept it gladly, for the reason that we do not want to injure ourselves in an attempt to injure the enemy. If by sending our coal to Scandinavia we prevent Germany selling coal to Scandinavia, it is a point gained by us. Then, again, my right hon. Friend mentioned tea and cocoa. With regard to the latter I cannot help thinking that we should be ill-advised to do anything which would injure our own colonial cocoa producers, as we should do, by stimulating cocoa production in foreign possessions. At the present moment there is a very considerable amount of cocoa on the market—much more than is needed.
  Sir H. DALZIEL: And it is at a much higher price, because we are sending it away in the way I complain of.
  Mr. CHIOZZA MONEY: We have to consider, not only the question of the sale of cocoa, but the question also of production. If my right hon. Friend had been dealing with articles of any military value to the enemy I could quite understand his position, but we must remember where the article is produced, and we ought not to do anything to hurt our own producers simply because we want to injure the enemy. The same remark applies in some sense to tea. I cannot conceive why we should worry ourselves with regard to the export of tea to countries who are not alien enemies. It is not a medical necessity. It is not appreciated by the Germans as it is by the British soldier, and there is no reason why we should injure our trade at the very time when we want it to be as large as possible. If my right hon. Friend will bear these considerations in mind, I think he will admit there is no strong case made out in regard to these particular articles. I should like to pass from that to the very serious amount of money which we are voting, and gladly voting, to-day.

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  It would be outside the bounds of order if I were to deal in detail with the question of raising the money, but I do want to put in a plea—
  The DEPUTY-CHAIRMAN (Mr. Maclean): Not only the details, but the question altogether.
  Mr. CHIOZZA MONEY: I consulted the Chairman, and I understood that a general reference to the subject would be permissible.
  The DEPUTY-CHAIRMAN: I do not know what passed between the hon. Member and the Chairman; I can only give him my own ruling.
  Mr. CHIOZZA MONEY: I did put the matter to Mr. Whitley, or I would not have mentioned it now. Of course, I accept your ruling, and will not pursue the matter further.
  Sir IVOR HERBERT: I understood it was open to refer to the matter of the personnel on the Votes for the number of men available for the Army, and upon that subject I want to offer a few remarks. In the first place, I congratulate the Government on having come to the decision to adopt a new method with regard to the raising of the men—the system of registration which has been partially employed in some districts and has already been recommended by many authorities. But the most important point with regard to the question of men—a point which must be brought home to us—is the wastage that is going on in the force already raised. I do not wish to go over the old story or to repeat what I have said on former occasions in this House, because I fully realise that the military authorities have put forward great efforts to make good the deficiencies which existed at that time. But there is one fact which comes out now, namely, that there is an abnormal wastage going on in the ranks of those units which have already been raised—a wastage which requires some explanation and the adoption of measures to check it. According to figures which have been given to me, there has been a wastage in many units of as much as from 30 to 40 per cent. of the strength of the unit, and it is due to what is known in military language generally as "avoidable disease." It is a very serious question, and it is one which it behoves the
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  Government and the military authorities to give close attention to it, now that they are dealing with the question of raising a further number of recruits. It is unavoidable, possibly, that a large number of young men thrown into temptations which they have never faced before, should suffer in the way they have done. But at the same time it should have been evident to those who are accustomed to military organisation, that special police measures were required to restrain the causes of this most unfortunate condition of affairs. At present, to put it plainly, the great wastage that is going on in the ranks of the new Army conies from two causes, and two causes only—drink and women. Both these are causes which can be dealt with by administrative measures, and I urge that some measures should be taken. If the powers in the hands of either the local bodies or the military authorities are not sufficient to restrain the sale of drink or the operation of the other social evil, then the Government should come to this House and propose such measures as may be necessary to enable them to deal with the problems. That anything like that wastage should be allowed to go on unchecked in the ranks of the New Army is certainly a most serious matter, and is one for which I do not apologise in bringing it before the Committee. I can assure them that it is a most distasteful and unpleasant thing for me to have to do, and it is only a sense of duty, and also the knowledge which I have gained of these things during my military experience, that has induced me to rise and speak on this question now.
  Mr. EDGAR JONES: I am sorry to detain the Committee, but I have a very serious matter to which to call the attention of the Government in regard to the censorship, which I take it comes under this Vote. I want to know whether—I ask it regretfully—they cannot apply some kind of censorship to the writings of my colleague, the junior Member for Merthyr Tydvil (Mr. Keir Hardie). [Laughter.] I am very pleased to see that the Committee takes that rather light view of what the hon. Member has been writing, but when they hear what I am calling the attention of the Government to, I think they will take a more serious view. I took the view a short time ago that apparently hon.

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  Members of the Committee are now taking, that it was not worth while taking any notice of what the hon. Member was writing in his journal, which I am afraid will probably be quoted in neutral countries. That is the point to which I want to call the attention of the Government—the effect of these statements upon neutral countries. I should be the last man in the world to advocate any kind of censorship of or interference with a mere personal expression of opinions, however disagreeable or untimely they might be. But when a Member of this House, who has ceased really to represent the views of his constituents, sets himself out to make statements that are apparently statements of fact, it is very necessary that the attention of the Government should be called to those apparent statements of fact, which I think the Government will find they will have to repudiate and deny. As I said, I took the view that they were not worth notice some time ago. But the Committee must remember that the hon. Member the junior Member for Merthyr Tydvil had already captured the hon. Member for Leicester (Mr. Ramsay Macdonald) and a few others, and that they are still a force within the Labour party itself, and, what is more—
  The CHAIRMAN: I am quite sure that that is not relevant to this Vote. The hon. Member may have another opportunity on another occasion.
  Mr. T. M. HEALY: Can it be raised on their salaries?
  Mr. EDGAR JONES: With all due respect I thought we were dealing with the censorship, and I was calling attention to the need for a censorship being applied to this particular paper and the statements in it.
  The CHAIRMAN: I agreed to a rather wide scope of debate at the opening of this discussion, but I think that is stretching it too far.
  Mr. EDGAR JONES: In that case I can raise it on the Adjournment, and I give the Government notice that I will raise it on the Motion for Adjournment.
  Sir WILLIAM BYLES: I desire to express my support of the observations made by the right hon. Gentleman opposite (Mr. Long) in regard to the supply of news, or what I would rather call the dearth of news, from the seat of war, with which the public are being supplied. I am not in favour of censoring other people's opinions: I think they had better be expressed and answered, and I am not going to deal with the question just raised and closured, but I am going to deal with the question of news from the seat of war, news which, in my judgment, the public is entitled to get. When our population has sent out its fathers, brothers and sons to the seat of war, and thousands and tens of thousands of people in this country are eager to know what they are doing, it is too bad to keep them absolutely hungry and starving for the news, which need not injure anybody and with which they ought to be supplied. It seems to me that the Government has set up some kind of machinery by which the public is kept from that which it has a right to know and which it is hungry to know. The right hon. Gentleman said that enthusiasm would be promoted in the country if deeds of valour were recorded in the public Press. Everybody knows that is perfectly true, and if there has been any check to recruiting, nothing in the world would do so much to stimulate it as a judicious publication of news. There is one other view which in the course of the Debates on this subject has not been mentioned—if the public does not get news, rumour will invent it. Just as nature abhors a vacuum, so the public abhors the absence of news. When many events are occurring, false ideas and opinions get abroad which are extremely mischievous in the national and public interest.
  I am afraid, too, and I am quite sure many others must be afraid, that when we do not hear of things, some things which, perhaps, are not pleasing to hear, are actually suppressed. The public has a right to bad news as well as good news. It ought to know what are the real facts. There is a suspicion that very important things that have taken place since this War opened—very important for the public to know—have been deliberately kept from it, and which some day will come out. When a rumour of a disaster gets abroad,

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  neighbours immediately magnify it and extend it, and make it perhaps ten times worse than it really is. The attention of the Government—and I hope the Prime Minister will think of it himself—should be given to this question. We had a speech the other night from the learned Solicitor-General, who is in charge of the Press Bureau. He seemed to put it forward that news which had the tendency to depress the public spirit should certainly be withheld. I do not think that is a safe plan to go upon. It has been my business for the greater part of my life to purvey news to the public, and I know something of the supply and something of the appetite for news. I believe journalists of reputation are entirely to be trusted to act honourably, to obey restrictions and not to do mischief knowingly. The "Times" newspaper almost every day has remonstrated on this subject, and many letters have appeared in the Press upon it. From Paris we get an official communiqué twice every day; from our own Bureau nothing. I make no apology for supporting from this side of the Committee the most excellent remarks that fell from such an influential quarter as the front Opposition Bench.
  Mr. J. H. THOMAS: There is one point I desire to bring to the notice of the Prime Minister, but before doing so I should like to say that I do not desire to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Merthyr Tydvil (Mr. Edgar Jones), except to say this, that the Labour party in this House and the Labour party in the country have already shown their feelings with regard to their responsibilities. Whatever differences may exist between the two hon. Gentlemen who represent Merthyr at the moment, it would very much better if they settled them at Merthyr rather than that they should bring them into the House and drag the Labour party into them. I desire to draw attention to the remarks of the right hon. Gentleman the Member for the Strand Division (Mr. Long) with regard to the part that the railways have played in this matter. I, like him, believe that the public generally have not fully appreciated the important part that the railwaymen of this country have played. When, some few months ago, the Prime Minister announced that our troops had been conveyed without loss of either man or beast, he paid the greatest possible
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  tribute to the efficiency, patriotism, and sacrifices of the railwaymen. At the same time, the right hon. Gentleman said that the arrangement between the Government and the railway companies was in his opinion—I think his exact words were—
  "An admirable arrangement."
  I desire to say that it is a most one-sided arrangement, because while it is true that the railwaymen have worked as they have without murmur or grumble, both night and day, and are depleted to the number of 65,000 who are at this moment serving with the Colours—notwithstanding those facts, the arrangement between the railway companies and the Government is such that while the shareholders are guaranteed their dividends, the railwaymen are not guaranteed a full weekly wage. I put it to the Committee that if the arrangement had been that the railway shareholders were to bear some loss, the railwaymen could not have grumbled. But when the arrangement is, as we all know it to be, that the shareholders are practically guaranteed the same dividends as last year, I am justified in claiming, on behalf of the railwaymen, that at least they should be guaranteed a full weekly wage. I put it fairly and bluntly that that should be the arrangement at this moment, and I hope the Government will recognise the services, from the general manager downwards—I am not claiming any special credit for the railwaymen, because I fully recognise that the officers of the companies have worked just as much as the humble railwaymen. Recognising that they all work, and that they are all doing their duty, I submit that if the shareholders are guaranteed their dividends, certainly the railwaymen ought to be guaranteed their weekly wages. I hope the Prime Minister will be able to say that so far as the arrangement is concerned he will bring that to the notice of the railway companies.
  Sir THOMAS WHITTAKER: In a word or two I desire to support and emphasise the remarks made by my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for South Monmouthshire (Sir Ivor Herbert) who spoke from this Bench a little time back with reference to the efficiency of the Army and the efficiency of the recruiting as affected by the two matters to which he referred. I have no means of judging, as the hon.

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  and gallant Member has, but if it be true that there has been a leakage or wastage in our recruits of something like 30 per cent. or 40 per cent. owing to the cases to which he referred, it is extremely serious indeed.
  An HON. MEMBER: Where is the evidence of it?
  Sir T. WHITTAKER: I have no evidence, but we know that there has been a substantial leakage, and we know that there has been great damage done to the Army through drinking and the evils that result from that. I myself, with regret, have seen our new soldiers in uniform rolling drunk about our streets at mid-day, and I saw one man fighting wildly, and it took three policemen to get him to the station. I do not suggest for a moment—the fact is the contrary—that our soldiers are an intemperate set of men, but this is a time of excitement, and it is the public themselves who, mistakenly, through generosity and kindness, tempt these men, who are to blame. That is the cause of the trouble, and it is a serious interference with the efficiency of our men. Nothing could have been more satisfactory than Lord Kitchener's message to the Army when they first went out, and no men realise more thoroughly than our military authorities the importance of having our men sober in order to make them efficient, and I wish to press upon the Government that all the steps which can possibly be taken should be taken to promote the sobriety of our soldiers in this time of trial and of stress and temptation, and that whatever can be done should be done to check the folly of the public in tempting these young fellows in the way they do.
  Mr. COURTHOPE: I am afraid if nothing is added to the two speeches we have heard on this subject it may go out to the public, or to an ignorant section of the public, that the 30 per cent. or 40 per cent. which has been mentioned is a prevailing figure throughout the new units. I say with emphasis that it is not. I very much doubt whether a single unit could be named in which either 30 per cent. or 40 per cent. of wastage has occurred, and I say without fear of contradiction from any quarter that in a great majority of
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  localities and a great majority of units the sobriety of the recruits has been very noticeable and there has been an astonishing freedom from avoidable disease. I am speaking with exact knowledge only, perhaps, of one or two units, but in the unit with which I happen to be connected myself, of some 1,600 or 1,700 men, who have been up since the beginning of the War and stationed in places with which you would expect there to be a special temptation of that kind, there has not been a single case of venereal disease. I do not quote this as being exceptional, because I know of scores and scores of units with an equally good record, but I do not want it to go out from the Debate to-day that there has been a great prevalence of avoidable disease or excessive drunkenness.
  Mr. JONATHAN SAMUEL: I want to raise a point I raised on Thursday night when, I am sorry to say, there was not a single Member of the Government representing the War Department present, and I want to make a special appeal to the Prime Minister. I was surprised to hear to-day the very large number of questions which were put to the War Office officials with regard to the recurring non-payment of allotments and allowances. I have had a good deal of correspondence with the War Office on this point, and I want to pay them the tribute that in every case they have attended to my correspondence and that in each case the applicants have received their money. I want to impress upon the Prime Minister this point, that in every town throughout the country we have now thousands and thousands of men who have been sent to the Front and to the Navy. In my own town we have sent between 3,000 and 4,000 men. When separation allowances are not paid and it goes on for weeks, unfortunately the poor women do not know whom to correspond with and they rush here and there to ask people to write to the War Office to get their separation allowances.
  An HON. MEMBER: They should write to their Member.
  Mr. J. SAMUEL: It is not every Member who lives in his own constituency as I do, and I have a very large number of inquiries. I want to make a practical suggestion to get over this difficulty. The

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  Prime Minister the other day announced, and very properly in my opinion, that with regard to the proposed allowances to be paid to the dependants, the old age pensions committee will make inquiries as to their claims. If the old age pensions committee and their officers were to establish a correspondence bureau in every town, so that when a separation allowance or allotment is not paid a woman will have the right to go to the officer of the old age pensions committee, who is an independent and impartial man, and give him the necessary information, he can at once put them into communication with the War Office. It was stated the other night that there was not a single case of arrears. I have had a letter from a lady in Dorset who writes that her husband is a Reservist, she pays 9s. 6d. per week rent, she has three children, and for two months she got no money. Her husband joined on 5th August. She has sent letters to the War Office, but with no result. This is really what these people are suffering from. I know it from my own experience. Much of this misery and poverty would be lessened, in fact, abolished, under the new system of allowances and allotments if these women could go to some person, not to this or that lady, or the Member of Parliament, who may be away from the constituency, but to some officer in the locality under the old age pensions committee, which, I think, is the best one, and could then say, as a matter of right, "I have not received my separation allowance or allotment, can you write to the War Office or the Admiralty on my behalf?" I have a case which came to me on Saturday with regard to the Admiralty. In all these cases there are delays, and if this principle which I have suggested were adopted, I am certain that much of this trouble would be avoided, and a great deal of the criticism which the Government are now having in the constituencies would be done away with and the wives and families would be very much better off.
  The PRIME MINISTER: I think the suggestion just made by my hon. Friend is one of a practical character, and I will bring it to the notice of the War Office in order to simplify this very difficult matter, for it is a very difficult matter, by adopting it in one form or another. I think the
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  course of the Debate has shown that it was for the general convenience of the Committee that we should take the discussion, not only on the strict question of the money, but also on the question of the men and the general conditions under which this expenditure is going to be applied as part and parcel of a single topic. I am quite sure that the Committee will recognise that, having done so, we ought not to go over the same ground again when we take the same Vote. I am the last to complain either of the tone or the substance of anything that has been said in the course of the discussion, and I particularly recognise the friendly spirit with which the right hon. Gentleman (Mr. Long) opened the discussion. There was not a word in what he has said to which I could have taken any objection, and I will deal briefly, but I hope not perfunctorily, with the various points which he has raised. They are all points worthy of consideration. The first, I think, was the question of officers' pay. In regard to that I will say, without committing the Government for a moment to any specific proposal, that the matter has been engaging their attention, and Lord Kitchener has drawn up a scheme which is now under the consideration of the Treasury, so that I hope before long we may be in a position to remedy what I have felt for years to be a very serious grievance, namely, the insufficient pay of the lower ranks of commissioned officers. The soldiers' pay has received attention and the officers' pay has been neglected. I can still understand that the soldier is not at present as wealthy as he ought to be, but I am sure that the grievance of the officer, who cannot live on his pay and must either get into debt or be supported by his parents and friends from extraneous sources, is a reproach to this country, and ought to have been removed long before, for it becomes increasingly urgent and scandalous when men are laying down their lives for the sake of their country. The Committee may be quite sure that the Government has got that matter in hand and will not delay to propose remedies.
  6.0 p.m.
  In regard to the point of the non-payment of bounties to members of the National Reserve, I am not sure that there may not be some misapprehension. As I

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  understand the position from recollections of the short period when I was at the War Office, the bounty was promised to men who registered themselves in time of peace in order that when war broke out the authorities might know where to find them and therefore might at once avail themselves of their services. That was the principle. Men, as I understand, in some cases, who were not registered, came forward and enlisted, very properly, when the War broke out, and they felt a grievance at not having received the bounty, to which they were not strictly entitled. The right hon. Gentleman will, I am sure, agree. I think in many of these cases the matter has been already met by the War Office, who have not stuck to the strict letter of the law but have interpreted these requirements in a liberal spirit. If specific cases of grievance still exist they will be dealt with in the same spirit by the authorities. Then the right hon. Gentleman raised the question, and a very important and serious one it is, of the importance of the speedy announcement of rewards and promotions for gallant conduct in the field, and particularly in regard to regimental officers and men. That is, of course, not a new question. It arises in every war. Sir John French, has been given, from the first, a very wide discretion and very ample power in regard to the promotion of non-commissioned officers to the rank of second-lieutenant, and that power has been very freely exercised by him. No fewer than 438 such promotions have already been made, which I think is very satisfactory. Sir John French has taken full advantage of the power which the Government gave him. With regard to promotion above that rank, it is undoubtedly true, and I think has always been the case, that the suggestions of the General are formally referred home, but they are always attended to. I do not know that there has been any undue delay, but if it is possible to accelerate the machinery, particularly that of publication, I should be only too glad that we should take steps for that purpose. Nothing can be more disheartening and unjust than that gallant men who have earned promotion should be unduly delayed in receiving acknowledgment of it, and sometimes pre-
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  vented by death from knowing they have received it at all. That, I can assure the House, we shall do all we can to avoid.
  Then the right hon. Gentleman raised the question which has been touched upon by many other speakers—my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Cork amongst others—the question of war correspondents, and what is closely allied with it, the functions of the Censor, and the exercise of those functions here at home. I go every length with every speaker who has taken part in the discussion of this Debate in emphasising the importance of the rapid and complete publication of the gallant achievements both of regiments and individuals. Allusion has been made to the publicity given the other day in a telegram, I think from the Commander-in-Chief, to the splendid work of the London Scottish, and, of course, no tribute was ever better earned or more appreciated. Upon the face of it, however, it does look an invidious thing to single out one regiment for praise, however well deserved that praise may be, and leave the achievements of other regiments for the time being in the obscurity of silence, only to emerge from that obscurity when the immediate interest of the situation, and, what is of the highest importance from our point of view, the exigencies of recruiting have somewhat disappeared.
  I should be glad to see any system by which the most complete and prompt announcement could be given to all the gallant deeds of officers and men, whether of one regiment or another. I pointed out in the Debate on the Address that there are some difficulties in regard to this matter. The right hon. Gentleman was very strong in urging us to allow to be sent to the front skilled war correspondents, who, though they might be unable to cover the whole field of action in the extended line of modern operations, could give us detailed pictures of particular aspects of the campaign. We are not free agents in that matter. We must regulate our proceedings by the proceedings of our Allies, and our Allies, who occupy the largest share of the fighting and the longest line at the front, and who are in their own country, must in the long run be permitted to have a decisive voice as to what should, or should not, be

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  done in the way of the appointment and freedom of correspondents. I am not making any complaint of any sort. I am sure everything that has been done has been done with strict regard to military exigencies. I know the gallant Generals who preside over the fortunes and conduct the operations of the French Army are as anxious as we are that their public, like ourselves, should get the full advantage of the incentive and stimulus which publicity alone can give.
  Lord C. BERESFORD: If it could be done for one regiment, is there any reason why it could not be done for all?
  The PRIME MINISTER: I was dealing for the moment with the question of correspondents. The mention of that particular regiment was in a telegram from the Commander-in-Chief. I hope we shall have in dispatches and telegrams from the front the fullest possible recognition of the special achievements of particular regiments and particular individuals. I do not think at the moment we can go further than that. We are all anxious, the Government more anxious than anybody, that such procedure as is expedient and necessary for that purpose shall be adopted, and adopted as fully as may be. My hon. Friend the Member for Salford (Sir W. Byles) spoke of concealment. He said he thought that things had been concealed which ought to have been let out, and he pointed to the disastrous—I will not say disastrous—but to consequences much to be deplored, and that might impair the confidence of the public in the bulletins that have been published.
  Sir W. BYLES: I spoke hypothetically.
  The PRIME MINISTER: The hon. Gentleman spoke hypothetically, and I am speaking hypothetically also. I ask the House to accept the assurance that nothing has been withheld, or will be withheld, except under the stress of immediate military exigencies. There are circumstances in which it is necessary, not to conceal, but to postpone for the time being the knowledge of what has occurred. I say there may have been things, even in this War, as there have been in all wars that have preceded it, which were adverse in themselves, but which it was of importance for the time being that the enemy
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  should not know and act upon. I think we should have been guilty—I am still dealing with a hypothesis—in such a case of a breach of paramount duty, if, for the sake of gratifying a most legitimate desire on the part of the public to know everything that is going on, we had given away for a moment the security of the strategic interests of our gallant troops, whether by land or by sea. I am quite certain that the House and the country will recognise that that superior duty of reticence, dictated by strategic and military considerations, comes above and beyond everything else. As far as I am aware, and I think I have the fullest possible knowledge anybody can have, if anything has been concealed or withheld from public knowledge, it has been solely and entirely in deference to that consideration. I think I have now dealt with the main points made by the right hon. Gentleman.
  The Member for Kirkcaldy (Sir H. Dalziel) entered upon a different line of criticism, but one which, I think, is perfectly legitimate in so far as it was a demand for knowledge, namely, whether we are taking, and have taken, adequate steps to withhold from the enemy's forces supplies on which he depends. There is no subject which has engaged the more anxious attention of the Government from the commencement of the War. It is one of the most difficult of all problems, as we have found, particularly when the supplies of the enemy's forces come very largely from neutral countries, are carried in neutral bottoms, and are taken ostensibly and in the first instance, to neutral destinations. That applies, not perhaps quite to the same extent, but it does apply to the cases where this country is the origin and the source from which the supplies, at any rate immediately proceeded, and were carried in British ships to neutral ports. In the first set of cases you have constantly the danger of coming into collision with the legitimate national rights of neutral countries, and important as it is to withhold from the enemy supplies, whether of food or of warlike matrials, or other things of which he is urgently in need, it is equally important that we should not act in a high handed and lawless fashion in regard to neutral nations

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  and neutral Powers. We have endeavoured—it has been a very difficult task—with much pains and labour, and very considerable anxiety, to reconcile the performance of both those obligations. I do not want at this moment—we shall have to have a discussion about this—to go into details of what we have done.
  Some of these matters are of a very delicate kind, but in regard to certain of the commodities to which the right hon. Gentleman referred, I will take coal. I think the excess he has rightly observed in the exports of coal from this country to Scandinavian countries—particularly as compared with the exports at the corresponding time of last year or the year before—is not due so much—is not due at all—to that, and to their being ultimately destined to Germany, as to the fact that these countries were deprived for the time being of the supplies they have been accustomed to receive from the enemy country. My right hon. Friend and I represent different parts of the county of Fife, a great coal exporting county. He and I know very well that under normal conditions the coal of Fife does not belong to what I may call the aristocracy of coal. It is not less useful, though not in the same category as South Wales or the plutocrats of the coal world, but in our humble way we export a great deal of very useful coal to various parts of the world. One of our main competitors, as I have always understood, has been West-phalian coal. For practical purposes you may take it that the export of West-phalian coal has ceased, and it is not unnatural that Scandinavian countries should resort to us in Fife, and other parts of the United Kingdom, to make good the supply which has been cut off. In that way there has been a large, not only an apparent, increase in our exports to them. I doubt very much whether any substantial part has been re-exported to Germany.
  The case may be different with some other commodities—tea, for instance. We are dealing with that matter now. I will not say for the moment precisely in what way. There is reason to believe that a considerable fraction of tea which is exported to countries like Holland does find its way by re-export to Germany. There are expedients to which I think we shall
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  be able to resort successfully by which that can be stopped in future. There we are dealing with a neutral country. Holland is a country which has enforced her rights as a neutral throughout the War in a manner none can complain of, in a most delicate and dangerous situation, commanding, as she does, the mouth of the Rhine, with Belgium next door. I make no complaint of the way in which Holland has discharged her duties as a neutral. On the other hand, we must, of course, secure that goods which are really destined for our enemy which will nourish his population, support his army, and supply him with the munitions of war, do not get in under the cloak of being consigned as for immeditae destination to neutral ports. I am sure that the House will recognise that no effort will be spared on our part to prevent any such thing being done.
  Another matter which was raised by the hon. and gallant Member for Monmouthshire (Sir Ivor Herbert) was in regard to the alleged demoralisation through drink and other causes, to which he adverted, of a substantial proportion of the New Army. I think that my hon. and gallant Friend—I am sure quite unintentionally—took in this respect a much too gloomy view. We have made most careful inquiry into the matter, and to say that a percentage of from 30 to 40 of these men are disabled from preventible causes, from diseases, from serving their country in any useful manner is, I believe, entirely without any foundation. The Adjutant-General has made most careful inquiry into the matter. I do not like to commit myself to specific figures, but I believe that it would be far nearer the truth to say that there have not been more than 10 or at the outside 15 per cent. of cases of disease of every sort or kind, not only these particular ones, but all sorts of disease of every kind; and on the whole I do not believe that there has ever been brought together a body of men who have comported themselves so well and shown such a regard to sobriety and decency of conduct as the new recruits for the Army. Undoubtedly these men, as is always the case when a large aggregation of comparatively young men are brought together in this casual way, are exposed to temptation, to which some of them probably are strangers, and to which now and again individuals succumb. But

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  I believe, if you take the average standard of conduct, that it is worthy of the country and worthy of the cause. But my hon. Friend may be quite sure that the Adjutant-General, in conjunction with the civil authorities, is taking every possible step to remove all temptation and to secure the highest possible standard of sobriety and conduct in these troops.
  The hon. Member for Derby (Mr. Thomas) referred to the position of railwaymen. I quite agree with him that no praise can be too high for the manner in which the railway companies of the country discharged the duty of transport in regard to our Expeditionary Force and the various matters in which they were engaged. I should be very sorry to think that any profit or advantage which they have gained from the admirable performance of a public duty has not been shared by the men. The first suggestion of the kind which I have ever heard has been made by my hon. Friend to-day. Of course, we will inquire into the matter, but I am quite certain that it is the desire, and I believe that it is the practice, of the railway companies as a whole to share with their employés, particularly in an emergency of this kind, every advantage which they have gained for themselves. I think that I have covered the whole of the ground we have been taking in the course of this Debate, and, in conclusion, I would ask the House to pass this Vote on the matter which has been debated, and to give us also the million men for whom we are asking and whom we hope to enlist before very long. We have now under arms in this country—I am not speaking for the moment of Territorials at all—a Regular Army of practically 1,100,000 men. Of course, I am including in that the Expeditionary Force. But that is not enough, and I see nothing in the recent figures of recruiting to discourage for one moment the belief that we can raise our numbers to the highest point which the exigencies of the situation require. Recruiting, no doubt, has gone up and down, but it is now in a very encouraging position, and the circular which, in conjunction with the right hon. Gentleman opposite and my hon. Friend the Leader of the Labour party we, on behalf of the Parliamentary Recruiting Committee, are addressing to
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  the householders, will, we hope, in the course of the next week or ten days bring in information which will enable the War Office to add steadily and quickly and on a large scale to the number of men who are prepared to register themselves as recruits, as well as of those who actually go immediately into training.
  Sir JOHN LONSDALE: Will that circular be sent out to householders in Ireland?
  The PRIME MINISTER: I thought that it had been, but I will inquire into the matter. It has only just gone out.
  Mr. PIKE PEASE: As a Member of the Committee, may I point out that the circular has been issued only to one part of England at the present time, the Eastern area?
  The PRIME MINISTER: We are taking each command seriatim. Of course, each command will receive it in due course. I am not yet in a position to say what response has been made, as it has only been issued two or three days.
  Mr. STEWART: Can the Prime Minister give any figures up to date? In answer to Questions 65 and 84 the Under-Secretary said that he would give some details.
  The PRIME MINISTER: I can give the total number of persons who have been recruited. Roughly—I do not want to commit myself precisely—since the week ending the 10th of August, approximately—I do not say much more, but certainly not less than—700,000 recruits have joined the Colours, and they are still coming in very steadily. They have nothing to do with the Territorials. We must add to that a very large number of Territorials, at least 200,000, and I think more. I do not think that I should be very far short of the mark if I said that a million men had been recruited since the first appeal was made in the first week in August. Of course, the House thoroughly understands that the million for whom we are asking now are for the Regular Army and have nothing to do with the Territorials, but I wish to take this opportunity of saying how greatly we appreciate the services which the Territorial Force has rendered. Some people most erroneously have

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  formed the notion that there was some disposition on the part of the War Office, or persons in authority at the War Office, to disparage the Territorial Force. Nothing could be further from the fact. Again, for obvious reasons, I do not give details, but the Territorial Force is now serving the Empire, not only in this country, but at the front and in various parts of the Empire with the utmost efficiency and gallantry, and not only have we reason to hope, but we have the most confident grounds for believing from the reports which we receive from generals and those who have an opportunity of observing their conduct in action and in garrison duty, that the Territorial Force will more than justify the highest anticipations which have been formed concerning them. It is in no spirit of disparagement of them that we press this demand on the House of Commons. I am quite sure that the House will accede to it, and that recognising the efforts which the country has already made and that its willingness is quite undiminished, compared with what it was in the first days of the War, to prosecute this great endeavour to its final and successful completion, the House will give us the authorrity, which I am certain the country by its action will ratify, to raise another million of men.
  Lord HUGH CECIL: There is one matter, which I cannot call small, to which I desire very briefly to draw the attention of the Prime Minister, and that is the large insufficiency of the ministrations of chaplains with the Expeditionary Force at the front. It appears that under the existing system the Church of England chaplains, the Catholic chaplains, and the Nonconformist chaplains are organised strictly according to their military position. It is a very natural arrangement, but it results in the senior chaplain, whoever he may be, being obliged to decide all the administration of the other denominations of which he is not a member, and with the needs of which he is not familiar; and I am told that recently it has not been uncommon to find a large number of chaplains—I think I have been told ten or eleven—idle at one place and most anxious to do their best, while at another place there is a great need for chaplains and
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  there is no one to do the work. Here, of course, as in other matters in this War, we are dealing with a wholly new situation. This War makes greater demands on chaplains than any previous war; not only because the forces engaged are larger, but also because the stream of wounded—and ministrations to wounded men are amongst the most valuable part of the chaplain's work—is almost continuous. Instead of there being a battle and then a period of rest we have one continuous battle always going on. Therefore the system does not work as well, I am sure, as the Prime Minister and the whole House would desire. So I venture to submit that it might perhaps be well to have two or three people who are familiar with the religious needs of the three bodies of religious opinion concerned who might look into the matter and lay suggestions before the Secretary of State for War with a view to readjusting matters in the way in which everyone desires.
  The PRIME MINISTER: There was a complaint I know by the hon. Member for Waterford (Mr. John Redmond) as to the insufficiency of Roman Catholic chaplains. I am satisfied that that was the case, and I hope that it will be remedied as promptly as possible. I believe that there is no further complaint now on that score. The point raised by the Noble Lord shall receive attention.
  Sir IVOR HERBERT: I wish to say in reference to what my right hon. Friend said just now that no one heard with greater pleasure than I the deliberate denial of those statistics which have been given to me on what I believed to be undeniable authority. Nothing was further from my mind than to cast any aspersion upon the young men who have been coming forward to do their duty to their country. I think that the large number of those men are above all praise. I think it right to say this, because I would not wish it to be supposed for one moment that I was making any charge against these men, or that I was casting any aspersion upon them. I am very glad to hear that my right hon. Friend has been able to state that there is no foundation for the reports to which I have referred.
  Question put, and agreed to.

  ADDITIONAL LAND FORCES.

    ARMY SUPPLEMENTARY ESTIMATES, 1914–15.
    Motion made, and Question proposed, "That an additional number of Land Forces, not exceeding 1,000,000, all ranks, be maintained for the Service of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland at Home and Abroad, excluding His Majesty's Indian Possessions, in consequence of the War in Europe, for the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1915."—[The Prime Minister.]
    Question put, and agreed to.
    Resolutions to be Reported to-morrow (Tuesday); Committee to sit again To-morrow.

  MR. KEIR HARDIE.
  Whereupon Mr. SPEAKER, pursuant to the Order of the House of this day, proposed the Question, "That this House do now adjourn."
  Mr. EDGAR JONES: I wish to call the attention of the House to certain writings and statements of my colleague, the Junior Member for Merthyr Tydvil (Mr. Keir Hardie), and to ask whether it cannot try to impress upon the hon. Member that his conduct during the last few weeks—as I think the House will feel—is not desirable either for his own cause, in objecting to the conduct of the War as he does, or any other cause whatsoever. I will deal first of all with two matters—an article written by the hon. Member in his local paper, one on 31st October, and certain remarks published on 11th November. Those remarks by the hon. Member were reported in his paper only, and certain remarks of the hon. Member for Leicester. In the first article the hon. Member was endeavouring to modify a little the statements about atrocities in Belgium, and he proceeded to say:—
  'The ravaging of women has always been an accompaniment of war"—
  I may say that the hon. Member has received notice from me of my intention to call attention to these matters, and it is no fault of mine that he is not here at the present time—
  "and even the 'Times' and other responsible dailies have shown considerable alarm at what is happening in our own camps at home."
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  I am sure the House will see the significance of that passage and the use of that phrase, and whatever may have been in the papers about indecency or immorality, I must ask the House whether it is not a slander on the troops to speak of "ravaging" women in the sense of the occurrences in Belgium or elsewhere. The hon. Member proceeds—and here I want to call the attention of the Government as to whether this is a matter we must lightly-pass by, and allow to continue week after week, and be put before working men—as follows:—
  "Some of the letters which have come from the front and which I understand the Censor will not allow to appear, tell ghastly tales about the on-goings of our French Allies."
  I ask whether it is true to say that the Censor does not allow letters that tell ghastly tales relating to atrocities on women? He further proceeds in another letter:—
  "We have not yet had in any fulness the Russian record, and may never yet it since she is our Ally, Her past, in this connection, shows only too clearly what her present, is sure to be."
  Further he goes on, as to French:—
  "I have no doubt whatever that old men, women, and children were killed and mutilated by German troops during the invasion of Belgium. Does anyone pay the same kind of thing is not now happening in the towns and villages which are being recaptured by the Allies in France?"
  That is to their own people, apparently. These are not opinions or comments. They are put before working men with the authority of a Member of Parliament, and, of course, the working men think he has sources of information that are not available to them. During the last few weeks we have experienced considerable difficulty in recruiting, which was going on handsomely in Merthyr before the hon. Member began those tactics. Here is another quotation:—
  "Already the Russian papers are sneering at the English papers for saying we are going to have a big share in the settlement when the war is over. They are already saying that their share of the terms must have precedence, since the bulk of the sacrifice was being borne by the Russians. They said that they would demand that their terms should have preference. Does the prospect please you, my friends and comrades?"
  I should like the Foreign Office to take note of that, and see whether some influence should not be brought to bear on the hon. Member in order to stop his making

  307
  statements of that kind. He turns again to the Belgians:—
  "It is all very well to come out and appeal to you about the neutrality of Belgium, but if it had suited the Government to trample roughshod over the neutrality of Belgium, they would have done it as they have allowed Russia to do it in Persia."
  I take the next passage dealing with the Belgian Congo, and saying that, outside of the Belgian Congo, these atrocities have no existence, and that they were the product of foul-minded, war-making Press blackguards, intended for the consumption of the gullible. When the hon. Member wants to throw cold water upon the stories of atrocities in Belgium, why he should always drag in his sneers about the Belgian atrocities in the Congo I leave it for the House and country to judge; otherwise they would not know the influence the hon. Member was exerting. He then turns to the Australian Government and accuses the Australian Labour party, which is now in power, of Kaiserism, and says it is terrible that the Australian Labour party supports the War without inquiry. That, perhaps, is a legitimate comment, but I turn now to what he says as to the Indian troops. He sneers at the loyalty of the Indian troops and the patriotic gifts from the "princes and nabobs," and then says:
  "Most of these are the outcome of hints covertly conveyed by those in authority, and the non-recognition of which might have consequences."
  I should like to ask the India Office to tell the country whether there is any shadow of foundation for that statement deliberately written and made in that fashion. The hon. Member turns again to South Africa. Knowing as he does, having visited that country, how susceptible the people are and how tender they are to things that are said here, he declares that General Delarey was murdered, and makes a vicious attack on General Botha as follows:—
  "He is really at bottom a weak man whose word, as I can personally testify out of my own experience with him in a small matter, is not to be trusted."
  I submitted to my Constituents on last Thursday that passage, and they authorised me, in the most enthusiastic way, to do what little I could to explain it to General Botha, and to assure him how much we deprecated attacks of that kind, when he is doing his duty, as he is at the present time. In one passage further he sneers at us because the Germans are not fleeing to Berlin, and because the Allies
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  are not making headway. He goes on to say that:—
  "At present, when the Press are unable to toll us about the Germans fleeing to Berlin, they have again opened wide the gate of the lie factory in which tales of German atrocities are made to order. That is always a sign that the Allies are not making headway."
  I would submit to the Government—without asking them to interfere with a man who is expressing opinions or commenting on the conduct of the War, and when they are exercising such a rigid censorship over all good things likely to stimulate us—whether they can really pass by statements of that kind, purporting to be facts, and written in that deliberate fashion by an hon. Member of this House? Finally, I want to tell the House that I submitted to thousands of my Constituents, at two of the largest meetings that have ever been held there, these statements of the hon. Member, and the meetings repudiated them, in particular this last comment of the hon. Member, who, when he was writing and endeavouring to praise the Germans said, as to the Kaiser: "I do know this much, that the Kaiser was taking his share of the risks at the front like a soldier." If he delights in saying things like that about the Kaiser, all very well, but why did he turn round at this juncture and sneer at our King as "our fireside-loving King." knowing the British Constitution as he does? I am sure that the House will support me, and will allow me to say that the House feels, as my Constituents feel, that it would be very much better that this Gentleman should maintain a dignified silence which we would respect, and which he did maintain in the earlier days of the War. The man who vilifies everybody, our Allies, our Dominions, and the King, who is the centre and symbol of all our unity at the present time, misuses his position in this House, and I can assure you does not represent the people of Merthyr.
  The PRESIDENT of the BOARD of EDUCATION (Mr. Pease): May I say that every one of the suggestions which have been made by the hon. Member (Mr. Keir Hardie) and referred to by the hon. Gentleman who has just spoken, so far as the Government is concerned, are believed to be entirely without foundation, and ought to be treated with contempt.
  Question put, and agreed to.
  Adjourned at Sixteen minutes before Seven o'clock.

WAR IN EUROPE.
  ENGAGEMENT OFF HELIGOLAND.
  ENGAGEMENT OFF HELIGOLAND.
  WAR SERVICE: GOVERNMENT EMPLOYES.
  WAR SERVICE: GOVERNMENT EMPLOYES.
  BELGIAN REFUGEES.
  BELGIAN REFUGEES.
  CERTIFICATES OF NATURALISATION.
  CERTIFICATES OF NATURALISATION.
  MARINES INTERNED IN HOLLAND (LETTERS).
  MARINES INTERNED IN HOLLAND (LETTERS).
  POLICE RESERVISTS.
  POLICE RESERVISTS.
  SOLDIERS' PAY.
  SOLDIERS' PAY.
  ROYAL FLEET RESERVE.
  ROYAL FLEET RESERVE.
  REQUISITES FOE WINTER CRUISING.
  REQUISITES FOE WINTER CRUISING.
  INOCULATION.
  INOCULATION.
  FAIR-WAGES CLAUSE (HERTS).
  FAIR-WAGES CLAUSE (HERTS).
  COMMISSIONS FROM THE RANKS.
  COMMISSIONS FROM THE RANKS.
  SUSTENANCE ALLOWANCE.
  SUSTENANCE ALLOWANCE.
  HOLIDAY LEAVE.
  HOLIDAY LEAVE.
  RUM RATIONS.
  RUM RATIONS.
  GRAIN FOR BREWING.
  GRAIN FOR BREWING.
  WAR CORRESPONDENCE.
  WAR CORRESPONDENCE.
  POSTAL RATES.
  POSTAL RATES.
  GERMAN PRISONERS OF WAR IN IRELAND.
  GERMAN PRISONERS OF WAR IN IRELAND.
  PRESS BUREAU.
  PRESS BUREAU.
  NAVAL AND MILITARY CLOTHING.
  NAVAL AND MILITARY CLOTHING.
  DEPENDANTS OF SOLDIERS.
  DEPENDANTS OF SOLDIERS.
  20th HUSSARS (DEATHS AT COLCHESTER).
  20th HUSSARS (DEATHS AT COLCHESTER).
  RECRUITING CLERKS, SUNDERLAND.
  RECRUITING CLERKS, SUNDERLAND.
PARLIAMENTARY RECRUITING COMMITTEE.
  FORM TO HOUSEHOLDERS.
  FORM TO HOUSEHOLDERS.
  ALLOWANCES AND PENSIONS (NEW SCHEME).
  ALLOWANCES AND PENSIONS (NEW SCHEME).
  SOLICITORS' CERTIFICATE DUTIES.
  SOLICITORS' CERTIFICATE DUTIES.
  LOCAL LOANS.
  LOCAL LOANS.
  FOODSTUFFS (RE-EXPORT).
  FOODSTUFFS (RE-EXPORT).
  NEW ARMY (FREE RAILWAY PASSES).
  NEW ARMY (FREE RAILWAY PASSES).
  DOMINIONS (ENEMY IMMIGRATION).
  DOMINIONS (ENEMY IMMIGRATION).
  PORT OF LONDON (ALLOWANCES TO EMPLOYES).
  PORT OF LONDON (ALLOWANCES TO EMPLOYES).
  INDIAN ARMY (SOLDIERS' PROPERTY).
  INDIAN ARMY (SOLDIERS' PROPERTY).
  MILITARY OFFICERS IN CIVIL EMPLOYMENT (INDIA).
  MILITARY OFFICERS IN CIVIL EMPLOYMENT (INDIA).
  WOMEN (EMPLOYMENT).
  WOMEN (EMPLOYMENT).
  INLAND REVENUE OFFICIALS.
  INLAND REVENUE OFFICIALS.
  LICENSED TRADERS (METROPOLITAN AREA).
  LICENSED TRADERS (METROPOLITAN AREA).
  LEAVE OF ABSENCE (RATION ALLOWANCE).
  LEAVE OF ABSENCE (RATION ALLOWANCE).
  Land Purchase (Ireland).
  Land Purchase (Ireland).
  Board of Trade (Irish Branch).
  Board of Trade (Irish Branch).
  Housing (No. 2) Act, 1914,
  Housing (No. 2) Act, 1914,
  Assistant Revising Barristers (Ireland).
  Assistant Revising Barristers (Ireland).
  Irish Loans.
  Irish Loans.
  National Insurance Act.
  National Insurance Act.
  India (Regimental Schoolmasters).
  India (Regimental Schoolmasters).
  Royal Indian Marine.
  Royal Indian Marine.
  Mental Deficiency Act, 1913.
  Mental Deficiency Act, 1913.
  Street-Traffic Fatalities.
  Street-Traffic Fatalities.
  Ex-Inspector Syme's Case.
  Ex-Inspector Syme's Case.
  Housing Act.
  Housing Act.
  Holt Committee Report (Postal Porters).
  Holt Committee Report (Postal Porters).
  Teachers' Pensions.
  Teachers' Pensions.
  Rainbow Trout.
  Rainbow Trout.