asked the Minister of Agriculture if and when the Government propose to introduce legislation to give effect to the Poultry Commission Report?

I have nothing to add to the replies which I gave on 10th February and 14th February in answer to questions on this subject.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that the price of standard eggs per long hundred is to-day 3s. below that of 1937; and what action he proposes to take in the matter?

It is true that the price of National Mark standard eggs fell sharply in the last week of February, but for most of the current year prices have been appreciably higher than a year ago. As my hon. Friend will appreciate, prices of eggs are subject to seasonal fluctuations, the duration and extent of which are influenced by weather conditions. I propose, however, to keep the situation under review.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether it is still his intention to introduce a Bill to amend the Wheat Act during the present Session?

Yes, Sir, if Parliamentary time permits.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he can state the proportion of oats grown at home and imported, respectively?

It is estimated that in 1937 home production and imports represented 97 per cent. and 3 per cent. respectively of the total supply of oats in the United Kingdom.

asked the Minister of Agriculture the proportion of barley, of non-malting quality, grown at home and imported, respectively?

It is estimated that at the present time about one-third of the supply of barley of non-malting quality is grown in the United Kingdom and two-thirds imported. My hon. Friend will appreciate that the percentage may vary somewhat from year to year owing to the influence of weather on the malting quality of the home crop.

asked the Prime Minister whether he has considered the resolution unanimously passed by the industrial section of the Greenock Trades Council and Labour party condemning the foreign policy of the Government in connection with the war in Spain and the relations of this country with Germany and Italy; and what reply he has returned thereto?

I have received a copy of the resolution to which the hon. and learned Member refers, and have acknowledged its receipt.

asked the Prime Minister whether the British policy of friendliness to China remains unchanged; and what effect is being given to the recent resolution passed by the Council of the League of Nations in favour of the accordance of all available help by the members of the League to China?

There has been no change in the friendly policy of His Majesty's Government towards China. In reply to the second part of the question, the matter is under consideration, but I am not at present in a position to make any statement.

asked the Prime Minister whether the British Press and its comments and/or future behaviour are among the subjects likely to be discussed during the forthcoming Anglo-German conversations?

No question as yet arises of drawing up any agenda for the conversations to which the hon. Lady refers.

asked the Prime Minister whether he has now received official confirmation of the Report of the circumstances in which General Queipo de Llano addressed a parade of Spanish insurgent troops at La Linea, in the course of which he uttered threats against the British administration of Gibraltar; and whether any protests have been addressed to the Spanish insurgent administration concerning this incident?

I would refer the hon. Member to the answer given in the House to-day in reply to questions by the right hon. Gentleman the Member for the Hillsborough Division of Sheffield (Mr. Alexander) and the hon. Member for Barnstaple (Mr. Acland).

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury what the cost would be to the Treasury if the 10s. a week old age pension was increased to £1 per week?

The additional cost involved in doubling old age pensions (including widows' pensions where the widow is over 65 but not widows' pensions where the widow is under 65 or orphans' pensions) would be £71,000,000 a year.The working out of contributions to meet the cost of each particular extension of contributory pensions involves considerable labour. Perhaps it will give the hon. Member sufficient indication if I repeat the figures I gave in the Debate on 1st December last for the division between the Treasury and contributors of the cost of a scheme costing £75,000,000 extra at the present time. If the cost imposed upon the contributors under that scheme had been based on the value of the additional benefits conferred on an entrant into industry at 16, then of the total cost of £75,000,000, £34,000,000 would have fallen on the contributors and £41,000,000 on the Treasury.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he can state the amount collected in Land Tax in the last full financial year and the approximate cost of collection during the same period?

The net receipt of Land Tax in the year to 31st March, 1937, was £530,041. It is not possible to distinguish the cost of collection of Land Tax from the cost of the duties of the Inland Revenue Department generally, as the administration of the tax is bound up with that of other taxes.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the present quota preference system for Colonial sugar will be continued after the end of the financial year 1937–38; and, if so, in what form?

On the 6th May, 1937, the then Lord President of the Council informed the House that in the event of the International Sugar Agreement coming into operation it was the intention of His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom to invite Parliament to stabilise the existing rates of Imperial preference for a period of five years similar to that covered by the Agreement. He added that the additional Colonial preference would also be continued, subject to a minor modification of its terms, on which a further announcement would be made.I am now in a position to announce that His Majesty's Government propose, on the assumption that the International Sugar Agreement will come finally into force, to agree to a continuance for the period covered by the Agreement of the additional Colonial preference of 3s. per cwt. on a quota of 360,000 tons, subject to the following alterations in the terms of that preference as announced in 1934 in Command Paper 4555.First, the price of sugar above which the special preference will be liable to alteration will be 6s. 6d. per cwt. c.i.f. instead of 7s. per cwt. as at present. The new price of 6s. 6d. per cwt. is regarded as an appropriate compromise between the improved position among Colonial sugar producers generally since the special preference was first introduced in 1932 on the one hand, and on the other hand the increase during that period in charges, notably freights, over which the Colonial producer has no control. His Majesty's Government reserve, however, the right to reopen the matter if there is any further substantial alteration in the position.Secondly, if in consequence of a rise in sugar prices the special preference has to be reduced the reduction will be applied not to the special preference rate but to the amount of tonnage eligible, a reduction of 90,000 tons or 25 per cent. being made in the quota for each rise of 6d. per cwt. over the price of 6s. 6d.I may add that the price upon which the special preference is to be determined during a particular financial year will in future be the average for the first six months of the International Sugar Year, instead of the last six months of the calendar year as at present. Thus the special preference for the financial year 1938–39 will be determined by the average of prices from September, 1937, to February, 1938.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education whether he is aware that the Essex County Education Committee have ordered 50 children attending Mistley Norman national school to attend a new county council school at Lawford; that many parents object to such a transfer and that the managers of the Mistley Norman national school are willing for them to remain; and whether, in the event of refusal to comply with this transfer, it is intended either to prosecute the parents or to withdraw the grant to the Mistley Norman national school?

My Noble Friend is aware of the circumstances of this case. Since the last summer holidays, in accordance with an arrangement agreed upon by the Essex local education authority and the managers of the Mistley Norman Church of England school, the school has been a school for juniors and infants only and senior children have been excluded. My Noble Friend is not aware that it is proposed to depart from this arrangement.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that certain postmistresses in the Shetland Isles receive as remuneration the sum of 22s. 6d. per week for work which entails the sale of stamps, postal orders, and money orders, savings bank and saving certificates business, the payment of pensions, the issuing of dog and gun licences, the reception and despatch of telegrams and answering the telephone day and night; and will he consider raising the remuneration of these postmistresses?

I would refer the hon. Member to my reply to the question of the hon. Member for Willesden, West (Mr. Viant) on 17th February, 1938. The remuneration of sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses in the Shetland Islands, in common with that of some 23,000 such employés throughout the United Kingdom, rests upon an agreement with the National Federation of Sub-Postmasters; and I am aware of no grounds for according exceptional treatment to sub-postmistresses in the Shetland Islands.

asked the Postmaster-General whether it is proposed that postmen engaged in clearing letterboxes shall also be required to dust them out and oil the hinges, or whether such duties are undertaken by other members of the postal service?

It is already the general practice for postmen engaged in clearing letter-boxes to oil the hinges of the boxes periodically and to brush out the interior of the boxes, and no change in this respect is proposed.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is satisfied that British manufacturers are providing a paraffin-driven track-laying agricultural tractor comparable with several imported machines of 20 to 22 horse-power; and whether, in the absence of such a British machine, he will consult with the Minister of Agriculture with a view to securing the removal of the 33⅓ per cent. duty on imported track-laying tractors of the paraffin-driven type?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to the right hon. Gentleman the Member for the Hillsborough Division (Mr. Alexander) on 14th December last.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will state the amount of high-grade furniture imported into the United Kingdom from Hungary during each of the past five years?

"High grade" furniture is not separately recorded in the trade returns of the United Kingdom and the precise information desired is not therefore available. Imports into the United Kingdom of furniture and cabinet ware of wood (including parts thereof), other than of bentwood, have however been separately recorded since 1934. The declared value of such imports consigned from Hungary has been as follows:

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will state the amount of glass for use in furniture imported into the United Kingdom from Belgium during each of the past five years?

As imports of glass destined for use in furniture are not separately recorded in the trade returns of the United Kingdom, I regret that the desired information is not available.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he will state the number of serving commissioned officers who have risen from the ranks; the number of commissioned officers who have been promoted from the ranks during the past 10 years; and what percentage this represents?

I am afraid that in the short time available it has not been possible to collate the information asked for by the hon. Member, and I should be obliged therefore if he would put his question down again for a later date.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he will state the number and places where the Fleet boards for candidates for sub-lieutenants were held in 1937; the number of candidates interviewed and recommended for the petty officers' course; the number who appeared before the final selection board; and the number who were awarded commissions?

Fleet selection boards for seamen ratings were held on two occasions in 1937—the first in the Spring, the second in the Autumn. On the first occasion, 20 ratings were interviewed, of whom 16 were recommended for the candidates' course as petty officers, and 13 were finally appointed acting sub-lieutenant. On the second occasion the revised regulations were in force, and 31 ratings were selected and sent to His Majesty's Ship "Ramillies" to undergo the special training provided under the new arrangements. These candidates will be considered by a final board next summer. I am sending the hon. Member detailed information concerning all these boards.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he is aware that the Secondary Schools Headmasters Employment Committee as a rule can only find work for boys leaving secondary schools in ordinary office work; that there is no centre where boys, before leaving school, can secure individual advice on industrial careers; if, in view of the desirability of suitable boys entering industry, he will set up a section in the Ministry where boys can get comprehensive up-to-date information as to what industrial careers are open to them and how and to whom they can apply for employment; and take steps to give financial assistance to boys who are suited to enter industry who are at present barred either because a premium is demanded or because their earnings to start with are too low to allow them to enter industry?

A comprehensive advisory and placing service for boys leaving secondary schools is provided by local Committees for Juvenile Employment attached to the Employment Exchanges, and by the Juvenile Employment Bureaux of Local Education Authorities. In certain areas, including London, these local services are supplemented by Secondary School Employment Committees for wider areas.It is true that the vacancies dealt with by this machinery are predominantly in office work. This is due in part to the wishes expressed by boys and their parents, and in part to the greater facility for obtaining notification of such vacancies. I should welcome fuller cooperation from employers in notifying openings for industrial careers and making known their advantages.Under the Juvenile Transference Scheme, assistance may be given, where necessary, to enable boys who are transferred to suitable industrial employment to meet their living expenses for a limited period, but this does not extend to the payment of premiums.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he will take steps to see that payment of wages during holidays granted as an act of grace by employers shall not be taken into account by the Unemployment Assistance Board in assessing needs where the recipient of those wages is a member of that family?

This is a matter for decision by the Unemployment Assistance Board within their statutory responsibilities. I am informed by the Board that under the ordinary rules governing the treatment of earnings in the assessment of need a substantial proportion, and indeed, sometimes the whole of earnings, is allowed for the personal requirements of the earner. The same allowances would be made in respect of wages received during holidays. The question whether these allowances should be increased during the holidays would be determined in the light of all the circumstances of the individual case, including any additional expenditure incurred by the earner during the holiday period.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether he is aware that the military authorities in Allahabad and in other parts of British India issued orders and/or took other steps to prohibit or interfere with the celebration of the Indian Independence Day in certain areas; and whether, in view of this observance being now of a nation-wide character in India in which His Majesty's Ministries in the provinces take part, he will take steps to prevent the recurrence of any interference of this nature?

I have no information of any such action being taken.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he has considered the appeal from the Arab Women's Committee in Jerusalem concerning the plight of Arab women and children left destitute in villages wrecked by punitive operations; whether he has any information concerning the lack of provision made for the families of Arab deportees; and what steps His Majesty's Government is taking to remedy this situation and prevent further exacerbation of Anglo-Arab friendship?

I have seen the appeal in question. I assume that when the petitioners speak of "villages wrecked by punitive operations," what they have in mind is the punitive demolition of individual houses. The Arabs deported to the Seychelles are maintained at the expense of the Government of Palestine. As regards the last part of the question, I can only refer the hon. Member to the statements which have been made on general policy in Palestine.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is in a position to state the amount of money paid during the last 12 months by Poor Law authorities to implement old age pensions; and can he give the average amount paid to each person?

I regret that the information in the Ministry of Health does not enable this information to be given, as the returns made by local authorities do not distinguish the cost of relief to old age pensioners.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether the departmental committee set up in 1935 to consider the whole question of the acceleration of the revision of ordnance survey maps and the preparation of plans for town and country planning have reported; and what is the present position of these matters, indicating how far the new surveys have been completed on various scales, and when will the complete series be on sale?

I have received the final report of the departmental committee and their recommendations are receiving my consideration. With regard to the last part of the question, revision of the 1/2500 maps has been accelerated for town planning purposes, but I am unable to say when the complete series will be on sale.