asked the Minister of Health whether the housing scheme of the Sheffield Corporation provides for the erection of 15,000 houses; whether he is aware that a penny rate produces only £8,000 to £9,000, or sufficient to build ten or eleven of these houses; and, if so,. whether the cost of erection of the 14,989 houses will fall on the taxpayers of the country?

The penny rate to be raised annually by the city of Sheffield for housing purposes should be set against the annual loss on their housing scheme, and not against the capital cost of the houses, and the suggestion in the question is not, therefore, in accordance with the facts. It is the case that the annual loss in excess of the produce of a penny rate in respect of housing schemes carried out within three years from the passing of the Housing Act will fall upon the Exchequer.

asked the Minister of Health whether at Lincoln the corporation have a scheme for the erection of working-class houses and a utility society have a scheme for the erection of similar houses; whether it is a fact that the utility society is subsidised to the extent of 30 per cent. of the total cost of its houses out of the taxpayers' money; whether there is a strike of builders' men at Lincoln now proceeding; whether the utility society have agreed to pay the increased wages demanded though the corporation, in obedience to his orders, have refused to pay them, with the result that the utility society's scheme is proceeding but the corporation's scheme is stopped; and will he explain what steps were taken to prevent this utility society from exploiting the taxpayer?

I am in communication with my right lion. Friend the Minister of Labour regarding the wages dispute which has arisen at Lincoln.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he can now state the present average daily income; if he can give the average daily national income during the first six months of the financial year; and how far this agrees with his Budget Estimate?

The Exchequer receipts for the six months ending 30th September last were £458,998,799 equivalent to £2,508,000 a day. The Budget estimate for the whole year was £1,201,100,000 which would be equivalent to £3,282,000 a day, were it the case that revenue came in throughout the year in equal daily instalments. As the House knows this assumption is incorrect. The bulk of the Income Tax is collected in the March quarter, and thus even in perfectly normal years the receipts in the first six months are much below half the total for the twelve months. As the receipts from Miscellaneous Revenue will also be paid over mainly in the second half of the year, Ibis normal tendency is accentuated this year.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will now state the present average daily national expenditure; if he can give the average daily national expenditure during the first six months of the financial year; and how far this agrees with his Budget Estimate?

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the amount of the present daily national expenditure?

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the present daily expenditure and what is the present daily revenue?

The average daily- expenditure (Exchequer issues and advances from the Civil Contingencies Fund unrepaid to that Fund) was £4,225,000 for the period from 1st April to 30th September and for the period from 1st October to 18th October £3,763,000. In the first period the debt charges averaged £894,000 a day. Owing to the National War Bond dividend on 1st October, of the £3,763,000 a day for October, £1,911,000 was for debt charges. The House will observe from this figure how misleading daily averages for short periods are likely to be. On the assumption that expenditure went on equally throughout the financial year the original Budget Estimate would be equivalent to a daily average of £3,920,000.With regard to revenue, I would refer to the answer which I have just given to the hon. Member for Hornsey. I must remind the House that neither revenue nor expenditure are spread evenly over the year.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what expenditure is being incurred at the present moment in respect of contracts entered into before the conclusion of the Armistice in 1918?

I am afraid that a complete answer to this question could not be given without a wholly disproportionate amount of clerical labour, but I will circulate with the OFFICIAL REPORT in a few days' time a summary of the replies received from the principal contracting departments to which a copy of the question of the hon. Member for the Elland Division on the 18th August last was communicated, containing particulars so far as they are available.

asked the Chancellor of the Exechequer whether it is his intention to introduce another Budget this year?

No, Sir.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will state the cost of the permanent and temporary Civil Service for the week ending 15th October as compared with the week ending 5th April?

The weekly cost of the staff at the beginning of April was approximately £1,425,000 and at the beginning of October approximately £1,402,000. During the interval considerable reductions were made by most Departments, but these have been almost entirely counterbalanced by the increases in the Post Office necessitated by the resumption of their normal services and in the Pensions: Ministry. Minor additions have been made to the Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise staffs.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he can now state the capital amounts now outstanding of the three different series of War Bonds, i.e., those having currency for five, seven, and ten years, and the dates on which they are respectively due for repayment, together with the respective amounts due on those dates?

I will circulate a statement containing the information asked for.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the total amount of the indebtedness of foreign countries and of our Dominions and Colonies, respectively, to this country; and the amount of interest which he estimates will be paid on these loans during the current financial year?

The obligations of the Allies to this country at the present moment amount to £1,622,000,000, and those of the Dominions and Colonies to £186,000,000. I anticipate that about £6,000,000 will be received in the current financial year in interest payments from the Dominions and Colonies. Sums so received are paid into Exchequer under the head Receipts from Sundry Loans. As I stated previously, with minor exceptions no interest is being paid by the Allies at present.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he can state the amount of the debt which is at present represented by short-dated loans?

The debt redeemable before 31st March, 1924, is, approximately, £2,420,000,000, exclusive of War Savings Certificates, which, at 15s. 6d., amount in the aggregate to £261,000,000. This figure represents a reduction of the short-dated loans outstanding on 1st April, 1919, of, approximately, £200,000,000.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will state in detail the amount which has been paid in subsidies during the first half of the financial year; and what subsidies are still in being and will have to be met?

The following are the actual payments made between 1st April and 30th September, 1919, and the anticipated expenditure for the following six months, or, where this cannot be confidently stated, the actual Vote taken for the full year:

EXPENDITURE to 30th September, 1919.
£
Iron and steel and non-ferrous metals subsidies	5,449,342	Subsidies terminated, but estimated balance of £1,436,370 still payable, subject to audit.
British Italian Corporation	Nil	£50,000 payable in November
Assistance to dye industry	25,931	Anticipated expenditure in year, £750,000.
Coal mines deficiency	18,402,000	Vote 1919–1920, £26,400,000.
Railways agreement	30,812,944	Vote 1919–1920, £60,000,000.
Canals compensation	619,558	Vote 1919–1920, £950,000.
Bread subsidy	22,500,000	Vote 1919–1920,£60,000,000.

Provision will require to be made in future for the Housing and Land Settlement Subsidies which have not yet come in course of payment, and for the subsidy in respect of the diversion of rail-borne traffic to coastwise services, which has only recently come into operation. The expenditure upon out-of-work donation between 1st April and 30th September was, approximately, £24,000,000. The anticipated expenditure during the following six months on the basis of the existing schemes, which terminate for civilians on the 24th. November, 1919, and for ex-Service men one year after the man's demobilisation, is £10,500,000.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is considering the advisability of issuing a Treasury Minute to all Government Departments pointing out the urgent necessity in the interests of economy of reducing all Government staffs to the pre-war level and calling for a monthly return to show how this design has been accomplished?

The urgent necessity of reducing staffs as rapidly as possible has been repeatedly impressed on Government Departments by the War Cabinet and the Treasury. Returns of variations in the numbers of Departmental staffs are presented to Parliament each month.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that the staffs employed by the Board of Inland Revenue on the 11th November, 1918, show an increase of 1,205 over the number employed on the 1st August, 1914, and that the figures given on the 31st March, 1919, show a further increase of 1,485; and whether this increase is being maintained or whether he has been able to impress upon this Department his views upon national economy?

The facts are as stated, but in the same period the revenue for the collection of which the Board of Inland Revenue is responsible has risen from £88,000,000 to £702,000,000. The increase of staff is more than justified by this immense increase of work, and I anticipate a further increase rather than a decrease to cope with it. In 1913/14 the cost of the staff was 2.25 per cent,. of the revenue collected. To-day it is only 63 per cent. Any reduction of the trained staff would cost the country far more in loss of revenue than would be saved in salaries.

asked the Food Controller whether he can state the number of his staff employed on the 11th November, 1918, for purely statistical work; and whether there has been any reduction in the staff since that date?

The staff of the Ministry (including the Royal Commission on the Wheat Supply) engaged on purely statistical work on 11th November, 1918, consisted of forty-six administrative officers and 193 subordinate clerks. The numbers at present are twenty-two administrative officers and seventy-three subordinate clerks. The reduction therefore amounts to 60 per cent.

asked the Home Secretary whether he is aware that the numbers given for his total staff on 11th November, 1918, show an increase over the pre-war figures, and that those given for 31st March, 1919, show a still further increase; and if it is possible to reduce the staff to a pre-war level?

I am aware of the figures quoted by my hon. Friend. The increase is almost entirely due to the growth of the work connected with the administra- tion of the law relating to aliens. To deal with this work efficiently it has been necessary to increase considerably both the outdoor staff of inspectors and also the clerical staff at headquarters. Subject to this increase, which is likely to be permanent, the staff of the Home Office will soon be reduced approximately to its prewar level.

asked the Minister of Health as representing the National Health Insurance Commissioners, whether he will state the total number of persons employed by his Department in the United Kingdom on 31st March, 1919; and whether any reductions have been made in these staffs since that date?

I am sending the hon. Gentleman a copy of Command Paper 276, which gives the figures as on 31st March, 1919. It has not been possible to make any reduction in the staffs of the Department referred to since that date.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that the clerical staff of his Department on the 11th November, 1918, numbered 197,315, and on 31st March, 1919, 200,487; and what reductions have been made since that date?

The figures quoted cover the whole staff of the Post Office, excluding only the workmen and labourers employed in the engineering department and in the Past Office Factories. The corresponding figure for toe 1st October is 214,732, the increase being accounted for chiefly by the restoration or improvement of public services suspended or curtailed during the War and by increase of Post Office business.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Shipping Controller what staff is now employed by his Department; whether he is able to forecast substantial reductions in the near future; and, if so, when and to what extent?

The total number of persons employed by the Ministry at, home and abroad on 16th October was 1,869 as compared with 2,062 on 31st July, and 3,387 on 31st December last. The staff is being steadily reduced, but there remains a very large amount of financial clearing up to be done while the executive work depends upon the heads of other Government Departments. It is not pos- sible, therefore, at the present time to make any definite statement as to the dates on which drastic reductions can be made.

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he can state the number of persons at present imprisoned in Ireland for offences committed under the Defence of the Realm Act?

The number of persons imprisoned in Ireland on the 20th instant for offences committed under the Defence of the Realm Acts and Regulations was nineteen.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether the possession of the services-rendered silver badge automatically entitles the holder to the service gratuity applicable to his rank and period of service in the Army?

The silver badge is issued to civilians as well as soldiers, and does not necessarily confer a right to service gratuity, which is paid under the' Rules laid down in the Pay Warrant and relevant Army Orders.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Munitions how many factories are now making warlike stores; and what is the total number of persons employed in them?

Eight factories under the control of the Ministry of Munitions, including among these Woolwich Arsenal, are now making warlike stores of various kinds. The total number of persons employed in these factories is 26,644. It is difficult to give an exact estimate, but pro- bably not more than 50 to 60 per cent. of these persons are actually engaged in the manufacture of warlike stores. In addition to these eight factories the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, employs about 2,300 persons on experimental and research work in connection with aircraft.

asked the Secretary of State for India what was gratuity is being paid to chaplains of the Indian Ecclesiastical Establishment who have served in a theatre of war; and, as these chaplains were before being sent on service paid by the civil department, is their gratuity being based on the same rate as that paid to temporary chaplains of the Royal Army Chaplains Department?

Proposals of the Government of India for the grant of a gratuity to chaplains of the Indian Ecclesiastical Department who have served with troops in the field have been received and arc under consideration.

asked the Secretary of State for India whether chaplains of the Indian Ecclesiastical Establishment who have served for not less than two years on service are being granted sixty days' war leave on Indian rate of pay, in addition to any privilege leave that may have accumulated; and are chaplains of the Indian Ecclesiastical Establishment who have served in an Army of Occupation being granted war bonus according to the rank they held on 1st February, 1919?

I have addressed the Government of India on the subject.

asked the Secretary of State for India how many persons have been interned in India otherwise than under the ordinary law during the past four years; and how many remained in internment at the date of the latest return?

Under Bengal Regulation III. of 1818, 149 persons were interned since August, 1914 (including three previously restricted under the Immigration into India Ordinance) of whom thirty-five were released before the Armistice and twenty-five since. Under Madras Regulation II. of 1819, twelve persons were interned, of whom ten were released before the Armistice and one since. Under Bombay Regulation XXV. of 1827, six persons were interned, of whom four were released before the Armistice. Under the Defence of India Act, 1915, 1,470 persons were restricted in domicile and 310 (including throe of the former category) subjected to minor restrictions. 601 were released before the Armistice and 357 since. Under the Ingress into India Ordinance, 1914, 942 persons were restricted in domicile and 2,154 placed under minor restrictions. 2,296 were released before the Armistice and 466 since. Three of the 942 were subsequently interned under Bengal Regulation III. of 1818In addition to the above figures, two persons were restricted in domicile and twenty-three subjected to minor restrictions under the Defence of India Act in connection with recent disturbances (ten of whom have been released), and one and 9 respectively (one since released), under the Ingress into India Ordinance.As nine persons died since 1914, I understand that the total number now subjected to ally restriction under any of these enactments is 1,257, of whom ninety-one are actually interned.

asked the Home Secretary what is the number of convictions for drunkenness in August and September as compared with the number for the same months of last year?

The total convictions for drunkenness in England and Wales in the months of August and September, 1919, were 5,364 and 6,123 respectively, as compared with 2,097 and 2,068 for the same months of 1918. The figures for Scotland, with which my right hon. Friend has been good enough to supply me, were 1,212 and 1,706 in 1919, as compared with 484 and 374 in 1918.

asked the Minister of Health how many houses have actually been, up to the present, erected under the housing scheme in Great Britain; how many have been adapted; and whether he can inform the House what towns over 20,000 population have hitherto not risen ton realisation of their responsibilities in respect of provision to meet the shortage of dwellings?

asked the Minister of Health if he can state the number of houses that have been completed under the Government housing scheme?

The Returns up to Saturday last show that local authorities and public utility societies in England and Wales have 91Ainnitted detailed plans for 41,000 houses, of which 27,500 have been approved. lenders have been approved for 8,262 houses. Complete information as to the number of them which have-been finished is not available. Figures arc not available as to what adaptations have been made by local authorities up to the present. The Ministry itself has approved schemes in London in 310 cases. Of the 2S4 urban authorities, having a population of 20,000 or over, forty (including sixteen metropolitan boroughs) have not yet submitted definite proposals for housing schemes, though several of these forty authorities have consulted the Housing Commissioners with a view to submitting schemes. I have within the last few days reminded local authorities of the necessity for submitting definite proposals for meeting the housing needs of their districts before the end of the present month.

asked the Minister of Health if he will issue a statement showing the prices paid for land acquired in connection with the Government housing scheme?

A statement as to the cost of land acquired by local authorities for housing schemes is given in the report on schemes submitted to the Ministry of Health which is issued monthly as a Command Paper. The Report issued on the 25th September shows that the cost to 528 authorities in respect of the first 12,611 acres was £2,336,896, or at the average cost of £185. per acre.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many articles of common use he has investigated as to price since the passing of the Profiteering Act, and in how many cases of kindred articles he has refrained from taking action though he has received representations in favour of the course; whether he can state, as a result of his general investigations, the articles in which profiteering has been especially noticeable; and whether the responsibility therefore has rested mainly with the producer, the middleman, or the retailer?

Complaints arising out of sales by wholesale traders are investigated, heard and determined by a Central Committee appointed for this purpose. This Committee also exercises the powers of the Board of Trade in relation to Trusts.The Central Committee are investigating the following articles:—

asked the Postmaster-General whether he will create substantive appointments for head postmen in the provinces on similar lines to those already existing in London; whether the Head Postmen's Association (Provincial) has been officially recognised; and, if not, for what reason?

The question of creating additional substantive supervising posts for postmen in the provinces is under consideration, but the inquiries in the matter are not yet complete. The Head Postmen's Association has not been officially recognised. Its members are postmen with allowances for supervision, and are eligible for membership of the Postmen's Federation; and it would be contrary to practice to recognise a separate association in such circumstances.