asked the Secretary for Scotland whether any of the annual financial and statistical reports of the Scottish universities for the year ending 30th September, 1920, as required by Clause 30 of the Scottish Universities Act of 1889, have been received by him; if so, from which universities; whether they will be made available for Members of the House; and whether the tables contained in the returns from universities and university colleges just issued by the University Grants Committee is intended to take their place?

Statistical reports have been received from the universities of Glasgow and Aberdeen. As regards the remainder of the question, I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply which my right hon. Friend gave to his question on this subject on 31st May last.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been called to the fact that the Coal Mines Department, Glasgow, has intimated to important firms in Edinburgh and elsewhere that permits recently issued to obtain many tons of coal from the ss. "Perceur" at Grange-mouth have been cancelled on the ground that the firms in question are prohibited meantime from obtaining imported coal; whether there would have been no labour or other difficulty in handling this coal; and whether, having regard to the fact that withdrawal of the permit will aggravate unemployment in Edinburgh and district, where there are now 16,000 unemployed, he will issue instructions to allow the firms to obtain this coal?

The coal in question, which was originally destined for industries not essential to the life of the community, has been diverted to essential purposes, in accordance with the declared policy of the Government. I regret that the circumstances are not at present such as to justify a departure from this policy.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he can give the figures of the total number of unemployed men, women, boys and girls registered on the Leith register on the 27th May, 1921, and the corresponding figures for 1920?

The numbers of unemployed persons registered at the Leith Employment Exchange at 27th May, 1921, and 28th May, 1920, were as under:

asked the Secretary of State for India whether the Madras Legislature has voted in favour of women's suffrage?

I regret that, owing to delay in publication of the official reports of the debates of the Madras Legislative Council, I cannot give a more definite answer to this question than I gave to a similar one by the hon. Baronet the Member for East Nottingham (Sir J. D. Rees) on 3rd May.

asked the Secretary of State for India how many Indians are at the present time confined for political offences in the penal settlement in the Andamans; and how many are confined in other penal establishments in India?

I understand that there are 47 in the Andamans; and in February the Government of India stated that there were 101 altogether. There are presumably 54 in gaols in India.

asked the Lord Privy Seal when it is intended to introduce the proposed Bill to validate certain divorce decrees made by the Indian Courts, and which, under a recent decision of the Divorce Court in this country, are at present invalid?

I have been asked to answer this question. A Bill was introduced in another place last week.

asked the Secretary of State for India what were the cir- cumstances attending the trial of Swami Govind Anand, at Karachi.; and what was the result of the trial?

The Swami was a leading non-co-operator of Karachi. He was charged, in the middle of April, with sedition and with acting so as to cause enmity between different classes of His Majesty's subjects. But I have no detailed information as to what he had said or done. He was convicted and sentenced to five years' imprisonment.

asked the Secretary of State for India whether he has information to the effect that an Act similar to the Bengal Village Self-Government Act of 1919 is to be introduced in the Legislative Council of the province of Behar and Orissa?

This question rests with the Governor and his Ministers, and I have not received any statement of their intentions.

asked the Secretary of State for India if students from India are compelled to enter mills and factories on the Continent of Europe and in the United States of America owing to lack of facilities in the United Kingdom; and, in view of the above facts, will he consider the advisability of obtaining facilities for Indian students to enter British mills and factories?

I am aware that there have been certain difficulties in obtaining in this country the facilities referred to in the question. A Committee, under the chairmanship of Lord Lytton, is now sitting to consider the whole question of the position of Indian students in this country, and this matter is included in the terms of reference.

asked the Secretary of State for War what is the effect of paragraph 419 of the Regulations for officers of the Special Reserve of Officers and for the Special Reserve, coupled with Article 497 of the Royal Warrant of 1914, modified by Army Order 392 of 1920 and Army Order 154 of 1921, which was published on the 12th April, 1921, the Reserve having been called out on the 9th April; and whether he will publish a concise statement as to the special grants and gratuities due to officers of the Reserve of Officers and officers of the Special Reserve?

My hon. Friend may not have seen the later Army Orders 160 of 1921 and 210 of 1921, copies of which I am sending him. The position is that the Special Reserve officer who actually joined for duty is eligible for a gratuity of £50 on joining and to a bounty of £5 on cessation of employment. The officer of the Reserve of Officers is not eligible for any grant on joining, but is eligible for the bounty of £5 on cessation of employment In neither case is a gratuity issuable under the conditions of Article 497 of the Royal Warrant for Pay, etc., of the Army, as that Article was suspended with effect from September last.

asked the Secretary of State for War what are the officers' allowances referred to in the War Office lists on pages 141 to 158 of the Army Estimates; and why no such heading was inserted in the corresponding lists of the Army Estimates for 1920–21?

The allowances to which my hon. and gallant Friend refers are the ration, lodging, fuel and light and furniture allowances detailed in Appendix I of the Army Estimates. In the Estimates for 1920–21 these allowances were shown in one total in the Estimate of the cost of the War Office. In the Estimates for 1921–22 they are included in the cost of each Department of the War Office separately, shown on page 100, and similarly in the detail in Appendix IV on pages 148–158, to which my hon. and gallant Friend refers. This change in the direction of making Appendix IV more complete is explained in the Note on page 148.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury what taxation is imposed in Germany and in this country on 50 lbs. of coffee and tea, respectively?

The duties payable in Germany and England on 50 lbs. of coffee and tea respectively are as follow:—

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in view of the fact that many small tradesmen are unable to get payment for their goods in consequence of the present industrial situation, he can give instructions for a

The figures of the autumn register, 1920, for England and Wales are:

The corresponding 1920 figures for Scotland are, I understand, not yet complete.

asked the Minister of Health when he expects to give effect to

special period of grace being allowed to these tradesmen for the payment of Income Tax due from them?

I am not in a position to sanction any general postponement of the payment of Income Tax on the grounds suggested by the hon. Member. I would, however, remind him that it is the practice of the Board of Inland Revenue to acquiesce in a reasonable postponement of the payment of taxes in individual cases of genuine and proved inability to meet the demands of the Revenue at the dates prescribed by law.

asked the Minister of Health the total number of Parliamentary electors upon the register in Great Britain when the most recent lists of voters were made, and the number of men and women Parliamentary voters separately?

The most recent lists of voters are those contained in the spring register of the current year, but the figures of this register are not available. The most recent figures at present available for Great Britain as a whole are those of the autumn register, 1919, which comprised:

the recommendation of the Departmental Committee in respect of an increased allowance to approved societies under the National Health Insurance Acts for administration; whether, owing to the enormous increase in the cost of stationery, printing, postage, rent, rates, and office equipment, as well as remuneration to staff, the present allowance is wholly inadequate; and whether he can give the percentage increase in the cost of administration for the National Health Insurance section of the Ministry as between the years 1914 and 1920?

I accept the conclusions of the Majority Report of the Depart- mental Committee as to the administration allowance for approved societies, and I hope to introduce at a very early date a Bill to give effect to the recommendations of the Committee. In reply to the last part of the question, I have to remind the right hon. Member that prior to July, 1919, the central administration of National Health Insurance was in the hands of the Insurance Commissioners, and that since that date it has formed part of the work of the Ministry of Health. In these circumstances it is impossible to give precise figures as to the cost of administration in 1920, and, in any case, no useful comparison could be made between the cost in 1914 and 1920, as throughout the latter year the Department was engaged in the very laborious operations preparatory to the first valuation of approved societies, including much additional work undertaken by the Department to the relief of the societies.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the documents recently published in the United States of America purporting to be authentic copies of certain diplomatic correspondence which passed between London, Paris, and Petrograd in the years immediately preceding the War and said to have been furnished by the then Secretary of the Russian Imperial Embassy in London; if his attention has been drawn to the statement published in connection with the issue of these documents to the effect that His Majesty's late ambassador in Petrograd was instructed before leaving his post to purchase as many of the secret archives of the Imperial Russian Foreign Office as possible, and he did in fact expend a large sum in such purchases; and what action has been taken or is contemplated by His Majesty's Government in connection with these purchases?

The hon. Member is no doubt referring to some alleged disclosures which appeared a little time ago in the "New York American." There is no foundation whatever for the statements referred to in the second part of the question. The third part does not therefore arise.

asked the Minister of Agriculture exactly what precautions are taken to deal with the live export traffic in horses?

I would refer the hon. and gallant Member to the reply which I gave on the 20th April last to the hon. Member for Acton (Sir H. Brittain) and to my reply to the hon. Member for Twickenham (Sir W. Joynson-Hicks) and the hon. and gallant Member for Tottenham North (Major Prescott) on the 1st instant.

asked the President of the Board of Trade why Messrs. Slaughter and May were asked to prepare a memorandum and articles of association for the purpose of incorporating the British Empire Exhibition when Messrs. Church, Rackham and Company were the appointed solicitors, and had already prepared the memorandum and articles of association, which they had also already submitted to the Board of Trade for approval in the usual way; and who gave the instructions to Messrs. Slaughter and May?

By an agreement dated the 3rd June, 1919, two independent bodies, known as the British Dominions Exhibitions, Ltd., and the London Great Exhibition, agreed to amalgamate, and appointed a joint provisional committee on which both sides were represented to initiate the organisation of the British Empire Exhibition. A memorandum and articles of association were prepared by Messrs. Church, Rackham on the instructions of a single member of this committee, acting independently of his colleagues, who were unaware of their preparation or submission to the Board of Trade. The committee subsequently instructed Messrs. Slaughter and May, who acted as solicitors to the Franco-British Exhibition, to prepare the memorandum and articles of association, which were in due course approved by the Board of Trade. I understand that Messrs. Church, Rackham and Company, and Messrs. Slaughter and May are now joint solicitors to the British Empire Exhibition.

asked the Home Secretary what precautions are now taken to prevent assassins, agitators, and other undesirables from Southern Ireland entering this country; and whether he will introduce legislation extending the provisions of the Aliens Act to immigrants from that country?

The application of the Aliens Act machinery to all immigrants from Ireland would, in my opinion, be impracticable; but special steps are taken to discover assassins and other undesirables coming from Ireland to this country, and there are powers for dealing with them if they are detected.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether, with reference to the Resolution passed by a largely attended public meeting in Hong Kong in January, 1919, for a more popular form of local government and the reply of Viscount Milner, while Secretary of State for the Colonies, that, before coming to any decision, he was awaiting the Report of the newly-appointed Governor, Sir R. E. Stubbs, on the subject as soon as he should have had time to make himself conversant with local conditions, such Report has been received; if so, did it recommend any concessions; and, if so, what reasons does he assign for his decision not to make any alteration in the numbers or mode of selection of the unofficial members of the Legislative Council of the Colony?

Yes, Sir. The Report of the Governor was received in October last. He stated that there was no general demand in the Colony for any constitutional change. Though his own opinion was that the present Council is large enough, the Governor was willing that there should be some increase in the number of unofficial members of the Legislative Council on condition that there was a corresponding increase in the number of official members. He favoured the election of non-Chinese unofficial members except in the case of the member representing the Chamber of Commerce. In view of the Governor's statement as to the general feeling in the Colony, Lord Milner, after giving the matter careful consideration, stated in reply that on the whole, he was inclined to think that no change in the constitution of the Legislative Council was called for at the present time, but added that the Governor would no doubt raise the question again if and when he considered more definitely that a change was desirable. My right hon. Friend sees no reason to depart from the decision of his predecessor.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if recent sales of real estate in the commercial centre of the city of Victoria, Hong Kong, show that values have advanced during the past 20 years by 300 to 400 per cent. solely through the pressure of population; and, as this condition of things increases the cost of living and imposes a serious and unnecessary burden on the trade of the Colony, will he endeavour to expedite the negotiations between the Colonial Office and the War Office for the surrender of the military lands in Queen's Road which now prevent the extension of the business area in that direction?

I am aware of the great increase in the value of real estate in the centre of the city, and am endeavouring to expedite the negotiations in question.

asked the Minister of Labour whether it has been decided that no assistance can be given, under the training grant scheme, to any candidate whose application was not received before the time limit for such applications expired; whether exception to this rule can be made where evidence is forthcoming that such delay was not due to any fault on the part of the applicant; and whether he is prepared to reconsider individual cases which have been rejected under this rule?

The last date for application under the Training Grants scheme was fully advertised, and the original date of closure—31st December, 1919—was, again with full publicity, extended by six months to 30th June, 1920. Further, it was agreed with the War Office that cases where the plea was made that urgent military necessity had prevented an applicant from becoming aware of the contents of Army Council Instructions, should be referred specially to the War Office for scrutiny; and all cases in which the plea is substantiated are still admitted to consideration. No ex-service man in whose case the War Office has substantiated such plea in extenuation of late application has been refused a grant on that ground.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he can make a statement showing the steps taken to remedy the shortage of elementary school teachers, which is having disastrous effects upon education in this country?

The question of the supply of teachers will be dealt with in the annual report of the Board, which will be issued shortly.