asked the Prime Minister whether his attention has been drawn to a speech reported to have been made by the Viceroy of India at Peshawar on 6th April, wherein he is reported to have said that he took the fullest responsibility for the despatch of 7th March, that he fully appreciated its effect from the international standpoint, that his sole object was that consideration might be given to Moslem aspirations, which he had so far regarded as just, equitable, and reasonable: and whether His Majesty's Government have any statement to make?

I think my Noble Friend has seen only a very imperfect account of the Viceroy's speech. What he said was that his "Government's desire was to obtain consideration of Indian Moslem aspirations, and fulfilment in so far as they were considered just, equitable and reasonable." His Majesty's Government see nothing to criticise in this statement—indeed, it exactly describes their own position, though, of course, there are other factors in this complex problem of which they have to take account. I will print the passage dealing with this subject in full in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

The following is the passage referred to: As regards the revision of the Treaty of Sevres, I have, as you are aware, let no opportunity pass of placing before His Majesty's Government the demands made by responsible Moslem opinion in India, and of urging that the fullest consideration should be given to their sentiments in the settlement of these problems. I shall not fail to convey to Mr. Montagu your regret at his resignation and your expressions of appreciation and gratitude for his efforts on behalf of the Moslems of India. My own views have already been publicly stated. I deeply value the tribute paid by you, the representatives of a pre-eminently Mahommedan Province renowned as a stronghold of Islamic tradition, to my endeavours to help the Moslems of India. In the trouble which the Great War brought in its train for them, I have always cherished it as my privilege, and recognised it as my patent duty to impress the views of responsible Moslem opinion in India upon His Majesty's Government. I am now fully acquainted with the views of His Majesty's Government upon recent events, and I am sure you will be glad to know that no questions have arisen between His Majesty's Government and me, as Viceroy, or my Government, regarding the propriety of either my own or my Government's action in this or in any respect. Let me say that I take the fullest responsibility for the telegram sent, not only because I am head of the Government of India, but because the proposal originated with me. I have also had it at heart to allay by open statement of our action, wherever this was practicable, any misgivings which Moslems in India may have felt as to the steps taken to bring their views to notice in the proper quarter. The sole object my Government had in view in desiring to publish the telegram was to acquaint those interested in India with the action taken by the Government of India; but, inasmuch as I fully appreciated that publication might affect the international situation, we requested the assent of His Majesty's Government. Here again no question has arisen between us regarding this action. His Majesty's Government have declared that not only was my Government entitled to keep them in England acquainted with Moslem sentiments and to impress them as forcibly as we could, but also that my Government acted with constitutional propriety in requesting His Majesty's Government's assent to publication, and, through the proper channel of communication, i.e. the Secretary of State. My Government's desire was to obtain consideration of Indian Moslem aspirations, and fulfilment, in so far as they were con- sidered just, equitable, and reasonable. His Majesty's Government have made plain that Mr. Montagu's resignation has not affected their policy, either in regard to the Treaty of Peace or to the Reforms or otherwise. They have already stated that they will not fail to give due weight and full consideration to the representations made by the Moslems of India, in so far as these are compatible with justice and their obligations to their Allies and other nations. I trust that the difficult question is now approaching a solution, and that peace in the Near East may soon be brought about. I am confident that, when the final history of these negotiations comes to be written, its pages will leave no doubt that Great Britain has been guided by that desire of justice for and sympathy with the Moslem elements in the British Empire which has been a traditional feature of her policy.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that in the rural district of Goole, Yorkshire, notwithstanding the message-rate system of charging having been adopted, telephone subscribers are now being asked to pay for many calls per annum more than used in spite of paragraph 5 of a circular notice issued to subscribers when notice was given to terminate their old agreements?

The question appears to relate to an exchange provided at Reedness, near Goole, in 1920, to meet the requirements of two residents in the neighbourhood. In the ordinary course an exchange would not have been provided there; but, as the rentals for exchange lines to Goole would have been prohibitive and a call office existed at Reedness, rentals were assessed specially for connexions with the call office. The subscribers were given the benefit of the maximum number of local calls permissible under the old measured rate, subject to the proviso that no rebate would be allowed for unused calls. The original agreements have been allowed to stand up to the present, as the question of the method of assessing rentals for small rural exchanges is under review, and it is unlikely that more favourable terms could be quoted under the new tariff.

asked the Postmaster-General what are the present salaries, including all allowances and bonuses, of the postmaster of Cambridge, a senior sorter of 14 years' standing at the General Post Office, London, and a junior sorter, aged 18, at the same office, respectively?

The information is as follows:

Postmaster, Cambridge, £824 14s. a year.

London sorter: At 18 years of age 49s. 3d. a week. After 14 years' adult service 120s 3d. a week.

asked the Postmaster-General what was the gross total of all salaries paid to the officials of his Department for the year April, 1913, to April, 1914, and the year April, 1921, to April, 1922?

The particulars are as follow: £ 1913–14 … … … 15,730,000 1921–22 … … … 45,000,000 The figures quoted are on the basis of the Commercial Accounts, because these alone give a proper comparison. To make up the total wages bill of the Post Office it would be necessary to add certain items amounting in all to £1,500,000 in 1913–14 and £5,000,000 in 1921–22, which are chargeable to capital or are recovered from the Savings Bank Fund. The figures for 1921–22 are approximate.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he will state whether for the manufacture of war medals, as distinct from work in connection with war medals, firms of expert medallists have been invited to tender: if so, what proportion of the orders for the total number of medals manufactured have been awarded to such firms; what is their comparison with the cost of production at Woolwich; whether, in the case of the bronze Victory Medals, a certain proportion of the requirements which were supplied by the trade were secured at a price much more favourable than they were being produced at Woolwich; if so, what was the approximate saving per 1,000,000 medals; and why, if such a saving was effected, is production at Woolwich on more costly lines, and to the exclusion of the trade, persisted in?

Medallist firms have been invited to tender for the manufacture of War medals, and have supplied about 25 per cent. of the number at present required, or, including work in engraving, etc., about 40 per cent. in value of the total orders. In the case of the bronze Victory Medal, which is the only medal manufactured both at Woolwich and by the trade, the respective costs were approximately the same when the contract was placed with the trade in July last, and the cost of production at Woolwich has since fallen appreciably. The last part of the question, therefore, does not arise. I would add that in making a comparison of costs, it must be remembered that at Woolwich this work is carried on almost entirely by ex-service men, many of whom are badly disabled.

asked the Minister of Pensions what the pension would be of a man who has served as a private with the Colours for 21 years and has the South African medal and clasp?

My right hon. Friend has asked me to answer this question. Assuming that the service was all over the age of 18 and that the soldier was discharged on termination of his engagement, the amount of pension would be as follows:—If he was discharged before 4th August, 1914, and did not serve again in the Great War—1s. 1d. a day (subject to an increase not exceeding 50 per cent., if age 60 or over and his means are less than £150 unmarried or £200 married). If he was discharged after 4th August, 1914, or if, having been discharged before that date, he served again in the Great War and gave satisfactory service—2s. 7½d. a day. The fact that he has the South African medal and clasp does not affect the amount of his pension.

asked the Minister of Pensions whether any official or board of officials can award a man a final pension of a definite sum after the Appeals Tribunal have certified that he is suffering from an incurable disease attributable to service during the War; and, if so, the regulation or article in the Pensions Act or Acts which gives them power to act in such a manner?

The Ministry is bound by and accepts without question a decision of the Pensions Appeal Tribunal that an appellant's disability is attributable to or aggravated by service, and thereafter awards compensation on the basis of the degree of disablement then found by a medical board to exist. When the disablement is less than 20 per cent., compensation takes the form of a gratuity or final weekly allowance as provided by Article 1 (3) of the Royal Warrant.

asked the Minister of Pensions the total number of persons receiving pensions or allowances residing in Darlaston?

The form in which the records of my Department are kept does not permit of the figures for small areas being extracted, and I regret, therefore, that I am not in a position to-supply the information desired.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the reason of the great delay in paying the pension of Special Constable Hugh R. Shortt, who was injured in the discharge of his duties while serving the Imperial Government on the 9th October, 1921; and, seeing that this man is now unfit to follow his ordinary trade, whether he will give immediate directions for the payment of his pension?

This is now a matter for the Government of Northern Ireland, to whom I would refer the hon. Member.

asked the Secretary for Scotland if he can give a statement explaining his plans for effecting the retrenchment in Scottish educational expenditure proposed by the Government?

I would refer my hon. and gallant Friend to Sub-head C of Class IV, 11 of the Civil Service Estimates. The figures there given indicate the effect upon the Grant-in-Aid of Scottish educational expenditure of the decisions arrived at by the Government. The responsibility for the consequential adjustments in the budgets of local education authorities rests upon the individual authorities, who, I have every reason to believe, are carefully considering how this and such other retrenchments as they may deem necessary or desirable can best be effected.

asked the Minister of Health what is the total amount of payments made in respect of unemployment as apart from ordinary Poor Law reliefs by the Poor Law unions of England and Wales during the six months ending 31st March, 1922; if he has any estimate of the amount likely to be required for the same purpose for the six months ending 30th December, 1922; in how many unions such expenditure is more than 20 per cent. of their whole expenditure; and what is the total amount expended in such unions in relief necessitated by unemployment?

I am sending the hon. and gallant Member a copy of a circular letter to boards of guardians asking for information on this subject, and, if he will put down a question at a later date when the replies have been received, I shall be happy to give him an answer.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether, in view of the unemployment in Cobham, Surrey, and district, he will consider the giving up of the brickfield at Little Heath, Cobham, Surrey, now held as an ammunition dump, and so provide employment in the district?

The clearance of this depot will be undertaken as soon as possible, but I must explain that there are other depots which for reasons of economy must be given preference. Subject to this condition, however, everything possible will be done to expedite the clearance of the depot mentioned by my hon. Friend.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he can state the number of persons unemployed and in receipt of unemployment benefit?

At 10th April the number of persons registered as unemployed at Exchanges in Great Britain was 1,648,748, of whom 1,485,694 were claiming unemployment benefit.

asked the Minister of Labour if he will state the reason why persons employed by municipal authorities to clean municipal lodging-houses are excluded from unemployment insurance on the ground that they are not employed in a trade or business carried on for purposes of gain while persons employed by municipal authorities on the making of roads are not excluded for the same reason?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the provisions of the Unemployment Insurance Act, 1920. Paragraph ( b ) of Part II of the First Schedule of that Act excepts domestic servants from unemployment insurance, save where they are employed in a trade or business carried on for the purposes of gain. This exception applies only to domestic servants. In the case of other workers, the question whether or not they are employed in a trade or business for the purposes of gain has no bearing on their liability to unemployment insurance.

asked the Minister of Labour whether his attention has been drawn to the case of H. Crowther, of Leeds, who in June, 1921, was granted unemployment benefit for 12 weeks only on the ground that he had not. made every effort to obtain employment; whether he is aware that the applicant was only before the local Employment Committee for about three minutes, and that the Committee came to their decision in spite of the fact that he produced evidence that from the end of March, 1921, until the end of May, 1921, he had been continually replying to advertisements and making personal applications for employment; and whether, in order to remove any sense of grievance, he will give instructions that this case shall be further investigated?

As a result of representations made by the trade union to which Mr. Crowther belongs, his claim has been considered by the duly authorised Kota Committee of the Local Employment Committee on five occasions between 11th May and 24th November, 1921. At one of the hearings, on 13th June last, he was represented by the district organiser of his trade union. The Committee on each occasion came to the same conclusion, namely, that benefit should only be granted for 12 weeks, and in the circumstances I am not prepared to re-open the case.

asked the Minister of Labour whether, with regard to the 63,000 ex-service men who have been trained in industrial training centres and have been placed in situations in the trades they been trained in, he can state how many of these men are still working at those trades?

The great majority of the men referred to are known to have obtained employment in the trades in which they have been trained, but I regret that I cannot give figures as to the number now in employment.

asked whether it is the intention of the Government to revise the scheme for training disabled ex-service men in training centres; and whether, in any such revision, the ex-service men's associations will be consulted?

I know of no proposal to revise generally the Industrial Training Scheme for disabled ex-service men. If any such revision were contemplated, I would certainly propose to discuss it with representatives of all the interests concerned. Perhaps I may add that I have recently had before me suggestions as to the working of the scheme, put forward by the Trainees National Guild, which I have considered fully and replied to.

asked the Minister of Labour whether lie will state the composition of the local technical advisory committees; what powers they possess; and whether any representative of the ex-service men sits upon those bodies?

The functions of a local technical advisory committee are to advise locally as to the selection of suitable condidates for training; the suitability of the training offered (with special reference to the prospects of regular employment); the suitability of the rate of wages offered at the termination of training; and on any other questions arising out of the training of disabled men for the trade concerned. These technical committees are composed equally of representatives of employers and labour in their respective trades. They do not include members appointed specifically to represent ex-service men, although, in fact, in many cases ex-service men serve as members of the committees.

asked the Minister of Labour whether canvassers are employed to place ex-service men who have been trained in the various training centres; and whether he can state how many men have been placed through their representations?

Since 1st September, 1921, canvassers have been appointed for the purpose of finding improvership and other vacancies for ex-service men on the completion of their institutional training. Since their appointment the canvassers have found 2,794 vacancies, and, in addition, 1,350 have been found by other agencies, making a total of 4,144.

asked the Minister of Health whether his attention has been drawn to the recent decision in the High Court in the case of Nye v. Davis; whether he is aware that this decision will adversely affect thousands of occupants of London flats who, for the convenience of the owners of the flat, have to receive the services of an employé of the owners, for such purposes as carrying up coals, etc.; that in many cases owners, believing that henceforth their flats are in consequence of these services excluded from the operations of the Rent Restrictions Act, have already threatened to increase rents; and if he can yet say whether he will introduce a Bill amending the Act to protect the occupants of such flats from the effects of the High Court judgment?

I am unable to add anything to the answer which I gave the hon. Member on the 10th March.

asked the hon. Member for the Pollok Division of Glasgow, as representing the First Commissioner of Works, if he is aware that Mr. Smythe, who is a whole-time official employed in the Office of Works, is also acting as a quantity surveyor to the Tottenham District Council on the local housing scheme; whether he will give the total amount of his emoluments in both capacities; and whether these duties are being discharged with the consent and approval of the Office of Works?

Mr. Smythe resigned his position in the Office of Works on the 31st December, 1921. The issue raised by the question does not therefore arise.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury the aggregate amount of War and National Savings Certificates outstanding on 31st March; the aggregate number of certificates sold up to the same date; and the number of individual subscribers?

The approximate number of certificates sold up to 31st March, 1922, was 559,000,000 representing an initial purchase price of about £433,000,000. The aggregate purchase price of certificates outstanding on 31st March, 1922, was about £329,000,000. The interest accrued on this total would vary with the dates of individual certificates but may be approximately

—— London. Grimsby. Safeguarding of Industries Act. Total number of postal packages examined 16,149 2,821 Duty collected £10,805 £3,101 Number of packages undelivered one month after date of arrival 710 261 German Reparation (Recovery) Act. Total number of postal packages examined 244,578 53,606 Levy collected £182,312 £25,271 Number of packages undelivered one month after date of arrival 4,733 4,960

£45,000,000. It is not possible to give the number of individual subscribers, as many persons take out more than one certificate.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury what amount has been paid out of any reparations fund to seamen on account of their losses due to enemy action?

The Royal Commission on Compensation for Suffering and Damage by Enemy Action have recommended advances on account in certain specially necessitous cases, and the payments recommended by the Commission are being made by the Treasury from the Vote for Grants for Compensation for Damage by Enemy Action (Unclassified Services: Vote 16). The amount of these advances on account recommended up to the 19th instant, in cases of seamen, is £14,097.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the number of postal packages detained and examined by the Board of Customs in London for the purpose of collecting duties under the Safeguarding of Industries and the German Reparations (Recovery) Acts from 1st October to 31st March; the amount of the duties so collected; whether he can give similar figures for the port of Grimsby; and the number of packages detained by the Customs for over one month?

The figures are as follow:

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if ho is now in a position to make a statement as to whether the Foreign Office have made any representations to the Chinese Government, in respect to their default on the bonds known as the Vickers and Marconi issue?

There is nothing to add to the replies given to my hon. and gallant Friend's questions of 16th March and 10th April.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the Customs tariffs to which exported motor parts and accessories and imported laces are subjected; and show how these compare with the Customs tariffs of 1914?

In the United Kingdom there is no export duty on motor parts and accessories, and no import duty on laces. Should the hon. Member desire information with regard to other countries, I will endeavour to supply it, if he will specify the countries.

asked the Home Secretary the number of fatal and nonfatal street accidents in this country during each year from 1913 to 1921, inclusive; and whether, in view of the increase in the number of such accidents, he will take into consideration the appointment of a Committee to inquire and report on some methods of regulating traffic which will minimise such accidents?

The number of street accidents in England and Wales during the years 1913 to 1921 is as follow: Fatal. Non-Fatal. 1913 … … 1,743 38,050 1914 … … 1,991 53,481 1915 … … 2,564 54,222 1916 … … 2,393 46,090 1917 … … 2,047 38,326 1918 … … 1,852 31,604 1919 … … 2,239 43,305 1920 … … 2,386 49,317 1921 … … 2,328 55,153 I understand that the Ministry of Transport is not prepared at the present time to recommend the appointment of a Committee such as that suggested in the second part of the question. The second Interim Report of the Departmental Committee on the Regulation of Road Vehicles contains various suggestions for the regulation of road vehicles, with a view to minimising the risk of accidents and for the institution of inquiries into road accidents of a serious character.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport what is the total amount of the charges against the Road Fund by the London County Council in respect of motor-car licences and regulations issued by that body in 1921?

The final claim from the London County Council in respect of costs of collection has not yet been received.