asked the Prime Minister whether the Government has any information as to the present position of the negotiations between the competing oil interests and Soviet Russia?

The answer is in the negative.

asked the Prime Minister whether any British firms who had entered into contracts with Soviet Russia have been induced to relinquish these contracts owing to pressure from the Government; and, if so, on what grounds was this pressure applied?

No, Sir.

asked the Prime Minister what progress has been made with the new Egyptian Constitution?

I understand that the Report of the Sub-committee containing their proposals for the new Egyptian Constitution, prior to its submission to the full Commission, was published in the Egyptian Press. I would, however, remind the hon. and gallant Member that the framing of the Constitution is a matter which solely concerns the Egyptian Government, except in so far as the subjects reserved for future discussion between His Majesty's Government and the Egyptian Government may be affected.

asked the Prime Minister how much of the money set aside for the clearing of slum areas has been so used during the past year?

As the hon. Member is aware, the Government have undertaken to provide an annual sum not exceeding £200,000 towards the deficits incurred by local authorities in dealing with the clearance of slum areas, and the provision of the necessary rehousing. It is estimated that schemes approved or in various stages of preparation will involve an annual Exchequer contribution amounting to approximately £60,000, and negotiations are proceeding in connection with additional schemes for which commitments for a further annual sum of £13,000 have been provisionally agreed. Negotiations with local authorities on other schemes are pending.

asked the Prime Minister how long the Junior Lordship of the Treasury, formerly held by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Sir W. Sutherland), has been vacant, and when a new appointment will be made?

The Junior Lordship has been vacant since the 6th April. It is hoped to appoint a successor very shortly.

asked the Prime Minister what duties are now being performed by the Chief Secretary for Ireland?

I would refer the hon. and gallant Member to the reply which I gave on the 9th February last to a question addressed to me by my hon. Friend the Member for Chesterfield (Mr. Kenyon).

asked the Prime Minister whether his attention has been called to an article in a leading French journal stating with great prominence that a certain journal which is published in Paris is a propaganda paper controlled by himself; that it gives expression only to his policy and views; that, although nominally priced at 50 centimes, it is circulated free, and was so circulated at the Genoa Conference; and has he any statement to make on this matter?

I have not seen the article referred to in the question. Any statement to the effect that I control a journey of any sort in France, or that a journal controlled by me and expressing my views was circulated free at the Genoa Conference, is pure invention.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, seeing that the duty against China tea will cause considerable harm to Lancashire exports, partly through sentiment and partly through reduced purchasing power in China, he will reconsider the matter?

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether by Clause 13 (1) (c) of the Finance Bill it is his intention to secure that the Income Tax, including Super-tax, under a disposition creating a life interest, or vesting at marriage or majority, and whether originating by settlement, will, or other instrument shall, during the infancy of a beneficiary, be charged upon the aggregate estate of the settlor or testator; what, if this be so, is the intention to penalise these separate

I do not admit the assumption of the hon. Gentleman's question, and I would remind him that the differential duty against China tea has been reduced under the present Budget by 33⅓ per cent. Accordingly, I do not think there is any case for reconsidering the matter.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the amount of duty collected during 1921–22 at the general rate and the preferential rate, respectively, in respect of each of the commodities to which Imperial Preference applies?

The following table shows the amount of duty collected at the full and preferential rates respectively in respect of each of the commodities to which Imperial Preference applies during the year ended 31st March, 1922:interests; and whether, having regard to the injustice such a provision will entail, he will reconsider the matter and withdraw the Clause?

Clause 13 (1) (c) of the Finance Bill provides in certain circumstances that income payable to or applicable for the benefit of a child under a disposition made by a parent of the child shall be regarded as the income of the parent for purposes of Income Tax (including Super-tax) so long as the child is an infant and unmarried (that. is, so long as it is the natural and proper duty of the parent to provide for the child), but only if the disposition is made for a period less than the life of the child. The answer, therefore, to the first part of the question, if I have understood it aright, is in the negative and the other parts of the question do not arise.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the number of proof gallons of home-made spirits distilled during the year ended 31st March, 1922; exported during the same year; retained for home consumption during the same year; exported as medicinal preparations during the same year; used in fortifying wines, etc., during the same year; used in arts and manufactures during the same year; methylated during the same year; allowed as deficiencies, etc., during the same year; remaining in bonded warehouses on the 31st March, 1922; the quantity of imported spirits duty paid and retained for home consumption during the year ended 31st March, 1922; brandy, rum, geneva, and other unenumerated spirits tested, not tested, and perfumed; and the quantity of imported spirits used for methylation and in arts and manufactures, etc.?

1. The quantity of home-made spirits distilled, the approximate quantities, under certain heads, distributed in the financial year ended 31st March, 1922; and the quantity remaining in bonded warehouses on 31st March, 1922, were as follow:

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the amount of duties collected under the Safeguarding of Industries Act during the month of May, and for the period from 1st October to 31st May; and what proportion was collected on goods imported from France, Belgium, Italy, Germany, America, and Japan?

The information required is as follows:—Statement showing the amount of duty collected under the Safeguarding of Industries Act clueing the month of May, 1922, and during the period from 1st October, 1921, to 31st May, 1922, specifying the amounts collected on goods consigned from France, Belgium, Italy,

asked the President of the Board of Trade what is the present position of gas mantles under the Safeguarding of Industries Act; and whether the amendment of the list in accordance with the new award renders them liable to duty?

Duty is being levied or, certain ingredients of gas mantles, in accordance with the decision of the Referee.

asked the Home Secretary whether he is aware that the whole component parts of rifles which are manufactured in Belgium and other parts abroad are permitted to receive the proof-house marks of London and Birmingham; and whether, seeing that this practice is not in compliance with the charters of these houses, which are for the exclusive use of British manufacture, and that the proof-house marks placed upon the component parts of rifles manufactured abroad make it appear that the whole of the rifle and the component parts have been manufactured in the United Kingdom, he will inquire into the matter?

I have been asked to answer this question. I am not at present aware of the circumstances or merits of the case, but I am inquiring into it as the hon. Member suggests, and will communicate with him further.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he has received any Report from the Government directors on the British Dyestuffs Corporation, Limited, as to the recent changes in the directors of the Corporation; and, if so, whether he will lay the Report upon the Table?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the negative, and the second part, consequently, does not arise.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the value of the exports from the United Kingdom to Germany from 1st January to 31st May and also the value of the imports from Germany to the United Kingdom during the same period?

The value of the trade between the United Kingdom and Germany during the period specified in the question is not available. For the first three months of the current year the value of the merchandise imported to and exported from the United Kingdom, which was registered as consigned from or to Germany, was as follows:—

asked the Minister of Agriculture if, since 1897, there has been any decrease in the number of fat cattle entering this country from the Argentine; and, if so, what the figures were for 1897 and 1921?

No live cattle have been imported into the United Kingdom from Argentina since the year 1903. The number imported in 1897 was 73,852, all of which may be assumed to have been fat, as live cattle could only be imported for immediate slaughter.

asked the Minister of Agriculture if there was any increase in the number of live cattle entering this country during the five years 1893 to 1897, inclusive, over the year 1922 as stores and fat cattle from Ireland and fat cattle from

asked the Minister of Agriculture if the supplies of imported beef into this country come from the same source as in the years 1893 to 1897; if not, from what sources they now come, and in what quantities; whether the change in the source of supplies has been accompanied by any change in the degree of refrigeration required; whether such change is correctly described as being a change from chilled beef to frozen beef; and whether frozen beef or chilled beef approximates more closely to the quality of home-killed beef?

The average annual imports of beef in 1893–97 amounted to 148,000, of which 114,000 tons were shipped from the United States and 27,000 tons from Australia. Since that time imports from the United States have greatly declined, and for some years past Argentina has been the principal source of supply. The total quantity of beef imported in 1921 was 608,000 tons, of which 374,000 tons came from Argentina, 84,000 tons from Australia, 60,000 tons from Uruguay, and 41,000 tons from New Zealand, the shipments from the United States amounting to 9,000 tons. The quantities of refrigerated meat imported in 1893–97 were not separately distinguished in the trade returns, but it is understood that practically all imports from North and South America and Australasia were frozen. This still applies in the case of beef from Australasia, but, as regards North and South America, chilled beef gradually superseded frozen and formed the bulk of the supply for some years before the War. other countries to be killed at the ports; and, if so, what the total increase in number was?

The figures are as follow:During the latter part of the War period, however, there was a reversion to frozen beef, but since then there has been a rapid recovery in the proportion of chilled beef imported from South America, and in 1921, taking Argentina and Uruguay together, about one-third of the imports were chilled and two-thirds frozen. As regards the last part of the question, the price of chilled beef is almost invariably higher than that of frozen beef, and is consequently nearer to the price of home-produced beef.

asked the Minister of Labour whether certain trade unions have raised objections to the handling by their members, in connection with building contracts, of woodwork or other materials made at the Lord Roberts Memorial Workshops in Fulham Road; and what action his Department is taking in the matter?

I am aware of the circumstances to which my hon. and gallant Friend refers. My right hon. Friend is in communication with the union concerned, with a view to securing their co-operation in the work carried on by the Lord Roberts Memorial Workshops in the interests of disabled men.

asked the Minister of Labour the number of women in receipt of unemployment benefit on 10th June; how many have been placed in domestic service by the various Exchanges during the preceding month; how many cases there have been in the same period where such employment has been offered and not accepted; and what action has been taken in respect of them?

The number of women in Great Britain in receipt of unemployment benefit at 29th May, the latest date for which figures are available, was about 85,000; the number of women placed by Employment Exchanges in domestic service during the month ended 8th May was 8,868. No separate record is kept of the number of cases in which women refuse to accept suitable employment in domestic service. But in all such cases unemployment benefit is at once disallowed. I may add that during the month of May the chief insurance officer disallowed benefit to 1,315 women for refusal to accept suitable employment offered to them.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether His Majesty's Government, in concert with the Allies or alone, have taken any further steps to attempt to arrive at an honourable peace settlement of the was between Greece and the Turkish Nationalists; and whether, since Greece has agreed to accept the conditions suggested for the armistice by the Allies and is entitled to expect some early settlement, the British Government will fully recognise the present Greek Constitution?

In regard to the first part of the question, I would refer the hon. and gallant Member to the replies which I gave to the hon. Members for East Wolverhampton (Mr. G. Thorne) and for Central Hull (Lieut.-Commander Kenworthy) to-day. In regard to the second part of the question, His Majesty's Government have always recognised the principles of the Greek Constitution.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he can make any statement as to the present position in Iraq?

I have no special statement to make at the present juncture. Negotiations for the conclusion of a Treaty with King Feisul are still proceeding, but they have not yet reached a stage at which I could usefully make a communication to the House on the subject.