asked the Minister of Agriculture the retail prices of the various articles of food and clothing consumed by, or used by, the agricultural labourer now and in the first half of 1914?

I have been asked to reply. No statistics have been collected relating specially to the prices paid by agricultural labourers for food and clothing. The following figures, however, show the average prices of the principal articles of food consumed by working-class families, generally, in over 400 of the smaller towns (with populations ranging generally from about 2,000 to 50,000) in Great Britain and Northern Ireland:

Article.	Average Prices (per lb. unless otherwise Article. indicated) at
	July, 1914.		1st March,1923.
	s.	d.	s.	d.
Beef, British—
Ribs	0	9¾	1	5½
Thin Flank	0	7	0	11¼
Beef, Imported—
Ribs	0	7¼	0	10¼
Thin Flank	0	5	0	6¼
Mutton, British—
Leg	0	10½	1	8¾
Breast	0	7	1	0½
Mutton, Imported
Leg	0	7	1	0¾
Breast	0	4¼	0	5¾
Bacon (Streaky)*	0	11½	1	6¼
Flour per 7 lbs.	0	10½	1	3¾
Bread per 4 lbs.	0	5¾	0	9
Tea	1	6¾	2	7¼
Sugar (Granulated)	0	2¼	0	6¾
Milk per quart	0	3¼	0	6¾
Butter—
Fresh	1	2½	2	3
Salt	1	2¼	2	1
Cheese†	0	8¾	1	4½
Margarine	0	7¼	0	6¾
Eggs, Fresh each	0	1¼	0	2¼
Potatoes per 7 lbs.	0	5¼	0	4¾
* If this kind is seldom dealt with in a locality the returns quote the price for another kind locally representative.
† The description of cheese specified for quotation is Canadian or American, but where such cheese is seldom sold in a locality the returns quote the price of another kind locally representative.

As regard clothing, I am sending the hon. and gallant Member a copy of the "Ministry of Labour Gazette" for February, on page 45 of which an article appears, giving comparative figures as to the cost of clothing of the kinds generally purchased by working-class families at July, 1914, and February, 1923. The figures relate in the main to the prices charged in the larger towns, and similar information is not available for the smaller towns and villages.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the value of imports during 1922 of dairy produce, poultry, eggs, bacon, pork, hams, barley, vegetables, and fruit; and whether the per- centages of these imported articles are getting larger every year?

The following statement shows the declared value of the imports into the United Kingdom during 1922 of the articles specified in the question, together with the corresponding values of the imports in the year 1913:

	Thousand £s ('000 omitted).
		1922.	1913.
Butter	…	37,316	24,084
Cheese	…	12,438	7,035
Poultry	…	1,243	992
Eggs, in shell	…	11,302	9,591
Bacon	…	35,530	17,429
Hams	…	8,585	3,068
Pork	…	3,536	1,665
Barley	…	6,069	8,077
Vegetables, raw	…	12,040	5,492
Fruit, raw	…	24,725	9,844
Total	…	152,784	87,277

Information is not available regarding the percentage of the imports to the total consumption in this country of the articles in question. In comparing the values of the imports of 1922 with those of 1913 the higher level of prices in 1922 must be taken into account. The imports in 1922 of the articles specified represent a value approximately 70 per cent. greater than if those imports had been returned at the same average values as in 1913, so that the aggregate increase in the volume of these goods imported was about 3 per cent. The increase of the population of the United Kingdom during the same period was about 4 per cent.

asked the Minister of Agriculture the number of acres under cultivation for the production of oats during 1913 and every successive year down to and including 1922?

I would refer the hon Member to the answer which I gave him on the 26th ultimo.

asked the Minister of Agriculture the corn acreage in this country in 1914, at the period of maximum stimulated output during the War, and now; and the average wage of the agricultural labourer at each period?

The total area returned as under corn (wheat, barley and oats) in England and Wales on the 4th June, 1914, 1918 and 1922, and the estimated average weekly wages of ordinary agricultural labourers in the cereal years 1913–14, 1917–18, and 1921–22 are as follow:

		Area under corn as returned on 4th June.			Estimated average weekly wages in year ending 31st August.
		Acres.			s.	d.
1914	…	5,242,000	…	…	18	0
1918	…	6,979,000	…	…	28	0
1922	…	5,620,000	…	…	34	6

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware that the following drapery and clothing firms declared a profit for 1922 as follows: John Barker £362,382, Dickins and Jones £86,163, Harrods £484,120, Peter Robinson £107,172, Selfridge £320,710, Thomas Wallis £30,578, Whiteley's £240,000, a total of £1,631,125; that the same firms declared a profit of £1,213,323 for 1921; and if he will institute an inquiry into the great difference in the charges for commodities as between the price paid to the producer and the price paid by the consumer?

I am aware that the published accounts of the year's trade show profits approximating to the figures mentioned. It would be difficult to express an opinion on them without reviewing the full circumstances of each particular case, and as at present advised, I am not prepared to institute such an inquiry as is suggested.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will state, from the last available returns, the total number of municipally-owned tramway, gas, and electric undertakings in Great Britain, together with their total capital expenditure; and the number showing a profit or loss, respectively, with the total amounts of such profit or loss?

I have been asked to reply to this question. The latest published information regarding tramways, to which I would refer my hon. Friend, is for the year 1920–21. The tramways returns for 1921–22 are in course of preparation and preliminary total figures have been extracted for the purpose of this reply. There were in Great Britain at 31st March, 1922, 159 tramway undertakings owned by local authorities. The total capital expenditure upon these undertakings up to that date amounted to £65,085,736, including £8,681,621 for street improvements and old systems superseded. A considerable proportion of the loans raised to meet this expenditure has been redeemed or provided for by accumulations in redemption funds, but the amount is not readily ascertainable. The results of working two minor undertakings not operated by the owning authority are not available, but I have grouped the results of working the re-

—	Class 1.	Class 2.	Class 3.	Class 4.	Class 5.	Class 6.	Total.
Number of undertakings.	81	9	14	30	9	14	157
	£	£	£	£	£	£	£
Capital Expenditure	33,056,336	1,430,663	21,839,735	5,378,696	1,713,920	1,420,316	64,839,666
Cr. Net Income	3,519,528	108,446	1,039,493	219,897	64,424	22,801 (Debit).	4,928,987
Dr. Interest on Capital	763,368	32,867	444,007	80,567	77,418	49,078	1,453,305
Redemption of Capital.	807,888	39,067	520,742	173,821	49,939	30,522	1,621,979
Income Tax and other appropriation charges.	571,180	23,864	337,868	34,406	6,277	5,146	978,741
Reserves (including Depreciation, etc.) Funds.	1,080,443	40,040	—	1,501	1,000	6,960	1,129,944
Total	3,222,879	135,838	1,302,617	296,295	134,634	91,706	5,183,969
Balance. Dr.	—	27,392	263,124	76,398	70,210	114,507	254,982
Do. Cr.	296,649	—	—	—	—	—	—

asked the Postmaster- General whether supervisors in the telephone service have any control over the official section of that service; if so, why delays of from three to five minutes repeatedly occur before those who desire Imperial cable messages to be collected are put into touch with official 890; and maining 157 undertakings into six classes:—

• Class 1.—Undertakings which showed a credit balance for the year after meeting all charges, including capital redemption and reserves.
• Class 2.—Undertakings which after meeting all charges, including capital redemption, made reserves in excess of the amount available from the year's working.
• Class 3.—Undertakings which after meeting interest and capital redemption were unable to meet Income Tax and other appropriation charges in full.
• Class 4.—Undertakings which after meeting interest charges were unable to meet capital redemption in full.
• Class 5.—Undertakings which were unable to meet interest charges in full.
• Class 6.—Undertakings which were unable to meet their working expenses.

whether he will take steps to deal with this apparent inefficiency?

The supervisors in the telephone service have control over the working of the lines connected with the official switchboard. Present records show that the average time for establishing communication with official 890 is 11 seconds, and complaints in this connection appear to be very rare.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport whether he is aware that workmen on the Port Talbot section and the Rhondda and Swansea Bay section of the Great Western Railway are being discharged as a result of the grouping under the Railways Act, 1921, without being granted any compensation as provided for in the Act, and that many men are worsened as a result of the operation of the Act, and, in view of the provisions of the Act, what steps he proposes to take in the matter?

I have no knowledge of the circumstances to which the hon. Member refers in the first part of his question. The Third Schedule of the Railways Act, 1921, provides machinery for the settlement by arbitration of questions of this character which cannot be settled by agreement, but I understand that no actual appeals have yet been made under these provisions. If I am furnished with particulars of the cases which the hon. Member has in mind, I shall be happy to consider whether there are any steps I could usefully take.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if his attention has been called to the congestion in respect to ship-loading at some of the ports of the country; and what steps, particularly in these days of unemployment, lie is taking to relieve it?

I have been asked to reply. I am aware that some congestion has occurred at certain ports where coal is being shipped, and I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on the 27th March by my hon. and gallant Friend the Secretary for Mines to a question asked by my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for East Fulham (Colonel Vaughan-Morgan). I shall be pleased to make inquiries in any specific cases brought to my attention where delays in shipment are alleged to be due to inadequate facilities at the ports.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has any information showing that the repayment by the Bank of France to the Bank of England of a debt of £55,000,000 has been made contingent on the repayment by the British Government of the gold lodged in London by the Bank of France as partial cover for a Government loan; and can he assure the House that His Majesty's Government will not acquiesce in any attempt to treat the gold as an offset for a private debt?

The hon. and gallant Member is misinformed. There is no connection whatever between the debt of the Bank of France to the Bank of England, and the gold deposited with the Bank of England in connection with French Government debt to the British Government.

asked the Minister of Labour what regulations as to apprenticeship exist in the following trades: carpenters, bricklayers, masons, slaters, plasterers, painters and plumbers?

Certain rules in regard to apprenticeships in these trades are ordinarily contained in the working rules agreement operative in a particular district, but usually confine themselves to dealing with the ratio of apprentices to journeymen which, as a rule, is one to four. In the case of master painters and master plumbers, comprehensive schemes of national application have been put into operation by agreement between employers and employed. As regards the building trade generally, a national scheme was adopted by the Industrial Council in 1920, but is in operation only to a very limited extent.

asked the Minister of Labour the number of men unemployed in each month of the first six months of 1922, and the number whose unemployment books were out during that period, it the following trades: carpenters, bricklayers, masons, slaters, plasterers, painters and plumbers?

The information is as follows:

asked the Minister of Health whether the Government proposes to inquire from all local authorities their requirements in respect of housing, or whether the assistance will be limited to those who actually apply for it; what steps will be taken to ensure that all local authorities move in the matter; and whether, if the circumstances demand it, he proposes to send down inspectors to investigate?

The Government do not think it necessary to address any inquiry to local authorities as to requirements. It is considered that where serious need exists, local authorities will take action under the scheme. If the necessity should arise, investigation would be undertaken.

asked the Minister of Health if he can give the number of houses that were completed each month during the first six months of 1922; and the number that were under construction in each month during that period.

Statistics are not available showing the total number of houses which were completed and were under construction during the months in question, but the following table gives the information in regard to the State assisted scheme:Houses completed and under construction by local authorities and public utility societies—

During month of—		Number of Houses.
		Completed.	Under construction.
January, 1922	…	7,629	63,814
February, 1922	…	6,686	59,133
March, 1922	…	8,675	52,417
April, 1922	…	7,145	47,102
May, 1922	…	8,238	40,970
June, 1922	…	6,908	35,971

asked the Minister of Health (1) if the number of persons occupied in building and work of construction can be given from the Census Returns of 1921 in comparable form to those given for 1891, 1901, and 1911: if he will say what they are:(2) if he can give from the Census Returns for England and Wales for 1921 the number of tenements of one, two, three, and four rooms, respectively, which were overcrowded, and the percentage of the total population occupying such tenements for each class of tenement?

As I informed the hon. and gallant Member in my replies of the 19th instant, the statistics of dwellings, rooms, and families will not be available for England and Wales as a whole until the county tabulations now in progress are completed, and this applies also to the occupational statistics referred to in the first question. It will not, however, in any event be possible to present the latter in a form comparable with those of the three preceding Censuses, which are not, indeed comparable as between themselves.

asked the Minister of Health the names of the Committee who are to watch the prices of building materials?

The composition of the Committee is not yet completed, but I hope to be in a position to make an announcement very shortly.

asked the President of the Board of Education if his attention has been drawn to the case of Mr. E. G. Bishop, of 74, Ridley Road, Forest Gate, who was formerly a handicraft instructor under the London County Council, was discharged as unfit for employment in consequence of developing consumption, and became entitled to a superannuation allowance consisting of a pension of 12s. 6d. per week and a lump sum: is he aware that this man was sent for treatment to a sanatorium at a weekly charge of £2 14s., one moiety of which was payable by the West Ham authority and one by the Ministry of Health; that, during his maintenance at the sanatorium, the Board of Education suspended payment of the superannuation allowance in order to meet the charge of £1 7s. per week payable by the Ministry, this suspension being authorised by Section 15 of the School Teachers (Superannuation) Act, 1918; that, as even the weekly pension was insufficient to defray this charge, the lump sum was drawn upon to the extent necessary to make up the balance; that the result of tins suspension of payment was that the wife was reduced to a condition of poverty and compelled to apply to the overseers of the parish for excuse from payment of the local rates; and. in view of these circumstances, will he investigate the points, and discriminate within the application of the Section of the Act referred to?

The facts are generally as stated. The whole matter of these deductions has been under consideration, and a new rule has recently been made, with the consent of the Treasury, which will alter the position for the future. The hardships inflicted on tuberculous pensioners by the suspension or reduction of their pensions or lump sums has caused my right hon. Friend great concern, and he proposes to examine whether it is possible to rectify them.

asked the Tinder-Secretary of State for India whether, considering that marriage allowance has now been granted to junior officers in India pro- moted from the ranks, and that married officers of the Army in India not promoted from the ranks are in many cases drawing less pay than they would be if they were serving at Home, arrangements can now be made for the grant of this marriage allowance to all officers of the Army in India?

The allowance was granted to meet the special circumstances of subalterns promoted from the rank who, being older than those directly commissioned, have heavier liabilities. There is no present intention of granting any specific allowance to other married officers.

asked the Minister of Pensions if he can now state to what use the premises of the Queen Alexandra's convalescent centre at Saltash are to be put?

I am not yet in a position to announce a decision on this question.

asked the Prime Minister whether Sir Maurice Hankey is to act as Clerk to the Privy Council, and, if so, at what salary; and what other secretary-ships he holds and the salaries attaching thereto?

Sir Maurice Hankey has been appointed Clerk of the Privy Council, without additional remuneration, in succession to Sir Almeric Fitzroy, who retires on 31st May next. Sir Maurice is Secretary of the Cabinet, which post he holds in conjunction with the secretaryship of the Committee of Imperial Defence, and his salary is £3,000 a year. The hon. Member is, no doubt, aware of the constitutional evolution of the Cabinet from the Privy Council, and the appointment of the same officer to be secretary, or clerk, both to the Cabinet and to the Privy Council, is in conformity with historical development. After 31st May next the remuneration hitherto assigned to the post of Clerk of the Privy Council will cease, and, therefore, in future years there will be a saving of that amount.

asked the Under-Secretary to the Scottish Board of Health whether any decision has been come to with regard to the position of inspectors of poor in Scotland; and, as the uncertainty is causing anxiety, will a decision, in accordance with the views of the inspectors, be hastened?

I am not aware of any question affecting the position of inspectors of poor in Scotland which is at present awaiting decision, but if my right hon. Friend will be so good as to state more explicitly the cause of the anxiety to which he refers, I shall be pleased to make inquiries and to afford him any information which may be available.

asked the Home Secretary whether he is aware that the prison premises at Bodmin have been unoccupied for a long period; and whether he will consider to what use these buildings can now be put so that this property may not become derelict?

Yes, Sir; but there is no intention of disposing of these premises at present, as the prison might have to be re-opened in the event of a sufficiently large increase of prison population. The adjoining quarters are in use. The prison premises themselves are inspected. and will not be allowed to become derelict.