asked the Minister for Agriculture whether he can arrange that, in addition to the Report of Canadian stores landed in England which are now included in the weekly market report, he can arrange for a brief summary of the Scottish imports also to be included?

Yes, Sir. Such information as is available in regard to the importation of Canadian cattle into Scotland will be published weekly in the Agricultural Market Report.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether, in view of the fact that the first batch of Canadian cattle was not altogether free from pulmonary tuberculosis, he is instituting careful surveillance over future importations; whether any other batches of cattle have been found so infected; and whether he has made any representations to the Canadian Government on the subject?

Canadian store cattle are not required to be specially tested as to their freedom from tuberculosis. With regard to the second part of the question I have no information. The reply to the third part is in the negative. A proportion of the cattle of all countries are affected with tuberculosis and I would remind my hon. and gallant Friend that the consignment in question was described by the medical officer of health to the Manchester Port Sanitary Authority as "very healthy."

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he can make any statement showing the percentage of spayed heifers received from Canada in the consignments which have reached Britain since the 1st of April?

No spayed heifers have been landed from Canada in the consignments of store cattle which arrived up to and including the 11th instant.

asked the Minister of Agriculture if he is aware that the importation of breeding cattle liable to, or suffering from, the early stages of tuberculous infection would he a serious menace to British herds; by what pledges, if any, is he debarred from testing such cattle for their healthiness in this respect; and on what measures or consideration is he relying to protect British herds from this danger?

It is provided in Section 2 of the Importation of Animals Act, 1922, that Canadian breeding cattle can be admitted only by the authority of an Order made by me under this Section, and that an essential condition to be prescribed in the Order shall be the production of a certificate issued by a duly aluthorised officer of the Dominion of Canada to the effect that the animals were within one month before shipment effectively tested for tuberculosis and were found free therefrom.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether it is proposed to accept the recommendations contained in the Interim Report of the Departmental Committee on Distribution and Prices of Agricultural Produce at paragraph 129 on the subject of co-operative dairy schools; and whether it is intended to increase the number of such schools during the current financial year?

The recommendations of the Committee in question are at present being carefully considered, and I hope that it will be possible to give effect to the recommendation to which the hon. Member refers.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether, having regard to the large profits made by middlemen who handle farm produce, he is prepared to bring before Parliament a scheme for the purpose of promoting co-operative methods among British farmers; or whether he will set up a Committee charged with formulating a scheme?

The Committee on the Distribution and Prices of Agricultural Produce is considering the question of the application of co-operative methods to farming, and has already dealt with some aspects of the matter in its Report on milk and milk products. I think it will be advisable to wait until the Committee has concluded its investigations before proposing any general action in regard to co-operation, but I may say that the Trade Facilities Committee are prepared in suitable cases to consider applications for assistance in the establishment of co-operative agricultural undertakings.

also asked the Minister of Agriculture whether, having regard to the fact that the proposed relief afforded to the farmer by His Majesty's Government will increase the annual value of farms, he will say what proposals His Majesty's Government are prepared to make to prevent such relief being absorbed by the landowner in the shape of increased rent?

The point raised by the hon. Member cannot be dealt with satisfactorily in answer to a question, and I suggest that he should await the introduction of the Bill dealing with rates on agricultural land.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, what quantity of potatoes has been imported into England from foreign countries since 1st October, 1922; and what is the estimated amount of homegrown potatoes now remaining unused?

The quantity of potatoes imported into the United Kingdom from abroad during the six months October, 1922, to March, 1923, was 3,483 tons. This quantity includes 371 tons from the Channel Islands. The imports during April into Great Britain and Northern Ireland (excluding the Irish Free State) amounted to 8,600 tons, including 160 tons from the Channel Islands. I have no definite information as to the quantity of home-grown potatoes still available for consumption, but it is estimated that the quantity in England and Wales is about 700,000 tons.

asked the Minister of Agriculture the quantity and value of the cream imported into the United Kingdom during the years 1921–22?

The quantities of cream imported into the United Kingdom were 13,278 cwts. in 1921, and 11,175 cwts. in 1922, the values being £128,869 and £88,141, respectively.

asked the Minister of Agriculture the quantities and values of the imports into this country during the years 1921 and 1922 of fresh milk, condensed or evaporated unsweetened milk, sweetened condensed whole milk, sweetened condensed separated or skim milk, milk powder not sweetened, and milk powder sweetened, respectively?

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether his attention has been called to the fact that some of the bacon factories are refusing to take pigs which have been fed on fish, fish offal, or fish meal, on the ground that pigs so fed are not only uneatable, but the bacon from them spoils all food with which it is mixed; and whether he will consider the advisability of making regulations or introducing legislation to prevent pigs so fed being sold for human consumption?

I have seen indications that bacon factories are refusing pigs, and that this is due in certain cases to the pigs having been fed on fish offals, etc. This question is being examined, and I will communicate later with my hon. and gallant Friend.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the recent assessment in the country for Income Tax under Schedule A was conducted on the same principle and under the same general rules as those which governed similar assessments for London in 1915 and 1920; and whether there was an abnormal number of appeals in London against the assessment in 1920?

The assessment of land and houses in the

The quantity and value of milk, fresh and preserved, imported into the United Kingdom in the years 1921 and 1922, were as follow:

Metropolitan area is governed by the Valuation (Metropolis) Act, 1869, which provides that the Income Tax annual values of properties in that area are to be the gross values appearing in the valuation lists prepared in accordance with that Act. In the remainder of the country, the assessments are made under the provisions of the Income Tax Act. In this connection, I would refer my hon. and gallant Friend to the reply which my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer gave on the 3rd May to a question standing in the name of the hon. Member for East Surrey (Mr. Galbraith). I am sending my hon. and gallant Friend a copy of that reply. In reply to the last part of the question, I understand that the number of appeals against the revaluation made in 1920 was not abnormal; they are, however, always fairly numerous.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the recent re-assessment of property under Schedule A necessitates the employment of additional staff; if so, at what cost and in what numbers; and what proportion of such staff is engaged in the personal inspection of the properties they assess?

Clerical and other similar work in connection with the re-assessment of property under Schedule A has involved the employment of 631 additional clerks during part of the year 1922–23 and will involve the employment of some 600 during a considerable part of the current year. Their total cost is estimated at £166,000. Work which is not clerical in character is in the main being borne by the normal staff of the Department. Personal inspection of properties, where necessary, has been performed by professional members of the Inland Revenue Valuation Office.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the estimated yield of 6d. in the £ Income Tax; and how this sum will compare with the yield from the increased assessments under Schedule A?

It is estimated that the yield of 6d. in the £ Income Tax would be £26,000,000 in a full year. With regard to the second part of the question, it will not be possible for a considerable time to make a final estimate of the increase in the yield of Income Tax to be attributed to the re-assessment under Schedule A, but it is not anticipated that the gain will exceed about 20 per cent, of the above figure, or about £5,500,000 in a full year.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in introducing any further legislation to carry out the promised increase in the scales of pensions laid down in the Act of 1920, the Government will simultaneously consider the desirability of making the full operation of this Act compulsory and not optional; and whether, in view of the position of those pensioners who have not been able to benefit by the Act of 1920 owing to the fact that certain local authorities declined to take advantage of it, he will consider the desirability of comprehensive inquiry into the way in which the original Act has worked?

This question is being considered, and a further announcement will be made on the subject when the detailed proposals of the Government for amending the percentage scales have been formulated.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the comparative value in sterling of the recent German offer of reparations and the amount suggested by the Prime Minister in Paris in January last?

The German offer is to raise an international loan of 20 milliard gold marks by 1st July, 1927, interest before 1927 being paid out of the loan, or, if the raising of the loan prove impossible, to pay in lieu 5 per cent, interest and 1 per cent, sinking fund on a capital of 20 milliard gold marks from 1927. There is a contingent liability to raise further loans of five milliards each by 1929 and 1931, and a second contingent liability as to making good interest unpaid in the earlier years. If it prove impossible to raise any of the loans, Germany's liability would be a 36-year annuity of 1·2 milliard gold marks beginning in four years' time—present value on 5 per cent, table 16·4 milliard gold marks, say, £820,000,000. If the first loan be raised, but the others not, I think the present value of the whole would be rather below £800,000,000.

The maximum sum payable if all three loans are raised is not clear. The offer may mean a present value of £.1,500,000,000, or it may mean a sum substantially less, say, £1,300,000,000 or thereabouts. The doubt arises from the obscure and unsatisfactory drafting of the passage as to the second contingent liability. The British proposal at Paris represented payments with a present value of £2,500,000,000, which, had the Second Series bonds been eventually cancelled as beyond Germany's capacity, would have been reduced to a present value of £1,975,000,000. The plan, however, gave very generous terms for redemption in the event of Germany raising loans to pay off her obligations quickly. If it were possible for her to raise £1,250,000,000 in the first year, she could have redeemed the First Series Bonds by an immediate payment of that amount, but in that event the Second Series would certainly have become payable and raised the present value of all her payments to £1,775,000.

I should, therefore, put the present value of the payments required by the British plan at Paris at a maximum of £2,500,000,000, and a minimum, dependent on Germany paying the First Series very speedily, of £1,775,000,000. The present value of the German offer is at the maximum not more than £1,500,000,000 (and less may be intended even as a maximum), while at the minimum it is less than £800,000,000.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War the amounts of war material surrendered by Germany for destruction by the Inter-Allied Military Commission; and the amounts discovered by the Control Commission's police?

The total quantities of war material surrendered by Germany to the Commission of Control between September, 1919, when the Commission began to function, and April, 1923, are:

33,550 guns (includes barrels).

38,107,604 shells (also 10,678·3 tons).

11,616 trench mortars.

87,950 machine guns.

4,560,861 small arms (including pistols, revolvers, etc.).

459,903,800 small arm ammunition.

Included in these totals are the following stocks of hidden war material discovered by the Commission:

63 guns complete (354 barrels only).

7,570 shells.

7 trench mortars.

840 machine guns.

43,380 small arms (including pistols, revolvers, etc.).

6,927,496 small arm ammunition.

It is to be noted that the Commission have no police of their own, and they, therefore, make use of the German polite to assist them in the work of control.

In addition to the above, the following war material was destroyed by the Germans prior to the establishment of the Commission of Control:

8,618 guns.

6,220,311 shells (also 5,300 tons).

2,635 trench mortars.

6,004 machine guns.

580,395 small arms (including pistols, revolvers, etc.).

31,916,000 small arm ammunition.

The records of the above destroyed material have been subsequently checked by the Commission.

In addition to both the above, the following war material was to be surrendered by the Germans to the Allied Armies under the terms of the Armistice:

5,000 guns (2,500 heavy and 2,500 field).

3,000 trench mortars.

25,000 machine guns.

These were the quantities which the Germane agreed to surrender under the terms of the Armistice, but, in fact, the following war material (either surrendered or abandoned by the Germans) was actually collected by the Allied Armies after the Armistice:

7,661 guns.

3,789 trench mortars.

37,280 machine guns.

Further, between 18th July, 1918, and the date of the Armistice, the Allies captured 6,615 guns. The quantities of other natures of war material captured during this period are not known.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, seeing that a collector of taxes has to refund personally all sums which may go wrong in his office, he will state the amounts of such refunds during each of the last six years; whether he is aware that the pay allowed him for his staff is too low to permit in all cases the selection of the best and most reliable type of employé; and whether, seeing,that collectors of taxes are responsible for initiating all actions for distraint, and in that case how many such cases there have been in each of the last six years, and the collector and not the State is personally liable for damages for wrongful distraint, he will consider raising the whole scale of pay which is at present too low?

No record is kept of losses in the offices of collectors which may have been made good by them under their obligation to pay all over all tax moneys as collected. Where clerical assistance is necessary, the gross remuneration allowed by the Department provides for engagement of suitable clerks and for cover of incidental risks. The making of distraints where necessary is a personal duty of the collector. No record of distraints is kept by the Department. An action for wrongful distraint lies against the General Commissioners by whom the collector is appointed, or by whose warrant or direction his action was taken; in practice, the responsibility is borne by the State. I am not at all prepared to accept the suggestion that the scale of remuneration is too low, nor am I ready to consider an immediate revision. The scale is normally subject to review as time proceeds and conditions change; and the Board of Inland Revenue will always carefully examine representations which may be made regarding such readjustment.

asked the Minister of Labour if he will see fit so to modify the staff rules of his Department (Rule 38, January, 1921) as to allow employés, especially temporary ones, to receive references from their superiors when applying for jobs elsewhere?

The present rule, under which references are not given to officers leaving the Department (who however, are at liberty to refer prospective employers to the Department), is in conformity with the usual Civil Service practice, and this procedure is necessary in order to ensure uniformity of standard in regard to the references given. An exception, however, is made in the case of temporary officers who are discharged either for substitution by ex-service men or in the process of reduction of staff. In such cases ex-employés whose services have been satisfactory, receive a form of certificate to this effect.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport, whether the expenditure of his Department will be reduced still further in the next few months; and if, in view of the recommendations of the Geddes Commitee, further proposals are shortly to be made to the Cabinet with a view to abolishing certain duties now imposed upon his Department and thus diminish the present net charge of £163,000?

The expenditure of the Ministry was largely reduced during the past financial year and the estimate for the current year, the net amount of which is £123,355, was closely reviewed and has been reduced to the minimum required to carry out those duties of the Department which the Committee on National Expenditure recognised to be necessary.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport, the total number of staff that has left his Department during the last financial year; how many of these officers have been transferred to other Government Departments; how many have retired with pensions; how many officials temporarily attached to the Ministry of Transport have left the public service altogether; how many established and unestablished officers still remain on his establishment; and what are the prospects of further reductions during the coming year?

The number of officers who left the Ministry of Transport from 1st April, 1922, to 31st March, 1923, is 84, of whom 31 were transferred to other Departments, two retired on pension, one died, and 44 were temporary and six established officers who left the Service. The numbers of established and unestablished officers provided for in the Estimate for the current year are 278 and 153 respectively (making a total of 431) as against 295 and 188 respectively (making a total of 483) for 1922-23, and 339 and 329 respectively (making a total of 668) for 1921·22. These figures exclude the staff of Holyhead Harbour and the temporary staff engaged upon the arterial road schemes, who are borne direct on the Road Fund. The numbers of the staff have been reduced to the minimum required for the performance of the duties now falling on the Department.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he is aware that no female clerks and typists were employed at British Embassies and Legations at the taxpayers' expense before the War and that the introduction of wireless telegraphy has greatly lessened the work of the Diplomatic Service; and what recommendation of the Royal Commission on the Civil Service prevents his carrying out a reduction in the staff?

I have already explained, in reply to other questions addressed to me by the hon. and gallant Member, that the work at His Majesty's Embassies and Legations abroad has greatly increased since 1914; that this has necessitated an increase of staff, and that the employment of clerical staff is not only economical but also in accordance with the recommendation of the Royal Commission on the Civil Service. The introduction of wireless telegraphy has not in any way lessened the work of the diplomatic staff, and I am at a loss to understand why the hon. and gallant Member should think it had. No recommendation of the Royal Commission prevents any reduction in the staff; the possibility or otherwise of such reduction is dependent on the require-merits of the public service.

asked the Minister of Labour at what age and under what conditions persons insured for unemployment benefit under Part II of the National Insurance Acts are entitled to claim repayment of the contributions paid by them in excess of the benefits received; and what is the procedure by which claims have to be made?

A refund of unemployment insurance contributions properly paid can be made only under the provisions of Section 25 of the Unemployment Insurance Act, 1920. The principal conditions of such a refund are that the employed person must have attained the age of 60 and have paid a certain minimum number of contributions. The amount of the refund is the sum total of the insured contributor's share of the contributions less any refunds already made in respect of those contributions and less the amount of any unemployment benefit which he has drawn, but with the addition of compound interest at 2½ per cent. Similar claims may be made by the personal representatives of a deceased contributor who satisfied the condition. Applications for refunds of contributions should be made in the first instance to an employment exchange or branch employment office. An applicant is required to make a formal claim and to furnish satisfactory evidence of age. Further detail with regard to these refunds are given in the leaflet U.I.L.5, which is obtainable at any employment exchange, and of which I am sending the hon. Member a copy.

asked the Minister of Labour if he is aware that miners unemployed are being ordered to go from Nantyglo, Monmouthshire, to Wrexham, North Wales, a distance of over 100 miles from their homes, to take up employment, and that this is contrary to an understanding arrived at between the Coal Owners' Association and the South Wales Miners' Federation to the effect that no person shall be forced to leave the district until all efforts to absorb them in the South Wales coalfield have failed; and will he take steps to prevent this treatment of unemployed miners by the employment exchange for Nantyglo?

The miners referred to are single men who, I understand, have been unemployed for two years or more and for whom there appears to be no prospect of employment in their own district for a considerable period, if at all. They have not been ordered to do anything. They have been informed in appropriate cases that, if they do not accept suitable employment which is available for them at Wrexham and elsewhere, the unemployment benefit which they have been drawing for long periods will be suspended; they and their Association have the usual right of appeal against this decision if the benefit being drawn is covenanted. Before employment in other coalfields is offered to men in South Wales, every care is taken to verify that local men are not available in those coalfields. I am not aware that anything which has been done conflicts with an understanding between the Coal Owners' Association and the South Wales Miners' Federation, but in any event it is not possible to continue the payment of benefit to men for whom employment is available, which is suitable according to the Insurance Acts or the Regulations.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport what is the source of the £.30,000 in cash stated by the Accounting Department of the Ministry of Transport to be receipts not appropriated in aid of Votes; and how this sum has been utilized?

The sum of £30,000 to which the hon. Member refers is the amount to be repaid by the Electricity Commissioners during the current financial year in respect of advances made to the Commissioners from the Ministry of Transport Vote under Section 29 of the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1919, as amended by Section 7 of the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1922. This sum will be paid into the Exchequer as an extra receipt.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport whether, in view of the repeated recommendations of his inspecting officers on the question of train control on railways, he is taking any steps to bring such recommendations to the notice of the railway companies; and, if so, whether, in the interests of public safety, he is bringing any pressure to bear upon the railway companies to induce them to adopt such recommendation?

The recommendations referred to are in every case brought to the notice of the railway companies concerned and, in addition, the companies have been asked to consider the important conclusions arrived at by the Departmental Committee on Automatic Train Control, whose Report was published last year. In accordance with this request, the companies have, as recommended by the Departmental Committee, appointed a committee of experts on the matter, and that committee is now sitting.

asked the Minister of Pensions if he can have reviewed the case of Thomas H. Wood, of 5, Howgate Road, East Sheen, S.W.14, a sergeant in the Royal Engineers, who enlisted in 1903, was called up in 1914, and is ill with consumption, which both he and his panel doctor describe as being attributable to war service?

This man first made claim to pension in respect of tuberculosis nearly three years after demobilisation and, as after full consideration of all the available evidence my medical advisers were unable to regard the condition as either due to or aggravated by service, the claim was rejected by the Ministry. This decision was subsequently confirmed on appeal by the tribunal before whom all the evidence was laid, and being therefore final, I regret that I am not in a position to reopen the case.

asked the Minister of Pensions if he will have inquiries made into the case of the late Private John Kearsley, No. 25129, 4th Battalion, King's Liverpool Regiment, 7, Johnson Street, Wigan; is he aware that this man died on 31st October, 1922, leaving a widow and five children, four of whom are under working age; that no pension has been paid to the widow since his death; and that the dependants are in great need; and will he expedite the issue of a pension?

I regret that it has not been found possible to accept the cause of the late soldier's death as being connected with his service, and the widow's claim to pension under Article 11 of the Royal Warrant has accordingly been refused. The widow has been informed of her right of appeal against this decision to the Pensions Appeal Tribunal, which she may exercise through the local office of the Ministry.

asked the Minister of Pensions the number of officers' widows' alternative pensions recently reduced or cancelled on the ground of discovery that they had been separated from their husbands and in receipt of allowances smaller than such pensions; and under what Statute or Order are such reductions made?

The number of cases in which, on the grounds referred to, the alternative pension to the widow of an officer has been reduced or substituted by flat rate pension and children's allowances (whichever is the more favourable) is seven. These alternative pensions were granted by error and in contravention of the Alternative Pension Scheme, the intention of which is to give financial compensation in respect only of the loss of support consequent on an officer's death on account of War service. The revised pensions in the cases in question were granted under the authority of Article 13 or of Articles 11 and 12 of the Royal Warrant of 2nd July, 1920.

asked the Treasurer of the Household whether, seeing that a pensioner appearing before the Entitlement Appeal Tribunal has the right to be accompanied with a friend and that a recent sitting of the tribunal the president declined to hear the pensioner's friend, he will cause arrangements to be made which will ensure that the pensioner's friend shall be heard in all appeals before the tribunal in future?

I am not aware that the Regulation conferring upon an

asked the Minister of Health concerning old age pensions granted by old age pensions committees which are afterwards made subject of appeal by the local pensions officer, if he will state whether, in cases where the local committee's decision is confirmed by the Ministry, pensions are payable from the date on which they were granted by the local committee, or if pensioners lose their pensions for the period between the local committee's decision and the Ministry's confirmation of that decision?

Claimants for old age pensions do not, in the circumstances referred to by the hon.

appellant the right to be accompanied by a friend, or any other Regulation for the procedure of the tribunals, has been departed from. If particulars of the case in which it is alleged that a tribunal declined to hear a pensioner's friend can be given, the complaint will be carefully investigated.

asked the Secretary for Mines the number of persons employed, respectively, exclusive of officials, in the following mines: mines under the Coal Mines Act, mines under the Metalliferous Mines Regulation Acts, and quarries under the Quarries Act, for the years 1920, 1921, and 1922?

Statement showing the total number of persons employed at mines and quarries during the years 1920–22: —

Member, suffer any loss of pension by reason of the appeal against the award of the local committee. An old age pension is, under the Old Age Pensions Act, 1919, payable as from the first Friday after the claim is received by the pension officer or the first Friday after the claimant becomes entitled to a pension, whichever is the later.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the Irish Free State and Rhodesia will be respectively represented at the Imperial Conference; and whether India will be represented by Ministers of the Government of India?

Under the constitution of the Imperial Conference the Prime Ministers of the self-governing Dominions are ex-officio members, and accordingly an invitation to the next Conference has been issued to the President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State. The separate representation of Rhodesia is not contemplated. The last part of the question should be addressed to my Noble Friend the Undersecretary of State for India.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies (1) whether the secretariat organisation of the Imperial Conference is exclusively in the hands of the Colonial Office; if not, what other Departments are concerned;

(2) whether the Cabinet Secretariat retains any functions in relation to the self-governing Dominions?

The figures of revenue and expenditure for 1923–1924 are throughout subject to revision.

The following grants-in-aid, loans, etc., have been issued for the territory

It is proposed that the present Secretary of the Cabinet should act as Secretary of the Imperial Conference to be held in October; he will have such assistance from the Colonial Office and other Departments as may be necessary. The Dominions and India have also been asked each to nominate members of the Secretariat.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies the revenue and expenditure of Tanganyika for the years 1920–21, 1921–22, and 1922–23, with the estimated figures for 1923–24, distinguishing the amount of revenue raised by direct and indirect taxation, and the grants-in-aid?

The following is an abstract of the actual local revenue of the Tanganyika territory for the years 1920–1921 and 1921–1922, and of the estimated local revenue for the years 1922–1923 and 1923–1924:

from Imperial funds between 1920 and 1923: —

1920–1921.—Grant-in-aid of £330,000.

1921–1922.—Grant-in-aid of £164,000 and a repayable loan of £750,000.

1922–1923.—Repayable loan of £800,000.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether a bonus of one month's pay can be granted to the Post Office officials of Eastern Bengal to assist them over the distress caused by the cyclone of September, 1919, as was done in the case of the Damodar flood in 1913, when the effect was less devastating?

I have been asked to answer this question. I have no doubt that the Government of Bengal have considered the precedent to which the hon. Member refers, and my Noble Friend sees no reason to take any action in the matter.

asked the President of the Board of Education what was the total number of free places vacant in secondary schools in January last, and what was the total number of children then qualified for such places?

The latest figures which I possess are those for the 1st October, 1922, when the total number of free places, under Article 20 of the Regulations for Secondary Schools, held in grant-aided secondary schools, was 128,194, 26,594 of which were new awards that term. I regret that I have no figures to show the total number of children who reached a standard high enough to qualify them for a free place, but no doubt it was in excess of the number awarded.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Overseas Trade Department whether he is yet in a position to confirm the information which he obtained from the British Commercial Mission at Moscow, and conveyed to the Fishery Board for Scotland for publication in the newspapers, that 250,000 barrels of British herrings are to be purchased through Arcos by the Bolshevist Government in Russia; and when these orders are likely to be placed?

I have received a report from the British Agent in Moscow stating that he has been in- formed by the Commissariat for Foreign Trade that Messrs. Arcos, Ltd., of Moorgate, have been entrusted with the negotiations for the purchase of herrings in Great Britain. I am unable to say when the orders will be placed.

asked the Under-Secretary to the Scottish Board of Health whether he is aware that the threat of the secretary of the King's Roll National Council to publish the statement that the burgh of Coldstream has failed to qualify for the King's Roll may be carried out, notwithstanding the fact that of the six men connected with the work of the burgh, three served throughout the War, one of whom (the deputy town clerk) is in receipt of a disablement pension, but as he is not a direct employé of the council, though accepted by it, the council cannot claim him as one of its paid employés; and what steps, short of dismissing old servants, can the council take to avoid the pillory?

As I informed the hon. and gallant Member in answer to his question of 8th May, the King's Roll National Council did not threaten to publish a statement that the burgh of Coldstream are not on the King's Roll. The Council will have to consider in due course what further action they may consider it necessary to advise me to take in connection with local authorities which are not on the Roll, and in doing so they will be anxious, I feel sure, to take account of all relevant circumstances.

asked the Attorney-General how many women justices of the peace have been appointed to date?

The number of women magistrates appointed to date is 1,034.

asked the Postmaster-General if his Department before appointing the British Broadcasting Committee considered selecting any representative of the entertainments industries of the country to serve on it; if so, why no action was taken on these lines; whether he has suggested that the entertainment industry shall give evidence before this body; whether he is aware that the entertainment industry in this connection is opposed to any form of co-operation with this Committee, because it has no confidence in it and because, not being represented on it, it has no means of knowing either what evidence is or will be adduced, or the value of such evidence if adduced; and whether, therefore, to avoid an abortive outcome, he will endeavour to meet the wishes of the entertainment industry?

Before appointing the Broadcasting Committee, I duly considered the position of the various interests likely to be affected; and since its formation I have consulted with the Chairman as to the desirability or otherwise of adding to its membership. The entertainment industry is by no means the only interest which desires to be represented; and, in view of the many similar applications which have been received, I feel it would be impracticable to comply with their request. The entertainment interest is the only one, so far as I am aware, which has declined to co-operate on the ground that it is not represented on the Committee; and I am surprised to learn that any interest should feel any lack of confidence in such a Committee, consisting as it does largely of Members of this House and others who have been selected on the very ground that they would command the confidence of the general public.

asked the Postmaster-General whether any experimental wireless licences have been granted since the reference of the applications to the officers of his Department; if not, when it is proposed to issue them; and whether he can indicate the principles on which his advisers are working?

Presumably my hon. Friend refers only to the suspended applications, the examination and classification of which is approaching completion. I have sought the advice of the Broadcasting Committee as regards the treatment of the various classes of applications and hope to issue licences in a considerable number of cases shortly.

asked the Postmaster-General whether, seeing that it is the policy of his Department to discourage the printing and postage abroad of advertisements, for circulation in England, by British firms, he will say why the Post Office accepts advertisements, for insertion in the books of postage stamps sold to the public, from a tourist agency entitled the Free Church Touring Guild, who are in the habit of advertising their tours by means of postcards printed and published in Germany?

The policy of the Post Office is as stated by the hon. and gallant Member. My attention had not previously been called to the appearance of an advertisement of the Free Church Touring Guild in the books of postage stamps, but I may point out that this advertisement, at any rate, is printed in England.