asked the Under-Secretary of State for India when it is proposed to publish the Memorandum recently submitted by the Indian Air Board to the Government of India?

The Memorandum has already been published in India, and copies are being sent from India to this country. On receipt, I will have a copy placed in the Library.

asked the Prime Minister whether in view of the fact that the announcement of the acceptance of the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Indian Currency and Finance was first made by His Majesty's Government, and not by the Government of India, he will reconsider the question of giving the House an opportunity of discussing the Commission's Report?

I have nothing to add to the answer which I gave to the hon. Member on the 22nd November.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what was the total quantity of refined sugar imported from the Continent of Europe during 1925 and the first nine months of 1126; what were the countries of origin; and what was the approximate value?

The particulars of the imports of relined sugar from the principal countries of Europe during 1925 are shown on page 24 of the "Accounts relating to Trade and Navigation of the United Kingdom" for December, 1925, and those nr the first nine months of 1926 on page 24 of the issue of the same Parliamentary Paper for September, 1926. The particulars relate to the countries from which the sugar was consigned to the United Kingdom, and I am unable to furnish particulars showing the countries of origin.

asked the Minister of Health if he is in a position to state the average rents charged by the London County Council for working-class houses, in respect of which a subsidy has been paid, erected during the last 12 months?

I would refer the hon. Member to the statements on this subject given in reply to a question by the hon. Member for Chislehurst (Mr. Smithers) on the 11th ultimo, which covers the rents charged by the county council for houses erected during the last 12 months.

asked the Minister of Health if his Department has any information available as to the present estimated shortage of working-class houses in London?

I am afraid that it would not be possible, on the information available, to frame any reliable estimate of the present shortage of working-class houses in London.

asked the Minister of Health if he has any information as to the number of houses at present under construction by the London County Council and the number of houses which this body proposes to erect in the next 12 months?

According to returns furnished to my Department some 3,800 houses are at present under construction by the London County Council under the Housing Acts of 1923 and 1924. Thee county council have authority for the erection of a further 5,800 houses, but it is not possible to say how many will be completed during the next 12 months.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many Weir, Atholl, and Braithwaite houses, respectively, have been completed in Scotland; what is the super space and accommodation; what is the average contract price; and what are the rents?

As at 31st October last, the number of houses of each kind completed with State assistance by local authorities and by the Scottish National Housing Company (Housing Trust), Limited, was follows:

asked the Minister of Health whether his attention has been called to the condition of the water supplied to the Pen-y-Dre houses, Rhymney Valley, South Wales; and will he cause an inspection to be made in order to remedy the present state of things?

My attention has been drawn to this matter, and I am having inquiries made as to the position.

asked the Secretary for Mines if he has formed an estimate as to what sum the miners have lost in wages during the present stoppage?

It is impossible to make any reliable estimate, as the factors governing it must be conjectural. On the basis of the first quarter of this year the amount paid in wages in seven. months would be about £86,000,000. But this is not a safe indication of the amount lost in wages during the stoppage, for it assumes that the same number of men would have been employed as in the first quarter of the year and the same rates of wages paid, and, moreover, it takes no account of the wages paid to the men who worked during the stoppage.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will give comparative figures, chosen for suitable dates, one before and the other since the coal dispute, showing the amounts of poor rates in the pound levied by boards of guardians in coalfield districts?

The figures are as follow:

asked the Minister of Health whether he will give a list of boards of guardians, covering coalfield areas, which have become insolvent owing to paying relief to miners' families, and figures showing the debts they have thereby incurred?

I will circulate in the OFFICIAL REPORT a statement in

asked the Minister of Health which municipalities have powers to undertake the retail sale and distribution of coal, and in which cases such powers are exercised?

I am not aware that any municipality has statutory power to undertake the retail sale and distribution of coal. To meet emergencies, I have in a few cases sanctioned, under the Local Authorities (Expenses) Act, expenditure on the purchase and distribution of coal.

asked the Home Secretary the number of dogs reported by owners to the Landon Metropolitan police as being missing or having been stolen during the past 12 months, and which dogs have not returned to or been recovered by their owners?

I regret that these figures cannot he given except at the expenditure of a large amount of labour throughout the Metropolitan Police District, and no reliable information could in any case be given as to the number of such dogs who have not returned to or been recovered by their owners, since many owners do not notify police of the return or recovery of a dog.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if, with a view to deterring the adoption of puppies and their subsequently being turned adrift by their owners, he will consider the advisability of taxing dogs at an earlier age than six months?

I am not sure that the adoption of my hon. Friend's proposal would lead to the attainment of the result which he desires. I have, however, noted the suggestion.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in view of the fact that a bachelor in receipt of an income of £500 pays £50 10s. in Income Tax, as does a spinster in receipt of a similar income, and that such a couple marrying would be assessed on the joint income to the amount. of £31 10s. additional to the first sums, he will consider legislation with a view to removing this additional taxation on married persons?

The suggestion underlying the hon. Member's question involves the adoption of a course under which a husband and wife would receive individual personal allowances and be taxed at a rate or rates determined by their individual incomes and not, as at present, by their joint income. The Government are unable to adopt a policy involving this result.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether any arrangement has now been reached to remove the disadvantages to which sugar produced within the Empire overseas and in Great Britain is at present subject in this country owing to the existing arrangements in connection with drawbacks on goods containing sugar?

I have received representations from the interests con- cerned on the subject of the present arrangements for the payment of drawback on goods containing sugar. These representations are receiving careful consideration.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will lay papers containing the instructions which he is issuing about bets?

The Regulations made by the Commissioners of Customs and Excise in pursuance of Section 16 (1) of the Finance Act, 1926, have been published as Statutory Rules and Orders, 1926, No. 1396, and copies have been placed in the Library. In accordance with the usual procedure, copies will be supplied free to hon. Members on application to the Controller of the Stationery Office.

asked the Minister of Agriculture what new sugar-beet factories have been built or planned this year; and whether any of them have received guarantees under the Trade Facilities Act?

Factories at Cupar, Felstead, Poppleton and Peterborough have been completed during the year and each has received guarantees under the Trade Facilities Act. New factories have also been proposed at Selby, Bardney, Bletchley and Walcott, and in the case of the proposed Bardney factory the Trade Facilities Advisory Committee have recommended a guarantee under the Trade Facilities Act.

asked the Minister for Agriculture for each year since 1907 the lowest and highest monthly average prices of British wheat, barley, and oats?

The lowest and highest monthly prices of British corn per cwt. of 112 lbs. as ascertained from Returns received under the Corn Returns Act, 1882, and the Corn Sales Act in each year from 1907 onwards have been as follow:

asked the Minister of Agriculture the present number of ex-Service men smallholders who are still in occupation of their original holdings?

On the 31st March, 1926, the latest date for which information is available, 16,334 ex-Service men were still in occupation of their original holdings.