asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether his attention has been drawn to the Order under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code issued by the district magistrate of Delhi prohibiting, within the limits of the Delhi district, the printing or publication of any posters or pamphlets other than bona fide trade advertisements, unless and until they shall have been submitted to and approved by him; and whether this Order has the approval of the Government of India and of the Secretary of State?

The answer to both parts of the question is in the affirmative. To this Order is in large measure to be attributed the successful maintenance of peace in Delhi City and district during the recent Bakrid. For some months past communal feeling between Hindus and Moslems in Delhi has been running very high, and to this a contributory factor has been the flood of inflammatory posters and pamphlets with which the city had been deluged by irresponsible zealots on either side. The Order was issued on 26th May and will remain in force for two months, thereby covering not only the Bakrid but also the Muharram.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India the reason for the Government of India proscribing under the Sea Customs Act literature emanating from, the World League against Imperialism or the League against Imperialism?

The Government of India have not stated the reasons for their action; but I have no doubt that these were their knowledge of the aims and activities of the league, and of the nature of its publications.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India for the latest returns of the prevalence of cholera and small-pox in Bengal and Bombay; the most recent figures of the number attacked and of the number of deaths; and whether the position is improving?

—						Cholera.		Small-pox.
						Attacks.	Deaths.	Attacks.	Deaths.
Bombay	…	…	…	…	…	1,418*	636†	593	131
Bengal	…	…	…	…	…	900	494	1,503	379
*Including 399 attacks which occurred previously but which were reported during the week.
†Including 190 deaths which occurred previously but which were reported during the week.

The corresponding figures for the two previous weeks are as follows:

—			Cholera.		Small-pox.
			Attacks.	Deaths.	Attacks.	Deaths.
Bombay—
Week ended 30th April, 1927	…	…	2,195*	979†	820	137
Week ended 7th May, 1927	…	…	2,198	940§	744	123
Bengal—
Week ended 30th April, 1927	…	…	1,210	645	2,393	601
Week ended 7th May, 1927	…	…	847	506	1,776	513
*Including 859 attacks which occurred previously but were reported during the week.
† Including 425 deaths which occurred previously but were reported during the week.
‡Including 898 attacks which occurred previously but were reported during the week.
§Including 372 deaths which occurred previously but were reported during the week.

According to later Press reports which I have seen, the chlorea epidemic in the southern part of the Bombay Presidency is abating, and the position has been steadily improving each week.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether he can give particulars of the attack made by Upper Mohmand clans on the night of 5th and 6th May on friendly Mohmand tribes holding the blockhouses in the vicinity of Shabkadar and Nichni posts; and whether he can give particulars of the bombing by the Royal Air Force Northern Command on 6th and 7th May?

The Mohmand disturbances to which the hon. Member refers took place early in June, and a full official report has not yet been received. The available information shows that the hostile Mohmands, who numbered

:The most recent statistics of reported attacks and deaths from chlorea and small-pox in the two provinces named relate to the week ended 14th May, and are as follow:between one and two thousand, opened fire on the blockade line close to Shabkadar early on 6th June. Bombing operations were begun on the evening of the same day by squadrons of No. 1 and No. 2 Indian Wings, Royal Air Force, and the hostile concentrations were dispersed by the morning of the 8th June. The casualties inflicted are believed to have numbered between 20 and 50.

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether investigations are taking place or are contemplated for an alternative air route from Basra to Karachi?

The question of an alternative air route is under investigation.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether His Majesty's Government have had under consideration any proposal to transfer the base of the Expeditionary Force from Aldershot; and can he make a statement on the matter?

There is no intention of changing the status of Aldershot as one of the chief training centres of the Army. It is not the base of the Expeditionary Force in the military sense of the term.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether, in view of the present depressed state of agriculture, he is prepared to return to the pre-War practice of his Department and supply a proportionate amount of English meat for the, consumption of the Army?

I regret that on the ground of increased expense, estimated at £500;000, it is not possible to supply English meat to the troops.

asked the Secretary for Mines the average underground haulage cost per ton of coal in the longest distance to be traversed and also that of the shortest; and the average haulage distance in our mines?

According to information supplied by the Mining Association to the recent Royal Commission, the average haulage distance in October, 1925, in British mines was 92 of a mile. I regret that the other figures asked for are not available, but the hon. Member will find some general information on the subject in Tables 2 and 3 of Appendix 26 in Volume 3 of the Commission's Report.

asked the Secretary for Mines if he has any information showing the extent to which wheelless tubs are used in coal mines on the Continent?

I regret that I have no such information.

asked the hon. Member for Monmouth, as representing the Forestry Commissioners, whether the survey recently carried out by the Forestry Commission is now available to the public; how much land in Scotland, in addition to that already afforested, is believed by the Forestry Commission to be capable of afforestation; and whether he is in a position to give this information county by county?

A summary of the preliminary results of the survey or census of woodlands was published in the Commissioners' 7th Annual Report. The area of afforestable land in Scotland is not known with any approach to precision. The Commissioners have not been in a position to carry out a systematic survey of the whole country.

asked the hon. Member for Monmouth, as representing the Forestry Commissioners, how many acres of land in Scotland have been planted since 1919 by the Forestry Commission and by private individuals in Scotland, respectively; and how much additional land in Scotland it is estimated will be planted by the Forestry Commission in the remaining part of its 10 years' programme?

30,466 acres in Scotland have been planted since 1919 by the Forestry Commission. It is estimated that over the same period private individuals in Scotland have planted 46,000 acres, of which 36,000 were planted with the assistance of grants by the Forestry Commission. It is estimated that approximately 14,000 additional acres in Scotland will be planted by the Commission during the remainder of its first decade.

asked the hon. Member for Monmouth, as representing the Forestry Commissioners, if he is in a position to state the total acreage of afforested land in Scotland; the total acreage under the control and supervision of the Forestry Commission; the total amount of land owned by the Forestry Commission; and if he will state in each case how much of the area is economic woodland?

The preliminary figures for the census of woodland, 1924, show that the total area which is, or has been, woodland in recent years is 1,074,200 acres, but of that total 558,000 acres only are economic woodland (high forest and coppice), the remainder being scrub, felled areas and amenity woodland. The total area of land in Scotland owned by the Forestry Commission amounts to 245,500 acres, of which 109,000 are plantable or planted; of the latter, approximately 34,500 acres are economic woodland, being the land planted by the Commission together with areas under young plantations and under marketable timber acquired by the Commission. The Commission do not control or supervise any areas other than those acquired by them.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what proportion of the revenues of the Straits, Settlements, Federated Malay States, North Borneo, and Brunei, respectively, was derived directly or indirectly from opium in the last year for which figures are available?

The latest year for which I have complete information as to the proportion to the total revenue of the net revenue derived directly or indirectly from opium, is 1925. The figures are as follows:

		Per cent.
Straits Settlements	…	37·06
Federated Malay States	…	13·4
North Borneo	…	24·44
Brunei	…	20·8

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury the number of civil servants, including tax collectors and clerks to Income Tax Commissioners, now on part-time work only or in temporary employment; and the approximate cost of the salaries of such men for the past three years?

The total number of part-time non-industrial civil servants is about 52,000, and the total number of other unestablished non-industrial civil servants is approximately 63,000. These figures cover men and women. Figures are not available showing separately the cost of part-time and unestablished staff.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what period, prior to 5th April, 1927, Income Tax assessment is made; and whether he has sanctioned the action of the Inland Revenue authorities in pressing for payment of Income Tax for periods which are Statute-barred?

The time within which assessments to Income Tax may be made is laid down by Section 29 of the Finance Act, 1923, from which it will be seen that assessments could be made in the year 1926–27 (ending on the 5th April, 1927) for the year 1920–21 and subsequent years of assessment. This statutory time limit for assessment is, of course, not subject to modification. I am not aware of the circumstances of the case which the hon. and gallant Member has in mind, and in which it is alleged that the Inland Revenue authorities are pressing for payment of Income Tax for periods that are Statute-barred, but if he will furnish me with the necessary particulars, I will gladly have inquiry made into the matter, and will communicate the result to him in due course.

asked the Minister of Agriculture if he is now able to state what action the Government has taken, or proposes to take, to give effect to the main recommendations of the Linlithgow Report?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave on 12th July, 1926, to a question addressed to me by my hon. Friend the Member for Stone (Mr. Lamb), which contains a lengthy statement of the action taken on the recommendations of the Linlithgow Committee to that date. As the whole of the Ministry's marketing work is in consonance with the Committee's recommendations, it will, I hope, be sufficient for his purpose if I summarise briefly the main directions in which progress has since been made. The Horticultural Produce (Sales on Commission) Bill, the Markets and Fairs (Weighing of Cattle) Bill and the Merchandise Marks Bill are now Acts of Parliament. Reports since issued in the Ministry's Economic Series are (a) Marketing of Poultry, (b) Marketing of Pigs, (c) Marketing of Fruit, and (d) a Report on Markets and Fairs, the latter being pursuant to the Committee's recommendation that particulars of the control and ownership of the markets of the country and other relevant information should be collected and published. A detailed Report on the markets of the Midland Counties has been completed; reports on the marketing of other commodities are in hand. In addition, practical demonstrations of improved methods of marketing are being staged by the Ministry at a number of agricultural shows in the present summer and will be repeated at a number of centres later in the year. These demonstrations direct special attention to grading, packing and standardisation, the necessity for which the Committee was at pains to emphasise. A recommendation of some importance was that the Ministry, in collaboration with curers, should make an authoritative pronouncement as to the best type of pig suitable for bacon production. This is now being done, for both pork and bacon, at the demonstrations referred to, in the sense that the Ministry has invited the representative organisations of curers and butchers to define their preferences in the matter of breeds and crosss and is exhibiting pigs selected by the trade as being best suited to the requirements of the market.

asked the Home Secretary the number of prosecutions that have taken place during the previous 12 months for riding bicycles furiously, and the penalties on each conviction?

During the 12 months ended 31st May, 1927, there were 183 prosecutions in the Metropolitan Police District for riding pedal cycles furiously or to the common danger. Details of the results of these prosecutions could not be obtained and supplied without unjustifiable expenditure of labour and time.