asked the Minister of Agriculture if he will furnish a table showing the acreage of arable land in this country for 1913 and for every year since 1918?

The acreage of arable land in England and Wales as returned by occupiers in 1913 and in the years 1918 to 1927 is shown in the following statement:

asked the Minister of Agriculture if he is aware that cattle and sheep are being imported alive from Uruguay into the Argentine; and if he has any information indicating that the meat from these animals is exported from that country into England as Argentine meat?

Cattle and sheep from Uruguay are imported alive into the Argentine, but are subject to a veterinary inspection before 'they are allowed to land. If their careases are to be exported to England, the animals are inspected before and after death by the Argentine veterinary inspectors.

asked the secretary of State for Scotland how tiny new holdings have been constituted in each county in Scotland since the beginning of 1919?

The following table shows the number of small holdings and enlargements of existing holdings formed by the Board of Agriculture for Scotland in each county in Scotland during the period from 1st January, 1919, to 31st December, 1927:

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if deer forests will be eligible for relief from rating under the new scheme as agricultural land?

The sporting rentals of deer forests will not be subject to relief from rating under the new scheme, but, in so far as deer forests are used for agricultural purposes, the relief will operate.

asked the Minister of Labour (1) the number of men and women employed in municipal non-trading services in Great Britain in March, 1927 and 1928, respectively;(2) the number of men and women employed in tramway undertakings in Great Britain in March, 1927, and March, 1928?

Statistics giving the, information desired are not available.

asked the Minister of Labour the number of men and women whose unemployment benefit ceased iv reason of the new conditions arising from the operation of the Unemployment Insurance Act since 19th April last?

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 30th April to the hon. Member for Leith (Mr. Brown) regarding the date on which statistics of disallowances of benefit under the Unemployment Insurance Act, 1927, will become available.

asked the Home Secretary the number of foreigners to whom licences to drive taximeter cabs in the Metropolitan area have been issued?

On the 7th May, 1928, there 'were licensed 10,408 motor cab drivers. Of this number 54 were of foreign nationality.

asked the Home Secretary whether, in view of the refusal in certain cases of permission to take the oath on the Douai Bible, he will arrange for a supply of them to be furnished in the local Courts to be used when required?

If the hon. Member will give me particulars of such refusal I will look into the matter and see whether any action is necessary or desirable.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty what visits, if any, are being paid by His Majesty's warships during the current summer season to any of the Lancashire seaside resorts?

No visits to Lancashire seaside resorts are being made by His Majesty's ships during this summer.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he has received any information from the British delegate on the Advisory Committee of the League of Nations on the traffic in opium as to any suggested alteration in Article 60 of the Geneva Convention of 1925; and will he state full particulars?

I am informed by the British representative on the Committee that no proposal for the alteration of Article 6 (the Article to which I understand the hon. Member to refer) was discussed at the recent meeting.

asked the Minister of Health if he has received a Report of the annual meeting of the Birmingham and District Tenants' Federation, held on 28th April, conveying a resolution complaining of the extensive abuse of decontrol in regard to rentals of houses in the various parts of Birmingham; if he is aware that some of the rentals of decontrolled houses in the city have increased from 5s. weekly in 1914 to 16s. 9½d. at the present time, with the addition that tenants have to be responsible for repairs; and whether, in consequence of the hardship inflicted on the tenants, he would be prepared to receive a deputation from the Federation?

My right hon. Friend's attention has been drawn to the resolutions and statements quoted by the hon. Member. The question of the future of the Rent Restriction Acts is engaging my right hon. Friend's attention, but he does not think that there would be any advantage in his receiving a deputation from the Federation.

asked the Minister of Health whether he has received any report from his medical officers as to the injurious effect on the health of the people which arises from the method of manufacture in the artificial silk industry, particularly in the areas where artificial silk factories are situate; and what steps he proposes to take?

I have nothing to add to the reply given to the hon. Member's question on the 17th April. When the results of the present investigation are available, I will consider whether any action is required.

asked the Minister of Health the number of widows', children's, and orphans' pensions, respectively, paid during the year ended 31st March, 1928; the number of applications for widows', children's, and orphans' pensions, respectively, during the year ended 31st March, 1928; the amounts paid in widows', children's, and orphans' pensions, respectively, during the year ended 31st March, 1928; the number of applications for widows', children's, and orphans' pensions disallowed during the period under review, giving the principal reasons for disallowment; the number of widows in receipt of pensions whose widowhood commenced before 4th January, 1926; the number of children and orphans, respectively, in respect of whom allowances are paid, and whose qualifications were previous to 4th January, 1926; the number of appeals against the decision of the Ministry of Health by applicants for or recipients of old age pensions, widows' pensions, children's allowances, and orphans' pensions, respectively, stating the number of successful appeals, respectively; the estimated number of insured persons under the Widows', Orphans' and Old Age Contributory Pensions Act, 1925; the number of voluntary contributors, men and women, respectively, stating how many of these became voluntary contributors during the period under review; the cost of administration of pensions under the Widows', Orphans' and Old Age Contributory Pensions Act by post offices and the Ministry of Health, respectively; the number of the staff employed by the Ministry of Health on work resultant from the operation of the Act, stating the increase of the staff as a result of the introduction of the Widows', Orphans' and Old Age Contributory Pensions Act, and the cost thereof; the number of pensioners of whose death notice has reached the Ministry of Health, giving the numbers, respectively, of widows, children, orphans, and aged persons; the number of pensioners under the Widows', Orphans' and Old Age Contributory Pensions Act who are in receipt of outdoor relief and institutional relief, respectively; and the amount so expended?

The following particulars relate to England and Wales.As regards the first part of the question, 202,930 widows' pensions and 15,590 orphans' pensions were paid during the year ended 31st March, 1928, and it is estimated that 257,500 children's allowances were included in the widows' pensions; as regards the second part, 68,257 applications for widows' pensions and 2,183 for orphans' pensions were made during the year but the number of applications for children's allowances included in the applications for widows' pensions is not available; as regards the third part £6,840,000 was paid in widows' pensions including children's allowances and £260,000 in orphans' pensions; as regards the fourth part, 11,052 applications for widows' pensions and 186 applications for orphans' pensions were rejected during the year, but the number of children included in the applications for widows' pensions is not known; the principal reasons for rejection were that the deceased husband or parent had not been insured for the required period or that the required number of contributions had not been paid in respect of him; as regards the fifth part, on 31st March, 1928, 81,068 widows whose husbands died before 4th January, 1926, were in receipt of pensions; as regards the sixth part, on 31st March, 1928, 147,603 children whose fathers died before 4th January, 1926, were in receipt of allowances and 10,264 in receipt of orphans' pensions; as regards the seventh part, 7,387 appeals in connection with old age pensions, and 2,709 in connection with widows' and orphans' pensions were received of which 327 relating to old age pensions and 231 relating to widows' and orphans' pensions were successful; figures are not available to show separately the number of appeals relating to widows' pensions and the number relating to orphans' pensions, or the number in which the only question involved was the payment of children's allowances; as regards the eigth part, the estimated number of insured persons under the Contributory Pensions Act, 1925, on 81st March, 1928, was 14,900,000; as regards the ninth part, the estimated number of voluntary contributors was 192,000 men and 27,000 women, of whom it is estimated that 27,000 men and 4,500 women became voluntary contributors during the year; as regards the tenth part, the estimated cost of administration was £251,600 by post offices and £391,350 by the Ministry of Health (and there was, in addition, £113,150 by other Government Departments); as regards the eleventh part, the number of staff at present employed on work resultant from the operation of the Act is 1,524; the