asked the Secretary to the Overseas Trade Department whether he can give the House any information as to the measures that are being adopted by his Department for the purpose of assisting British firms to participate to the full extent in the revival of trade with China?

In addition to the economic mission referred to in the answers given on 30th June to the hon. Members for Gravesend (Mr. Albery) and Bolton (Mr. Brothers), the permanent commercial staff in China is being strengthened.

asked the Secretary to the Overseas Trade Department whether he has seen the resolution adopted by the Congress of Chambers of Commerce of the British Empire on the subject of co - ordination of commercial intelligence services; and if he proposes to take any measures to pool commercial intelligence for the benefit of the whole Empire, and to co-ordinate British consular and diplomatic commercial services and the trade commissioners services of the various Empire units?

I have seen the resolution referred to. The services of the Commercial Diplomatic and Consular Officers and Trade Commissioners appointed by His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom have for some years past been placed at the disposal of all parts of the Empire. In this connection I would refer to the resolution of the Imperial Economic Conference, 1923, of which I am sending the hon. Member a copy. Any concrete proposals which may be received on the lines of the resolution would have the careful consideration of His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he can state, in tabular form, the approximate total invisible exports of Great Britain in 1927, 1928, 1929, respectively, showing in each case what proportion of those exports are represented by interest on investments held outside this country?

I would refer the hon. and gallant Member to the article on the balance of trade, published in the Board of Trade Journal for 6th March, 1930, of which I am sending him a copy.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies the name and nationality of the firms to which railway contracts have been allotted in Tanganyika during the last six months and the tenders of competing British firms; and whether, in the case of the awarding of any contracts to foreign firms, inquiries were made as to the conditions of labour in the countries governing the cost of production?

The information asked for in the first part of the question is not in my possession. Such local contracts, which are only for work done locally, do not involve the employment of labour elsewhere than in Tanganyika Territory.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the average price of the four-pound loaf and of the quarter of British-grown wheat each three months from 1st July, 1925, to date?

The following table shows the average price in the United Kingdom of the four-pound loaf and of the quarter of English wheat at 1st July, 1925, and at each three months to 1st April, 1930, and at 1st June, 1930. The prices at 1st July, 1930, are not yet available.

Date.	4-lb. loaf (average price for the United Kingdom).	English Wheat: ("Gazette Average" per quarter of 480 lbs.*).
1925:	d.	s.	d.
1st July	10½	51	1
1st October	9¾	44	3
1926:
1st January	9¾	52	10
1st, April	9¾	50	4
1st July	10	59	8
1st October	10	47	10
1927:
1st January	10	51	1
1st April	9½	49	3
1st July	9¾	54	3
1st October	9½	45	0
1928:
1st January	9½	42	2
1st April	9¼	43	3
1st July	9¼	46	1
1st October	8½	39	3
1929:
1st January	8½	40	4
1st April	8½	41	9
1st July	8½	42	2
1st October	9¼	40	9
1930:
1st January	9	40	9
1st April	8½	35	9
1st June	8¾	36	9
* Calculated from the average price of British Wheat per hundredweight of 112 Imperial pounds, as recorded by the Inspectors of Corn Returns in the weeks in which the prices most nearly relate to the first day of the month.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the approximate net total emigration figures from this country in 1912, 1913, 1927, 1928, and 1929, respectively?

The numbers of British subjects who left the United Kingdom for countries out of Europe exceeded those who arrived from such countries in the years specified to the extent shown in the following table. Persons leaving or arriving as members of the crews of the vessels in which they travelled are not included. Comparable figures relating to emigrants only are not available for all the years specified in the question.

asked the Secretary of State for India (1) whether compensation is being provided by Provincial Governments for policemen permanently disabled in the recent civil disturbances; and, if so, on what basis it is being given;(2) if he will ascertain whether financial provision has been made by Provincial Governments, and, if so, on what basis, for the dependants of policemen who have lost their lives owing to the recent civil disturbances in India?

I have asked for a report from the Government of India, and will communicate with the Noble Lady on receipt of their reply.

asked the Secretary of State for India the number of cases in which the authorities responsible for the enforcement of the Indian Child Marriage Restraint Act have taken action against persons for offences under this Act?

I have received no reports of cases of this kind.

asked the Secretary of State for India whether he will give information as to the progress that has been made in granting higher grade commissions to selected officers in the Indian Territorial Force since the adoption by the Government of India of the main recommendations of the Shea Committee?

According to my latest information, only 31 of the higher grade commissions have been gazetted, the delay being due to the fact that recommendations have at present to pass through a long and complicated channel. A change in procedure is under consideration by the Government of India, and it is anticipated that a much larger number will be granted during the course of the year.

asked the Secretary of State for India whether he has received the report of the unofficial committee appointed to inquire into the shooting incident at Karachi on 16th April, 1930; and, if so, whether he will make the report available to Members of the House?

The answer to both parts of the question is in the negative.

asked the Secretary of State for India whether he has received the report of the committee appointed by a general meeting of Lucknow citizens to inquire into certain incidents which occurred in Lucknow on 25th May, 1930; and, if so, whether he will make the report available to Members of the House?

No, Sir.

asked the Home Secretary whether he will consider increasing the powers enjoyed by local authorities with regard to film censor ship, so as to enable them to deal adequately with efforts to introduce subversive propaganda by that method?

I would refer to the reply which I gave to a question by the hon. Member on the 24th June. Local authorities already have ample powers for dealing with this matter.

asked the Home Secretary whether any further police call-boxes have been established in the Metropolitan Police Area during the previous 12 months; are any facilities offered to the public for the use of these police boxes direct to the police station; and can he give particulars?

During the year ended 30th June, 1930, 45 police telephone call-boxes have been installed in the Metropolitan Police District, distributed in the following districts—Wood Green, Muswell Hill, Southgate, Richmond, Barnes, Kew and Becontree. Within the next few weeks another 15 boxes will be ready for use in the Wimbledon and Malden districts. The telephone installed in each of the boxes is connected by direct line to a police station and is accessible to the public free of charge. At each such station motor transport is available so that prompt response is given when the services of police are required. The telephone boxes form a part of a system which it is proposed to apply throughout the whole Metropolitan Police District. One of the main objects is to provide the public with definite and easy facilities for communicating with the police, with the assurance that police assistance will be readily forthcoming when needed.

asked the Minister of Health if he can give any estimate of the percentage of the cost per house to be borne by local authorities under the Housing (No. 2) Bill at the present level of building prices?

At the present level of average building prices, a contribution of £3 15s. per house for 40 years is equivalent to rather more than 16 per cent. of the total cost per house.

asked the Minister of Health whether, in view of the schemes of the Government for the relief of distress in necessitous districts, he proposes, first of all, to absorb the unemployed building operatives in the construction of new houses, for which there is need; and whether the Government have considered, or will consider, the adoption of such schemes with the object of providing houses for those who cannot pay economic rents?

My right hon. Friend has every hope that the Housing Bill, which we shall have before us to-morrow, will be an effective means of securing progress in both the directions mentioned in the question.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies what arrangements are in force in regard to the publication of newspapers in Cyprus; and what are the reasons which justify the special provisions with regard to licences, bonds and sureties?

Under a law recently enacted by the Legislative Council of Cyprus to amend and consolidate the local legislation relating to the publication of newspapers, it is provided, inter alia, that every newspaper proprietor must:

(1) Obtain a permit to publish from the Government;

(2) execute a bond in the sum of £200 with one or more sureties for the payment of any penalty imposed upon him by the Courts for seditious or other libel.

The law also contains a provision to the effect that no permit shall be granted unless the applicant can satisfy the Government that he is a responsible person of good character. The reasons which justify legislation of this character are to be found in the peculiar nature of newspaper publication in Cyprus and the abuses to which it has been subjected. The practice has been for the real proprietor of a newspaper to obtain the services, as publisher, of a person of no responsible standing, who, under the law, was free to indulge in publication of libellous articles for which he could not effectively be made answerable. The object of the new law is to put an end to this practice, and to make it necessary for the proprietors to give definite security for compliance with any penalties inflicted on them by the Courts.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies the present military contribution of the Straits Settlements; and whether any reduction of it has taken place during the previous two years?

The military contribution payable by the Straits Settlements in 1930–31 is estimated to be £498,000. This sum includes £37,000 arrears in respect of 1928. The contribution paid in 1928–29 was £430,000, and that estimated to be paid in 1929–30 was £444,000.

asked the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs whether the promised inquiries with regard to the showing in the United States of a film made on behalf of the Empire Marketing Board are now complete; and can he give the House particulars?

"Drifters," the Empire Marketing Board film on the herring industry, is distributed on the Board's behalf by Messrs. New Era Films, Limited. Up to the end of May it had been exhibited in one theatre only in the United States—the Little Theatre at Baltimore, where its display evoked a number of highly appreciative Press reviews. I am informed by the company that the standard form of contract, under which the film was hired to that theatre, and which would apply to any other exhibitions of the film in the United States, contains an express provision against any alteration being made in it without the company's consent, except in deference to the requirements of duly authorised public authorities, that no such consent was asked for or given, and that an examination of the film after its Baltimore showing confirms the exhibitor's assurances that neither in its captions nor otherwise had it been altered in any way. It appears that the publicity material issued by the Baltimore theatre in advance of the film's showing referred to "Gloucester fishermen," and the producer is personally assured by the gentleman responsible for its issue that this was designed to refer to the "Gloucester fishing fold of England." I am accordingly satisfied that the suggestion that the film was altered for its exhibition in the United States has no foundation beyond the theatre manager's misunderstanding as indicated in the advance notices which he issued to the Press, of the geographical situation and industries of the town of Gloucester, England.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the number of voluntary contributors for the national health and pensions insurance schemes, both men and women, respectively, as at the last convenient date; and the estimated number of women who became voluntary contributors since the commencement of the Widows', Orphans' and Old Age Contributory Pensions Act?

The approximate number of voluntary contributors in Scotland as at 31st December, 1929, was 21,000, comprising 18,000 men and 3,000 women. All those persons exercised the right conferred upon them by Section 13 of the Contributory Pensions Act, 1925, to enter or continue in voluntary insurance. Statistics are not available as to the number of women who became voluntary contributors for the first time under the Act of 1925, but it is understood that the numbers are very small.

asked the Minister of Pensions whether he will agree to obtain the advice of the independent medical experts he has appointed in connection with the over seven years' claims on all other types of claims where there is a difference of opinion between the local War pensions committees and the officials at Sanctuary Buildings, and where the applicant has not, under the existing warrants, the right of appeal to an independent tribunal?

I cannot add anything to the answer which I gave on the same point to the hon. and gallant Member for Hornsey (Captain E. Wallace) on 30th June, of which I am sending the hon. Member a copy.

asked the Minister of Pensions whether he will investigate the circumstances attending the reduction by his Department of the need pension to Mrs. Gardner, 6, Glebelaads Avenue, Newbury Park, reference No 11/88/33,871, on the assumption that she may be eligible for a widow's pension under the Widows', Orphans', and Old Age Contributory Pensions Acts; whether he is aware that this creates hardships as, owing to pressure of business upon the old age pensions Department, cases are not disposed of for a considerable period after application; and whether he will instruct his Department's officers not to take into consideration contributory scheme cases until the cases are settled and the award actually given and received?

The procedure referred to by my hon. Friend is applied where it is known that a claim to pension under the Contributory Pensions Act has been made or where it can be made in sufficient time to ensure payment at the due date I am not aware of any hardship having resulted from the adoption of this procedure; on the contrary I consider that it is to the real advantage of the pensioner since it prevents overpayments which would require to be recovered. In the particular case referred to, I am informed that a pension under the Contributory Pensions Act has in fact been in issue since 1st July, the earliest date at which it could be granted.

asked the Minister of Transport if he has investigated the congestion of traffic in the Strand district resulting from horse-drawn traffic; and if he will state his reasons for declining to take measures to prohibit horse-drawn vehicles in this and other areas during the rush hours?

The congestion of traffic occasioned in the Strand and other congested streets by all classes of vehicles, including horse-drawn vehicles, is continually under review by the London Traffic Advisory Committee. After considering the position in Central London, and having ascertained how this problem is being dealt with in certain Continental cities, the committee recently advised me that it would, in their opinion, be undesirable at the present time to restrict the use of horse-drawn vehicles as distinct from other slow-moving traffic. The committee also expressed the view that further consideration of this problem should be deferred pending the trial of the automatic traffic control light signals, for the installation of which I hope to arrange in Oxford Street in the near future. It is proposed to ascertain from an analysis of traffic to what extent slow-moving vehicles or any class of vehicles interfere with the working of that system.