asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether Italy has now ratified the General Act for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes?

Italy has not yet acceded to the General Act for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes, but Signor Grandi has informed the Secretary-General of the League of Nations that he anticipates that he will be able to deposit Italy's instrument of accession at the forthcoming Assembly.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what Governments have ratified the Arms Traffic Convention; and what further ratifications are necessary to bring it into force?

I would refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 9th February to my hon. Friend the Member for Central Southwark (Mr. Day). No further ratifications have taken place since that date. In view of the fact that a number of the ratifications already given are conditional, it is not possible to say how many further ratifications are required in order to bring the Convention into force.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the question of the supervision of the private manufacture of arms and ammunition will receive consideration at the Disarmament Conference or is to be postponed until afterwards?

It was decided at the last meeting of the Council of the League of Nations to request the President of the Special Commission, which is studying the question of the Private Manufacture of Arms, to postpone its next meeting until the General Disarmament Conference has come to a decision on the question of publicity.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what steps have been taken to set up the International Agricultural Mortgage Credits Company?

At its recent session the Council of the League of Nations approved the decision of the Commission of Inquiry for European Union to set up the International Agricultural Mortgage Credits Company. An organising committee will meet shortly to arrange for the first issue of shares and for the appointment of directors and officials of the company, in order that the scheme may he definitely put into operation as soon as possible.

asked the Minister of Transport if he can now state the present position regarding the proposed Dartford-Purfleet tunnel; whether the Kent or Essex County Councils have yet approved the proposal; what percentage of the total cost are they prepared to accept; whether any other county councils are contributing to the cost; and if the allocation of local unemployed on this scheme will be affected thereby?

The county councils of Essex and Kent have not yet intimated their approval of the terms of the agreement for the execution of this scheme. For particulars of the allocation of the cost and the conditions affecting the recruitment of labour, I would refer my hon. Friend to the comprehensive reply which my right hon. Friend made to a question which he addressed to him on 17th June last.

asked the Home Secretary if he will cause inquiry to be made into the system of traffic control in Drury Lane between 11.0 and 11.30p.m. on 14th July; and if he is aware that traffic was stationary for 20 minutes and that the delay was partly caused by the fact that the traffic police left their posts in order to remonstrate with a number of motor drivers who, exasperated at the delay, were sounding their horns?

In an area where there are a number of theatres and the streets are narrow, some traffic congestion is bound to occur, especially on occasions like that referred to when the performances terminate simultaneously and the weather is wet. I cannot find, however, any corroboration of the statement that the traffic was held up for a period approaching 20 minutes. The unnecessary sounding of motor horns when the vehicle is stationary is not only an offence against the law, but it is also likely to be a source of annoyance to residents, and the police, therefore, are bound to take such steps as may be necessary to deal with it.

asked the Postmaster-General the number of skilled workers and the number of unskilled workers dismissed from the telephone service in the Cardiff district since 1st April last?

It has been necessary to discharge 10 unestablished skilled workmen and five unskilled labourers from the Cardiff section of the Engineering Department since 1st April last, because no further work was available for them.

asked the Postmaster-General the number of higher clerical officers employed in the Accountant-General's Department as at 1st April, 1931; and the number of higher clerical officers promoted to higher posts during the period 1st April, 1930, to 31st March, 1931?

Seventy male higher clerical officers were employed in the Accountant-General's Department. No male officers on this grade were promoted during the period specified. Forty-nine women higher clerical officers were employed in this Department and one promotion was made from this grade during the period in question.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the total value of British exports to the Argentine and the total imports from that country to Britain in 1930 and up to the end of June, 1931?

During 1930 the total declared value of merchandise exported from the United Kingdom to the Argentine Republic was £25,714,000 (of which re-exports amounted to £444,000). The imports from the Argentine Republic were valued at £56,744,000. During the first quarter of 1931, the value of the exports was £5,033,000 (including re-exports £72,000) and that of the imports £13,761,000. Similar particulars for the second quarter of 1931 are not yet available, but I will send them to my hon. Friend as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary to the Overseas Trade Department the total amount of British capital invested in the Argentine?

I have no official information. The report of the British Economic Mission to South America, however, mentions that the amount of British capital invested in Argentina is estimated to be between £500,000,000 and £600,000,000.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what has been the value of manufactured goods imported into Great Britain from the British Empire and from the rest of the world; and what is the value of manufactured goods exported from Great Britain to the Empire and to the rest of the world during the first six months of 1931?

The following table shows the total declared value of goods classed as wholly or mainly manufactured imported into and exported from the United Kingdom during the year 1930 and registered as consigned from and to British countries and foreign countries, respectively. Similar particulars in respect of the first six months of 1931 are not available.

asked the Secretary to the Overseas Trade Department the import duty or duties upon wheat charged by Russia, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Rumania, Denmark, Holland and Sweden, respectively?

The following statement gives the particulars desired.

STATEMENT showing, according to the information available in the Department of Overseas Trade, the duties leviable on wheat on importation into the following countries:

asked the Secretary to the Overseas Trade Department what steps have been taken to carry out the recommendations made by the British Economic Mission to the Far East with regard to the appointment of trade commissioners?

The report of the British Economic Mission to the Far East contained no recommendation with regard to the appointment of trade commissioners. If, however, the hon. and gallant Member refers to the appointment of specialists or experts, the Department, together with members of the Mission and trade organisations, is conferring with several industries with a view to the recommendation being given the fullest consideration.

asked the Minister of Health how many houses have been built in the parishes of Holbrook and South Wing-field by the Belper Rural District Council; what has been the total cost of each house; and what rents are now being charged?

Ten houses have recently been built at Holbrook at an average total cost of £340, and eight at South Wingfield at an average total cost of £350. I understand that the rents are to be 7s. and 6s. 8d. a week respectively, but I am in correspondence with the council on the matter.

asked the Minister of Health if he has now considered the steps to be taken in conjunction with the Bexley Council, to deal with the hutments at Welling; and whether, in view of the continued policy of eviction of tenants and sale of these hutments, he will consider their inclusion in a progressive demolition and replacement scheme, as was undertaken by the Dudley Corporation?

My right hon. Friend is afraid that my hon. Friend is under some misapprehension. The hutments to which he refers at Dudley belong to the corporation of Dudley and that corporation as landlord is able to proceed on the policy he mentions. The hutments at Welling do not belong to the urban district council of Bexley. The question what action can be taken by the district council in relation to them is receiving the active consideration of the council.

asked the Minister of Health the date of issue to Members of the report of the Rent Restrictions Act Committee?

My right hon. Friend hopes that the report will be in the bands of hon. Members in the course of the next few days.

asked the Secretary of State for India the amounts of pay received by police constables and sergeants in the United Provinces and the Punjab, respectively?

According to such information as I possess, the pay of constables and head constables ranges from rupees 13 to rupees 35 per mensem in the United Provinces and from rupees 17 to rupees 42 per mensem in the Punjab.

asked the Secretary of State for India the strength of the university training corps units in India at the beginning of the present year?

I am obliged to my hon. and gallant Friend for giving me the opportunity of correcting an error in the figures which I supplied in reply to a similar question on 27th April last, and which in fact related only to a part of the scheme to which he refers. The total strength at the beginning of the present year was 113 officers (including 11 belonging to the permanent staff), and 4,025 other ranks, out of a total combined establishment of 194 officers and 4,850 other ranks.

asked the Secretary of State for India whether, in view of the undesirability of delaying action on those recommendations of the Royal Commission on Labour in India which, although they might involve legislation, would not entail much expenditure from either central or provincial revenues, he will consider the possibility of requesting the Government of India to submit separately their views on these recommendations so as to enable immediate action being taken thereon?

This matter is one in which the initiative is best left to the Government of India, but I will transmit to them the hon. and gallant Member's question and this reply.

asked the hon. Member for Central Leeds, as representing the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, how many of the employés of the Commissioners who are paid a weekly wage receive holidays with pay, and the names of the estates where such is in operation?

Assuming that the question relates to employés coming within the scope of orders of agricultural

asked the President of the Board of Education what percentage of children who gain scholarships to secondary schools afterwards enter for and pass the school certificate and higher certificate examinations?

It is not possible to answer the question in the precise terms in which it is put. I may say, however, that of the free pupils who left secondary schools on the Grant List in England and Wales after the age of 14 years during the school year 1929–30, 63.5 per cent. sat for, and 54.4 per cent. passed approved first examinations. Comparable figures for approved second examinations are not available.

asked the Minister of Agriculture the approximate number of agricultural workers who in March, 1931, were unemployed?

I regret that no statistics are available of agricultural unemployment.

asked the Minister of Labour the numbers on the unemployment registers in the whole of the county of Devon at the latest available date, together with the numbers at about the same date in the years 1924, 1928, 1929, and 1930?

The following table gives the information desired.

asked the Minister of Agriculture the number of counties in which applications have been made to the wages board for a reduction of agricultural wages since June, 1929, and the number of counties in which such reductions have been made?

During the period since June, 1929, on 38 of the 47 agricultural wages committees motions have been moved by the representatives of employers for a reduction in the minimum rates of wages and in six of these cases reductions have been made (although in two of the latter the weekly rate had been increased in the earlier part of the period). In seven other cases, although the weekly minimum wage has not been varied, the number of hours per week on which the wage is based has been increased.

asked the Minister of Agriculture the acreage under wheat in June, 1929, June, 1930, and the approximate acreage under wheat now?

The area under wheat in England and Wales on 4th June, 1929 and 1930, was 1,330,209 acres and 1,346,150 acres. Precise information as to the wheat acreage for 1931 will not be available until the beginning of August, but reports received from the Ministry's crop reporters indicate that it is somewhat smaller than in 1930.

asked the Minister of Agriculture the total arable acreage of England and Wales in the summer of 1929 and 1930 and the approximate total arable acreage now?

The area of arable land in England and Wales on 4th June, 1929 and 1930, was 9,947,758 acres and 9,832,949 acres. The corresponding figure for 1931 will not be available until early in August.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what area of ground has gone out of cultivation in Scotland since June, 1929?

Between June, 1929, and June, 1930—the latest date for which figures are available—the total area of crops and grass in Scotland (excluding rough grazings) was diminished by 12,270 acres.