asked the Secretary of State for India whether he will give the House the latest information he has as to the situation in India?

asked the Secretary of State for India if he will give the House the latest information regarding the political situation in India?

Perhaps my hon. Friend the Member for Kidderminster (Sir J. Wardlaw-Milne) will allow me to offer him my congratulations. During the past week attempts were made by Congress to hold conferences in several places. The other main feature of civil disobedience activity has been the distribution of seditious pamphlets. In Bombay City communal rioting has ceased but feeling is still very tense. The total casualties to midnight of the 3rd June numbered 171 killed and 1,908 injured.

asked the Secretary of State for India what is the present position in regard to the negotiations between the railway authorities and the railway workers' trade unions in India on the question of the dismissal of lower grade railway employés in effecting retrenchment?

I have just been informed by the Government of India that they propose to issue a communique announcing their conclusions on the report of the court of inquiry which was set up to investigate certain matters connected with staff retrenchments on the Indian railways. I expect to receive copies of the communique by Air Mail and I shall send one to the hon. Member.

asked the Secretary of State for India if he will inform the House of the result of the inquiry instituted by the Government into the beating by the police of Mr. Subba Rao and Mr. Ramaswami who had been picketing in the Rattan bazaar in Madras last March?

I am circulating the statement issued by the Government of Madras.

asked the Secretary of State for India what wag the total electorate and the percentage of the electorate that polled in the last general election to the legislative assembly in India?

As the reply contains a number of figures I will, if I may, circulate it.

Will the right hon. Gentleman state what the general percentage was throughout India?

Approximately 26 per cent.

Has the right hon. Gentleman any hope that the thousands of new candidates who are to stand next year will be able to drag a larger percentage of the tens of millions of new voters to the poll?

Can the right hon. Gentleman say whether any improved facilities are to be afforded before a future election of the kind takes place?

I think that the hon. Member had better study the Franchise report. He will see certain suggestions made in it bearing upon the point he has just asked me about. As regards the question of my hon. and gallant Friend, one goes on hoping.

Is it not a fact that in the North-West Frontier Province the vote rose to 70 per cent. of the electorate?

It is certainly a great deal higher than the figure I have here.

asked the Secretary of State for India if he can give any idea of the lines on which the Government mean to settle the communal question in India?

No, Sir; I cannot anticipate the Government's decision.

asked the Secretary of State for India whether the Government of India have been invited to send a representative to the proposed International Conference on commodity prices which is shortly to be convened in London?

As was stated on the 1st June by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, the matter has not yet advanced beyond an informal and entirely preliminary stage.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether, in view of the reply of the Government of the United States of America that they are in favour of an early conference under Anglo-American auspices on the subject of world trade, invitations are being issued to other Powers to participate in such a conference?

The conversations which have taken place on this question have not yet reached the stage where the issue of invitations to a conference can be considered. As I explained in my reply to the right hon. Gentleman the Leader of the Opposition on the 1st of June, the matter is still in an entirely preliminary stage. I have explained the whole matter to the representatives in London of the other five Powers who with ourselves issued the invitation to the Lausanne Conference and have invited their views upon it. The question cannot be carried further until these views have been received and considered.

How many of the five Powers have replied?

I do not think any reply has been received. This is a very serious matter and it is only two or three days since they were communicated with.

Is it a fact that the United States Government have accepted?

Will the right hon. Gentleman take an early opportunity of defining more closely what is meant by the words "subject of world trade"? Is he aware that it is very nebulous and that we do not know yet what it means?

It is partly for that reason that we have communicated with other Governments.

asked the Prime Minister if it is intended that the International Economic Conference shall take place in London prior to the Empire Conference at Ottawa, and if an assurance can be given that no engagements or agreements will be made with foreign Powers which will limit or curtail the full liberty of the Government to discuss and make Empire agreements at the Ottawa Conference?

of the COUNCIL (Mr. Baldwin): As explained by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in reply to the right hon. Gentleman the Leader of the Opposition on the 1st June, the matter has not advanced beyond an informal and entirely preliminary stage, and, until the views of the Governments chiefly concerned have been received, there can be no question of fixing any time or place for the conference. The Government retain the fullest liberty of action at Ottawa.

Do I gather from the reply that it is the intention of the Government to keep the fullest liberty of action at Ottawa at any conference which may be held?

Yes, as has always been the case.

Has the right hon. Gentleman seen a paragraph in the newspapers stating that the Foreign Secretary and the Prime Minister were not seeing eye to eye on this matter of the Economic Conference, and can he say whether there is any truth in it

Nothing that I had said would lead to such an inference, and, if it did, it would be a false inference.

Has the Lord President of the Council any statement to make upon the subject of the Economic, or monetary, Conference? A statement was made in answer to a question that my right hon. Friend would make a statement to-day.

I have had no notice of that question.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs the result of his inquiries made to the German Government respecting the Hamburg Waterworks in relation to the loan raised here by the city of Hamburg?

The Hamburg administrative authorities deny that there is any foundation whatever for the reported negotiations referred to in my hon. Friend's question on this subject on the 30th of May last.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs how many raids into British territory from Abyssinia have taken place since the publication of the White Book (Cmd. 3217) in 1928; and whether it is proposed to issue, before the meeting of the Assembly of the League of Nations, a further Government Paper upon the subject?

I am circulating in the Official Report particulars of the raids referred to. As at present advised, I do not think a further White Paper will be necessary.

Can my right hon. Friend say whether that account includes details of the raid which took place a few months ago in the south-east territory?

Yes, Sir. It will be found to include it.

Will the information contain anything about the operations of the Sudan Slavery Patrol and the number of casualties which took place in consequence?

I would ask my hon. Friend to wait for the answer in the report. It is a very full one, and I think that it will give him the information about which he is asking.

I could not quite hear the supplementary answer to my hon. and gallant Friend. Will full information be given in the answer about the raid which is said to have occurred in March of this year?

Yes, Sir. My right hon. Friend will find that the answer includes information about it.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will recommend the cancellation of the new allowance of £250 a year granted to members of the Governor-General's Council in the Sudan in 1928, in order to restore some part of the cut of 28 per cent. on pay and allowances inflicted recently on company clerks in the southern provinces of the Sudan?

No, Sir.

Does my right hon. Friend realise that these unfortunate clerks in the Sudan have been reduced £55 a year?

My answer to the original question must still be in the negative.

Is. it not most unfair that these people who live in Khartum with all the amenities there should get this high rate of pay and not stand a fair proportion of the cuts?

Even if the hon. and gallant Gentleman were right, surely he does not suggest that an adjustment which may be right in respect of one set of people should be altered because of the inequality which he now raises.

Does not the right hon. Gentleman think that there ought to be a fair adjustment all through the Sudan?

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether his attention has been called to the difficulties which are being placed in the way of the Lytton Commission in obtaining evidence from all parties in Manchuria; and whether any protest is to be made in this connection?

I have seen reports in the Press to this effect, but I have no official confirmation. The Commission is, of course, an organ of the League of Nations and I am not aware that the Commission have suggested to the League of Nations that any protest should be made in this connection.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will cause a report to be obtained, through His Majesty's Minister in China-, as to the cessation of the boycott and anti-Japanese agitation in Shanghai?

I have asked His Majesty's Chargé d'Affaires to furnish a report.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs the nominal total in sterling of the defaulted obligations of the Chilean Government issued in London?

I am not prepared to make an official estimate, but, as was explained on the 23rd November last in answer to a question by my hon. Friend the Member for Chislehurst (Mr. Smithers), in respect of Mexican Government securities, my hon. and gallant Friend can obtain considerable, though not necessarily complete, information by application to the Council of Foreign Bondholders.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he is now in a position to report what progress has been made by the Chilean Government towards meeting their liabilities in respect of loans borrowed from British investors?

So far as I am aware no progress has been made since the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Tynemouth (Mr. A. W. Russell) on the 7th April last.

Is the right hon. Gentleman taking any steps in order to secure some possible settlement of these claims even at a remote time?

The Foreign Office is in close touch with the Council of Foreign Bondholders, and I know that the council have formed a Chilean Committee expressly for the purpose.

Can the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs say whether he can confirm or deny any of the rumours which are going around about this question since the change of Government in Chile on Saturday?

I must ask for notice of that question.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he has re- ceived intimation of the inability of the German Government to pay further instalments of reparations?

The attitude of the German Government on the payment of reparations has been made clear in various public statements, notably that of the late Chancellor on the 11th May.

Does the right hon. Gentleman not think that instead of the discussions at Lausanne being confined to war reparations they should be concentrated on the economic problems, and the price of commodities?

As already announced, the Terms of Reference for the Conference at Lausanne have been fixed in agreement with all the Governments concerned, but I think it is certain that the other aspects mentioned by the right hon. Member will not be outside the purview of the Conference.

Will it serve any useful purpose to discuss reparations at Lausanne in the present state of Germany?

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he can now inform the House as to the proposals of the Russian Soviet Government for the payment of the arbitral award of approximately £13,000,000 in favour of Lena Goldfields, Limited?

The latest proposal made by the Soviet Authorities was for a settlement at £1,000,000—a proposal which the company is not prepared to entertain.

May I ask what steps the Government propose to take now? Does he not realise that so long as the Soviet Government have the benefit of the British market for their Five-Year Plan and that we give them credit for their purchases while we pay them in cash, they are not likely to make any proposal?

I can assure the hon. Member that all those considerations are very much in the mind of the Government.

When shall we have some action?

asked the Minister of Agriculture what are the reasons for delay in the introduction of Orders to provide for the marking of imported cheese; and by what bodies the introduction of such Orders is being opposed?

The Merchandise Marks Act, 1926, prescribes the procedure which must be followed before an Order can be made requiring the marking of any class of imported goods with an indication of origin. In the first place, it is required that an application for the making of such an Order shall be made to the appropriate Department by substantially representative interests. An application for the marking of imported cheese was received by my Department on 3rd June, and will receive careful consideration.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he is aware that a poultry farm, styling itself the largest producer of day-old chicks in the country, with an annual sale of approximately 1,000,000 chicks, is affected with the disease of bacillary white diarrhœa, and that complaints are being made that persons all over the country have received diseased chicks and have in no case been given adequate compensation by the said poultry farmers; and whether he will consider taking action with a view to preventing the spread of this disease throughout the country?

I am not aware of the circumstances mentioned in the first part of the question. I have no statutory powers to control the sale of poultry: but I have recently issued to all Local Authorities for their consideration and adoption the draft of a scheme on a voluntary basis, designed to promote the supply of stock which is healthy and, in particular, free from bacillary white diarrhœa. I am sending the hon. Member a copy of the scheme.

Will the right hon. Gentleman make inquiry from his experts in the county of Yorkshire in regard to this matter?

If the hon. Member will send me any information, I shall be prepared to inquire.

asked the Minister of Agriculture how many applications have been made under the Merchandise Marks Act, 1926, in respect of agricultural products; how many of these applications have been granted; and how many have been refused?

Applications have been made and referred to the Standing Committee in respect of 10 classes of agricultural products. With one exception Orders were recommended and made.

What was the one exception?

The one exception as with regard to oats. That was the only one that has been turned down.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he is aware that since 1st January, 1931, some banks have taken advantage of the provisions of the Agricultural Credits Act, 1928, to obtain charges upon farming stock and produce in respect of old loans contracted before the passing of that Act; and whether, as one object of the Agricultural Credits Act is defeated by this development which secures the banks concerned as preference creditors to the exclusion of all others except the landlord, he will consider taking some remedial action in the matter?

Some cases of the kind to which my hon. and gallant Friend calls attention have been brought to my notice. I do not feel, however, that legislative action, even if it were practicable, would be in the best interests of the agricultural community.

If the right hon. Gentleman cannot take legislative action, will he take Departmental action to bring to book the people who are contravening the Act?

No, Sir, I do not think it is a matter of contravention. So far as I know, there is no contravention, but, if the hon. Member has any suggestions to make, I should be glad to consider them.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he is aware that the extension of the period in which duty will be payable on imported strawberries has involved cancellation of arrangements by English canners for the canning of French strawberries from 17th June, which would have provided seasonal employment for thousands of workers; whether any representation has been made to his Department; and will he state the terms of his reply?

I have received certain representations with regard to the point raised by the hon. Member. My reply to such representations is to the effect that, in view of the lateness of the strawberry crop this season, the extension of the period during which a duty of 6d. per lb. will be payable on imported foreign strawberries was rendered necessary in order to give effect to the intentions of the Horticultural Products Act to protect the early home market against foreign producers with climatic advantages.

Does the right hon. Gentleman not think that the imported strawberries would have been wholly canned and that he has done an injustice to the importers and the thousands of workpeople, who, obviously, will not procure employment?

I see no reason why British strawberries should not be canned.

Is the right hon. Gentleman not aware that the English strawberries will not be available and that by no stretch of the imagination can the canners be employed?

Is it not a fact that the extension of the period will enable the English strawberries to be canned, and that they are of better quality than the foreign?

I hope so.

asked the Postmaster-General the approximate amount of the postal profits, as calculated in the commercial accounts of the Post Office, for the year ended 31st March, 1932?

The provisional commercial accounts for 1931–32 show a surplus of £10,826,000 on the Postal Service, a surplus of £557,000 on the telephone service and a loss on the telegraph service of £828,000. The surplus on the three services combined is thus £10,555,000. These figures are, of course, subject to adjustment and to audit.

Will the right hon. Gentleman take steps to put the telegraph service on a profitable basis?

Yes, Sir. This year the telegraph deficit is reduced by £180,000.

asked the Postmaster-General why postmasters are prohibited from giving receipts for purchases of postage stamps to a lesser value than £25; and whether, with a view to obviating the inconvenience in auditing the books of business firms and the prevention of possible abuses, he will consider amending the regulations so as to bring the practice into conformity with that obtaining in the case of health and unemployment insurance stamps?

I am making inquiries into the matter and will communicate with my hon. Friend.

asked the First Commissioner of Works if the proposed new Employment Exchange on the site now being cleared in West Street, Sheffield, is to be proceeded with; and, if so, at what cost?

Yes, the contract has been let. The estimated cost of the building, which will also provide workshop and store accommodation for my Department, is £35,290.

asked the First Commissioner of Works whether, before arriving at any final decision regarding restrictions on horse riding in Richmond Park, he will receive a repre- sentative deputation from those who are accustomed to take exercise in the park in this manner, with a view to reaching agreement acceptable to all interested parties?

I am in communication with Lord Mildmay of Flete, the President of the National Horse Association, and have offered to receive a deputation before coming to any final decisions.

asked the First Commissioner of Works the total number of the staff employed in the Office of Works in 1913 and the total of their salaries; and what was the number of the staff in 1931 and the total of their salaries in the latter year?

The number of non-industrial employés recorded as being on the staff of the Office of Works on the 1st May, 1913, was 655, and the total of their salaries £145,834. The number of non-industrial employés on the 1st October, 1931, was 3,138, and the total of their salaries and wages £876,648. The numbers are, however, in no way comparable, as the 1913 records do not contain particulars of the employés in many grades which were then classed as industrial, but are now classed as non-industrial. The number employed in October, 1931, has already been reduced by 117 and reductions are still proceeding.

Can the right hon. Gentleman say how many industrial people are employed?

I should like to have notice of that question. They are scattered all over the country.

Can the right hon. Gentleman give us the comparative figures for 1913 and 1931?

I have been trying to get out the comparative figures this morning. When the reorganisation took place under Lord Melchett, large classes of employés who had been in one category appeared in another, and it means going through individual names. If the right hon. Gentleman will give me time, I will try to get the comparative figures, but it is extremely difficult.

Does the right hon. Gentleman mean that in a week or 10 days' time he will be able to work out the comparative figures?

Yes, that is what I mean.

To what extent is this increase in staff due to the building of new employment exchanges lake the one in Sheffield?

It is partly due to a lot of new work like the building of new employment exchanges and to the preservation of ancient monuments.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury if he will have inquiry made in the case of all Government Departments in which there are two or more senior officials of the same grade performing similar functions, with a view to ascertaining whether the services of one or more of such senior officials could be dispensed with?

I do not quite understand the proposal of my hon. Friend. The correlation of numbers of staff and requirements of work is a primary duty of administration which must be, and is, systematically and continuously performed. I see no need for a sporadic inquiry of the kind apparently suggested.

Will the right hon. and gallant Member ask for a return from Government Departments showing the precise nature of the duties which are being performed by higher officials in order to ascertain whether there is any unnecessary duplication?

No, Sir. I do not think such a result would be obtained by a return of the nature suggested.

Has the right hon. and gallant Member sufficient power at present to effect real economies in the reduction of staffs?

Power in any case comes by pressure from this House on the Treasury.

Would the right hon. and gallant Member like some more pressure?

Informed pressure of the kind so often exercised by the hon. Member is always welcome.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether he is aware that confidential proposals relating to wages and salaries of civil servants which the Government have submitted to the Whitley Council are being subjected to public denunciation; and whether, with a view to their more adequate consideration, he will have them published?

I am aware that objections were raised to the Government's proposals for consolidating Civil Service salaries and bonus. The whole matter is now under the consideration of the Government, but it is not yet possible to make any further statement on the subject.

asked the First Commissioner of Works what is the cost of maintaining the buildings and furnishings of the British Legation at Peking?

The cost of maintaining the various buildings and furnishings of the British Legation at Peking is approximately £1,600 and £200 per annum, respectively.

asked the Minister of Health if he will state the number of open competition candidates engaged in his Department for the clerical class since 1st January, 1932, and the number of female writing assistants for the same period?

None, Sir.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty the number of boy ratings of all branches of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines who were invalided during the year 1931, and the number in the same period who were invalided with tuberculosis, heart complaints and kidney trouble?

:The number of boy ratings of all branches of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines who were invalided during the year 1931 was 54; the numbers in the same period who were invalided with pulmonary tuberculosis, heart complaints and kidney trouble were 3, 12 and 2 respectively.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty the number of naval ratings invalided during the year 1931 and the number during this period whose invaliding disability was considered to be attributable to service; and the number of naval ratings invalided during this period with tuberculosis and the number awarded disability pensions for this disability?

The number of naval ratings (including Royal Marines) invalided during the year 1931 was 888, and the number whose disability was considered to be attributable to the service was 193. The number invalided during that period with pulmonary tuberculosis was 156, and in 117 of these cases pensions were granted on the attributable scale.

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware that the Bedford County Council have dispensed with several cottage homes for Poor Law children and collected them into Briar Patch House; that the county council have enlarged Briar Patch House against the recommendation of the Hitchin Guardians Committee, and that the chairman of the committee resigned in consequence; and if he approves of the policy of removing children from cottage homes into large buildings?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the negative. As to the second part, my right hon. Friend is aware that the Hertfordshire County Council are improving the children's home known as "Briar Patch," but no increase in the number of children to be accommodated is involved, and the last part of the question does not, therefore, arise. My right hon. Friend has no knowledge of any disagreement on the part of any guardians committee.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury if, as a supplement to the estimate of local rates set forth in the financial statement, he can state the estimated aggregate expenditure of the local authorities during the financial year ended 31st March, 1932, defrayed out of rates and parliamentary grants of all kinds; and, if for comparison, he will give the corresponding figure for the year ended 31st March, 1914?

As the reply contains a number of figures I will, with my hon. Friend's permission, circulate it in the Official Report.

In view of the importance of these figures, can the hon. and gallant Member read them to the House?

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether he will so amend the import regulations imposed by His Majesty's Customs that, in future, one simplified form may replace Form C. 105 and No. 107 Sale Form and thus avoid duplication and waste of time and give the importer the opportunity of passing an entry on the day of a ship's arrival?

Under the existing regulations entries may be passed on Form 107 on the day of the ship's arrival and the goods may be cleared from Customs charge. The additional particulars required by Form C. 105 may be supplied at any time within 14 days thereafter. If the forms were amalgamated as suggested by my hon. Friend, it would moan that the goods could not be entered until the whole of the combined form had been completed. I do not think, therefore, that it would be desirable to amend the regulations as suggested.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware that the Canadian Government permit goods to be stamped as made in Canada provided that 25 per cent. only of the invoice value is represented by Canadian material and labour; and will he take steps to prevent such goods being admitted into the United Kingdom as Empire products when in fact they are 75 per cent. American?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on 24th May to the hon. Member for Linlithgow (Sir A. Baillie), a copy of which I am sending him.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether his Attention has been called to the damage which is being done to British export trade by restrictions which the German authorities are placing upon importers of British goods into Germany in the matter of remittances to the British exporters; and whether His Majesty's Government will consider the setting up of a clearing house whereby only the surplus between imports and exports would be remitted from country to country, as is being done by the Government of the Netherlands; with regard to Dutch exports to Germany?

I am aware that German currency restrictions tend to reduce imports into Germany from all countries, but I understand that little complaint is being received as to difficulty in obtaining payment for goods actually supplied. The matter is being closely watched.

asked the Minister of Transport if his attention has been called to the case of Macbeth v. Gregson, at the Manchester Assizes on 23rd February, when the verdict was given for the defendant, who was insured with the Eagle, Star, and British Dominions Insurance Company, Limited, and had an insurance certificate under the Road Traffic Act; if he is aware that this company repudiated this certificate; and if he will bring in amending legislation to ensure that insurance companies issuing third-party insurance certificates shall in all cases be liable?

I have inquired as to this case and am informed that the defendant, when carrying as a passenger Mr. Macbeth without fee or reward, was involved in an accident which resulted in Mr. Macbeth sustaining severe injuries. I would point out to the hon. Member that by reason of proviso (ii) of Section 36 (1) of the Road Traffic Act, 1930, this class of accident falls outside the scope of the compulsory insurance provisions of the Road Traffic Act.

Has the attention of the Minister of Transport been called, not only to this case, but to many others where the insurance company have repudiated their insurance agreement, quite contrary to the wishes of this House and the Road Traffic Act?

The hon. Member raises a particular case, and I have replied to that case.

asked the Minister of Transport if he is aware that, on 25th May last at Taunton, a fine of £1 was imposed on Charles Henry Mitchell for driving a motor vehicle which was 4 tons 17 cwts. in excess of the weight permitted by law; that this was the defendant's thirteenth conviction and his third within three weeks for offences in connection with heavy motor vehicles; and whether, in view of this and similar cases, he will consider amending the law to impose severer minimum penalties upon those who persist in defying the law relating to the weight of road vehicles?

While my attention had not been previously drawn to this particular case, the practice on the part of some operators consistently to overload their vehicles is a matter which is engaging special attention at the present time with a view to seeing what steps can be taken for the more effective enforcement of the law. At the moment, however, I am not prepared to agree that further legislation is necessary.

asked the Minister of Transport if he will state what method he adopts to deal with local authorities who, by reason of their highway powers, must keep the roads in safe condition, and who in many cases refuse to alter the crown of the road even when fatal accidents have resulted thereby?

No case of this kind has been brought to my notice, but if my hon. and gallant Friend will inform me of the instances he has in mind I will cause inquiries to be made.

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that in Scotland local authorities are liable in damages if they have roads in an unsafe condition? Should not the law of England be made the same as that of Scotland?

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware that the South Molton Rural District Council is experiencing difficulty in proceeding with their housing scheme owing to the difficulty of negotiating with the Fortescue Estate Company on the questions of site and water supply; and if he has been approached on the matter, and can say what the position is?

My right hon. Friend is aware that difficulties have been experienced by this local authority in the-past, but not that difficulties have arisen in connection with the authority's current proposals. He is making inquiries into the matter.

Can the hon. Gentleman say whether there is some Socialistic motive in asking this question about this authority?

I am not able to answer that question. I would refer my right hon. Friend to the hon. Gentleman who asked it.

(by Private Notice) asked the Secretary of State for the COLONIES whether he could make any statement with regard to the elections in Malta?

Yes, Sir. Hon. Members will have seen that on the 3rd June the Archbishop of Malta and the Bishop of Gozo issued a new Pastoral, which supersedes the Pastoral of May, 1930. His Majesty's Government have held the same view as their predecessors, that, if the 1930 Pastoral remained in force, it would be impossible for a free election in Malta to take place. I am glad to say that situation no longer exists, and the Governor has been authorised to proceed with the elections.

(by Private Notice) asked the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs whether he has any statement to make as to the situation in relation to the Irish Free State?

Yes, Sir; I have to inform the House that the Government have received, through the High Commissioner of the Irish Free State, and have accepted, an invitation from Mr. De Valera, for a preliminary discussion as to the present difficulties between the two countries in relation to negotiations in connection with the Ottawa Conference. As a result, I propose to cross to Dublin to-night, accompanied by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for War. Mr. De Valera has agreed to resume the conversations in London on Friday.

On that, may I ask, first, whether Lord Hailsham accompanies the right hon. Gentleman, not as Minister for War, but as an ex-Lord High Chancellor; and with your permission, Mr. Speaker, may I say that I think the whole country will congratulate both Mr. De Valera and the right hon. Gentleman on coming to this commonsense agreement?

With regard to the first part of the question, Lord Hailsham is accompanying me as a Member of the Cabinet.

May I express a hope that there will be no compromise?

Will the right hon. Gentleman explain to the House what the agreement is that has been reached with Mr. De Valera?

I never mentioned any word of agreement. I said that the Government had received an intimation from Mr. De Valera, through the High Commissioner of the Irish Free State, that he desired consultation on the difficulties that arose from my statement, repeatedly made in this House, that it was impossible to conduct further negotiations either here or at Ottawa while the present attitude was adopted. The Government have also reiterated repeatedly that so far as they were concerned they were not opposed to any discussion. Mr. De Valera having intimated a desire for discussion and having intimated also that he himself would come to London on Friday to resume the discussion, the Government felt, and rightly felt in my judgment, that they had no alternative but to accept that invitation.

I want to congratulate the right hon. Gentleman on the line he has taken in meeting Mr. De Valera. Do I understand that the Government have now departed from their previous policy, which was to refuse to discuss while the Irish Government went ahead with the deletion of the Oath?

There is no departure of any sort or kind. The British Government never refused to discuss. They never received an invitation to discuss prior to this. The Irish Government prior to this, acted on their own without, consultation with us. On that intimation being made, we declared our policy and our intention. We had never departed from that. We have not departed now. That is the first invitation we have received. But I would respectfully suggest that if, as I hope, it is the desire of everyone for common sense—[An HON. MEMBER: "And common honesty!"]— and common honesty to triumph, it will be far better to have no further discussion in the House now.

Do we understand that the Government do not depart from their original attitude, and that there will be no concessions in the matter of the Treaty; that the Treaty stands?

The Government's position has been repeatedly stated by me on behalf of the Government. That position is known here; it is known in Ireland. But we have never refused this Dominion, and we would not refuse any other Dominion, an opportunity to discuss any point of view that may be put forward.

May I ask the right hon. Gentleman to take no notice of any-disgruntled Member of this House?

May I ask the Lord President of the Council how far it is proposed to go this evening if the Resolution for the suspension of the Eleven o'Clock Rule is carried?

I do not think it is possible to answer that question now. Perhaps the right hon. Gentleman will have a chat with us as the day proceeds.

It might be possible to allocate time a little differently from what I believe is understood at the moment. I suggest that some talk through the usual channels should cake place as to how time can be best allocated in order to get the Third Reading?

We are ready to do what we can to facilitate business throughout the House. A little later in the day I think we shall be prepared to consult hon. Members.

I beg to move, in page 25, line 20, after the word "prohibits," to insert the words:

"(otherwise than by way of prohibition of building operations)."