asked the Minister of Agriculture what has been the cost of the National Mark scheme for each of the last three years to the last convenient date?

The National Mark schemes form part of general marketing activities of the Ministry which include investigation, demonstration, standardisation and publicity, and it is not possible to separate the expenditure under any one of these heads. The total expenditure on the Improvement of Agricultural Marketing in the three financial years 1929, 1930 and 1931 was as follows:

—		Gross Expenditure.	Receipts.	Net Expenditure.
		£	£	£
1929	…	55,262	6,109	49,153
1930	…	124,586	5,895	118,691
1931	…	121,858	5,831	116,027

asked the Minister of Agriculture the estimated average cost of providing a small holding of two acres on terms that the capital and interest at 3 per cent, were repaid by 20 annual equal instalments?

:The cost of providing a small holding of two acres depends obviously on many factors, mainly on whether it includes the cost of erecting dwelling house and/or other buildings. Conveniences such as access to a market, road approach, water supply, while necessary for success, affect the cost of the land, and the presence of equipment of any kind, fencing, etc., although adding to the initial cost, reduces the cost of subsequent development. Few, if any, holdings have been created of an area of two acres, but holdings comprising four to five acres equipped with a house, have been and are being created at an average cost under favourable conditions of approximately £650 each. The approximate cost of similar holdings with only two acres of land, should they be created, might average £600, the more intensive development adding slightly to the proportionate cost. The annual charge on an expenditure of £600 repayable in 20 years with interest at 3 per cent, would be approximately £40, to which should be added (say) £4 10s. for maintenance and insurance, making about £44 10s. in all. It should be added, however, that money would not be available by borrowing under present circumstances at as low a rate of interest as 3 per cent. On the other hand, the period stated for repayment of capital, namely, 20 years, is unduly short, having regard to the nature of the expenditure, and if it were extended the amount of the annual payments would be thereby reduced.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he has any further information regarding the setting up of a, clearing house to settle the commercial debts between the nationals of the various European countries in which exchange restrictions exist?

:I must refer my hon. Friend to the reply given on Tuesday last to my hon. Friend the Member for Bradford, North (Mr. Ramsden), to which J am not yet in a position to add.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if any and, if so, what representations have been made to the Danish Government with regard to the restriction of British exports into Denmark?

:I would refer to the answers which I gave on 23rd June to questions by my hon. Friends the Members for Huddersfield (Mr. Mabane) and Deritend (Mr. Smedley Crooke).

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will reconsider the instructions contained in the letter sent by the Scottish Education Department to the Ross and Cromarty County Council that £50,000 of public money shall be spent on rebuilding a school in the county, in view of the decision of the Ross and Cromarty County Council that £3,000 would cover the reasonable requirements of the moment, and that £47,000 of public money could thus be economised?

:I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer which I have to-day given to my hon. Friend the Member for Farnham (Sir A. M. Samuel).

asked the Minister of Labour how many persons were unemployed on the last date for which figures are available, in the following industries: cotton textiles, woollen textiles, coal mining, steel and engineering, and shipbuilding; and the parallel figures for 1st October, 1931?

:The figures desired by the hon. Member will be found in the issues of the Ministry of Labour Gazette for October, 1931, and June, 1932.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the total payments by the Treasury to the Ministry of Finance, Northern Ireland, in each financial year since the establishment of the Government of Northern Ireland in 1921 to the financial year 1931–32, inclusive, and the total payments by the Ministry of Finance, Northern Ireland, to the Imperial Exchequer in each year for the same period?

The information is as follows:—

—		Payments of Northern Ireland.	Imperial contribution paid by Northern Ireland.
		£	£
1921–22*	…	642,669	2,820,820
1922–23	…	4,641,335	6,685,645
1923–24	…	3,982,221	4,517,879
1924–25	…	2,081,751	3,175.000
1925–26	…	2,738,669	2,275,000
1926–27	…	271,678,291	1,350,000
1927–28	…	1,087,286	1,450,000
1928–29	…	1,333,079	1,175,000
1929–30	…	1,253,216	855,000
1930–31	…	1,489,366	642,000†
1931–32	…	1,128,066	400,000†
* From 21st November, 1921, to 31st March, 1922.
† Provisional.

In addition to the annual Imperial contribution Northern Ireland makes payments, by way of deduction from the Northern Ireland share of reserved taxes, for certain services other than the costs

—	1912.		1932.
Non-industrial Staffs;
Administrative staff		16		27
Executive and clerical groups		219		732
Typing grades		22		145
Inspectorate (Ancient Monuments)		1		7
Professional and Technical groups:
Professional	105	548	234	1,097
Technical	443		863
Messengerial, etc. group:
Messengers, porters, caretakers, charwomen, park-keepers, warders, &c.		510		976
Total non-industrial staff		1,316		2,984
Total of salaries and wages		£200,000 (Estimated).		£762,000
Industrial Staffs:
Supervisory		113		251
Industrial		1,116		4,684
		1,229		4,935
It is, I fear, impossible to say with any approximation to accuracy, what was the cost of the industrial staff in 1912, no adequate records being available on a comparable basis. The total cost for 1931-32 was £862,000.

asked the First Commissioner of Works if he is now able to give comparative figures, by categories, of the numbers and cost of the staff (both non-industrial and industrial) employed in the Office of Works in 1912 and in 1932?

The only document purporting to give a complete list of the staff employed in the Office of Works in the years immediately preceding the War, is a statement prepared in 1912 for the Royal Commission on the Civil Service, though even in this statement there are some omissions. It is evident, however, that the numbers, by categories of the non-industrial and industrial staff (according to the classification now adopted), and the total cost of the non-industrial staff, in 1912, did not fall short of the figures given below, and that they thus compare approximately as shown with the actual numbers and cost on 1st April, 1932:—