asked the Minister of Pensions whether information and statistics have been prepared by the Ministry relative to the number of men who have died as a result of their wounds at a later date than seven years after receiving their injuries; whether the widows of such men, under Article 11 of the Royal Warrant, 1022, are admissible for pen- sions; and, if not, whether, seeing that such Article 11 of the Royal Warrant has received the approval of Parliament, it will be so amended or administered in future as to obviate any cases of hardship?

So far, no cast has been brought to my notice in which the death resulted, beyond the seven years' limit, from wounds as distinct from disease. The widows of these men are not eligible for pension under Article 11, but they can be considered for an award under Article 17. I may add that the whole matter is receiving the close personal attention of my right hon. Friend.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty whether he is aware that five sick-berth chief petty officers of the Portsmouth division have recently been discharged to pension, and that five sick-berth petty officers have been promoted to sick-berth chief petty officers without any junior ratings being promoted in proportion; and whether this means of reduction is being employed to bring the number of sick-berth petty officers down to the requirements of Portsmouth General Order No. 691, of 16th May, 1922?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. Junior ratings were not advanced in connection with these changes owing to the numbers of sick-berth petty officers and leading sick-berth attendants being in excess of the estimate numbers voted for the current financial year. The allusion to Portsmouth General Order C91 is not wholly clear, but it is anticipated that advancement of the lower ratings will be resumed next year.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty whether he is aware that the senior leading sick-berth attendants and sick-berth attendants at present awaiting promotion, and who would have been promoted had the promotions been conducted in the usual manner, have 12 years' service in the case of the leading sick-berth attendants and nine years' service in the case of the sick-berth attendants, and that these ratings must necessarily lose much pay and pension as a result; and what he proposes to do in the matter?

I presume the question refers to conditions obtaining in the Portsmouth Division. The five senior leading sick berth attendants on the Portsmouth roster are of seniority varying approximately 13¾ to 8½ years, but they have yet to pass their professional examination for advancement to sick berth petty officer. The five senior Portsmouth sick berth attendants on the roster have similarly not yet passed professionally for leading sick berth attendant. Their present seniority varies from 9.1 to 8¾ years. The Admiralty do not propose to adopt any special measures at this juncture, as the existing disadvantages attaching to promotion are not confined to the sick berth branch, being mainly due, in fact, to the rapid advancements obtaining during the War. Since then, however, the proportion of higher rates in the branch has been raised, and in the long run it is considered that the prospects of promotion are more favourable; moreover, any special steps taken now in the direction of accelerating advancement would eventually be to the detriment of the sick berth class as a whole.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that the transport "Mercian," which left Southampton on 27th October, 1915. was attacked by a submarine in the Mediterranean, 40 officers and men being killed and 50 wounded of the Lincolnshire Yeomanry: that the wounded were taken to hospital at Oran, Algeria, while the unwounded proceeded to Egypt; and that the wounded, when recovered, did not reach Egypt until 1st January, 1916; and whether, seeing that the 1914–15 Star has been granted to and received by the unwounded but refused to the wounded because they did not arrive in Egypt one day earlier than they did, some relaxation will be made in the case of these wounded members of the Lincolnshire Yeomanry in view of the exceptional circumstances of their case?

I am fully aware of the circumstances of this case, but I regret that it is not possible in any circumstances to allow exceptions to the limits of time and area fixed for the award of medals.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether his attention has been directed to the duty. of 30 per cent. imposed by the Government of India on British-made and other motor ears; whether he is aware that the Government of India now classes motor cars as luxuries with watches and jewellery; and, seeing that numbers of low-priced American ears are being imported in India, as the duty does not hit them, and that the duty has practically killed British overseas trade in India with motors cars, will he, with a view to encouraging home industry, represent to the Government of India the need for the removal of the 30 per cent. duty on British-made motor cars?

The duty on motor cars imported into India was raised last March from 20 to 30 per cent., a rate which also applies to the other articles named. My attention has been drawn to the suggested effect of the new rate, but it is, I think, too early to form a considered judgment on the result of a duty so recently imposed. The increased rate was introduced, as my hon. Friend is aware, for purely revenue purposes, and its effect will doubtless be carefully watched by the Government of India.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether he will state approximately what was the exchange value of the rupee when the present scale of salaries in the Indian Civil Service was fixed; whether the scale wa6 fixed, and exchange compensation allowance was abolished, on the assumption that that value would continue; what the average exchange value has been during the last 12 months; and whether any steps are in contemplation to compensate for the loss which the service is sustaining in consequence of the non-fulfilment of the assumption referred to?

The present scale of salaries of the Indian Civil Service was fixed with effect from 1st December, 1919. The official exchange value of the rupee was then two shillings. At that time it was expected that the exchange value would continue about that figure, though it could not be definitely guaranteed. During the succeeding six months it rose considerably higher, but has averaged during the last 12 months, as nearly as possible, 1s. 4d. Financial conditions have so far made it impossible for the Government of India to make any concession on this account to members of the service, but the question will not be lost sight of.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether the Committee under the chairmanship of Mr. Innes, appointed by the Government of India to inquire into certain matters concerning the administration of and supply of materials for the railways of India, has yet issued its Report; if so, what is the nature of that Report; and, if not, when is it expected that this Committee will report:

I have not yet received the Report of this Committee and understand that its inquiries are not yet complete. My hon. Friend may have noticed a paragraph in the Press that the Committee hope to be ready with its Report before the meeting of the Legislative Assembly in September next. I have no other information.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury how many huts constructed for service purposes during the War are still in the hands of the Government: how many are never used and never likely to be used for their original purpose or for anything connected with it: whether these have been all offered for sale: and whether the time has arrived, before decay sets in, to allow them to be used wherever possible for residential purposes at the cheapest possible rates?

The information asked for in the first part of the question is not available and to obtain it would in- volve disproportionate expense, Huts no longer required for service purposes are declared surplus and handed over to the Disposals Board. All such huts are immediately offered by the Board for sale. Hutted camps, however, are in the first place offered for disposal en bloc. The Board endeavour to avoid all unnecessary delay in offering huts for sale in view of possible depreciation in values.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the amount received in Entertainments Duty since 1st April up to the latest date on which his returns are substantially complete; and what is the estimate of the yield of this duty for the year 1922–23?

The receipts of Entertainments Duty from 1st April to 15th July, 1922, were approximately £2,460,577. The estimate of the yield of the duty in the current financial year is £9,300,000.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is aware that a wounded ex-service clerk has been given official notice that [...]is services are no longer required by the Forestry Commission, and that the services of a temporary woman clerk are being retained; whether this temporary or unestablished woman clerk's name appears on the current salary lists of the Forestry Commission as receiving £250 per annum, and why this woman's position should not be filled by a well recommended wounded ex-service temporary clerk under notice who has a wife and young family in need of his support?

I have-been asked to take over this question. Owing to reductions in the Forestry Commission's expenditure the staff is being considerably reduced, and among those under notice is a wounded ex-service clerk. The woman who, I assume, is the temporary or unestablished woman clerk referred to, is being retained, and her salary is £250 inclusive per annum. She is employed in a confidential capacity as private secretary and personal assistant to the Chairman and the Commissioners. Appointments to such posts are at any time a matter of personal selection, and personal qualifications and experience are obviously of the first importance. The male clerk in question would be unsuitable for the post.

asked the Secretary of State for Air if he has yet decided to hold the land permanently at Pulham air station; and, if so will he consider the advisability of bringing this land into a proper state of cultivation by letting it to ex-service men for small holdings who are anxious to have the land to provide food for themselves and families?

In answer to the first question, the future policy in regard to airships is still under consideration by the Government, and, until a decision is reached, I am not in a position to say whether Pulham will be permanently retained. In regard to the second question, it is considered inadvisable, for the reasons which were stated in my reply to my hon. Friend on the 2nd May last, and which still apply, to split up the land into small lots for cultivation.

asked the Minister of Labour whether the instructional factory at Forbesfield Road, Aberdeen, is shortly to be shut down consequent on insufficient applications for training coming forward; whether, if that be so, he can take any action towards preventing this occurrence; whether he has received any proposal as to continuing the work of this factory as a private concern should it be shut down as a Government establishment; if so, whether he has replied to this proposal; and, if so, has he accepted it or not?

The Government Instructional Factory at Forbesfield, Aberdeen, will be closed in September. Ample accommodation for the men still on the waiting list in the Aberdeen area is available in the Government Instructional Factories at Edinburgh and Glasgow. A proposal for the continuance of the factory as a private concern is receiving consideration.

asked the Minister of Labour if he will give the total amount of unemployment benefit paid since the signing of the Armistice; the total amount paid this year to 30th June or nearest date; the amount of unemployment benefit now being paid monthly; and the amount of unemployment benefit paid monthly in the Poor Law unions of Great Britain?

The total amount of unemployment benefit (including grants under the Unemployed Workers' Dependants (Temporary Provision) Act, 1921) from the Armistice to the 30th June, 1922, is approximately £88,700,000. The amount paid during the present year to the 30th June, 1922, is approximately £27,000,000. The amount of unemployment benefit paid monthly varies, of course, with the rate of unemployment and with the operation of the "gaps" under the Unemployment Insurance Act, 1922. The amount paid during the five weeks ended 30th June was approximately £2,900,000. The amount paid during this period was reduced owing to the operation of the "gap." The foregoing figures exclude the North of Ireland since the 31st December, 1921, and the Irish Free State also since the 31st March, 1922. No figures are available showing the amount of benefit paid in Poor Law authority areas.

asked the Prime Minister whether the Government proposes to take any action and, if so, of what nature, on the recommendations of the Committee on Crown and Government Lands;, whether, under those recommendations, substantial economies in administration are possible or whether staffs would have to be increased: and whether he will place in the Library of the House, for the information of Members, a large scale map showing where the million acres administered by Government Departments are, so that it may be possible to study the need for retaining them?

The Report is under consideration; it is hoped that economies would be possible in the event of its being adopted. It would hardly be practicable to place in the Library a large scale map, showing the situation of 1.200,000 acres, but I will consider whether a map could not be prepared to give the information desired.

asked the Prime Minister whether the Allied Governments are in receipt of any indications to show that Germany wishes to be admitted to the League of Nations?

The answer is in the negative.

asked the Prime Minister whether he will give the final date upon which the period terminates for laying before Parliament the draft Conventions of the last Labour Conference of the League of Nations; and whether he can assure the House that the necessary action will be taken within the proper period?

Article 405 of the Treaty of Versailles provides that the Draft Conventions of the International Labour Conference shall be brought before the national competent authority within a period of one year, or. in exceptional circumstances, 18 months at the latest, from the closing of the Session of the Conference. The last Session closed on the 19th November, 1921, and accordingly the action prescribed by Article 405 must in any circumstances be effected by the 19th May next.

asked the Prime Minister whether Germany has announced that she is compelled to suspend her payments under the Treaty for compensation to Allied owners of private property: whether the Allies have paid under the Treaty all their claims to German owners of private property; whether they have any money in hand; and whether, in view of the new official statement from Berlin, the Allies propose to take any action to stop German private owners benefiting while Allied subjects similarly placed are thus deprived of their just rights?

The German Government has applied to the Allies for a partial moratorium in respect of its pecuniary obligations under the economic Clauses of the Treaty of Versailles in respect of pro-War debts and compensation for injury to property in Germany. The text of the Note addressed by the German Government to the Powers follows. In reply to the second part of the question, no corresponding payment by the Allies to German nationals has been made or is required to be made. The last part of the question, therefore, does not arise.

asked the Lord Privy Seal whether he can give a pledge that it is not the intention of the Government to afford special facilities for the remaining stages of the Trade Union Act (1913) Amendment Bill?

As I stated yesterday, I hope to make a general statement in regard to business in the early part of next week.

asked the Home Secretary whether M. Szumskis, a Lithuanian, who was recently sentenced at the Thames Police Court to one month's imprisonment and recommended for deportation for neglecting officially to notify the police of his change of address, has been refused an appeal on the ground that no right of appeal exists where the sentence does not exceed one month, and that the recommendation to deportation is regarded as not counting in the sentence; and whether, in view of the technical nature of his offence and of the character he has borne throughout a long period of residence in this country, he will recommend that this man's sentence be commuted to a small fine and that the recommendation for deportation should not be acted upon?

I understand the Court decided that there was no right of appeal in this case, but were willing to state a special case. This point is to be mentioned again on the 11th proximo. Meanwhile, Szumskis has been released on bail, and it would not be proper for me to intervene in or discuss the case at present.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether, in view of the success of the Tottenham Education Committee in dealing with physically defective children at the Meeting House Lane School, and the consequent saving to the ratepayers in rendering such children self-supporting, the revised and cheap estimate submitted by the Committee for the establishment of a centre for physically defective children at Parkhurst Road Infant School will be accepted?

I am not sure what school is referred to. The only "special" school provided by the Tottenham Local Education Authority is a day school for SO deaf children, and I understand that they send some 10 blind and 10 other physically defective children to schools outside their area. The Meeting House Lane School appears to be in Camberwell and is conducted by the London County Council. In 1920 the Tottenham Local Education Authority submitted a proposal for the establishment of a small special school for 40 crippled children which I was unable to accept, but the proposal has not been renewed.

asked the Minister of Health whether the fund raised by the application of 1d. annually in respect of each insured person is still applied by the Insurance Commissioners, under Section 16, Sub-section (2), of the National Insurance Act, for the purposes of research: and what sum out of moneys provided by Parliament was retained for these purposes during the year ending 5th April, 1922?

The provisions of the National Insurance Act referred to in the question were repealed by the Ministry of Health Act, 1919, wherein it was enacted that the duties or' research hitherto performed by the Medical Research Committee (under the direction of the National Health Insurance Joint Committee) should be carried on by or under the direction of a Committee of the Privy Council. Provision for this service is now made in the Estimates for Civil Services, Class IV, Vote 8, the sum voted by Parliament for the year ended 31st March, 1922, being £130,000.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport if, in view of the recent accidents, in one case fatal, caused by the skidding of motor lorries and cars on the main Colchester road at Mounts-nessing, representations can be made to the Essex County Council to give the matter their immediate attention?

I am causing inquiries to be made into the matter referred to in my hon. Friend's question, and will communicate with him on the subject as soon as possible.

asked the Postmaster-I General if he is aware of the inconvenience caused to the people of Ferry-hill, County Durham, who have motors and desire to renew the motor licence, through having to go to the taxation department, Durham city; is he aware that there are over 100 motorists at. Ferryhill and that they find difficulty in having to go backward and forward to Durham: and could it be arranged so that the necessary I forms and licence could be got through the Ferryhill post office?

I have been asked to answer this question. The necessary forms of declaration for motor licences can be obtained at the Ferryhill post office, and the licences obtained on application being made by post to the Taxation Department, Durham. Licences can also be obtained at Spennymoor post office. It is not practicable to arrange for licences to be issued at all the smaller post offices.