asked the Postmaster-General when it is intended to set up the Post Office Advisory Council recommended in the Bridgeman Report; and what arrangements will be made to ensure the adequate representation on this committee of industrial, commercial, and trading interests?

The Post Office Advisory Council which includes a number of business men was established in 1921 and the tenure of office of members of the present council expires this year. Lord Bridgeman's Committee recommended that the council should be consulted on questions of general policy and should serve as a connecting link between the Post Office and the public, and that members of the council should be entitled to raise items for discussion on the agenda. These recommendations I shall adopt, and I hope to continue to secure the services on the council of an adequate number of business men as well as of others.

asked the Postmaster-General by what annual amount the fees charged to the public in Great Britain for the use of the French air-mail service to South America falls short of the charges that have to be paid by his Department; whether this sum is deducted from the profit of £13,000 per annum made by his Department from British commercial air services in order to arrive at the present aggregate Post Office profit from air mails of only £5,000 per annum; and whether he will take steps to rearrange all air-mail charges at an early date so as to provide that the pay- ments made to the British services are at least no less favourable than those to the foreign services?

The air fees charged to the public in this country for the use of the French air service to South America fall short of the cost of conveyance by approximately £3,000 per annum. This sum, together with the loss on air mails carried by other services, is deducted from the profit of £13,000 to arrive at the net profit of £5,000 a year. The charges for the carriage of mails by the French air sevices are fixed by the Fench Post Office and cannot be modified by my Department, while an increase in the payments for conveyance of mails by British services would entail a corresponding increase in the fees to the public.

asked the Minister of Agriculture what steps his Department take to ensure that no cider producers who use imported apples or imported unfermented apple juice infringe the provisions of the Merchandise Marks Act, 1887, in selling their products under county names; and whether he will cause investigation to be made in the matter?

As I explained in my recent letter to my Noble Friend, I am advised that it is no offence under the Merchandise Marks Act to describe under their respective county names ciders made in English counties from imported apples or from imported unfermented apple juice.

asked the Minister of Agriculture the estimated number of agricultural labourers at the present time?

The only figures available are those contained in the reply I gave on Thursday last to a question by my hon. Friend the Member for Cannock (Mrs. Ward). I am sending a copy to my hon. Friend.

asked the Minister of Health whether any of the so-called hunger marchers are now receiving assistance from the London County Council or other local authorities in the London area; whether such assistance is to be continued indefinitely; and whether he will consider taking steps to provide for the return of these people to the districts from which they came?

Only two of these persons, who are in hospital, are still receiving public assistance in London. The second part of the question, therefore, does not arise.

asked the Minister of Labour the number of unemployed men who have received agricultural training in the last 12 months?

My Department has not undertaken the training of any unemployed men for agriculture during the last 12 months.

asked the Minister of Health what proposals he has to make to relieve the hardships to which his attention has been drawn by the Glamorgan Public Assistance Committee with regard to the shortage of boots and clothes in their administrative area?

The only communication my right hon. Friend has received from the Glamorgan County Council on the subject consists of the terms of a resolution passed by the public assistance committee in which it is suggested that the Government be urged to increase the scale of unemployment benefit. The hon. Member will be aware this this is not a matter for my Department.

asked the Secretary to the Overseas Trade Department the names of the members of the Exhibition Advisory Committee; what interests these members represent; and if the exhibitors were consulted in the formation of this committee?

I assume that my hon. Friend refers to the Ex- hibitors' Advisory Committee for the London section of the British Industries Fair. This committee, which consists of 30 members representative of the principal industries participating, advises my Department on al] matters relating to the organisation of the fair. Members of the committee, who must he exhibitors at the fair, are nominated and elected by their fellow exhibitors, and the present membership is the result of an election recently held. I am sending my hon. Friend a list of the members, with particulars of the trades they represent.

asked the Secretary for Mines if he will consider taking steps to prohibit the use of horses to pull derailed tubs on to the roads in mines, having regard to the circumstance that this practice in the Swansea division has been disapproved by His Majesty's mines inspectors for some years on account of the accidents caused thereby and apart from the strain placed upon the horses?

No, Sir. Any attempt at general prohibition of the practice referred to would inflict much hardship on haulage workers and cause danger to them in other ways. I am not aware that it places undue strain on the horses.

asked the Secretary for Mines the causes of the reduction in the rates of ponies killed by accidents in the mines of Yorkshire from 70 per 1,000 in 1928 to 42 per 1,000 in 1932; and also the causes of the reduction in the injuries by accidents from 152 per 1,000 in 1928 to 143 per 1,000 in 1932?

As the hon. Member is aware, the higher accident rates for horses and ponies in Yorkshire led to special efforts being made to achieve a reduction in that district. The fact, which then became apparent, that these statistics are not strictly comparable as between the various coalfields makes it difficult to assess the results of these efforts, but it is hoped that the position in Yorkshire has now been brought nearer to the level of the other districts.

asked the Secretary for Mines if he will consider taking steps to prohibit the practice of attaching horses in front of loaded tubs sent down steep headings and inclines underground in mines, particularly in the mines of South Wales where such loaded trams or tubs contain 30 or more cwts. of coal, and to provide that they shall be supplied with proper means of braking or retarding them when going downhill and so do away with the use of horses for this purpose?

The provision of proper means of braking is already compulsory in such cases as the Coal Mines Act requires suitable sprags, lockers or drags to be provided and used on all parts of roads where the gradient exceeds one in 20 and the haulage is worked by animal power. So long as these appliances are properly used, the risk of injury to the horse is reduced to the minimum and the horse could not be dispensed with without adding considerably to the labour and risk of the workers.

asked the Secretary for Mines what were the actual local rates per ton of coal raised in 1913. 1920, 1926, 1928, 1930 and 1931, and paid to local authorities in the Glamorgan county area?

Separate particulars are not available for Glamorganshire, but for South Wales and Monmouthshire as a whole the average amount per ton of saleable coal raised paid by colliery owners in local rates for all purposes was as follows: