asked the Postmaster-General what special steps he is taking to bring to the notice of the public the facilities now available for posting Christmas letters and parcels to persons in various parts of the Empire at a late date by air mail?

The facilities are advertised in the Post Office Daily List and in the list of Christmas mails for abroad, and many announcements have been made in the Press and by the British Broadcasting Corporation.

asked the Postmaster-General the number of postal packets posted and delivered, respectively, in the postal district under the postmaster of Liverpool, giving numbers separately of the number of football competition circulars handed over the counters together with the cost of staffs (indoor and outdoor) of the Liverpool district; and the revenue derived from the postage of such packets, excluding parcels?

The information is not at present available, but I will communicate with my hon. Friend as soon as possible.

asked the Postmaster-General particulars of the decisions at the International Telegraph and Radiotelegraph Conference held at Madrid?

The conference has drawn up a new convention which will combine and replace the International Telegraph Convention of St. Petersburg (1875) and the International Radiotelegraph Convention of Washington (1927). Annexed to the new convention are three sets of regulations, dealing respectively with telegraph, telephone, and radioelectric questions. I have not yet received the text of the convention as finally adopted. I will as soon as possible circulate the principal decisions in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

asked the Secretary of State for India whether he will ensure that all persons journeying to or from India whose fares are paid from Governmental funds will travel on British ships and in no circumstances in ships subsidised by foreign governments?

Save in very exceptional cases, and for special reasons, passages for Government officials travelling on duty are engaged on British ships. As regards passages under the Lee Commission's scheme, I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer which I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Barnstaple (Sir B. Peto) on 23rd November, 1931. In view of certain representations which have since been received, the Government of India is being consulted on the question.

asked the Minister of Labour if he is aware that the means test commissioners of Durham, in assessing the means of any workers in the family, are refusing to take into consideration the deductions from miners' pay notes at the colliery office; and what steps he proposes to take to stop this practice?

No, Sir. The matter is one for the commissioners, to whom any representations which applicants may wish to make should be addressed.

asked the Minister of Transport if he will give a return showing in parallel columns the amounts of stocks, bonds, or other financial commitments of the undertakings to be administered by the proposed London Passenger Transport Board and the amounts of transport stock to be issued against each amount; and will he include in the return the approximate number of passengers to be dealt with daily by the proposed Transport Board, the approximate mileage of transport undertakings to be administered by the Transport Board, the area in square miles under the control of the board, and the population of that area?

I am not in a position to furnish the return desired by my hon. Friend, as there are a number of undertakings the consideration for the transfer of which will be fixed by an arbitration tribunal. The amounts of transport stock to be issued to the Underground and Metropolitan Companies are shown in the Second Schedule to the London Passenger Transport Bill and the proposed new schedule to that Bill standing on the Order Paper respectively. The amounts of stock to be issued to the London, Middlesex and Hertfordshire County Councils are shown in the Fourth Schedule to the Bill. The number of passenger journeys by the services of undertakings transferred by the Bill to the board is approximately 10,000,000 a day. The daily vehicle mileage of undertakings transferred is in round figures 350,000 in the case of railways and 950,000 in the ease of omnibuses and tramcars. The area of the London passenger transport area is approximately 2,000 square miles and the population is approximately 9,500,000.

asked the Secretary for Mines if he is aware that a Northumberland colliery owner has offered to purchase any quantity up to 11,000 tons of coal quota, at 3s. per ton, from other Northumberland colliery owners who have been allocated more quota than they can produce or sell; and whether, in the light of this further proof of the need for more elasticity in the working of the quota system, he will take immediate steps to this end?

I have not seen an advertisement offering to purchase quota at 3s. per ton, but I have seen one by a Northumberland coalowner offering to purchase at 3d. per ton. I would remind my hon. Friend that provision for the transfer of quota, by sale or otherwise, was included in the Act in order to afford elasticity in the working of the regulation of output.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty what modifications there have been up to date in the summary of vessels built, building, and projected in the fleets of the world as given in Command Paper 4005?

I attach a statement containing up-to-date information upon this matter.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he can estimate what proportion of our debt to the United States of America would have been paid off by the payments which this country has already made if a settlement had been made on the same basis as the French settlement and the Italian settlement?

Approximately 29 per cent. of our debt to the United States of America would have been paid off by the payments which this country has already made, if a settlement had been made on the same basis as either the French settlement or the Italian settlement. Under the terms of the existing settlement only 4 per cent. of the capital debt has been repaid.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the amount which this country would have to pay on 15th December to the United States of America in respect of War Debt if a settlement of our debt had been made on the same basis as the French settlement or on the same basis as the Italian settlement'?

If the British War Debt to the United States Government had from the outset been settled on the same basis as the French War Debt to the United States Government, the amount which His Majesty's Government has already in fact paid would exceed the amount due on such a basis by $795.7 millions and no further payment would be due until 1940. Similarly if the British War Debt had been settled on the basis of the Italian settlement, no further payment would be due until 1955. If, however, past payments were ignored and future payments in respect of the actual capital debt now outstanding were made on the basis of the French settlement, the amount payable by His Majesty's Government on 15th December would be $22,000,000 instead of $95,500,000; and similarly if future payments were made on the basis of the Italian settlement, the amount payable on 15th December would be $2,750,000 instead of $95,500,000. In making this comparison it must be borne in mind that the British settlement provides for a payment in respect of capital on 15th December yearly, and the French and Italian settlements on 15th June yearly.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the amounts received by this country from debtor nations and the amounts paid by this country to the United States of America on account of War Debts for each year since 1918 until the latest available date?

The following is the statement of British receipts and payments on account of Reparation and War Debts asked for:

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will give a complete list of the British representatives on the various committees or subcommittees of the Disarmament Conference at the present time, whether parliamentary or drawn from the Civil Service?

Eight commissions of the conference have not sat since the summer, and I do not therefore give the names of the United Kingdom representatives on those commissions. The following are the representatives of His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom on the committees which have been sitting lately:Bureau of the Conference: