asked the Minister of Agriculture whether, in view of the heavy importations of foreign

The following table gives the particulars for which my hon. Friend asks.potatoes, which occurred in the months of June and July last year, he intends to take any action to ensure that the tariff on imported potatoes shall, during the present year, be maintained until the end of August at least?

The duty of 4s. 8d. per cwt. on imported foreign early potatoes will be replaced by a duty of £1 per ton on 1st July. As my hon. and gallant Friend is aware, the question of recommending any additional duty is one for the Import Duties Advisory Committee, which has announced in the Press this morning that an application for an additional duty on potatoes is at present under consideration.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware of the nature of the contract for flour supplies pressed upon London flour factors by the Millers' Mutual Association before supplies are sent to them; and what action he intends to take to prevent such contracts impairing the effects of the Ottawa Agreement regarding Canadian and Australian flour imports?

My attention has been called to the form of agreement into which millers are asking London flour factors dealing with them to enter. I understand that the Millers' Mutual Association as such are not parties to the agreement. I have not been able to see any ground on which I should be justified in intervening.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what was the total cost for the year 1932 of the Food Council; and will he now take steps to dispense with this Department as redundant.

The total cost of the Food Council for the calendar year 1932, excluding miscellaneous items such as office accommodation and postal and telephone services, the cost of which is not readily available, was £945. The answer to the second part of the question is in the negative.

asked the Minister of Labour the number of young persons added to the register during the last 12 months; the number of old persons in receipt of pensions who still continue to work; and the number of married women in receipt of unemployment benefit whose husbands are working?

Between 25th January, 1932, and 23rd January, 1933, there was an increase of 9,495 in the number of juveniles and young persons, aged 14 to 20 inclusive, on the registers of Employment Exchanges in Great Britain. As regards the number of persons in receipt of old age pensions who continue to work, I would refer my bon. Friend to the reply given on 27th October, 1932, by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Health to the question put by the hon. Member for Oldham. Statistics are not available regarding the number of married women in receipt of unemployment benefit whose husbands are working.

asked the Minister of Labour the number of persons estimated to have ceased to register as a result of recent legislative changes?

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply which I gave on 27th October, 1932, to a question on this subject by the hon. Member for Aberdare (Mr. G. Hall).

asked the Minister of Labour if he is aware that seasonal workers who are refused benefit under the Anomalies Act have almost all got the stamp qualification for benefit and when refused have, in many cases, no resources of their own; and if he will make provision in the forthcoming legislation to allow them to benefit and so prevent them becoming a charge on the Poor Law?

I am afraid I cannot adopt this suggestion, which would amount to the repeal of the Anomalies Act in respect of these workers.

asked the Minister of Labour if he has recently made any administrative changes in the working of the Anomalies Act; if so, the nature of the same; what requests he has received from any members of the advisory committee under the above Act for any changes to be made; when he received any such request; and the nature of the same?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the negative. It is not the function of the advisory committee to make requests such as those referred to in the question, and I have in fact received no such requests from it.

asked the Minister of Labour if he proposes to make any change in the chairmen of courts of referees in the City of Glasgow, seeing that the period for reappointment is now about due; and the nature of the same?

I know of no reason at present for making any such changes.

asked the Minister of Labour how many persons were registered as unemployed at Darlington on 20th January, 1932, and 23rd January, 1933; and the number of unemployed who no longer sign on at the Exchange?

At 25th January, 1932, the number of unemployed persons on the register of the Darlington Employment Exchange was 6,433 as compared with 7,824 at 23rd January, 1933. I have no information as to the number of unemployed persons not registered.

asked the Minister of Labour if he will arrange for the present conditions of employment of ex-service instructional staff employed in the various instructional centres to be reviewed at an early date, on the basis of a memorandum already submitted by the Association of Ex-Service Civil Servants; and whether negotiations can be opened up thereon?

The Memorandum referred to by my hon. Friend relates to a number of general issues affecting the conditions of service of instructors on the staffs of the Ministry of Labour Government Training Centres. The membership, however, of the Association of Ex-Service Civil Servants at these centres is not such as would entitle it to recognition as representing the staffs in question on general issues. The Department are so informing the association, to whom nevertheless it will be open as hitherto to make representations on individual cases.

asked the Minister of Labour the number of persons now receiving transitional payment in Great Britain?

At 23rd January, 1933, there were 1,074,705 persons on the registers of Employment Exchanges in Great Britain with applications authorised for transitional payment.

asked the Minister of Labour the figures of unemployment for the Swansea area for January, 1930, January, 1931, January, 1932, and January, 1933?

The following table shows the number of unemployed persons (insured and uninsured) on the registers of the Swansea Employment Exchanges.

asked the Minister of Labour the figures of unemployment for the counties of Glamorgan, Monmouth, Carmarthen and Brecon, respectively, for August, 1931, and for the latest available date?

The following table shows the number of unemployed persons on the registers of Employment Exchanges in the counties of Glamorgan, Monmouth, Carmarthen and Brecon.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether, when the scales of remuneration for junior assistant metallurgists and for junior assistant chemists in the War Department establishments were introduced in 1925 and 1920, respectively, with the agreement of the out-station committee of the War Office Administrative Whitley Council, it was contemplated by his Department that those scales should be open at the initial salary to men up to the ages of 35 and 27, respectively; and whether it was contemplated that university honours degrees should be a condition of such appointments at an initial basic salary of £160 per annum?

So far as can be traced, no particular upper age limits of entry for these appointments were in contemplation, and, in fact, it is not the usual practice to specify any age limits in advertisements for candidates for these posts. The answer to the last part of the question is in the affirmative.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office when, and in what circumstances, Colonel Watkins vacated the post of paymaster in the Scottish Command?

This officer retired from the active list at his own request on 25th January last.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether he will arrange for the payments to men in the Army Reserve to be made weekly instead of quarterly, in order to regularise their weekly income?

I regret that any alteration would be impracticable owing to the large amount of work and expense that would be involved.

asked the Secretary of State for India (1) whether he is aware that the placing of the Meerut prisoners in Class B is in respect of their food and clothing only; that the other privileges of Class B, such as reading and writing, are denied them; that these conditions are hampering the prisoners in the pre- paration of their appeal to the high court; and if, in view of the social and educational status of the prisoners, he will arrange for their transfer to Class A;(2) whether he is aware that the Meerut prisoners are without socks, boots, underwear, hats and sufficient bedding; that, as a result of the severe cold, several of the prisoners have been down with fever; and whether he will give directions that better provision shall be made for them?

As I have already informed the House, the prisoners have definitely been placed in "B" class by order of the local government, and they are receiving the treatment laid down for prisoners in that class. I am not prepared to accept as accurate the statements contained in the questions. I can assure the hon. Member that the prisoners will be given such facilities as may be proper for the preparation of their appeals.

asked the Secretary of State for India whether the Government of India propose to take any steps with a view to encouraging the introduction of military science as an extra optional subject of study in Indian universities; and what universities have already introduced the subject into their curricula?

I have no information, but I will inquire if the hon. and gallant Member wishes.

asked the Secretary of State for India whether 'His Majesty's Government or the Government of India have taken any steps to draft the Reserve Bank Bill; and what procedure it is proposed to adopt with a view to implementing the promise made at the Round Table Conference that Indian opinion will be consulted before the Bill is placed before the Legislative Assembly?

I would refer the hon. and gallant Member to the reply given on 27th February to the hon. Member for Gower (Mr. D. Grenfell), to which I have nothing to add.

asked the Secretary of State for India what paid by Indian States towards the expenses of the British Army and Indian Army apart from the cost of their own military forces?

No such contributions are paid directly by the Indian States, but they contribute indirectly to the military expenditure of the Government of India in a number of ways.

asked the Secretary for Mines the total amount of royalty paid on coal produced in the county of Durham in the last year for which a statement is available; and the names of such royalty owners and the respective amounts drawn by them during the year?

During the year 1932, the estimated amount paid by colliery owners in Durham in royalties and way-leaves, including the rental value of freehold minerals where worked by the proprietors, was £659,000. I am unable to give the information asked for in the second part of the question.

asked the Minister of Health the number and nature of the applications which have been put forward in the last six months by each of the different local authorities in Yorkshire for sanction to loans for public works with the object of directly or indirectly relieving unemployment; and whether he will in each case state the official answer?

No applications have been put forward expressly for works for the relief of unemployment. A number of loans in Yorkshire have been sanctioned for public works but separate returns are not kept for local authorities by counties. The total loans sanctioned for England and Wales, including housing loans, from the beginning of April, 1932, to the end of January was £34,300,000.

asked the Minister of Health what schemes contemplated by the county borough of Wolverhampton and the urban district councils of Willenhall, Wednesfield, and Short Heath were held up as a result of the economy policy following the crisis of 1931, with full details?

The only application for loan refused by me appears to be one for a loan of £7,000 for council offices and a fire station at Willenhall. The scheme had already been the subject of a local inquiry and had been reported as not urgently needed.

asked the Minister of Health if he will issue a statement of houses dealt with under the Housing (Rural Workers) Act, 1926, showing the result in each housing area and the cost to the rates?

I am sending my hon. Friend a statement for England and Wales of the particulars which he desires, so far as they are available.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that the final check on the validity of certificates of births, marriages and deaths issued by the Registrar-General is left to the typists to undertake in the ordinary course of their duties; and whether he will see to it that in future experienced officers are appointed to be responsible for this work?

I can hardly accept the hon. Member's description of the duties of the typists in question. The nature and scope of the checks to be applied in the preparation of certified copies of birth, death and marriage entries for issue by the Registrar-General are, however, now under consideration.

asked the Minister of Health the estimated expenditure for public assistance during the year 1932–33 in Liverpool and the estimate for the year 1933–34?

This information is not in my possession.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his attention has been called to the fact that the recent additions to the gold holding of the Bank of England have created an erroneous impression in the United States of America as to the gold resources at the disposal of the Government; and whether, with a view to correcting this impression, he will arrange in future for a weekly statement to be issued showing the amount of gold which is held in the Issue Department of the Bank of England on behalf of the Exchange Equalisation Fund?

My attention had not been drawn to the circumstances mentioned in the first part of the question, but I have in fact made it clear in a recent answer that the acquisitions of gold were connected with the temporary inflow into this market of foreign funds which may be withdrawn at any time. In reply to the second part of the question, gold shown in the weekly returns of the Bank of England is held by the Issue Department as its own property. I cannot undertake to publish particulars of the holdings of the Exchange Equalisation Account.

asked the Home Secretary what action he is taking with regard to the request to receive a deputation concerning the Night-Work for Women Convention?

I have carefully considered the request that a deputation of women's organisations should be received to discuss the situation arising out of the Advisory Opinion of the Permanent Court of International Justice on the International Labour Convention concerning the employment of women during the night. I would point out that the decision of the International Court does not appear to create any new situation so far as this country is concerned. The Court endorsed the view previously put forward by the British Government that the Convention applies to women holding responsible positions of management and His Majesty's Government propose to recommend to the Governing Body in April that the British proposal to amend the Convention so as to exempt such women should, in view of the Court's decision, again be brought before the International Labour Conference. Moreover, the general view which I understand to be held in these organisations that restrictions such as are prescribed under this Convention should not be applied to women unless also applied to men, has been fully represented by previous deputations at the Home Office. In these circumstances, I doubt whether any useful purpose would be served by receiving a further deputation; and I have sent a reply to that effect, drawing attention to the above considerations.

asked the Home Secretary whether, in view of the discontent aroused by proceedings in coroners' courts, he will appoint a Departmental Committee to review the powers and functions of Coroners?

I am aware that from time to time the conduct of inquests by coroners has been the subject of criticism, but, as at present advised, I do not think it is necessary to appoint a Departmental Committee as suggested by my hon. Friend.