asked the Minister of Health if the auditors' recent report on the finances of the borough of Stepney has been brought to his attention; and if there is any reason why the irregularities in detail and deficiencies in administrative financial arrangements therein animadverted on were not brought to the attention of the Ministry in the immediately preceding years?

I presume that my hon. Friend is referring to the district auditor's report for 1930–31. This was brought to the notice of my Department a year ago, and a special sub-committee of the borough council was appointed last October to consider the subject matter of the report. The attention of the council has, on several occasions, in recent years, been drawn by the district auditors to various defects in their accounting system and financial arrangements generally.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if their Excellencies the Governors of Southern and of Northern Rhodesia have reported this year on the state of local opinion as re- gards the advisability or otherwise of the amalgamation of their respective territories?

The answer is in the negative.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs the reasons for withdrawal from the International Convention for the Abolition of Imports and Exports Prohibitions and Restrictions; what other Governments have taken this step; and what Governments now adhere to it?

For the reasons for which His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom have withdrawn from the International Convention for the Abolition of Imports and Exports Prohibitions and Restrictions, I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply to my hon. Friend the Member for South Croydon (Mr. H. Williams) on 10th July. The other Governments which have taken this step are Portugal (as from 30th June, 1931), and Denmark (as from 30th June, 1933). Finland and Sweden did not sign the Protocol of 20th December, 1929, bringing the Convention into force, and consequently are not bound by the Convention. The Governments now remaining parties to the Convention are those of the United States, Japan, the Netherlands and Norway, all other signatories having attached conditions to their ratifications which have remained unfulfilled. These conditions are set out in page 7 of Command Paper No. 3816 [Treaty Series No. 52 (1930)].

asked the Home Secretary the number of traffic accidents to children in England and Wales under five years of age and between five and 14 years of age, respectively, for the year 1931–32 or for any subsequent period?

The street accidents return, which is presented annually to Parliament, does not classify accidents according to age groups, and I regret that the information for which my hon. Friend asks is not available in respect of England and Wales as a whole and could not be obtained without the expenditure of considerable time and trouble. I can, however, give certain information as regards the Metropolitan and City of London Police District. During the year ended 31st December, 1932, 236 children under 15, of whom 52 were under 5, were killed, and 10,128 children under 15 were injured in these districts. The corresponding figures for the first six months of this year were 125 children under 15 killed, of whom 31 were under 5, and 5,541 children under 15 injured. The Annual Statistical Review, published by the Registrar-General for England and Wales, includes figures as to the number of persons killed in traffic accidents, and these figures are classified in 5-year age groups. The Review for 1931 shows that during that year (which is the last year for which figures have been published), 1,286 children under 15 were killed in England and Wales, of whom 393 were children under 5.