asked the President of the Board of Trade if it is proposed to terminate British participation in the tariff truce?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply which my right hon. Friend gave to the hon. Member for Leicester, East (Mr. Lyons) on 7th November.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the average wholesale and retail prices for imported and home-produced bacon for each month during the present year?

According to information collected by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, the average prices (wholesaler to retailer) of British Wiltshire and Danish smoked bacon in each month of the present year were as follow:

Month.		1st quality at Bristol.
		British Wiltshire smoked.		Danish smoked.
		Per cwt.		Per Cwt.
1933.		s.	d.	s.	d.
January	…	87	6	67	0
February	…	96	6	68	0
March	…	102	3	78	9
April	…	106	0	84	6
May	…	99	3	90	9
June	…	95	0	83	0
July	…	89	6	85	0
August	…	100	6	92	9
September	…	106	6	98	0
October	…	93	0	88	6

asked the Minister of Labour how many ex-service men have been discharged from the records office at Kew since the beginning of this year; and how many new women civil servants have been appointed to this office in the same period?

The numbers of ex-service male clerks discharged from the claims and record office at Kew since 1st January, 1933, are:

On redundancy	45
On disciplinary grounds	3
Retirement owing to age	7
Retirement on health grounds	4

In addition, 40 are under notice, on the ground of redundancy, and 18 temporary messengers (17 of whom were engaged for a few weeks only) were discharged also on the ground of redundancy. There has been no recruitment of new women clerical staff during this period.

asked the Minister of Labour by whose instructions the managers of Employment Exchanges at Bilston, Wednesbury, Darlaston and Tipton interviewed unemployed men signing on at these Exchanges and invited them to volunteer under the voluntary scheme for the reclamation of waste land at Bilston, Staffordshire, by which men on transitional benefit were required to volunteer to work 40 hours per week for an additional 2s. per week to their Employment Exchange allowance; and whether he will take steps to institute a scheme for the reclamation of waste land in the Black Country by which the local authorities can pay the standard rates to unemployed men for this work?

, pursuant to his supplementary reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 9th November, 1933; col. 289,] supplied the following leaflet.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that it is the practice of some public assistance committees to take into account, in assessing the needs of an applicant, not only the maternity benefit received by the husband by virtue of his own health insurance but the further maternity benefit payable in respect of the wife who is an insured person; and if, in view of the extra cost entailed in cases of confinement, he will call the attention of all public assistance committees with a view to discontinuing this practice?

It is the duty of a public assistance authority, subject to any statutory exception, to take into account, on the one hand, all means available from whatever source to an applicant for public assistance, and, on the other hand, any special needs of the case, and, as at present advised, I see no reason to take action such as is suggested in the last part of the question.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that the present method of measuring the London telephone area from a centre situated at Oxford Circus has the effect of depriving large industrial shipping centres on both banks of the Thames on the East side of London of cheap telephone communication with the City; and whether he can state by whose authority the present method of measurement was fixed without regard to the historic centre of London and without, reference to the industrial importance of the excluded parts of Greater London?

The present method of measurement was recommended, after careful consideration of possible alternatives by the Departmental Committee on Telephone Rates of 1920 and approved by the Select Committee on Telephone Charges of the same year. I am sending my hon. Friend the relevant extract from the Report of the Select Committee.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury what was the total of the net assessments to Income Tax under Schedules A and B, respectively, for the financial year 1932–33; what was the actual yield under each of these Schedules for that year; and what was the estimated net yield under each of them for that year, having regard to the effects of repayments and the like in respect of incomes generally?

The latest information available regarding assessments to Income Tax is that published in the 75th Annual Report of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue (Command Paper No. 4196), and I would refer the right hon. Gentleman to Tables 41, 42, 44 and 45 of that Report as regards income assessed under Schedules A and B. I regret that no information is available regarding the net yield of the tax, as it is not possible to divide the total yield of the Income Tax by reference to the various kinds of income assessed.

asked the Secretary of State for India the number of Indian family pension funds under his control; the number of persons in this country drawing pensions from these funds; and the total amounts paid in the year ending 31st March, 1932, to such pensioners resident. in Great Britain?

The number of funds under the control of the Secretary of State in Council from which family pensions are paid is four. The number of persons drawing pensions from these funds through the Home Treasury on 31st March, 1932, was 3,046 and the total amount paid to pensioners through the Home Treasury during the year ended on that date was £350,416.

asked the Home Secretary whether, in view of recent criminal discoveries, lie will consider the introduction of legislation making it possible to arrange for special inquiries to be held into all outbreaks of fire where the circumstances of the case appear to render inquiry essential?

I hope that, when a suitable opportunity occurs, it will be possible to make further provision for the holding of fire inquiries in suitable cases as part of a Measure dealing with various fire problems, but I regret that I can see no prospect of such legislation in the near future.

asked the Home Secretary what progress, if any, has been made with a view to reducing the weight of sacks of flour from 280 to 140 pounds?

As my predecessor informed the hon. Member last year, the use of 280 lb. sacks has been practically abandoned throughout the country. I understand that since then there has been some further reduction in the number of firms which use them. but I am not in a position to press for the immediate abolition of their use in the remaining cases on grounds of safety.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs the categories of arms which it is proposed should be abolished at the end of the period of inspection, under the draft British Convention?

My hon. Friend appears to be under a misapprehension. The Draft Convention laid before the Disarmament Conference by His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom on 16th March last contained no provision for the end of a period of inspection.

asked the Home Secretary how many cases have recently come to his notice of German-Jew refugees entering this country without permission from the immigration authorities; and haw many such cases have been followed by deportation

During the last six months, about a dozen cases have been brought to my notice of aliens coming from Germany who have evaded the immigration control. In three cases, one being a Hungarian, the second a German and the third a Pole, deportation orders were made on the recommendation of a court and the aliens were deported respectively to Hungary, Germany and Poland. Of the others, one is a person of Polish origin, about whose nationality inquiries are being made by the Polish authorities, and six are stateless who cannot be deported to Germany or any other country. The other two, being husband and wife, were charged at Glasgow on 10th October for landing without leave, and the court has decided to defer sentence until 10th January next.