asked the Secretary of State for India whether he is aware of the conditions of employment that obtain in the Government of India Press; that employés who arrive late are fined; that workers unable to earn wages because of lack of work have been fined for late arrival or absence from the Press; and what steps is the Government of India taking to put an end to these conditions?

I have no information.

asked the Secretary of State for India whether in the regiments ear-marked for Indianisation recruits for the rank and file of the same class and status as were forthcoming in years before this change was brought into action are forthcoming?

I have no reason to believe the contrary.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much revenue the Treasury has received in Excise Duty on mechanical lighters during the first six months of the financial year 1932, and how much during the first six months of the financial year 1933?

The amount of revenue received from the Excise Duty on mechanical lighters during the six months ended 30th September in each of the years 1932 and 1933 was as follows:

					£
1932	…	…	…	…	9,000
1933	…	…	…	…	6,000

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much revenue the Treasury has received in Excise Duty on matches during the first six months of the financial year 1932, and how much in the first six months of the financial year 1933?

The amount of revenue received from the Excise Duty on matches during the six months ended 30th September in each of the years 1932 and 1933 was as follows:

					£
1932	…	…	…	…	1,073,000
1933	…	…	…	…	1,062,000

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if We is aware that it is the practice of the Inland Revenue to charge executors of deceased persons interest at 3 per cent. on Estate Duty and other Government duties, such interest beng calculated from the date of the death of such persons; that it is impossible for executors to make up title to the estates which they administer and realise a sufficient amount thereof in order to pay Estate Duty and other Government duties on the date of death of such persons; and whether he will introduce legislation with a view to the Inland Revenue in future charging executors with interest on Estate Duty and other Government duties only after a period of one month from the date of death of deceased persons?

I have carefully considered the hon. Member's proposal, but I am not prepared to introduce legislation in the sense he suggests.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has made any inquiries as to the effect on the British industries concerned of the new oil-fuel tax which was imposed under the Finance Act of this year; and, if so, with what result?

The effects of this tax will be brought under review, as in the case of other taxes, in connection with the forthcoming Budget, but I am not prepared to make any statement at this stage.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury the amount of revenue duty derived from any of the products, such as petrol, fuel-oil, &c., of the distillation of crude oil in this country during each of the last six months?

I regret that the information desired cannot be furnished, since the revenue accounts of duty do not distinguish between hydrocarbon oils of various types produced by the distillation of imported crude oil in this country and similar products of distillation imported as such.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the approximate extra cost to the Treasury of the Government accepting the responsibility of reducing to 40 per cent. the cost to local authorities in respect of their able-bodied unemployed instead of 60 per cent. as provided in the Unemployment Bill?

On the assumption made in the Financial Memorandum on the Bill as to the cost of the transferred services in the standard year, the extra cost to the Exchequer of reducing the contributions of local authorities from 60 per cent, to 40 per cent. would be £1,300,000 a year until 31st March, 7937.

asked the Home Secretary whether he will publish a return showing the numbers, places where employed, and pay of whole-time and part-time police matrons employed in the Metropolitan, borough, and county police force in England and Wales; and whether he will give orders that this information may in future appear in a column in the statistical tables of His Majesty's Inspectors' Report?

The numbers of whole-time and part-time matrons employed, showing the numbers of each force, will be given in the tables referred to by the hon. Member, which are now in preparation. I do not think it would he practicable, or serve any useful purpose, to include in the tables particulars of the rates of pay fixed by the various police authorities, as the conditions of employment, whether whole-time, part-time or occasional, vary so widely.

asked the Minister of Health when the complete returns of the 1931 Census will be available; and what is the reason for the delay in their publication?

The remaining volumes of 1931 Census Tabulations for England and Wales will be published during the next six months. I am not aware of any delay, since the estimated and realised rates of progress in this large undertaking compare favourably with those of previous censuses and, I am advised, of other countries.

asked the Minister of Agriculture the comparative prices obtained by farmers, particularly in North Wales, for calves, male and female, one-year-old bullocks and heifers, and for two-year-old bullocks and heifers during the month of November for each of the years 1930, 1931, 1932 and 1933?

I am sending the hon. Member a detailed statement giving the information desired.

asked the Minister of Agriculture if he is aware of the unsatisfactory condition of the dwellings on the Ministry of Agriculture's settlement at Amesbury; and whether he will consider the substitution of brick houses for the Army huts which are becoming unfit for habitation?

There are now only two dwellings on the Amesbury Farm Settlement that can properly be described as Army huts, and although no complaint of any serious character has been received by the Director, it is proposed to move the tenants as soon as possession can be obtained, without undue hardship, of cottages occupied by persons no longer employed on the settlement.

asked the Minister of Agriculture what was the estimated consumption of white fish and herrings, respectively, in Great Britain in each of the years 1923, 1931, 1932 and the first nine months of 1933?

The following statement gives the information desired in respect of the years 1923, 1931 and 1932. I regret that the necessary details to enable me to furnish an estimate of consumption for the first nine months of 1933 are not yet available.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the value of the arms, not including sporting arms, and of the ammunition, not including sporting ammunition; exported from firms in Great Britain during 1930, 1931 and 1932; and what was the value of the total world exports of these two categories of materials for the same period?

The following table shows the total declared value of the domestic exports from the United Kingdom of arms, ammunition and military and naval stores (excluding sporting arms and ammunition) during the years 1930, 1931 and 1932.

Description.	1930.	1931.	1932.
	£'000	£'000	£'000
Arms	1,070	804	975
Ammunition	1,693	1,262	1,313
Torpedoes and submarine mine appliances.	385	296	164
Military, naval and ordnance stores and appliances, not elsewhere specified.	353	588	438
Total arms, ammunition and military and naval stores (except sporting arms and ammunition).	3,501	2,950	2,890

Of these amounts, a very large proportion, averaging over 40 per cent., consisted of exports to British countries, and these exports included a considerable quantity of explosives and accessories intended for industrial: purposes. According to the "Statistical Year-Book of the Trade in Arms and Ammunition", published by the League of Nations the aggregate value of the exports of arms and ammunition from countries furnishing returns to the League, excluding, so far as possible, sporting arms and ammunition, was as follows:

		1930.	1931.
		Dollars (Gold).	Dollars (Gold).
Arms	…	22,440,200	16,050,500
Ammunition	…	33,437,200	18,931,300

The scope of these figures is not necessarily the same as that of the United Kingdom statistics. Similar information for 1932 is not yet available.