Written Answers
India
Defence Forces
asked the Secretary of State for India what is the fixed proportion between British and Indian troops in India; whether this proportion is being maintained; and if it has ever been altered without the consent of Parliament?
The proportion of British to Indian troops in India is not fixed. It depends on a number of factors embracing the various functions now allotted to the Defence Forces in India, including the Royal Air Force and the Royal Tank Corps. The present proportion for Regular forces alone may be taken as about one to two. If Volunteer formations are taken into account, the proportion is the same, and when military police and the Indian State forces are included, it is nearly one to three.
The last part of the question appears to assume that the proportion is fixed, which, as I have stated, is not the case.
Kashmir (Armed Forces)
asked the Secretary of State for India whether there is now a British garrison in Kashmir; if so, what is its strength; and whether the frontier guards are British, Gurkha, Kashmiri, or British-Indian?
There are no Regular troops, British or Indian, in Kashmir. The armer forces consist of the Kashmir State Troops and the Gilgit Scouts. The latter is a civil armed force recruited locally and officered by two officers of the Indian Army under the control of the Government of India.
Import Duties (Flowers)
asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will give an assurance that all recommendations of the Import Duties Advisory Committee on the proposals submitted to them by the National Farmers' Union for an adjustment of the duties on tulips, daffodils and hyacinths (flowers) will be taken into consideration when negotiating for trade agreements with countries concerned with exporting such flowers to the United Kingdom?
All the relevant facts will be taken into consideration.
Insolvent Insurance Companies
asked the Attorney-General whether his attention has been drawn to the remarks recently made by His Majesty's Judge of Assize at Liverpool on the injury inflicted on policyholders and third parties who have sustained damage at the hands of such policyholders in cases where an insolvent insurance company has accepted premiums when not in a position to meet claims; and whether he is prepared to introduce legislation to make the directors of such companies criminally or civilly liable?
I have been asked to reply. My attention has been drawn to the case referred to, and the suggestion of my hon. and learned Friend will be carefully considered.
Nationality Law
asked the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs whether, in view of the decision taken at Monte Video on 7th April at the Pan-American Conference, whereby 21 republics of North and South America undertook that there will be no distinctions based on sex as regards nationality in their legislation or in their practice, and, with a view to securing uniformity of law throughout the British Empire on the question of nationality in future legislation, he will consult with the Governments of the Dominions in order to take common action on these lines?
The position of the Government was fully set out in Debates on the British Nationality and Status of Aliens Bill last November, and it is not thought that any useful purpose would be served by an approach to the Dominion Governments at the present time on the lines suggested in my hon. and gallant Friend's question.
Royal Navy
Fleet Orders
asked the First Lord of the Admiralty to which organisations representing Admiralty employés Fleet orders containing references to the pay or conditions of employment of workers in Admiralty establishments are supplied; and whether he has any information as to the number of workers represented by such organisations?
Copies of Admiralty Fleet Orders affecting Admiralty workpeople are supplied to the secretaries of the trade union sides of the Admiralty Industrial Council and Shipbuilding Trade Joint Council. These two councils deal with wages and conditions of employment of all Admiralty workpeople in this country, numbering about 45,500. Copies of Fleet Orders affecting the salaried staff of the Admiralty and its establishments are supplied to the secretary of the staff side of the Admiralty Administrative Whitley Council, which deals with the conditions of service of all the civilian non-industrial employés of the Department (approximately 7,300 persons).
Arc-Lamp Carbons
asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether any of the arc-lamp carbons supplied for naval purposes during the last 12 months were of foreign origin?
No, Sir.
Privately-Owned Woodlands
asked the hon. and gallant Member for Rye, as representing the Forestry Commissioners, whether his Department keeps any record of the acreage of woodland in private hands in this country and the extent to which clearance or re-afforestation is carried out?
The answer is in the negative. The only record of the acreage of privately-owned woodlands in this country is that contained in the Report on Census of Woodlands, 1924, published by the Stationery Office in 1928. The acreage planted in respect of which grants have been paid is reported in the Forestry Commissioners' Annual Reports published by the Stationery Office.
Scotland
Prison Service (Officers' Greatcoats)
asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the date when the period of wear of the greatcoats of the prison service was extended from three to four years; the reason for the change; and if it modified the normal issue of mackintoshes to works officers?
The period of wear of prison officers' greatcoats in Scotland
| County. | 45–50 acres arable. | About 10 acres arable. | About 5 acres arable. | About 10 acres with share in common pasture. | About 5 acres with share in common pasture. | |||||||
| Year. | Cost. | Year. | Cost. | Year. | Cost. | Year. | Cost. | Year. | Cost. | |||
| £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | ||||||||
| I | Crofting | … | 1932 | 1,831 | 1931 | 1,067 | 1932 | 846 | N | o recent | cases. | |
| Non-Crofting | … | 1933 | 1,789 | 1933 | 718 | 1933 | 670 | N | o recent | cases. | ||
| II | Crofting | … | 1930 | 1,557 | No recent cases. | 1932 | 222* | 1932 | 290* | |||
| Non-Crofting | … | 1933 | 1,459 | 1931 | 663 | 1933 | 778 | No recent cases. | ||||
| I.= Holdings on land owned by the Department of Agriculture for Scotland. | ||||||||||||
| II.= Holdings on land not owned by the Department of Agriculture for Scotland. | ||||||||||||
| * In these cases (both of which are Lewis holdings) the figures given do not include the full cost of buildings. The holders are assisted with loans of £150 each but the cost of the houses erected by them would be considerably more. | ||||||||||||
was extended from three to four years in March, 1922, for the reason that the greatcoats in general were found to remain serviceable for the longer period. Provision is made for the repair, or if necessary the replacement, of such articles before the expiration of the specified period of wear, where exceptional circumstances beyond the control of the officer concerned justify this course. As regards the last part of the question, the extension of the period for the wear of greatcoats did not affect the arrangement under which a supply of waterproof cloaks is maintained for general issue to officers when required.
Smallholdings
asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the average total amount of the costs incurred in respect of the purchase of land, equipment, compensation, and all other costs in constituting a holding of about 40 to 60 acres, about 10 acres, and about four acres, respectively, at the present time, distinguishing between a holding in a crofting county and one in a non-crofting county and between one on land owned by the Department of Agriculture and one on land not owned by the Department?
The Department's operations at the present time on lands belonging to private proprietors are not of sufficient extent to permit an average to be furnished. It is hoped that the following examples from the most recent schemes containing holdings of the types defined in the question will serve :