asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) whether, in view of the general undertaking given by the Solicitor-General to the House on 13th June, 1923, he will state what is the practice of the Board of Inland Revenue where a taxpayer has paid Income Tax upon more income than he has received, such Income Tax having been paid otherwise than by direct assessment under Schedule D or E, or under the rules relating thereto;(2) whether the Board of Inland Revenue retains Income Tax collected indirectly from a taxpayer on more income than a taxpayer has actually received and thereby discriminating in the administration of the Income Tax provisions as between one taxpayer and another;(3) whether, where a taxpayer has paid Income Tax on more income than he has received within the six years ended 5th April, 1934, and where the provisions of Section 24 of the Finance Act, 1923, do not apply by reason of no assessment having been made, he will undertake that in such a case the Board of Inland Revenue will return to the taxpayer the excess Income Tax collected, and thereby implement the undertaking of the Solicitor-General?

As regards the statement made by the Solicitor-General on 15th June, 1923, I would point out that he was describing the then practice of the Inland Revenue Department in relation to certain cases of overpayment of tax, and his undertaking was that a particular case of direct assessment under Schedule D, which had been quoted in the Debate, would be considered and that if the facts were as stated, repayment would be made in accordance with the practice. As was indicated in the reply given on 18th May last to a question by my hon. and gallant Friend, that practice was put on a statutory basis by Section 24 of the Finance Act, 1923. I am not clear as to the precise nature of the cases which my hon. and gallant Friend has in mind. If he will give me particulars of any such cases, I shall be happy to look into them and communicate with him further.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury the individual amounts that the Members of the Goverment will receive when the restoration of salary cuts are made?

The individual amounts in question will be one-half in each case of the emergency reductions consequent on the crisis in the autumn of 1931. These reductions were, for Ministers other than the Law Officers of the Crown:

asked the President of the Board of Trade what was the number of Asiatic and foreign seamen employed in British ships at the latest available date?

The number of seamen employed in British ships is ascertained only at a date when a census of seamen is taken and the latest information relates to 15th June, 1933. On that date there were enumerated as employed in sea-trading vessels registered at ports in Great Britain, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, 42,475 lascar seamen. (British subjects and foreigners) and 7,661 foreign seamen (other than lascars). Under the heading "lascars" are included Asiatics and East Africans employed under agreements for natives of Asia or East Africa, which open and terminate in Asia.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the total quantity in yards of cotton piece-goods imported into the Argentine Republic in the year 1933 or the latest available year; the amount of that total which came, respectively, from Great Britain and Japan; and, for purposes of comparison, the same figures for the year 1929?

The following statement shows the total weight of cotton piece-goods imported for home consumption into the Argentine Republic during the years 1929 and 1932, distinguishing the imports from the United Kingdom and Japan. Particulars of yardage are not available.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he has considered recent representations made to him by business interests in this country as to the need for all-round improvements in air mail facilities; and whether he will now consider the drastic lowering of air mail rates, even if some temporary loss is incurred, in order to produce that large-scale air mail traffic without which more frequent and rapid services cannot be provided on the air routes?

As I stated in the House of Commons on Wednesday last, the whole question of the Empire Air Mail Services is at present being examined by the Departments concerned, and some time must elapse, owing to the many complexities involved, before I shall be in a position to make any announcement on the subject.

asked the First Commissioner of Works the present position of the work on the statue of the late Lord Haig; whether the design for the horse has been ultimately accepted and wherein it differs from the first design; and when it is expected that the work will be complete?

As regards the present position of the work and its completion, I would refer my hon. Friend to my reply of 7th June to a similar question by the hon. and gallant Member for Ayr Burghs (Lieut.-Colonel Moore). The special committee of assessors approved the design for the horse, subject to various modifications, but until the full size clay model is finished, my hon. Friend will appreciate that I cannot, at this stage, indicate the points of difference between it and the previous design.

asked the First Commissioner of Works if he can make any definite statement with regard to the date on which work on the new Government offices in Whitehall will begin; and whether it is proposed to clear away the existing buildings gradually or to remove them in their entirety before any start is made?

As I explained to my hon. Friend the Member for Wavertree (Mr. Nall-Cain) on 30th November, 1933, the decision whether or not the building is to be proceeded with will be taken after sketch plans have been completed. It follows that no decision has yet been reached on the procedure to be adopted for the execution of the work.

asked the Minister of Labour what is the number of persons who have been refused benefits at the Chatham (Kent) Employment Exchanges during the three months ended 31st May, 1934, and the reason for the refusals, respectively?

Statistics of disallowances of claims to benefit are compiled in respect of the various courts of referees and are not available for individual Employment Exchanges. The following table gives figures in respect of the Chatham court of referees, to which cases are referred from the Sheerness and Sittingbourne Employment Exchanges as well as from the Chatham Employment Exchange.Applications for insurance benefit and transitional payments disallowed by the Chatham court of referees during the period 1st March, 1934, to 31st May, 1934.

asked the Minister of Agriculture if the Government intend to act on any of the resolutions passed by the mass meeting of the Lancashire Utility Poultry Society, held at Preston on 31st May?

I would refer to the reply I gave to-day to the hon. Member for Ormskirk (Sir T. Rosbotham), a copy of which I am sending to my hon. and gallant Friend.

asked the Minister of Agriculture the amount of subsidy paid to each of the beet sugar factories in respect of sugar and molasses, respectively, in each financial year since the year ended 31st March, 1927?

The following table gives the information for which the hon. Member asks.