asked the Minister of Agriculture if he has any information as to when the Reorganisation Commission on Poultry is likely to report?

I understand that the Reorganisation Commission hope to be in a position to submit their report during the autumn.

asked the Minister of Agriculture what period elapsed between the outgoing of the tenant of the farm of Spittalhill, Fintry, and the incoming of the present tenant, and the difference between the total sum paid to the outgoing tenant as acclimatisation value and the sum received from the incoming tenant?

The late tenancy of the Spittalhill Farm, Fintry, ceased as to arable land at Martinmas, 1933, and as to buildings and grass land at Whitsunday, 1934, and the new tenant took over from the same dates. The difference between the total sum paid to the outgoing tenant for the acclimatisation value of the regular sheep stock on the holding and the sum recovered from the incoming tenant was approximately £2,560.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware that Russian and Japanese cotton cloth is being imported into this country for processing (which in some cases amounts to no more than re-making up), and is subsequently exported bearing a stamp or label to the effect that it is of United Kingdom manufacture or has been processed in the United Kingdom; and whether he has received any representations from the Lancashire cotton industry on this subject, and what steps he is taking to inquire into and prevent the practice in question?

My right hon. Friend has received representations from trade organisations in Lancashire, and the matter is under consideration.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what were the total imports, by quantities, of cotton piece goods for the years 1928 to 1933 from the United Kingdom and Russia into British East Africa, British West Africa, Ceylon, Straits Settlements, Malaya, India and Nigeria?

The following statement shows the quantity of cotton piece goods imported into British East Africa, British West Africa, Ceylon, British Malaya and British India from the United Kingdom.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the number of warders of all grades who are residing out of Government quarters in consequence of a lack of official quarters; and what is the amount of the allowances paid to the various warder grades, respectively?

There are at present 15 warders (all unmarried) in the Scottish Prison Service residing out of Government quarters. They receive an allowance of 6s. 6d. per week in lieu of official quarters.

asked the Home Secretary whether, in view of the system under which a charge is made by the policy for a copy of their evidence in cases of street accidents, he can state the number of cases in which such evidence has been supplied and the aggregate sum obtained for it?

During the 12 months ended 30th June, 1934, 17,935 abstracts of police reports of street accidents have been supplied to applicants by the Metropolitan Police. Of this number 87 were supplied free of charge, and two at a reduced rate in cases where payment of the full fee might have involved hardship. The sum received in respect of these abstracts was £8,923 5s. During the same period the sum of £2,568 was received as fees in respect of interviews with police officers in accident cases, that is, 5,136 interviews at 10s. per interview.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education whether he is yet in a position to make any statement on the question of ensuring that the cuts in teachers' salaries, imposed in 1931, shall not be permanently reflected in the amount of pension payable to teachers retiring at any time during which the calculation of their average salaries is affected by the cuts?

This matter raises financial issues which affect not only the Exchequer but also local education authorities, governing bodies and teachers in grant-aided schools and institutions. My Noble Friend, therefore, could not consider the initiation of legislation to ensure that the pensions of teachers shall not be affected by the operation of the present temporary cuts in teachers' salaries, assuming Parliamentary time to be available, unless he was satisfied that such legislation was the subject of general agreement between all the parties concerned. Moreover, he could only consider the initiation of legislation in this direction on the footing that both the employer's and teacher's contributions in respect of each individual teacher in service during any part of the period of the currency of the cuts should be revised and paid on the basis of uncut salaries during the whole period of such employment. Accordingly, since contributions have been calculated on the basis of cut salaries since the cuts were first imposed on 1st October, 1931, it would be necessary for the board to obtain retrospective additional contributions from the teachers and their employers, i.e., the local education authorities and independent governing bodies. To ignore altogether the interval from 1st October, 1931, to 1st July, 1934, is impracticable for financial reasons, since the Exchequer would suffer substantially as the result of losing the additional contributions in respect of that period.

asked the Minister of Health what were the total surplus funds standing to the credit of approved societies under the Health Insurance Acts at the latest available date; what was the total amount set aside by approved societies for the last insurance year for additional benefits; the nature of such additional benefits and the amounts respectively allocated; and what were the total reserved funds?

The total surplus funds of all approved societies with head offices in England and Wales disclosed at the third valuation amounted to £32,479,359, of which £17,632,925 was set aside for additional benefits, and the balance was kept in reserve. The addi- tional benefits took the form of increases in the normal rates of sickness, disablement and maternity benefits, and payments towards the cost of various benefits in the nature of treatment, such as dental, ophthalmic, hospital and convalescent home treatment and the provision of medical and surgical appliances. The total amounts allocated to such treatment benefits in the year 1933 were as follow:

asked the Secretary for Mines whether he is aware that the D. C. A. collieries are unable to fulfil orders for export of best South Yorkshire coals owing to quota restrictions; and will he take all necessary steps to enable such collieries to meet the export demand?

I am informed that the executive board of colliery owners for the Midland district, who, under the terms of the Coal Mines Act, 1930, are responsible for the administration of the regulation of output in Yorkshire, have the circumstances to which my hon. Friend draws my attention under their immediate consideration. The board is already taking steps to deal with the situation.