asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) whether, in view of the serious decline of British spirits from approximately 18,000,000 proof gallons in 1919–20, after which there was additional taxation, to 8,500,000 proof gallons in 1933–34, and the hardship inflicted upon both industry and the general public by the present high taxation, he will consider making a reduction in the duty on spirits:(2) whether, in view of the fact that the permitted hours of trading in licensed houses have for some years now been from eight to nine hours on weekdays as compared with from 17 to 19½hours in 1909–10 when the present basis of licence duty was fixed, he will consider making a reduction in the licence duty?

I have noted my hon. Friend's suggestions but he will not expect me to anticipate the Budget statement.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury the amount of inland revenue outstanding in respect of excess profits?

I would refer the hon. Member to the answer which the Chancellor of the Exchequer gave on the 21st of last month to a question by the hon. Member for Eccles (Mr. Potter).

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he is now in a position to make a statement as to the future of the Cupar beet-sugar factory and on the general position of the sugar-beet crop in Scotland this year?

I would refer to the reply given on 27th February to a question on this subject by the hon. Member for East Fife (Mr. Henderson Stewart) of which I am sending a copy to my Noble Friend.

asked the Minister of Transport (1) whether he will at once reassure local authorities that they will rank equally for a grant in respect of bridges even if they prefer to submit their designs, not to the Royal Fine Arts Commission, but to some other acknowledged body of architectural or engineering experts;(2) whether, before urging highway authorities in Great Britain to seek the advice of the Royal Fine Arts Commission as to whether new or reconstructed bridges are of pleasing design and suitable to their surroundings, he has taken cognisance of the fact that, when the London County Council adopted this course and submitted a design for a new Waterloo Bridge by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, his then colleague on the Royal Fine Arts Commission, Sir Reginald Blomfield, strongly opposed the scheme on the ground of ugliness and unsuitability for its immediate environment and the neighbourhood of Somerset House?

Local authorities require, so far as I am aware, no reassurance in this matter. I have every reason to believe that they are most anxious to co-operate in securing the highest attainable standards. I am not, of course, concerned with individual differences of opinion, if such arise, about matters of taste, but I am anxious that questions of architectural design and suitability of the surroundings, which are matters of special importance in the case of road bridges, should receive the most, careful consideration, and a reference to the Royal Fine Arts Commission seems to me appropriate and reasonable.

asked the Home Secretary the number of motor cab drivers who were summoned by the police in 1932, 1933, and, if possible, 1934; can he give reasons for any notable increase these figures show; and during this time has the number of licensed cabs decreased or increased?

I can only give figures relating to the Metropolitan police district. Within that area the number of summonses issued against motor cab drivers for offences arising in the course of their employment was 920 in 1932, 1,747 in 1933 and 2,319 in 1934. The number of cabs licensed during each of these years was 8,121, 8,025 and 8,181. The increase in the number of summonses during 1933 and 1934 is mainly accounted for by offences in connection with traffic light signals, which have been installed in increasing numbers during the last two years.

asked the Home Secretary whether Mr. Jimmie Walker, the former Mayor of New York, has been registered as an alien since his arrival in this country; and, if not, whether it is proposed to take any action in the matter?

I am having inquiries made about this matter.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is now in a position to state the effect of the new decree imposed by the Italian Government instituting a quota upon imports of coal into Italy; what will be the position of coal loaded, or ready for loading but not yet on its way, on 19fla February; and whether it is proposed to take any retaliatory action against Italian imports into this country?

The present position as regards coal imports into Italy is that licences will be issued to importers up to 31st March to the amount of 35 per cent. of their imports in the corresponding period of last year; coal destined for the State railways is however admitted without restriction. Coal which left port for Italy by 19th February will be admitted without restriction, but no reply has yet been received to the representations that have been made to the Italian Government regarding cargoes loaded or ready for loading but which had not left by that date. I am receiving a deputation from the coal industry to-morrow to discuss the situation.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what arms were licensed for export during each of the last 12 months for which figures are available, to Abyssinia, Italy, Paraguay, Bolivia, Jugoslavia, Bulgaria, China, Japan, Rumania, Turkey, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Poland, Peru, Colombia, Chile, Brazil, Argentine and Uruguay?

The following statement shows the war material covered by licences issued in each month during the 12 months 1st February, 1934, to 31st January, 1935, for export to Abyssinia, Italy, Paraguay, Bolivia, Jugoslavia, Bulgaria, China, Japan, Rumania, Turkey, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Poland, Peru, Colombia, Chile, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay.

asked the President of the Board of Trade why Government payments and receipts on loan account are included in the official calculations of the annual balance of payments; and whether he will arrange to base the calculations upon payments and recepits for goods, services, interest and other current trading items, as distinguished from capital items?

In. preparing the annual estimates of the balance of payments, it has been found impossible in the past to make any satisfactory division of receipts and payments in respect of inter-Government indebtedness between capital and interest, since the division would depend on assumptions to be made as to the rate of interest and as to the extent to which the capital was written down. It would be undesirable to sacrifice the comparability of the estimates over a period of years by altering the practice in regard to occasional isolated items.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the respective trade balances between this country and the countries of the Empire for the 12 months preceding the latest convenient date?

The desired information is available from the particulars of the aggregate trade of the United Kingdom with each British country during the year 1934, which are set out on pages 182 to 190 of the "Accounts relating to Trade and Navigation of the United Kingdom" for January last.

asked the Postmaster-General whether it is intended to set up any special committee to inquire into the recommendations made in the report of the Television. Committee that sponsored programmes should be permitted to assist towards the cost of any television service?

The Television Committee recommended that the permission given in the British Broadcasting Corporation's existing licence to accept certain types of sponsored programmes should be applied also to the television service. This recommendation has been approved; but the question whether advantage should be taken of the permission, and if so to what extent, will, as in the case of the existing service, be left to the Corporation to decide.

asked the Postmaster-General whether, in view of the fact that the first Victoria Jubilee was used for the introduction of a daily delivery of letters to every place throughout the whole country, he will endeavour to see that the coming Jubilee is utilised to ensure that effect is given to the original promise, which has never been thoroughly carried out in Wales?

In 1897 an undertaking was given that there should be a regular delivery of letters, though not necessarily a daily delivery, at every house in the United Kingdom. This undertaking was carried out, and in fact a daily delivery is given on the mainland except in a very small proportion of cases. I am looking further into the position in Wales, and I hope that it will prove possible to deliver daily at all but a very few houses where the circumstances are exceptional.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty to what extent machines have been substituted for hand clerical labour in his Department; and what is the estimated annual saving deriving from the substitution, allowance being made for the purchase and/or renting of machines, maintenance thereof, and material used in connection therewith?

Mechanical appliances are in use to the fullest extent possible in connection with the preparation of cost accounts at the Royal Dockyards and the Royal Naval factories and are in use at other establishments where they can suitably be employed. In the main, the introduction of the machines has been associated with entirely new systems of accounting, and no estimate can be given of the saving of clerical labour involved, there having been no substitution of mechanical for clerical methods merely to produce the same results.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether any decision has been reached with regard to the settlement of Assyrians in British Guiana?

No, Sir. The Committee of the Council of the League which is dealing with the matter is to meet this week in Geneva to consider it in the light of the investigations which have recently been conducted in British Guiana by a League mission.

asked the Minister of Health the number and ages of the deaths which occurred among the cases classified in the columns A, B, C, and D on page 22 of the Chief Medical Officer's report for the year 1927?

I am sending the hon. Member a copy of the statement sent to him in connection with a similar question which he asked on 5th March, 1928.

asked the Minister of Health whether any deaths and, if so, how many occurred among the cases of smallpox recorded in columns A, B, C, and D, on page 46 of the Chief Medical Officer of Health's report for the year 1932; and whether he will supply similar information in respect of the table which appears on page 37 of the same officer's report for 1933?

Two deaths occurred among the cases referred to in the first part of the question, and one among those referred to in the second part.

asked the Minister of Health whether the number of deaths shown in the table which appears in the following annual reports of the chief medical officer of his Department, namely the table on page 37 of 1924 report, the table on page 38 of 1925 report, and the table on page 39 of 1926 report, have since been revised; and, if so, will he supply particulars of the revised figures?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the negative, and the second part therefore does not arise.