asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies why martial law has not been proclaimed in Palestine; and will he use the British troops stationed in Palestine to prevent further outbreaks of murder and arson?

The right hon. Gentleman no doubt refers to the delegation of powers to the General Officer Commanding for which provision is made under the Palestine (Defence) Order in Council of 1937. "Martial law" in its proper sense connotes a military regime acting without the sanction of law, such as would supervene only if civil administration completely broke down. Under the Palestine (Defence) Order in Council the High Commissioner has extremely wide powers of making emergency regulations, and he may by proclamation delegate these functions to the General Officer Commanding in Palestine.

I am entirely satisfied with the manner in which the Acting High Commissioner is using the powers under the Defence Order in Council, and I do not consider that the time has yet come for him to delegate those powers to the General Officer Commanding. This view is shared by the military authorities.

With reference to the second part of the question, I can assure the right hon. Gentleman that the Acting High Commissioner and the General Officer Commanding are co-operating on terms of complete harmony in the suppression of murder, arson and other forms of violence and sabotage, and that full use is being made of the British troops available.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he can state the volume of trade done between Germany and Russia during each of the last five years?

The following statement shows the value of the trade of Germany with the Soviet Union during each of the years 1932 to 1936, as published in the official German trade statistics:

Year.			Imports into Germany.	Exports from Germany.
			Million Reichsmarks.	Million Reichsmarks.
1932	…	…	270·9	625·8
1933	…	…	194·1	282·2
1934	…	…	209·7	63·3
1935	…	…	215·0	39·3
1936	…	…	93·2	126·1

NOTES.(1) The above particulars relate to merchandise only, and to imports for home consumption and exports of domestic produce.(2) The figure for imports in 2935 includes 13·3 million Reichsmarks in respect of undervaluation of furs imported in 1934.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he will give the number of fatal motor accidents during the last ascertainable period of 12 months in the United Kingdom and in France and Germany, respectively?

The following figures have been extracted from the latest published returns of persons killed in road accidents:

		Year.	No.
Great Britain	…	1936	5,188
France	…	1935	4,415
Germany	…	1936	8,381

The figures for Great Britain and France relate to accidents in which motor vehicles were involved. The German figures are understood to embrace all road accidents. The figures may, therefore, not be strictly comparable.