asked the Under-Secretary of State for India what decision has been arrived at in India regarding the location of the statue of General Neill, lately removed from the Mount Road, Madras, by order of the local Congress Ministry?

The location of this statue is a matter which is entirely within the discretion of the Madras Government. But for the information of my hon. and gallant Friend, I would draw his atten- tion to the statement of the Prime Minister of Madras that, while the Government had decided to remove the statue from its present site, it was not their desire that it should leave India, but that, on the contrary, it was their intention to preserve it with care and with respect.

Can the Noble Lord say what site will be given to this statue in India?

No, Sir. I have not that information.

Is it not within the power of the Governor to issue instructions to prevent an action like the removal of a statue, which is likely to hurt the feelings and prestige of Europeans?

It is entirely within the discretion of the Madras Government.

In view of that answer, Mr. Speaker, might I ask whether a matter of this kind, which, as the Noble Lord has said, is entirely within the discretion of the Madras Government, ought to form the subject of question and answer here?

Probably it ought not, but it is difficult to decide beforehand whether the question is one for which the Government is responsible. The Noble Lord has answered quite correctly, that it is not.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India the latest information he has as to the conditions in India?

There is no information I could appropriately give within the scope of a Parliamentary reply.

Can the Noble Lord say whether the road or roads have now been constructed from Mirali into and within the Khaisora Valley on the North-West Frontier?

If the hon. Member will put that question down, I will do what I can to satisfy his thirst for information.

On a point of Order. Is not that a domestic question also?

Further to that point of Order. Might I say that the Noble Lord mentioned this to me last week?

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India the amount of the tender of the chief con tractor for the construction of the abandoned abattoir at Lahore; how much ex penditure he incurred; and how much compensation has to be paid to him in view of the cancelled contract?

The Government of India are being asked to supply the information, and I will communicate with my hon. and gallant Friend on its receipt.

asked the Under- Secretary of State for India what progress is being made towards bringing into force the federal provisions of the Government of India Act?

The aim of His Majesty's Government is, and always has been, to carry into effect the clear intention of Parliament that Federation should follow Provincial Autonomy, as an integral part of a single constitutional scheme, with the least possible delay. With this object, steps were taken by the Viceroy immediately after the passing of the Act to have examined the novel problems presented by the practical application of its provisions to the diverse elements of the future Federation. These steps are being actively pursued, and every effort will be made to achieve the purpose of Parliament with the least possible delay.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether he is aware that Muhamed-u- Zaffar Khan, the private secretary to Jawaharlal Nehru, the President of the Indian National Congress, was searched on his landing recently in Bombay; where such search took place; and what books and papers in his possession were confiscated?

As I stated in my reply of 22nd November, I am making inquiries of the Government of India regarding the matters referred to.

asked the Minister of Agriculture what steps the Government are taking to increase the research work in connection with the diseases of poultry and fowls, in view of the inexplicable cause of the death of fowls dur- ing the past few years which has been experienced by many poultry keepers?

I have been asked to reply. The Agricultural Research Council has been paying special attention to the serious losses from poultry disease during the past few years, and a committee of the Council was set up in November, 1932, to initiate research into fowl paralysis and coccidiosis, which are two of the major sources of losses. In addition, the Ministry's research staff at the Veterinary Laboratory, Weybridge, is being augmented by the appointment of two research workers who will be concerned exclusively with poultry diseases and an intensive programme of work is being put in hand.

Is it the fact that even the fowl population is becoming depressed by the National Government?

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether any steps will be taken to ensure a minimum selling price for eggs sold in the spring of the year, in order to stabilise the price to the small producer and ensure an orderly supply?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given on 21st October to several questions relating to the poultry industry, and to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade on 8th November to my hon. Friend the Member for Devizes (Sir P. Hurd).

Do not the Government realise that there is so much to be done for the agricultural industry and that so little has been done?

Has the hon. Gentleman considered the fact of having all wheats and cereals in this country in their coats, so that the offal could be used more cheaply for the feeding of poultry?

That fact will be borne in mind.

Does the hon. Gentleman know that eggs to-day are 3s. a dozen and that the poor people cannot afford to buy them?

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he is aware of the serious complaints made regarding the ineffective system of marking foreign eggs and the ease with which the present markings can be removed; and what action he is taking in the matter?

My right hon. Friend is aware that local authorities have successfully instituted proceedings in a number of instances against persons accused of removing marks of origin from imported eggs, with a view to the sale of the eggs as home-produced, but he has no information that would suggest that this form of misrepresentation is common or increasing.

Will my hon. Friend agree to provide statistics of offences that have been dealt with, if I put down a question?

Yes, Sir, if the hon. Gentleman will put down a question.

Cannot the hon. Gentleman find a method of marking eggs so that the marking cannot be removed?

asked the Minister of Agriculture what would be the sum required on the basis of the present volume of production to supplement the current prices, or future prices already agreed upon, received by growers for agricultural products, after all existing forms of assistance have been included, by such margins as may be necessary to raise them to the following guaranteed prices: wheat 50s. per quarter, malting barley 45s., oats 24s. per quarter, beef 50s. per cwt., mutton 1s. per lb., pigs 13s. per score, potatoes £6 per ton, sugar-beet 43s. per ton, milk (12 months average) 1s. 2d. per gallon, butter 1s, 6d. per lb., eggs 2s. 6d. per dozen, fowls 4s. 6d. per head, and cheese £5 per cwt.?

The sum required to make up, in respect of the output in England and Wales to which my hon. Friend refers, the difference between the standard prices he has suggested and current prices, or in the case of milk the 12 months average price for the current contract year, including any subsidies already in force, may, on certain broad assumptions be very roughly estimated at about £22,000,000 per annum.

Will the hon. Member try to secure this difference for British agriculture?

What would the extra cost be if the Minister included watercress and dandelion?

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether it is the intention of the Government to introduce legislation for giving effect to the recommendations of the Select Committee on Agriculture as to damage by rabbits; and, if so, whether such legislation may be expected in the near future?

I would refer the hon. Member to the answer which was given on 29th November last to the hon. Member for Carmarthen (Mr. Hopkin).

Is the hon. Member aware that a number of people in Yorkshire have been sentenced to hard labour for helping to get rid of these pests?

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether, in view of the heavy burden being carried by voluntary hospitals through the cost of milk, he will take powers to allow them to have it at a cheaper rate, seeing that it is provided for the sick and needy to help them to recover their health?

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given to a similar question by the hon. Member for Cheltenham (Mr. Lipson) on 22nd November.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he is aware that in 1935, when there was a substantial surplus of milk supplies in Great Britain, the Lancashire cheese-makers assisted the Milk Marketing Board by taking a large proportion of that surplus milk and selling their cheese at non-remunerative prices; and whether he will arrange that at the present time, when supplies of milk are less, these cheese-makers shall be treated by the board with similar generosity?

My right hon. Friend has no precise information as to the first part of the question. As regards the second part of the question, my right hon. Friend does not feel that he can ask the Milk Marketing Board to arrange for further supplies for manufacture into butter and cheese if, in the opinion of the board, the provision of such supplies would be detrimental to the interests of the milk industry.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he is aware of the damage being done to the Lancashire cheese industry by the recent curtailment of their milk supplies; and whether he has made any inquiries with a view to ascertaining whether the manufacturers of such cheese are prepared to pay more than the current price for their milk supplies in order to save their industry from ruin?

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he is aware that in paragraph 8 of the paper setting out the conditions for milk manufacturing rebates for the period 1937–38 there is power to vary the price for the various categories; and why advantage has not been taken of these powers to vary the price of milk used for butter and cheese manufacturing so as to secure an adequate supply?

My right hon. Friend is aware that, owing to the decline in the total quantity of milk available for sale for manufacturing purposes the Milk Marketing Board have been compelled to curtail the supplies to factories producing butter and cheese, which are the least remunerative outlets for milk, in order to maintain supplies in the liquid and higher priced manufacturing markets. The milk is sold under a contract which, I understand, provides for variation of the manufacturing price by agreement between the Central Milk Distributive Committee and the Milk Marketing Board or, subject to certain limitations, by a certificate of a "consulted person" in the event of the committee and the board being unable to agree. My right hon. Friend has no power to alter the terms of the contract, and the question whether a variation of the price, if it could be made, would affect the contract terms as to the allocation of supplies of milk is a question of construction of the contract upon which he cannot undertake to advise.

Is the hon. Member aware that owing to this policy of the Milk Marketing Board of getting a more remunerative price, the Lancashire cheese industry is threatened with extinction and that the milk is being diverted from the butter and cheese makers to the chocolate makers? Does he think that it is more in the interests of Lancashire that the milk should go for making chocolate rather than for making cheese?

I am well aware of the difficulty to which the hon. Member refers. I have come across it in my own constituency. I think the hon. Member will agree that the business of the Milk Marketing Board is to get the most remunerative price for their producers. In this particular case the milk supplied to the chocolate manufacturers commands a higher price than the milk for butter and cheese; consequently, the Milk Marketing Board's business is to get the higher price.

Can the hon. Member say whether the price is the only criterion and that in future other considerations will not be taken into account, but only the price will be taken into account by the Board?

Does the hon. Member agree that the real trouble is the shortage of milk supplies? Can he give any idea whether that growing tendency shows any sign of stopping?

Seeing that the cheese-makers are prepared to pay a higher price, will not the hon. Member's Department give the cheese maker greater preference than the chocolate manufacturers?

That is being considered, but the price was fixed under a contract between the Central Milk Distributive Committee and the Milk Marketing Board, and my right hon. Friend cannot say whether different terms can be made, because that is a question of the construction of the contract. It is true, as I have pointed out in my reply, that there is a decline in the total quantity of milk available for sale for manufacturing purposes; but the House will be glad to know that the consumption of liquid milk has gone up, thereby considerably decreasing the amount available for manufacture.

Does the hon. Member not agree that the existing system of the production and distribution of milk carries only a very small proportion for manufacturing purposes?

asked the Minister of Agriculture when he gave his approval to the present system under which the supply of milk for the manufacturers of butter and cheese in this country provides a less remunerative outlay than the supply of milk for condensing and chocolate-manufacturing purposes; and whether, in view of the fact that from a dietetic point of view the consumption of butter and cheese should be encouraged in preference to the consumption of condensed milk and chocolate, he will arrange at an early date to ensure that ample supplies of milk are available for butter and cheese manufacture in this country?

The fact that milk has to be sold for manufacture into butter and cheese at prices which are unremunerative to milk producers is due to the play of economic forces and not to any provision of the Milk Marketing Scheme. As I have indicated in an earlier reply to my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Accrington (Major Procter), my right hon. Friend feels that he cannot reasonably ask the Milk Marketing Board to arrange for additional supplies for butter and cheese manufacture, if, in the Board's view, the provision of such supplies would operate to the detriment of milk producers.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether any estimate has been formed, and, if so, of what nature, as to the increase which would be effected in the sale of liquid milk if there were control of prices of manufactured milk imports?

No, Sir. For a number of reasons it would be impossible to make a reliable estimate of the kind indicated by my hon. and gallant Friend.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether his attention has been drawn to the increased price of Lancashire and Cheshire cheese due to the inability of the manufacturers to obtain sufficient supplies of milk necessary to meet normal demands; and if he will state what action he proposes to take in the matter?

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Eccles (Mr. Cary) on 25th November.

asked the Minister of Agriculture what was the annual average wholesale weighted price of milk, and the distributors' margin for the years 1913–33, and for the present year?

I am doubtful whether it would be possible to supply the hon. Member with information relating to the earlier part of the period to which he refers which will be in any way comparable with the more detailed information now available under the Milk Marketing Scheme. My right hon. Friend will, however, do what he can to meet the hon. Member's request and will communicate the information to the hon. Member as soon as possible.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he will authorise the cheap milk scheme for expectant and nursing mothers and children under five years of age for the Ogmore and Garw and Maesteg Urban District Council areas; and whether he will communicate with the Milk Marketing Board and Milk Vendors' Association upon the urgency of such a scheme and their co-operation in these depressed areas?

The schemes for the supply of cheap milk to nursing and expectant mothers and children under five years of age in the Special Areas have been inaugurated for experimental purposes by the Milk Marketing Board, with the co-operation of local distributors and of the local authorities concerned, and with financial assistance from the Commissioner for the Special Areas. My right hon. Friend understands that the Milk Marketing Board do not, at present, contemplate the extension of these experiments to other areas. I would remind the hon. Member that, as announced in the recent White Paper on Milk Policy, it is the intention of the Government to bring forward proposals for securing, in co-operation with the industry, a reduction in the price of liquid milk to local authorities for the purpose of their maternity and child welfare arrangements.

When is that likely to be done.

I imagine by legislation this Session.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether overtime rates are paid to the employés of the Poppleton Beet-Sugar Factory, York, who are compelled to work on Sundays?

My right hon. Friend is informed by the British Sugar Corporation that the conditions of employment at the Poppleton factory, as at all the corporation's factories, are governed by agreements between the corporation and the appropriate trade unions. In accordance with those agreements, all workers paid on an hourly basis receive overtime pay at the rate of time and a-half for hours worked in excess of 48 per week. In the assessment of the wages of workers paid on a weekly basis, regard has been had to the liability of such workers for Sunday duty during a part of the year.

Does that mean that Sunday duty is not paid at the extra rate?

I understand that regard is had to Sunday duty.

Do these piece-workers get Sunday rate?

Perhaps the hon. Member will ask that as another question.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether, in view of the fact that, when an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease occurs in this country, the Ministry's officials demand that all vehicles coming near to an infected farm and the farmer's car, if he has one, shall be thoroughly disinfected, he will consider the desirability of insisting that all cars coming from the Continent, where foot-and-mouth disease exists, shall be subject to the same treatment as a safeguard against importing into this country the virus on the wheels or bodies; and whether, in any case, he will arrange that such cars shah be washed before being allowed to land in the country?

The requirement to which my hon. Friend refers in the first part of the question relates to vehicles leaving farm premises on which an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease has occurred. Other vehicles coming near to an infected farm are not required to be disinfected since it is considered that the serious inconvenience which would result would not be justified by the slight risk involved. For similar reasons my right hon. Friend is unable to accept the suggestion in the last part of the question.

asked the Minister of Agriculture what action is being taken to investigate the theory that foot-and-mouth disease is being carried by birds from the Continent?

The theory that the present series of outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease in the eastern and southern counties of England is to be attributed mainly to infection carried by mass migration of birds, is based on circumstantial evidence only. The Foot-and-Mouth Disease Research Committee now proposes to carry out a series of experiments to ascertain whether birds are susceptible to foot-and-mouth disease, or are capable of transmitting the virus mechanically.

asked the Minister of Agriculture the number of outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease in America during the last five years?

No outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease have been recorded in Canada or the United States of America during the last five years. My right hon. Friend has no precise information as to the extent of the existence of that disease in Central or South America.

Can the hon. Member explain the freedom from this disease in America and Canada?

No. Sir, I do not think I can.

Is the Department making inquiries in those countries?

I cannot give the information without making inquiries. I will let the hon. Member know.

Is it not likely that the freedom in America and Canada is due to the fact that they are much further from the Continent than are the British Isles?

asked the Minister of Agriculture what requests he has received to date in connection with the offer of State assistance towards supplies of basic slag and lime; and how many of these requests and to what value have come from Wales?

Up to 30th November, 44,223 applications for contribution in respect of lime and basic slag purchased under the Land Fertility Scheme had been received from occupiers of agricultural land in the United Kingdom; of these it is estimated that 4400 applications were made by occupiers in Wales. It is further estimated that the total amount of the contributions to be made to occupiers in Wales in respect of those applications would be about £16,000

asked the Prime Minister whether, as British policy remains based upon the Covenant of the League of Nations, he will initiate proposals for strengthening the economic machinery of the League so that any economic sanctions which may become necessary under Article 16 may have been planned in advance?

As the hon. and gallant Member will be aware, the question of the application of the principles of the Covenant has been entrusted by the League Assembly to a special Committee. The application of Article 16 is among the questions which will in due course come before that Committee, and His Majesty's Government cannot anticipate its discussions.

May I ask, altogether apart from the questions of sanctions, whether it is not desirable to strengthen the League economic machinery as a means of promoting world economic co-operation upon which world peace must increasingly depend?

Perhaps the hon. and gallant Member will put that question down.

asked the Prime Minister whether the British Government still adheres to the principle that mandated territories are not a form of tenure held from the League of Nations and that that body can neither transfer them nor take them away, although the unanimous consent of the League Council would be necessary before a transfer could be effected?

The position stated in the question is not a principle but a legal interpretation of the situation. It does not appear to differ from the interpretation already adopted by His Majesty's Government, which has been made plain on various occasions in the House.

Am I to understand from the reply that the Government accept that legal interpretation?

Perhaps the hon. and gallant Member will carefully consider the answer I have given.

Can the Prime Minister say what machinery he envisages for the transfer of mandates, if such a thing were contemplated?

Perhaps the right hon. Member will put that question down.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he is aware of the proposal to erect a telephone exchange in The Boltons, South Kensington, a rural residential district specially reserved for private residences only under the Town Planning Acts; whether he is aware of the strong public feeling at the overriding special powers of the Crown being used to nullify the express intentions of the Town Planning Acts in opposition to the views of the council of the Royal Borough of Kensington and of the private residents in the district in question; and whether, in these circumstances, he will take steps to secure another site for the proposed exchange in a position not specially reserved for private residences and gardens?

Yes, Sir. It is not a fact that the prerogative of the Crown has been invoked in this matter. The scheme has been approved by the Town Planning Authority concerned subject to certain stipulations which have been accepted. I deprecate the suggestion implicit in the hon. Member's question that the Post Office is proceeding in this matter without regard for the interests and convenience of residents in the Boltons. An undertaking has already been given that the design of the building will be appropriate to its surroundings and that it will not be higher than the houses round about it. The trees surrounding the site will remain and the spare ground about the building will be laid out in an attractive fashion. The exchange will be an automatic one and it has been made clear that no staff other than a few engineering workmen will be employed there. Exhaustive search has failed to disclose a suitable alternative site, and I am satisfied that it is essential in the interests of telephone users in the locality that matters should now proceed.

Is the right hon. and gallant Member aware that this particular locality has been town planned for private residences since 1932 and that recently five applications for the use of houses as nursing homes, and for blocks of flats have been refused? Now the Post Office come in and propose to put up a red-brick building entirely out of keeping with the surrounding property and contrary to the views of the local authority and local residents.

The plans have been approved by the town planning authority, and I have no doubt that the building will be an ornament to the hon. Member's constituency.

Is the right hon. and gallant Gentleman aware that they have not been approved by the Kensington local planning authority, of which I happen to be chairman, and that the local residents have petitioned against it? Is he aware that there are business premises a few hundred yards away which are equally suitable, but at rather a higher price?

Has the Postmaster-General made inquiries as to the actual site of the proposed telephone exchange? Is he aware that it is not proposed to put it actually in the neighbourhood called The Boltons, but adjacent to it?

My hon. Friend the Assistant Postmaster-General has been down and personally gone into this matter on the spot.

Can we be assured that when this telephone exchange is put up there will be no one listening in to the hon. Member for South Kensington (Sir W. Davison) telephoning?

I beg to give notice that I shall raise this matter on the first available opportunity.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he is taking any action respecting the objection of the Leyton Borough Council to the erection of more telegraph poles in Leyton; whether the policy is now being adopted of laying underground cables; and whether a substantial number of streets in Leyton are likely to have underground telephone cables substituted for overground cables in the near future so that the amenities of the district may be preserved?

It is the policy of the post office to use underground plant to the fullest possible extent consistent with economy, and that policy has been adhered to at Leyton. In view of this I am afraid it is not possible to contemplate any large scale substitution of overhead wires by underground cables.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty what are the deductions at present made from the wages of un-established workers in the Royal Naval Torpedo Factory at Greenock; what is the cost per 1,000 men of making such deductions; what would be the cost per 1,000 men of making the additional deduction for hospitals fund desired by the men; and what are the other Government Departments that prevent these workers systematically paying for the services rendered on their behalf by the Greenock Royal Infirmary?

As the answer is rather long, I will, with the hon. Member's permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

When will there be arrangements for these deductions to be made, because this matter is becoming one of public scandal in Greenock, as all the public works in Greenock to-day make the deductions? When will they be made at the Royal Naval Torpedo Factory, in order to restore the self-confidence and self-respect of the workers there?

I think the hon. Member has been told that the whole matter is under negotiation now with the National Whitley Council.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty the number of civilians employed by the Admiralty at Hong Kong?

In September last, there were 4,478 civilians in the employment of the Admiralty at Hong Kong.

Are any of these men agreement men sent out from this country?

Yes, Sir, but I have not the exact number.