asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether motor torpedo-boats and other motor craft in the Royal Navy and auxiliary services are equipped with any device such as is used on Royal Air Force aircraft for the automatic operation of fire extinguishers?

The motor craft referred to by my hon. Friend are equipped with the most suitable fire extinguishers, whether automatic or otherwise.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether the U-boat captain who recently wirelessed to him was in British custody on 30th September?

I am much obliged to the hon. Member for putting down this question. I was informed by competent authorities that the facts were as stated by me and that the officer who sank the "Firby" had been made prisoner. Subsequent examination of the U-boat prisoners of war in our custody at the present time has not, however, confirmed this first assumption.On the other hand, the statement of the German broadcast that the officer who sent the message was the same officer who sunk the "Celebes" is erroneous. No such ship exists on the British register.

asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, at what age or in what way the definition of a lamb and a sheep is to be made for purposes of payment under the present system of grading?

The matter is under consideration. I should be grateful if the hon. Member would repeat his question in about 10 days' time.

asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether, in making arrangements for rationing, he will take steps to ensure that an individual may register at any one shop for a particular item rationed, and thus safeguard to some extent, the position of small shopkeepers?

I am glad of the opportunity to reassure the hon. and learned Member and the small shopkeepers on this point. Each consumer will be free to choose the retailer with whom he wishes to register for rationed foods and to register with different retailers for each rationed food. The smaller retailers will be provided with supplies of rationed foods for their registered customers on the same scale as the bigger shops and I hope that members of the public will, so far as possible, register with those retailers with whom they have hitherto bought these foods.

asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, what steps he proposes to take in association with the Minister of Agriculture, to make the abundant supply of rabbits in the country available for food, thus both diminishing an agricultural pest and increasing the supply of meat?

I have no reason to suppose that an abundant supply of rabbits is not already available for food.

asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether he has under consideration the purchase of any of the cured herring now in the market; and whether it is the intention of His Majesty's Government to purchase any of the autumn cure?

It is not the intention of the Ministry of Food to purchase any of the cured herring now in the market. Discussions have taken place between the Ministry and the herring industry regarding the disposal of the Autumn catch of herring, but I am not in a position at present to make any statement on the matter.

asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether, in view of the recommendations which have recently been issued to householders advising them to lay in and constantly replenish a reserve of such non-perishable foodstuffs as canned fish, dried milk, etc., he will ensure that in all future publicity which is given to this matter householders will be urged to see that the stocks which they buy are of British origin, particularly so far as fish and milk are concerned?

The recommendations to which my hon. Friend refers specifically stated to apply to the acquisition of additional stores of non-perishable foods before the outset of emergency. Such household reserves should not be acquired now.

asked the First Commissioner of Works whether he is aware that in connection with the compulsory acquisition of hotels many people, including managers and staff, have been suddenly bereft of their livelihood; and has he any proposal of compensation or financial restitution to make, or alternative employment to offer?

The payment of compensation in respect of the requisitioning of hotels is governed by the terms of the Compensation (Defence) Act, 1939, which received the Royal Assent on the 1st September last. Forms on which claims under that Act may be made have now been prescribed and are being sent to the parties concerned. With regard to the managers and staffs, wherever feasible arrangements have been made to continue the services of such as can be usefully employed, though I am aware that in many cases this has not been found possible.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he can give any approximate estimate of the cost, both in compensation to those turned out as well as rent, as the result of requisitioning hotels by the Government?

My right hon. Friend regrets that he is unable at this stage to furnish any estimate of what compensation or rent may be payable in the cases to which the hon. Member refers. He will recall that, in default of agreement, the amount of compensation will fall to be determined by the Statutory tribunal.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education what steps he is taking to give the older boys evacuated from areas where unemployment is high to depopulated agricultural areas technical and practical instruction in agriculture with a view to their absorption on the land when they are above school age?

It is not practicable to give technical instruction in agriculture to children who are still below school leaving age, but the Board have consistently emphasised the importance of making full use of the school environment in the process of education. They have given a lead to local education authorities and teachers in Circular 1474 and Memorandum No. 1 of the Schools in War-time Series (copies of which I am sending to the hon. Member), in which they have stressed the desirability of doing everything possible to make the countryside and its activities attractive to the evacuated children and of giving them practical instruction in gardening. The Memorandum will be followed by others as the season develops.

asked the Minister of Health what steps he is taking to concentrate the older boys evacuated from areas where unemployment is high, in depopulated agricultural areas where they could be given practical instruction in agriculture, with a view to their absorption on the land when they are above school age?

The general movement of evacuation is from densely populated areas to less urban or to rural areas and this of itself will enable many boys to receive an education with a rural bias. I am advised by my Noble Friend the President of the Board of Education that technical instruction in agriculture is not appropriate for children below the school-leaving age, but he has already emphasised to the local education authorities the use that can be made with advantage of the opportunity which the schools will have of assisting to increase our stocks of home-grown food.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he is aware that in the Growmore Bulletin No. 1, issued by his Department, dealing with food from the garden, he specifically recommends one particular proprietary article as against another equally well-known manufactured article which is a competitor of the one he advocates; and whether in the circumstances, he will withdraw from his official publication, recommendations in favour of any particular proprietary article?

I have been asked to reply. My right hon. Friend has given instructions for the specific reference which my hon. Friend has no doubt in mind to be deleted from further issues of the publication referred to.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, whether, in view of the fact that a man working on a garden or allotment has a lot of spare vegetable waste, he will modify official policy so as to encourage pig-keeping by these allotment holders who raise the animals for their own food?

Subject to the provisions of the Public Health Acts and of any by-laws that may be in force in a particular district, it is my right hon. Friend's desire to encourage the keeping of pigs by allotment holders.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he is aware that owing to war conditions the distribution of milk has broken down in some areas; that in some villages where cows are kept, milk is unobtainable even for children owing to the operations of the marketing scheme; and whether be will relax the scheme in areas where the relatively small needs to be met do not warrant either producers taking out licences, or distributors using petrol?

I am not aware that the distribution of milk has broken down in any area. Close co-operation exists between the Milk Marketing Board and the milk distributors to ensure that adequate supplies of milk are available in all areas. If my hon. and gallant Friend would let me know the areas to which his question relates, I should be pleased to have further inquiries made.

asked the Home Secretary whether, to avoid unnecessary resentment by coloured citizens of the British Empire, he will take action to prevent the operation of colour prejudice in the air-raid precautions services and in the control of hotel and similar accommodation?

Any action which may make it difficult for British subjects, from whatever part of the Empire they may come, to co-operate in the national effort is in my view greatly to be deprecated—whether such action be by private individuals or by local authorities who are responsible for selecting persons for Civil Defence Services. In selecting persons for those services regard must be had to suitability, and for certain services it is an advantage to choose persons who are in no sense strangers; but there are various branches of Civil Defence in which the assistance of British subjects from overseas can well be utilised.

asked the Minister of Health whether he has yet received a report on the circumstances of the death of Mrs. Morony, an evacuated Willesden citizen?

Certain circumstances of this case have been reported to me and I am urgently ascertaining the full facts. I will communicate further with my hon. Friend as soon as possible.

asked the Minister of Transport whether his attention has been drawn to the urgent necessity for widening the road through Carnock Village, Dunfermline, where a number of accidents have already happened, and, in view of the increased danger arising from the black-out, what action he is taking in the matter?

I have not received any proposals from the responsible highway authority for widening the road through Carnock Village, though I understand that the matter was under consideration last January. The hon. Member will appreciate that in present circumstances I can only make a grant for new road works in cases where they can be shown to be essential in the national interest.

asked the Minister of Transport how soon he hopes to be able to publish some figures which will enable the public to know whether, since the outbreak of war, deaths and injuries due to road accidents have decreased or increased?

I hope to be able, early next week, to publish information as to the number of persons killed in road accidents during September, 1939.

asked the Minister of Transport whether, in view of recent experience, it is now intended to discontinue the £10,000,000 extension scheme of the Port of London?

The Port of London Authority inform me that, with the exception of the construction of the warehouses at the Victoria Dock, now in hand, they do not at present propose to proceed further with their scheme.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that lighting restrictions which are obligatory for the civilian population are not being observed in military camps; whether he is aware that there is considerable annoyance and protests made by civilians on this account; if this is in accord with the policy of his Department; and if he will take steps to alter this practice?

The policy of the War Department is to conform to the regulations. Authority to grant exemptions is limited to General Officers Commanding-in-Chief, and is exercised only when necessary.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he is aware that the Metropolitan Electric Supply Company has informed its consumers that all-in tariff agreements will terminate on 31st December, and that future charges may be altered at any time on giving three months notice; and is there any particular reason why the company in question should have taken this step when none of the other companies have done so?

The company has informed its all-in tariff consumers that present agreements will terminate on the 31st December next, but that it will continue to supply after that date on terms that the charges may be altered on three months' notice and that either party may terminate the agreement on similar notice.Circumstances arising out of the war may make it necessary for the company to raise its charges and I understand that its existing agreements, unlike those of many other undertakers, do not contain any provision for variation.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the approximate yield of the Entertainments Duty from living entertainments during the month of September; and what was the cost of collection?

The approximate yield of Entertainments Duty from the entertainments which are chargeable at the reduced rates provided by Section 1 (3) of the Finance Act, 1935, as amended by Section 6 (1) of the Finance Act, 1939, during the month of September, was £35,000. The cost of collection cannot be given.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury on what authority Government officials are compulsorily billeted on householders; what is the amount of the billeting allowance; and what meals and facilities, such as lighting and heating, are householders required to provide?

The authority for the compulsory billeting of Government officials is an Order made by the Minister of Health (S.R.O. No. 987 of 27th August, 1939), of which I am sending my hon. Friend a copy. The services to be provided and the rates payable are set out in clauses (c) and (d)of the Order in question.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether he is satisfied that scales of wages based on a Resolution of this House on the 10th March, 1909, should still remain the determining standard of pay in 1939 for civilian employés in Government establishments; and whether he will now consider setting up a commission of inquiry composed of trades union representatives and other persons acquainted with the facts and circumstances that govern industrial rates of pay so that a report may be made to the appropriate Departments of State without delay in order that existing discrepancies of remuneration for skilled and unskilled civilian workers in Government employment may be brought into better comparison with normal payments in industry and thus eliminate many serious anomalies?

I see no reason to modify the general basis under which the conditions of service of industrial employés in Government establishments have for many years been fixed in accordance with the principle embodied in the Fair Wages Resolution. There is ample machinery on Whitley Council lines for the settlement of any matters concerning the wages and conditions of Government employés by discussion between representatives of the Government and of the employés concerned, and I feel sure that it is better to leave the solution of any alleged anomalies or discrepancies to this well-established machinery.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury to what extent the increase of £102,500,000 in indirect taxation as between the amount received during the financial year 1930-31 and the estimated revenue from indirect taxation during the current year before the introduction of the new Budget, consisted of taxation upon food; and what was the total of food, excluding malt and spirituous liquors?

The estimated receipts from the taxation of foodstuffs under the first Budget for 1939–40 exceeded the corresponding receipts in 1930–31 by approximately £27,500,000 and amounted in total to roughly £44,000,000.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that out-patients from London hospitals, who had been told to attend their local hospitals during the war, have now been told to go to a local doctor; and that this change is causing discontent owing to the consequent inability to obtain special treatment and the extra cost; and whether he can review the civilian medical services to correct such anomalies?

No instruction has been given under the Emergency Hospital Scheme that persons who normally attend at hospitals for out-patient treatment should go to a local doctor instead. I am aware that at the beginning of the war some London hositals temporarily closed their out-patient departments of their own volition but I understand that most of these have now been reopened. The last part of the question does not, therefore, arise.

asked the Prime Minister whether he has been officially informed as to whether the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is considered by the United States of America, for the purposes of the arms embargo, to be at war with any countries?

My Noble Friend has received no communication on this subject from the United States Government.

asked the Minister of Health whether his attention has been drawn to rents legislation in France which provides that no rent shall be paid by men called to the colours, and that other rents shall be reduced by 75 per cent.; and whether he will take action to ensure that there shall be a general reduction in all rents which exceed one-fifth of the tenant's income or service family allowances?

I have seen a Press report as to the action being taken in France to protect the interests of men called to the colours. The account which I saw did not correspond with that given by the hon. Member in the first part of his question. With regard to the last part of the question, the protection of tenants in this country is already secured by emergency legislation and otherwise. I do not consider that action of the kind suggested is called for.

asked the Prime Minister whether he can make any statement on the withdrawal of Japan from the Anti-Comintern Pact?

My Noble Friend has no information as to the intentions of the Japanese Government.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Information whether he will state the number of persons on the staff of the Ministry who are under 41 years of age?

Including messenger grades, the number of men under 41 years of age on the staff of the Ministry is 150.

asked the President of the Board of Trade why the import licensing authorities have refused to grant a licence for the importation of syndicated advertising services from the United States of America?

Licences have been issued for the import of goods of this kind. If my hon. Friend will let me have particulars of any case where this has not been done, I will make further inquiries.

asked the Minister of Economic Warfare whether he will take immediate steps to facilitate the granting of export licences to neutral countries in respect of such cured herring now in the market as are not required by His Majesty's Government?

I have been asked to reply. I am glad to be able to assure my hon. Friend that, subject to the views of my hon. Friend the Minister for Economic Warfare in respect of consignments to countries to which paragraph 3 of the Export of Goods (Prohibition) (No. 2) Order, 1939, applies, licences are at present being freely given for exports of cured herring to all destinations. The position is, of course, subject to review by the Minister of Food should need arise.

asked the Minister of Pensions what is the reason for fixing the maximum rate of pension for grade 5 men at 32s. 6d. a week, as against 40s. in the Great War; and whether he will consider restoring the original rate?

The rate of 40s. is not that which was paid in the Great War but represents the final figure determined in 1919 to meet the greatly increased cost of living in that year and includes other additions made to the original maximum rate of 17s. 6d. as the cost of living rose during the war. The rate of 32s. 6d. gives a greater purchasing power to-day than 40s. did in 1919.

asked the Secretary of State for Air (1) how many members of the Civil Air Guard have been granted commissions in the Royal Air Force or Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve since the outbreak of war and the total number of sergeant-pilots in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve who have received commissions since the outbreak of war;(2) how many commissions in the Royal Air Force have been granted to civilians or ex-Army officers since the outbreak of war?

Some 1,500 "starred" pilots of the Civil Air Guard and 6,000"unstarred"pilots are now in course of being interviewed with a view to entry into the Royal Air Force. It is not, however, possible to say without considerable labour how many Civil Air Guard members have so far been granted commissions or accepted for flying duties in other ranks. My hon. Friend will appreciate that it would not be in the public interest to give particulars of the total number of new entry commissions granted since the outbreak of war, or such information as would enable this figure to be computed.

asked the Home Secretary (1) how many internment camps have been established for enemy aliens; how many persons have been interned in them to date; and how many boys of 14 to 18 years of age are interned;(2) whether he is aware that at certain internment camps internees have been refused leave to write to the Swiss Ambassador and their letters to him torn up, and that the regulations regarding treatment of internees are habitually disregarded; and whether he will make immediate inquiries with a view to preventing such cases?

There are six internment camps in use at present and there are 337 persons interned therein as enemy aliens. These include persons who were resident in this country on the outbreak of war, persons of enemy nationality who arrived at ports after the outbreak of war and crews of captured ships. Of the persons resident in this country who were interned, none is under the age of 18, but I understand that amongst the crews of captured ships there are a few youths under this age. The question of what special arrangements can be made for these youths is now under consideration.At one camp I have ascertained that the Commandant refused to forward to the Swiss Legation a letter signed by six persons, owing to the terms in which it was couched. The writers were, however, informed that they might ask the Swiss Minister to send a representative to inspect the camp. Such a letter was written and forwarded. I know no ground for the suggestion that the regulations regarding the treatment of prisoners are habitually disregarded.

asked the Home Secretary how many air-raid precautions workers are enrolled for duty in Scotland; and how many of these are on a paid basis?

The bulk of the personnel engaged in air-raid precautions work are unpaid. Up-to-date figures of enrolled personnel are not, however, available at the moment: with regard to the numbers of whole-time paid volunteers, the local authorities concerned were asked in September to furnish returns, which are still being received; and, further, as my right hon. Friend stated in reply to a question by the right hon. and gallant Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Colonel Wedgwood) on the 5th of this month, the establishment of wholetime personnel is under review.