asked the Minister of Labour (1) whether workers in war factories presenting medical certificates showing that they are suffering from phlebitis will be released from their direction to work; (2) whether workers in war factories and mines, presenting medical certificates showing that continuance in their employment will be prejudicial to their health, are released from their direction to work?

Workers are not required to continue in their employment if there is conclusive medical evidence of their unfitness to do so. Where necessary, arrangements are made for an examination by an independent medical referee.

asked the Minister of Labour whether persons directed by his Department to clerical employment in Government establishments away from their home towns are entitled to the concession of reduced rail fares for periodical visits to their home town?

No, Sir. Clerical workers who take up duty in a Government Department come under the conditions of employment applicable to civil servants which, I understand, do not include the concession as to cheap fares granted to transferred workers in industry.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he has considered a memorandum from the Lea Bridge. A. C. Cossor, Limited, factory committee; and what reply has been sent to them about the matter?

I am not sure what memorandum my hon. Friend has in mind. If he will inform me of the date and subject matter of the memorandum I will write to him.

asked the Minister of Labour whether, following his announcement in regard to the industrial conscription by ballot of men for the mines, he will, through local officers, make available to Members of Parliament and others interested, the names and home address of men so directed?

No, Sir. I should regard the procedure as open to definite objection on several grounds, even if it were practical to adopt it.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he is aware of the shortage of isolation hospital accommodation in Norfolk, due mainly to lack of trained staff, and that in the main isolation hospital there are only two trained nurses to 120 beds; and will he do all in his power to help to remedy this situation?

I am aware of the shortage to which my hon. Friend refers and my Department is making every effort to supply additional staff. There are, however, circumstances which render the staffing of these hospitals a matter of difficulty.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that the villages of Yelling, Toseland and Graveley, in the county of Huntingdon, have no proper water supply; and if he will use the powers at his disposal to remedy this state of affairs?

I am informed that work will soon commence on laying a short length of temporary main to afford a standpipe supply to the village of Graveley, which is in the county of Cambridge. As regards the villages of Yelling, and Toseland, I understand that the usual source of supply is from wells but that the rural district council from time to time find it necessary to supplement the supply for domestic purposes by carting water from the nearest suitable source at Buckden. The council have prepared a comprehensive scheme for providing piped supplies to these and other villages, to be carried out as soon as conditions permit after the war.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is taking any steps to expedite the supply of rural pumps and new parts of existing pumps in view of the reliance of rural districts on this form of supply of water?

Public water undertakings are given all possible assistance by my Department in securing any necessary pumps or parts, by appropriate recommendations to the various controls and otherwise. Under the system of controls and priorities, applications by private individuals for any necessary assistance are dealt with by the Ministry of Works. If my hon. and gallant Friend has any particular case of difficulty in mind I should be glad to have particulars.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will now, in order to avoid confusion and make it more effective, extend his scheme of allowances to tuberculosis sufferers and their dependants so as to include non-pulmonary and chronic cases?

The special arrangements to which my hon. Friend refers were authorised to enable persons to give up work temporarily for treatment which is in the interest of the public health no less than their own. The association with the war effort which has been the justification in such cases for making repayment from Exchequer funds under emergency powers is not applicable to the cases to which my hon. Friend refers, but the fact that certain limitations must on this ground apply to such repayment from the Exchequer does not affect the power of Local Authorities to grant assistance within the scope of their statutory powers, and I shall be glad to consider in consultation with representatives of local authorities how the objective of ensuring adequate assistance can most effectively be secured.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is taking any steps to ensure that all nurses benefit by the increased scales of pay in the two Rushcliffe Reports; and whether he will call for a detailed statement from local authorities in the new year as to their action in the matter?

Circulars have been sent to the authorities concerned commending the recommendations of the Nurses' Salaries Committee and offering an Exchequer grant in respect of any increased expenditure involved in their adoption. From information available in my Department I am satisfied that the recommendations in the first report of the Committee are being generally adopted, and I hardly think that I should be justified in putting authorities to the trouble of making the special returns suggested.

asked the Minister of Health why a matron of a public assistance institution who, by the terms of her appointment has to be a State registered nurse, is placed in an inferior position to other State registered nurses in the application of the Rushcliffe recommendations?

I presume my hon. Friend has in mind the fact that whilst the Nurses' Salaries Committee have made recommendations about matrons of public assistance institutions who are also superintendent nurses or head nurses, they have not made recommendations about other matrons of public assistance institutions. The duties of such matrons are mainly of a non-nursing character and it would not in my view be appropriate that they should be dealt with by a committee which is fixing the salaries for nurses employed in nursing work.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that the recommendations of the Hetherington Committee accentuate the anomalies of the Rushcliffe recommendations; and whether he proposes to take any steps to improve the salaries of certain grades of nurses?

I cannot accept the suggestion that the recommendations of the Hetherington Committee affect the scales recommended for nurses by the Nurses' Salaries Committee, which were arrived at quite recently after long and detailed negotiations. I do not propose to reopen this matter at the present time.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that certain voluntary hospitals dismiss nurses on marriage; and whether he proposes to take any action in view of the shortage of nurses?

Staffing questions are ordinarily a matter for the hospital authorities concerned. I have no detailed information about the practice of different authorities in the matter of the dismissal of nurses on marriage. the hon. Member would be good enough to send me information on any specific case which she may have in mind I will make inquiry and consider whether there is any action which I can take.

asked the Minister of Health what measure of control he exercises over the policy of voluntary hospitals, in view of the fact that public money is now used to subsidise wages in these institutions?

I assume that the Question relates to the Exchequer assistance available to hospitals in respect of additional expenditure incurred as a result of their adopting the recommendations of the Nurses Salaries Committee. The only condition attaching to the receipt of grant is that the recommendations of the Committee shall in fact be observed.

asked the Minister of Health whether, in view of the heavy incidence of influenza and the shortage of doctors and nurses, he is taking steps to make widely known the measures which should be taken to avoid infection and simple and safe methods of treatment which will mitigate the severity of the attack?

There is no certain way of avoiding influenza. Well-balanced diet, adequate sleep, as much fresh air as possible, the avoidance of stuffy, crowded rooms, and care in coughing and sneezing are obvious precautions which have long and persistently been recommended by my Department and Medical Officers of Health. We can best help one another by the precautions we take in these matters and, in the difficult conditions of war-time, by mutual help in care of sickness. Arrangements have been made with the Services for temporary deferment of the call-up of doctors. I have, in consultation with other Departments and with voluntary organisations, considered what can be done to assist, particularly in regard to medical and nursing services, special help in the home and arrangements for meals: I am issuing a circular informing local authorities of this action and making suggestions for their guidance.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will, in consultation with the Departments concerned, investigate the possibility of forming a pool of medical men attached to the Services in any particular area in this country to ensure that the number is kept at a minimum and their time and experience fully utilised?

I understand that a suggestion for pooling medical officers of the Services has already been explored by the Medical Personnel (Priority) Committee presided over by the hon. Baronet, the Member for Norwich (Sir G. Shakespeare). The Committee recommended that co-operation between the medical departments of the three Services, already carried out to a considerable extent, should be developed to the highest possible degree, but they felt that complete pooling such as my hon. Friend suggests would not be practicable.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that owing to the calling up of doctors engaged in practice among civilians there is increasing difficulty in securing medical attention, especially when Government war enterprise requiring labour are brought into any district; whether he can give an assurance that present arrangements would be adequate to deal with an epidemic; and whether he will arrange for the co-operation of Service doctors stationed in the area, but at present relatively unoccupied, to assist in civilian work?

I am afraid that the necessity of supplying the Forces with the doctors which they require must in certain areas cause some inconvenience to the public, although every effort to mitigate this is made in selecting the individual doctors for recruitment and in any case arrangements are ma de to secure that essential medical attention will be available. As to the second and third parts of the Question, my right hon. Friends the Service Ministers have always been ready to give what help they can from their medical departments and I am glad to say that in the present epidemic they are co-operating in special arrangements under which their medical officers will give as much help as their essential Service duties permit to general practitioners, factory doctors and hospitals in urgent need. Medical officers of health are being asked to take the initiative in putting into operation the arrangements affecting general practitioners and factory doctors. Doctors requiring help will apply in the first instance to the secretary of the local medical war committee. The corresponding applications from hospitals will be made to the hospital officers.

asked the Minister of Health what steps are taken to test imported butter and cheese for tubercular infection?

I am advised that it is not necessary to make routine tests for this purpose. Any organisms that may be present in the milk are normally destroyed in processing. Tests have been made from time to time with negative results.

asked the Minister of Health what is the attitude of his Department to the attempted compulsory purchase of land outside the limits of their authority by public authorities, urban or otherwise?

The powers conferred on local authorities by Parliament to buy land compulsorily for housing and a number of other purposes extend to the acquisition of land outside their own areas. My decision on an application for confirmation of a compulsory purchase order would be taken in the light of the merits of the particular case.

asked the Minister of Town and Country Planning whether he is yet in a position to announce Government measures to assist local authorities in the acquisition of land for building purposes, and for taking forthwith other measures to remedy the shortage of housing accommodation?

I would refer the hon. Member to what I said on this subject in my reply to the hon. Member for East Birkenhead (Mr. Graham White) on 21st September, 1943, of which I am sending him a copy. The matter raised in the last part of the Question concerns my right hon. and learned Friend the Minister of Health, to whom a separate Question should be addressed.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will consider increasing the allowances made to blind persons and, in particular, removing the family means test from these persons?

The rates of assistance given to blind persons are a matter for the decision of the Local Authorities concerned subject to certain statutory rules, and I have no power to increase the rates. I am not sure what my hon. Friend has in mind in the latter part of the Question, but I may say that a Local Authority cannot recover the cost of assistance from the family of a blind person.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will consider the introduction of legislation to deal with itinerant van-dwellers of the gipsy type in respect of health, education, cleanliness and general behaviour, the more so because any existing supervision is both unenforceable and illusory?

Wide powers as to control of the use of movable dwellings were given to local sanitary authorities by Section 269 of the Public Health Act, 1936. I would also refer my hon. and gallant Friend to the preceding Section of the Act as to nuisances. In view of the short period which has elapsed since the law was revised I should deprecate further legislation at present, though I should be happy to receive any evidence my hon. and gallant Friend cares to send me on the subject so far as it relates to rural amenities and sanitary administration. I understand from my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary that so far as concerns his responsibilities he finds no sufficient ground for further legislation. As regards education, my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Education will bear in mind the needs of children in this category in connection with his forthcoming Bill.

asked the Minister of Health whether the amount of rent in excess of the reasonable rent figure is allowed in cases in which old age pensioners are in recepit of amounts which are required by statutory provisions for the purposes of calculating scale allowances?

The Assistance Board's practice in this matter, as explained in their report on the Determination of Needs Act, 1941 (Cmd. 6338), is to make an allowance for rent in excess of the limit recommended by the local advisory committee in cases where failure to do so would cause hardship by leaving the applicant with insufficient money to meet his other needs. Whether an additional allowance would be made in a particular case of the kind referred to, must therefore depend on the nature and extent of the resources, the amount of the rent and all the other circumstances of the case.

asked the Minister of Health the average weekly amounts paid in supplementary pensions per case, in August, 1940, August, 1941, August, 1942 and August, 1943, for England and Wales and Scotland respectively?

The approximate average weekly amounts paid in supplementary pensions per case for England and Wales together were as follows: August, 1940, 8s. 9d.; August, 1941, 9s. 6d.; August, 1942, 11s. 2d.; August, 1943, 12S. 9d. The corresponding amounts for Scotland were 8s. 8d., 8s. 10d., 10s. 3d. and 12s.

asked the Minister of Health the reasonable rent figures for two old age pensioners in the districts covering Manchester, Wigan, Stoke, Leigh, Wrexham, London, Bournemouth, Oxford, Swansea, Bridgend, Dundee, Stirling and Newport, respectively?

Following is the answer:

	Figure recommended by local advisory committee
Manchester	8s.
	plus half the excess or 2s. whichever is greater
Wigan	8s.
Stoke	8s.
Leigh	8s.
Wrexham	8s.
London—
E. and N.E.	10s. 6d.
Elsewhere	11s. 6d.
Bournemouth	8s.
Oxford	8s.
Swansea	9s.
Bridgend	9s.
Dundee	8s.
Stirling	8s.
Newport	9s. plus excess if rent is reasonable

As stated in the White Paper (Cmd. 6490) issued with the new Draft Regulations, the Board propose to consult the Advisory Committees again on this subject.

asked the Minister of Health whether he has considered a letter from the town clerk of Stoke-on-Trent and one from the North Staffordshire building trades unions, asking for a definite pronouncement on the provision of housing; and what action has been or is to be taken?

Yes, Sir, and action has already been taken on a number of the points with which the resolution deals.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether the various stock-breeding societies are co-operating with his Ministry in the promotion of artificial insemination of livestock; and which societies are averse to the system and for what reasons?

At this early stage, my Department is controlling, rather than promoting, the practice of artificial insemination of cattle, and the first part of the Question does not, therefore, arise. With regard to the latter part, the attitude generally of the cattle breed societies is one of caution rather than of aversion.

asked the Minister of Agriculture what progress is being made with the system of artificial insemination of various types of livestock; what stations now exist for this purpose; and the latest available statistics for Russia and other countries?

Under the Regulations for the control of artificial insemination of cattle that came into operation on 1st November, four licensed stations, including the two experimental stations at Cambridge and Reading, are now in operation, and applications for licences for several other projected stations are under consideration. No official statistics are available relating to artificial insemination in Russia and in other countries. I might add that two British experts are at present in the United States of America on behalf of the Agricultural Improvement Council, studying the development of the practice in that country.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he will instruct war agricultural executive committees to administer the Rooks Order, 1940, so as to secure the destruction of rooks only where there is a local excess of the rook population and not in such a way as to have the opposite effect?

That is the burden of existing instructions.

asked the Minister of Agriculture what steps have been taken to destroy the pests attacking Minchinhampton Common, Gloucestershire?

The trouble at Minchinhampton Common is due to a severe attack by chafer beetles, for which measures of a palliative character only can be recommended. The provincial advisory entomologist is giving attention to the matter.

asked the President of the Board of Education what he is doing in the case of a deaf and partially dumb boy for whom there is no special school accommodation in the local school area for whom the local education authority offer residential school accommodation in a special school at a distance from the boy's home, but the parents refuse their consent and meantime the child is not receiving any school education?

If the hon. Member will give me particulars of the case he has in mind I will look into it. I am aware that there are many deaf children who are at the present time not receiving any education because their parents refuse to allow them to attend the appropriate residential special school. Where such cases have come to my notice I have asked the authority concerned to explain to the parents how serious it is for the child if his education is interrupted or neglected. If the parent cannot be persuaded to give his consent it is open to the authority to apply to a court of summary jurisdiction under Section 54 of the Education Act, 1921.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether it is with his approval that propaganda, entertainment and military training films are shown to children of secondary school age depicting the horrors of modern warfare; whether inquiries are made by qualified persons into the effects of those films on the minds of the children in relation to their further education; and, if so, with what results?

My responsibility for the nature of the films shown to children of school age is limited, but if the hon. Member will give me particulars of the film exhibitions which he thinks unsuitable I will consider whether any action should be taken.

asked the Minister of Pensions whether his attention has been called to the case of an officer's widow who did not receive a gratuity because the officer, who had been wounded in Malta, was not killed in action but subsequently died from exhaustion after being torpedoed on the ship on which he was being transported from the island; and whether he will alter his regulations to clear up this and similar anomalies?

I have been unable to find any record of this officer having been wounded in Malta and he was on passage to England for entirely different reasons. The refusal of a gratuity in addition to the pension which is being paid to his widow is not based on the fact that he was a passenger on the ship, but on the fact that the circumstances which led to his being on the ship were not brought about by Service requirements.

asked the Minister of Pensions whether he will consider basing war service grants on the present needs of dependants and not entirely on the pre-enlistment earnings of the serving man?

It is not the practice to assess a grant solely on pre-enlistment earnings. Regard is also had to the available resources of the family and the actual commitments. Moreover the minimum standard for maintenance of 18s. a unit, after payment of standing commitments, applies even where the pre-enlistment earnings were below that standard.

asked the Minister of Pensions whether the view is still held by his Department that the subsistence figures of 18s. per adult per week and 9s. per child per week, used as a basis of assessing war service grants, are adequate or whether he proposes to recommend considerable increases in these figures in the immediate future?

The evidence before me does not lead me to the conclusion that the existing minimum standard of 18s. a unit as applied by my Department for purposes of war service grants is inadequate. But the matter is kept under review in the light of circumstances.

asked the Minister of Pensions whether he is aware that T. Inglis, 114, Florence Street, Glasgow, is receiving a pension of 8s. weekly; that he is unable to follow his employment at present owing to his injury; and if he is aware that this man will become a charge on Poor Law; and whether he will take steps to reconsider the case?

I am looking into this case and will write to the hon. Member.

asked the Minister of Pensions whether he is aware that Mrs. McGuinness, 13, Thistle Street, Glasgow, has been refused a pension for her son, Thomas McGuinness, who was drowned while on service in the merchant ship "Maritima"; that this boy was bathing at the time of his death but was in the employment of the Merchant Navy; and whether he will take steps to have this case reconsidered?

I regret that I am unable to reverse the decision in this case, the reasons for which have already been explained to the hon. Member in writing.

asked the Minister of Pensions why men who have been conscripted from their normal employment to membership of the N.F.S. and who, because of a loss in wages by such transfer causing hardship obtain a war service grant to help to overcome the hardship entailed, have such war service grant stopped when they are directed by the Government to work of a national service character on munitions, although their wages are lessened by this change in employment; and will he take steps to remove this anomaly?

Men enrolled in the N.F.S. under the National Service Act, 1941, are eligible for a war service grant so long as they remain full time paid members of such service. A grant is not, however, payable in supplementation of ordinary wages.

asked the President of the Board of Trade why all articles at the sales of work in aid of local hospitals are all couponed, with the result that many people are prevented from buying the articles up for sale; and what action he intends taking about the matter?

All rationed goods must be subject to the provision for the collection of coupons, through whatever channels they are sold to the public. My right hon. Friend could not justify a concession in the case of sales of work as this would enable those who attend them to obtain more than their fair share of the limited supplies of clothing available.

asked the President of the Board of Trade when he proposes to make a statement on the duration of the validity of pre-September 1943 clothing coupons?

My right hon. Friend has no intention of making the 1942–43 clothing coupons invalid but if, for some unforeseen reason, he is compelled to do so, at least a month's notice will be given.

asked the President of the Board of Trade, in connection with full-time members of the regular and auxiliary police force who have had to surrender clothing coupons in advance, in lieu of uniform, for the rationing period commencing February next, what steps he proposes to take to assist these men to buy necessary clothing, in view of the fact that they have already surrendered their clothing coupons for that period?

Policemen, in common with other wearers of essential civilian uniforms who are provided with tunics, trousers, overcoats and footwear, are required to give up 16 coupons for the twelve months which began on the 1st September, 1943. Uniform wearers are allowed to give up coupons for their uniform from those not yet valid for ordinary purposes so that they may, if they wish, spread this annual surrender over the whole rationing period. They are left with the same total number of coupons for other purchases whether they exercise this option or not.

asked the Secretary of State for War what is the cause of the delay in transferring home the seriously wounded officers from No. 126 hospital, Poona; and how many have been waiting for over two years for a transfer?

I am making inquiries into the position at this hospital and will then communicate with my hon. Friend.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether cargoes at Algiers and other Algerian ports are unloaded by natives or prisoners of war; and to what extent and why British troops are called in to help?

Cargoes at these ports are mainly unloaded by native labour and by prisoners of war. It is, however, always necessary to employ some British stevedores and personnel of dock operating units for supervision, for distinguishing particular stores and for re-consigning them to other ports. They are also used to help if it is necessary to clear an unusual number of ships, particularly if this has to be done at night.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that the Romford Council have been informed that in future their "holidays at home" programme will not be exempt under the Finance Act, 1924; and whether he will continue the exemptions from Entertainments Duty given hitherto in order to enable local authorities to carry out the Government's policy of restricting travel?

I am advised that the provision to which my hon. Friend refers is not applicable to the entertainments which he has in mind, and I have of course no power to authorise exemptions other than those enacted by Parliament. I would, however, remind my hon. Friend that other statutory provisions exist under which entertainments may qualify for exemption from the Duty.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether his regulations provide for expenses incurred in the assessment of damage to property by enemy action to rank as part of a claim and to be admitted as a liability by the War Damage Commission?

Under the War Damage Act, the War Damage Commission is empowered to pay as part of a cost of works claim, the cost of the necessary employment of an architect, engineer, surveyor, land agent, or other person in an advisory or supervisory capacity, in connection with the execution of the works. The scale of fees and the circumstances in which they are payable, as settled by the Commission after consultation with the various professional associations, has been published both in the technical journals and in the general Press, and I am sending my hon. Friend a copy. The Commission has, however, no power to pay for professional advice sought by the claimant not in connection with the actual work of repair.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether in view of the certainty that Germany will try to sell abroad art treasures looted from occupied countries, His Majesty's Government will now suggest that the Allies announce that art treasures be taken from Germany to replace thefts of such articles of which she has been guilty on wholesale lines?

While His Majesty's Government will do their best, in accordance with the Inter-Allied Declaration of 5th January, 1943, to defeat methods of dispossession such as those mentioned by my hon. Friend, they cannot, in advance of a general agreement on the principles of restitution, consider earmarking any particular enemy assets to be used in replacement of property which for one reason or another cannot be recovered after the war.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether all British Consuls in foreign seaports have the responsibility of making certain that survivors from sunken ships of the British Mercantile Marine are given adequate clothing, food and lodging until they can be shipped home; and if it has been made clear to British Consuls in North Africa that they will be reimbursed for the money spent on this assistance?

It is the responsibility of His Majesty's consular officers in foreign ports to make sure that survivors, whether members of the crew or British passengers, from sunken ships of the British Mercantile Marine are provided with a suitable supply of clothing and to make arrangements for their board and lodging until such time as they can continue their journey or be sent home. Undertakings to repay the cost of this assistance are required in the case of passengers. His Majesty's consular officers, including those in North Africa, are authorised to charge in their accounts expenses incurred in connection with the relief of survivors from sunken British ships.

asked the Secretary of State for India, what is the proportion of Moslems to Hindus in Punjab, Bengal and the State of Hyderabad?

According to the 1941 Indian Census, the number of Moslems and Hindus, respectively, in every hundred of the total population are:

		Moslems		Hindus
Punjab	…	57	…	27
Bengal	…	55	…	42
Hyderabad	…	13	…	81

The figures for the Hindu community include the scheduled castes.

asked the Secretary of State for India why shipping space was used to consign a cargo of whisky to Bombay when it was not found possible to send to India badly needed supplies of quinine?

The ban which had previously been maintained on the shipment of spirits to India was lifted in September. This has certainly not been at the expense of quinine. Quinine is produced in India and supplies there are adequate.

asked the Secretary of State for India whether soldiers serving in the Indian Army will be included in the scheme to bring home all who have been serving more than five years overseas?

If the hon. Member is referring to British soldiers serving in British Army units of the Army in India the answer is in the affirmative; if, however, he refers to British soldiers who have elected permanent service with the Indian Army the answer is in the negative. Such soldiers having voluntarily severed their connection with the British Army can no longer be transferred to the Home Establishment. Applications for compassionate leave to the United Kingdom are, however, given consideration. The position of British soldiers temporarily posted for service with Indian units is under consideration with the Government of India.

asked the Secretary of State for India on how many villages and towns a punitive tax or collective fine has been imposed during the past 18 months; what was the total amount involved in this; and how much has actually been paid?

My latest information does not extend beyond 31st August last, up till when collective fines had been imposed in 1,556 cases. The total amount of the fines was approximately 90 lakhs of rupees, of which 78½ lakhs were collected.

asked the Secretary of State for India whether, in view of the possibility of a recurrence of food shortage in India in the immediate future years and to prevent any sudden strain being thrown on shipping resources, the Government of India has asked neighbouring countries and Colonies within and without the British Commonwealth to co-operate in growing suitable foodstuffs at guaranteed prices, for the purchase of which it will be responsible, so as to admit of stocks being gradually built up and stored in India to meet all reasonable eventualities; and whether, if extra temporary labour is required, the Government of India is prepared to find it?

The nearest territories providing the normal food reserves of India are in enemy occupation and most of the other countries in the Indian Ocean area are affected at least as much as India by less of these potential imports. I doubt therefore whether there is any reasonable prospect of effecting such an arrangement as the Question contemplates.

asked the Secretary of State for India whether, concurrently with the examination of the pension position of officers of the British Army now being undertaken by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, he will examine the possibility of restoring the 9½ per cent. cut made in 1935 in the pensions of British officers who served in the Indian Army?

Any decision by His Majesty's Government regarding the pensionary position of officers of the British Army will be given consideration in regard to the pensions of British officers of the Indian Army.