asked the Secretary of State for War how many people visited the Army Equipment Exhibition each week in London; and how many each week in Manchester; and will he extend the period of the exhibition in Manchester and provide facilities for people employed in the supply industries to visit it.

The London Exhibition ran for three months. The attendance for the first three weeks was 349,083. The Manchester Exhibition was planned for a month and the attendance figure for the first three weeks was 583,379. The Exhibition is scheduled to go on to Glasgow and Cardiff in the course of the summer. As it is very largely in the open air, it must take place when fine weather can reasonably be expected, and an extension of the showing in Manchester would prevent the Exhibition being seen in either Scotland or Wales.

asked the Secretary of State for War if men who have been discharged from the Forces and issued with civilian clothing which has subsequently proved unsatisfactory will be eligible for a fresh issue of the new civilian clothing when supplies are available.

The clothing provided on discharge by the Army is inspected before it is issued. Suits once issued cannot be replaced, but if at the time of issue a complaint is made that it is defective, such complaint is examined and, if justified, remedied.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he is aware that officers entitled to the Africa Star with numeral 8 and who are now serving at home have not, despite applications to his Department through the proper channels, received permission to wear the appropriate ribbon; and, as many of these officers are now about to leave again for overseas, if he will expedite the granting of the necessary permission.

I am not aware of any delay in granting permission to wear the ribbon of the Africa Star in the case of those entitled under the terms of the White Paper Cmd. 6463. I am also not aware of any delay in regard to the Emblem "8", when it is clear that the personnel in question were on the strength of Eighth Army. The entitlement of the personnel of a few units is still being examined, and I hope that a decision will soon be reached. Pending a decision on the wearing of the emblem, such personnel may wear the ribbon of the Star if they are entitled to it.

asked the Secretary of State for War how many casualties have been suffered by British and Indian forces in the Burma campaign.

A statement of the casualties suffered by British and Indian forces in the campaign in Burma is being prepared. It will be published as soon as it can be without giving useful information to the enemy. I am consulting the Supreme Commander about this.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is in a position to give an estimate of the amount of British capital invested in non-Empire countries during the last 50 years and, if so, how much of it can be considered as having been lost.

I am not in a position to give an estimate of the kind asked for by my hon. and gallant Friend, since this would require prolonged and difficult research for which man-power is not at present available.

asked the Minister of Labour if he will reconsider the case, details of which have been submitted to him, of an external student of London University who wishes to continue for another year her studies for an Honours degree in Chemistry, and who is supported in this application by the Joint Recruiting Board of Oxford University.

I should not feel justified in making an exception in the case of this student and have written to my hon. Friend in detail.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he is aware that newspaper-cutting agencies in London are so restricted in staff owing to call-up of personnel that they are threatened with stoppage of their service which is of importance to Members of Parliament and public men; and whether he will reserve a minimum of staff to enable these agencies to carry on.

No, Sir, I am not aware that the position is as stated and I am satisfied that the normal procedure provides sufficient safeguard for the retention of an adequate minimum of staff.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power what action he is taking to secure increased use of low-grade fuels by all industry.

Substitution of lower grade fuels for those normally used by industry generally throughout the country has already been carried out to a considerable extent. Industrial consumers have co-operated admirably in this work, 'and advice and assistance have been given freely by the Ministry's engineers and by members of the voluntary panels of fuel efficiency committees in all parts of the country. The campaign continues, but the field is now somewhat limited due to the shortage of suitable substitutes, to plant conditions and to transports considerations. Arrangements have recently been made, however, for the installation of forced draught furnaces at a number of works, so that a greater range and amount of inferior fuel can be taken without serious difficulty in regard to production.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power the number of persons employed on the staff of the Mines Department of the Board of Trade in the year ended 31st March, 1939, with the salaries paid to each and the total cost of administration of the Department.

The total number of staff employed in the Mines Department at 31st March, 1939, was 518, and the total cost of administration was £217,146 9s. 3d. It would involve a considerable expenditure of man-power to extract details of the salaries paid to each of these 518 persons, but details of salaries paid to each grade of these officials and the numbers in each grade are obtainable from the 1938 Civil Estimates, Class VI, Vote 5, pages 62–70.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer by how much the cost of living, the general level of wage rates and the productivity of labour, per man hour or other convenient unit, at the latest available date exceeded the corresponding figures for the end of 1938, or nearest convenient date; and whether he will state the nearest comparable figures for U.S.A., Canada and Australia.

In the United Kingdom the official cost-of-living index has risen by approximately 29 per cent. since the end of 1938. The average level of hourly rates of wages is estimated by the Ministry of Labour and National Service to have risen by about 44 or 45 per cent. For the other countries named, the latest figures given in official publications are summarised below:

asked the President of the Board of Education whether the new conception of Empire as envisaged by the Statute of Westminster is taught in the senior schools.

Yes, Sir; this is an aspect of the subject which naturally finds its place in the teaching of older children. I am sending the hon. Member a copy of a Memorandum issued to school authorities, which I think will satisfy him on the point.

asked the Minister of Health whether approximate figures are available of the number of persons who are freeholders, leaseholders and members of building societies, respectively.

Statistics are not available of the number of freeholders or leaseholders. Approximately 3,412,000 persons are members of building societies.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether it is intended to reopen recruiting for the W.L.A.

Recruitment for the Women's Land Army was re-opened on 3rd January last, except in certain areas where there is a shortage of workers for other important war industries.

asked the Minister of Agriculture if he is now in a position to announce the future regulations governing the experiment and practice of artificial animal insemination.

I am sending the hon. Member a copy of a Press announcement that was issued last week in which are set out the arrangements governing the future development of artificial insemination of cattle in this country.

asked the Minister of Agriculture the nature of the national service of artificial insemination offered by the Milk Marketing Board; and whether he is adopting the principle of such insemination as part of his livestock programme.

The Milk Marketing Board has offered to organise the establishment of a number of artificial insemination centres in the interests of milk producers. These centres will be established in accordance with the principles outlined in a Press announcement issued last week, a copy of which I am sending to my hon. and gallant Friend, and the issue of licences for any such centres will be subject to consideration by a Central Advisory Committee which is being appointed for this and other purposes connected with the development of the practice of artificial insemination. As regards the second part of the Question; I hope that artificial insemination will provide one of the methods of securing improved breeding of livestock in this country.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will publish a list of all whole-time or part-time appointments which are made on his nomination from outside the Civil Service or on which he must be consulted.

Those appointments in the Colonial Office which may be filled otherwise than through the machinery employed for the Civil Service generally fall into two classes. The first are those which require a special knowledge and experience of the different problems affecting the Colonial Empire, and which are filled by officers who have served for considerable periods in overseas territories, or who are eminent in their own fields. These include the appointments of Agricultural Adviser and his assistant, Adviser on Animal Health, Air Transport Adviser, Business Adviser, Adviser on Demography, Educational Adviser and Assistant Educational Adviser, Labour Adviser and Medical Adviser, as well as the temporary appointment held by Lord Hailey. Other appointments of a similar character may be made from outside the Civil Service. The second class is that of a number of officers of the Colonial Service who are temporarily appointed or seconded from time to time, usually for limited periods, to administrative posts in the Colonial Office. I am not sure whether my hon. Friend includes in his Question appointments to posts in the Colonial Service overseas for which I am responsible. Such appointments are fully described in recruitment pamphlets published by the Colonial Office.

asked the Minister of Information if he has considered the May issue of "The Vanguard," a copy of which has been forwarded to him, its claim to be read in every English speaking country, its offensive references to the U.S.A. and its statement that it is supplied to a public library in New York; and if, in view of the fact that this periodical specialises in fomenting racial and religious intolerance, mistrust between the Allies and opposition to the war effort, he will withdraw its export licence.

Last August the Government decided to withdraw all existing export bans imposed for reasons other than military security. The decision was welcomed by many people as ending a policy only appropriate to the extreme crisis of 1940. I am unwilling to apply this policy again merely in order to deal with a periodical which, though scurrilous and anti-semitic, is certainly of very little consequence.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in view of the fact that Section 38 (2) of the Finance Bill acknowledges the injustice created by the Finance Act, 1940, he will now undertake to make the new concession in respect of the excess of payments over benefits derived from property transferred retrospective to the date when the corresponding Section of the 1940 Finance Act came into operation.

If my hon. Friend cares to put down an Amendment to this effect for the Report stage of the Finance Bill I will give the matter consideration.

asked the Lord Advocate whether he can now state the result of his investigation into the deductions in wages supplied to the staffs of the Aberdeen British Restaurants and School Dining Schemes; and what action he proposes to take.

A complaint about these deductions from wages was made to me, and on inquiry I found that the deductions had already ceased. In my opinion it was not clear that any offence had been committed. In view of this and of the cessation of the practice complained of, I decided not to prosecute.