asked the Secretary of State for Air upon whom rests the responsibility of deciding what future use, whether temporary or otherwise, should be made at the conclusion of hostilities, with Germany of the land and buildings at present occupied by units of the U.S.A.A.F. in this country.

Land and buildings in occupation by the U.S.A.A.F. are either the property of or are held on requisition by the Air Ministry. It will accordingly fall to the Secretary of State for Air in association, as necessary, with other Ministers concerned, to decide what further use shall be made of any land and buildings no longer required by the American Air Forces.

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether men and women in the R.A.F. receive pay while in hospital suffering from illness or accident; and whether the allowance to dependant relatives is continued during such times.

Provided that the man or woman remains in the Service, entitlement to pay continues. Where the disability is due to the patient's own fault, certain small deductions are, however, made after 30 days. With the consent of the medical officer cash advances are made to meet current needs, the balance of pay remaining to the credit of the patient. The answer to the second part of the Question is "Yes, Sir."

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether his attention has been called to the new pensions decree in Argentina, confiscating part of the pensions of those British subjects who do not continue to reside in the country; and whether, as such a decree impedes British trade, he will take account of it in future trade arrangements with Argentina.

Yes, Sir. His Majesty's Chargé d'Affaires at Buenos Aires is being instructed to draw the attention of the Argentine authorities to the hardship which may be caused by this measure to British subjects who have served Argentina. It would be premature to make any pronouncement on the bearing of this question on future trade with Argentina.

asked the Minister of Food whether, in view of the fact that the grocery trade are making arrangements for compensation for those of their members whose customers have been lost through evacuation or enemy action, he will take steps to facilitate similar arrangements in the dairy trade.

I have offered to provide the dairy trade with information which would enable them to frame their own compensation scheme, but they have not so far taken advantage of my offer.

asked the Minister of Food what steps he is taking with the dairy trade to facilitate the installation of adequate heat treatment plant for milk.

Discussions are at present taking place with representatives of the milk distributive trade regarding the measures necessary, including the provision of the plant required, to implement the Government's policy of providing better milk.

asked the Secretary of State for War why the Africa. Star has not been issued to prisoners of war now in Germany; and, in view of the disappointment this has caused, will he amend existing instructions so as to enable it to be sent to the prisoners of war who are entitled to it.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave the hon. Member for Linlithgow (Mr. Mathers) on 23rd May, to which I have at present nothing to add.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what amount of the National Debt as at 31st March, 1939 and 1944, was held by Government Departments of all kinds; and whether this information in aggregate form could be made available each year in future as it was in the years prior to the war of 1914–18.

In reply to the first part of the Question the figures are:On 31st March, 1939—£630 millions. On 31st March, 1943—£1,927 millions.Particulars of holdings on 31st March, 1944, have not yet been compiled.These figures consist of the nominal amount of holdings by Government Departments of the British Government Securities (including Ways and Means Advances) comprised in the National Debt. Holdings of Local Loans Stock, Redemption Stock and securities guaranteed by the Government of the United

Kingdom, are excluded. The figures do not include the holdings of the Issue Department of the Bank of England or those of the following Government Departments and public offices:

asked the Secretary of State for War what arrangements are made for repatriating our wounded in the campaign in Italy.

All wounded unlikely to be fit to return to duty within three months are evacuated to the United Kingdom in hospital ships.

asked the Postmaster-General if he is aware of the serious delays in postal deliveries which are taking place at the present time; and whether Post Office staffs in Southern England carry on with their duties during an alert in the same way as the general public.

Yes, Sir, I am aware of the existence of some delay. Post Office staffs are carrying on with their duties during alerts.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what proposals have recently been made to the Buganda Government to amend Clause 15 of the 1900 Agreement, to enable the Protectorate Government compulsorily to acquire African-owned freehold land; and for what purpose such land is required.

The Governor recently proposed an amendment to the Uganda Agreement of 1900 whereby the interpretation of the term "other useful public works"for which the Protectorate Government is entitled to expropriate land under Clause 15 should be extended to cover land required for public purposes generaly. The object of the proposal was to enable the Government to acquire a site for a Central Cotton Research Station and also additional land for Makerere College.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether steps are being taken in West Africa to implement the recommendations of the Cocoa Commission Report; and what is the Government policy in the matter.

Consideration is being given to the framing of a long-term policy for the West Africa cocoa industry, and the recommendations in the Cocoa Commission Report will be fully taken into account. I am not yet in a position, however, to make any statement.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what Dependencies have Co-operative Departments; where Co-operative Registrars have been appointed and Co-operative Ordinances enacted; and what general policy is being followed to extend co-operation among producers and consumers throughout the Colonial Empire.

Co-operative Departments exist in Nigeria, Trinidad, Ceylon, Cyprus and Palestine. Co-operative questions are dealt with by a special section of the Department of Agriculture in the Gold Coast and Mauritius. Co-operative Registrars have been appointed in Nigeria, the Gold Coast, Trinidad, Ceylon, Mauritius, Cyprus and Palestine. A Registrar of Co-operative Credit Banks has been appointed in British Guiana. A Co-operative Registrar is about to be appointed in Malta. Co-operative Ordinances have been enacted in Nigeria, the Gold Coast, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Tan- ganyika, Northern Rhodesia, Trinidad, Ceylon, Mauritius, Cyprus, Palestine and in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands. St. Helena and the Seychelles have laws dealing with Co-operative Credit Societies and the Friendly Societies Ordinances of St. Lucia and Grenada include specific provision for Co-operative Societies. Measures to stimulate the growth of cooperation in the Colonies are in the first place a matter for the Governments concerned and it will be appreciated that local circumstances and conditions vary considerably. I am, however, giving consideration at the present time to the sending out of some general advice on the subject.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport whether he will publish the correspondence between the Minister of War Transport and Sir Ronald Matthews, referred to in the published letter, dated 16th June, 1944, from the Minister to the chairman of the Railway Companies Association or such portion of the correspondence as deals exclusively with finance.

For the reason which I gave to my hon. Friend last December, and again in March, my Noble Friend is not prepared to publish the correspondence in question. To issue part of it might be unfair to the parties and I do not think that it would be a practical course to make a limited selection of extracts from the correspondence and records of the discussions which constituted the negotiations leading up to the Agreement.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport whether he can state the net receipts of the railways for the years 1941, 1942 and 1943 respectively; and the amount accruing to the Government during the same period.

My hon. Friend will find the information for which he asks in Cmd. Papers 6349, 6436 and 6512.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport what steps have been taken to deal with the number of fatal accidents, due to military traffic, that have taken place on the South Wales main road between Gloucester and Chepstow.

The military authorities are doing all they can to ensure that further accidents do not occur, and special military police patrols have been established. Four additional warning signs are being erected on the road at points where it is considered that they would be of value.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs whether he can describe the nature of arrangements in force to ensure a speedy and uninterrupted distribution of an ample quantity of British books, magazines and newspapers in the Commonwealth of Australia; and what is the average length of time before British newspapers arrive in that Dominion.

The despatch of books, magazines and newspapers from the United Kingdom to Australia has continued during the war to be handled through normal commercial channels. Requirements for such exports have so far as practicable been taken into account in the arrangements made as regards paper supplies. The average time taken during the past six months for sea mails from this country to reach Australia has been 57 days.