asked the Minister of Agriculture the numbers of workers, male and female separately, employed in agricultural production in the year 1938–39 and the numbers employed at the latest available date.

The total number of persons employed, regular and casual, recorded in the June Agricultural Returns for England and Wales amounted to 526,094 males and 67,029 females in 1938 and 534,107 males and 73,022 females in 1939. These figures do not include farmers, smallholders and their wives, domestic servants and children still at school. With regard to more recent figures I would refer the hon. Member to my reply on 3rd November to my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Howdenshire (Colonel Carver).

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he is aware that his officials have been urging Norfolk farmers to lift potatoes and sugar-beet early in order to get wheat sown for next year, but that the labour available for this purpose is quite inadequate; and what steps he is taking to remedy the position.

I am aware that unfavourable weather and an inadequate supply of labour have made it difficult to complete the early lifting of potatoes and sugar beet. Everything possible is being done to provide supplementary labour in those counties, including Norfolk, in which the problem is most serious, and many thousands of prisoners of war have been moved into those areas.

asked the Lord President of the Council what is the present annual expenditure on agricultural research in Great Britain and under what headings it is subdivided.

The estimated expenditure on agricultural research in Great Britain for the current financial year is about £670,500, sub-divided as follows:

Agricultural Research Council	£
Research grants	155,000
Field Station	*48,500
Administration	18,500
	222,000
Research Institutes, etc,	†409,000
Research scholarships and studentships	500
Miscellaneous researches	39,000
Total	‡670,500
*(Including £20,400 capital.)
†(Including £5,200 capital.)
‡(Including £25,600 capital.)

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether any nonofficial Europeans on the Legislative Councils in Zanzibar, Nyasaland, Uganda and Tanganyika are nominated solely by the respective governors; whether any system of election of such members exists in any of these possessions; whether the governors invite names from representative bodies before making nominations; and whether he will review the existing arrangements and bring them more up to date.

Non-official European members are nominated by the Governors in all the places mentioned except Zanzibar, where they are appointed by the Sultan upon the advice of the British Resident. The answer to the second and third parts of the Question is in the negative, with the exception of Nyasaland, where the Convention of Associations is invited to submit names. With regard to the last part of the Question, I have the existing arrangements under constant review.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies the number of conscripted workers in Tanganyika compared with those in 1943; whether he is aware of the criticism of labour conditions contained in the 1943 Labour Department Report; and what action is being taken to deal with this.

The number of conscripted workers at the end of July was 20,214. The number in 1943, up to the end of August, had not at any time exceeded 7,000. I have seen the report for 1943 of the Tanganyika Labour Department, and my Labour Adviser is now in consultation in Tanganyika with the Governor with a view to considering what further measures can be taken in present circumstances for the improvement of labour conditions.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies, to what extent tuberculosis has spread in recent years in Nigeria; to what extent there is a lack of medical practitioners and other suitably qualified persons to deal with it; whether it is practicable to furnish those medical practitioners with other means of locomotion than cycles; and what action is being taken adequately to deal with tuberculosis, pneumonia and venereal disease now and after the war.

Detailed statistics of the incidence of tuberculosis in Nigeria as a whole are not available, but it is recognised that the position gives cause for concern. Facilities for the treatment of tuberculosis, and, indeed, medical facilities as a whole, obviously need to be widely extended, but the expansion of the activities of the Medical Department has inevitably been limited during the war by the staff shortage, which has been accentuated by releases for military service, by invalidings and by recruitment difficulties. Government Medical Officers provide their own transport but are eligible for assistance in the form of an advance of salary towards the purchase of motor vehicles. Maintenance and mileage allowances are paid. I am not aware of any difficulties. As an essential preliminary towards preparing a comprehensive tuberculosis prevention scheme the Nigerian Government has made provision for the establishment of a Tuberculosis Investigation and Survey Unit under the charge of a Tuberculosis Officer. The Unit will include a mobile mass radiography section. The survey will start as soon as staff and equipment can be obtained and, when it has been completed, it will be possible to prepare for the needs of the country as a whole. Steps are also being taken to appoint a Venereologist to take charge of a campaign against venereal disease. Venereal disease clinics will be opened in Lagos and elsewhere as soon as facilities are available. Meanwhile, treatment for tuberculosis, venereal disease and pneumonia is available to the public at existing hospitals and clinics, and the hon. Member may rest assured that the expansion of general medical facilities will form an important part of the post-war development programme.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Economic Warfare whether any representations have been made to His Majesty's Government regarding the extreme shortage of food, clothing and medical supplies in Yugoslavia due to the war; and whether the Allied authorities are now making any shipments of supplies to meet the pressing needs of the civil population.

His Majesty's Government have received a number of representations on this subject, and have on several occasions permitted medical supplies to be sent to Yugoslavia while still in enemy occupation. As regards the general question of relief other than medical supplies to enemy-occupied areas I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer which I gave on 11th October to my hon. Friend the Member for Moss Side (Mr. W. R. Duckworth). Provision has been made for sending supplies to those parts of Yugoslavia which have been or are being liberated.

asked the Attorney-General if he is aware that foreign and Dominion Government representatives, temporarily established in this country, whose nationals have caused loss of life and property to British citizens, are taking refuge behind our law and refusing compensation and ex gratia payments; and whether he will take steps to alter the law and enable British citizens to obtain redress.

Claims by British citizens arising out of traffic accidents and other incidents to which members of Dominion and Allied Forces were parties are, so far as I am aware, dealt with by the Dominion or Allied Government in substantially the same way as claims against the Crown in parallel circumstances, as to which I would refer to the answer which I gave on this subject to the hon. Member for Tamworth (Sir J. Mellor) on 13th April, 1942. In the case of some of the Dominion and Allied Governments, arrangements are in force for such claims to be assessed by the British Claims Commission, and the assessment is accepted by the Governments concerned. In the circumstances I do not think that any amendment of the existing law or practice is required.

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether he will consider making retrospective to men who have served since January, 1943, in the Far East theatre of war, the increased payment being made to Service men in this theatre from the 1st November, 1944; and whether flying in the Australian area will be regarded as operational, especially in view of its onerous nature.

I cannot undertake to consider the suggestion in the first part of my hon. Friend's Question. The decision to introduce Japanese Campaign Pay and Far Eastern Allowance with effect from 1st November, 1944, was taken after full consideration by His Majesty's Government. The answer to the second part of the Question is that flying in operations against the enemy Australian area is regarded as operational flying.

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether cases of encephalitis or myelitis, following vaccination in men or women in the R.A.F., are reported by his officers to the Ministry of Health.

Fatal cases of post-vaccinal encephalitis and myelitis in the R.A.F. and the W.A.A.F. are reported to the Ministry of Health.

asked the Minister of Food whether, in view of the partial failure of the honey harvest, he will consider removing the controlled price so as to enable the producers to carry on.

No, Sir. The present maximum prices take full account of seasonal variations in yield. I am satisfied that they are fair to producers.

asked the Minister of Food the number of persons receiving free milk in the week ended 1st July, 5th August, 2nd September and 7th October, 1944.

Recipients of free milk include a number of schoolchildren. The number of these could only be obtained by inquiry of every local authority. I regret, therefore, that I am unable to give my hon. Friend the information for which he asks.

asked the Minister of Food if he is aware that while the Yorkshire area has had a recent allocation of eating apples, the Northumberland area, including Newcastle-upon-Tyne, is without dessert apples of any description and has only very limited supplies of inferior Irish cookers available; and what steps he intends to take to ensure better distribution of applies in this area, which has had little fruit this year.

The distribution of imported apples is determined by the port of arrival. I hope that shipping arrangements will permit the Northern area to receive a supply shortly, probably immediately following the present distribution of oranges in that area.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs why the British Government have offered opposition to the formation of a Regency Council to act in Greece for the King of Greece until his return to that country.

His Majesty's Government have not opposed the formation of a Regency Council in Greece, which they regard as a matter to be settled between the King of Greece and the Greek Government.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what progress has been made with the deliverance of the Jewish community in Hungary; and whether the willingness of Admiral Horthy's Government to grant exit permits to any Jew who can show a visa to Palestine and to any Jewish child under 10 years of age for whom entry can be secured to any of the Allied countries is being implemented by the present régime in Hungary and the United Nations respectively.

His Majesty's Government stand by the terms of the joint Anglo United States Declaration of 17th August last, by which the offer of the Horthy Government to which my hon. Friend refers was accepted. Whilst I regret that I cannot as yet report any progress, I can assure my hon. Friend that no opportunity has been or will be overlooked of achieving the purpose mentioned in the first part of the Question.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he is yet in a position to make any statement in regard to the position in Hungary.

No, Sir. I should prefer to await the outcome of the important battles in which our Soviet Allies are now engaged on Hungarian soil.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what is the nature of our present relations with Italy; and how far Fascist political organisations have been liquidated and Fascist economic organisations controlled.

I would invite the hon. Member's attention to the joint statement issued by the Prime Minister and President Roosevelt after the Quebec Conference, to which I would add only this. As announced on 26th October, direct relations between His Majesty's Government and the Italian Government have been established in accordance with that statement, and Sir Noel Charles, the United Kingdom High Commissioner in Italy, has been given the personal rank of Ambassador. Count Nicolo Carandini has been appointed Italian representative in London and will shortly take up his duties. All Fascist political organisations known to the Allied authorities in liberated Italy have been liquidated. Every effort is being made to obtain information regarding underground Fascist political organisations and these are being liquidated as soon as they are discovered. The principle of destroying organisations peculiar to the Fascist system of government has been applied equally to the economic organisations of Italy. Thus the Italian Ministry of Corporations, which virtually controlled Italian industry and commerce, now no longer exists.

asked the Minister of Information whether the new postcard arrangement, just introduced to enable people in this country to communicate with residents in France, can deal with business matters in addition to personal inquiries.

As the Noble Lady will no doubt have seen from the announcement in the Press, the wish expressed in her Question has now been fulfilled.

asked the Minister of Information what steps he is taking to ensure an adequate supply of English newspapers to Paris.

The Ministry is supplying the Embassy in Paris with copies of British dailies, weeklies, monthlies and quarterlies for free distribution. This problem can only be solved satisfactorily by the resumption of commercial distribution, for which it is hoped to make arrangements shortly.

asked the Minister of Information why envelopes adapted for reuse by means of an economy label may not be sent to Northern Ireland although they may be sent to the U.S.A. and other foreign countries.

There are security reasons why letters addressed to Northern Ireland should be treated by the Censorship in the same way as those addressed to Eire. And if used envelopes were not forbidden, extra examiners would have to be employed to ensure that messages were not concealed under the gummed labels.

asked the Minister of Information whether he will consult with the Governors of the B.B.C. so that backbench Members of Parliament, in proportion to party strength, should be invited to give a five-minutes talk once weekly on a current subject of that week's discussion in Parliament.

I will ask the Governors of the B.B C. to consider my hon. and gallant Friend's suggestion together with the one made last week for a fuller Parliamentary summary.

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether he will now revise the restrictions which his Department has imposed upon the transmission of wireless programmes by the B.B.C., to enable the inhabitants of the Boston areas to secure satisfactory wireless reception.

Certain restrictions have already been removed and the process will continue as the situation permits. I understand from my right hon. Friend the Minister of Information that the improvement of wireless reception in this area involves other factors in addition to the restrictions referred to, but the hon. Member may be assured that the question is not being overlooked.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty if he will now grant licences to suitable persons to sail on the Solent.

No, Sir, but the question will be reviewed before next season.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty the rates of pay of commissioned officers in the medical and instructional branches on entry and on promotion to lieutenant-commander, commander and captain's rank; and also the pay of chaplains on entry and after eight, 12 and 16 years' service.

The daily rates of pay of these officers are as follows:

	Medical officers			Instructor Officers.
	£	s.	d.	£	s.	d.
Lieutenant on entry	1	4	0	1	7	6
Lieut.-Cdr. on promotion	1	9	8	1	5	2
Commander on promotion	1	18	8	1	14	2
Captain on promotion	2	16	10	2	7	10

			Chaplains.
			£	s.	d.
On entry	…	…		18	2
After eight years	…	…	1	4	2
After twelve years	…	…	1	9	8
After sixteen years	…	…	1	12	4

Full particulars are contained in the Appendix to the Navy List.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty if he will state in tabular form the basic rates of pay of officers of the three Services fixed in 1919, as for lieutenants, lieut.-commanders, commanders and captains on promotion, with the corresponding ranks of the other Services.

The standard rates of pay fixed in 1919 for Executive Officers for the Royal Navy were as follow:

		£	s.	d.
		a day.
Lieutenant on promotion	…		17	0
Lieut.-Commander on promotion	…	1	10	0
Commander on promotion	…	2	0	0
Captain on promotion	…	3	0	0

Twenty per cent. of the standard rates was subject to change according to varia- tions in the cost of living. My hon. and gallant Friend should obtain information about the 1919 practice of the other Services from the respective Departments.

asked the Minister of Supply why the paper control instructed Combined Products, Limited, that the order which they had received from the French Buying Commission for 7,000 gross of exercise books for French schools had to be placed in the U.S.A. instead of in this country.

The Paper Control, acting in accordance with the advice of the Board of Trade as to the best use of the limited supplies available for export, informed the printers that the paper supply position did not allow this order for Madagascar to be accepted. In these circumstances, the only likely source of supply was the United States of America.

asked the Minister of Supply what quantity of rubber was allotted in the last twelve months for the manufacture of babies' teats; and what increase was allotted over the previous twelve months.

In accordance with the requirements intimated by my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade, the releases of rubber for this purpose have recently been increased, and will bring the total output of babies' teats this year up to 11,500,000, as compared with 7,500,000 in 1943.

asked the Prime Minister whether his pledge, made on behalf of His Majesty's Government on 13th October, 1943, regarding the introduction of controversial legislation still holds good.

Yes, Sir. But the word "controversial" is susceptible to individual interpretations.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport the number of persons killed and injured in road accidents in Scotland from the outbreak of war to the latest available date.

From September, 1939, to September, 1944, inclusive, 5,002 persons were killed in road accidents in Scotland. Statistics of non-fatal accidents are not available from the beginning of the war until April, 1941, but since that date and up to the end of September, 1944, 49,536 persons were injured.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport if Green Line local coach services will be restored in the near future; and if he can give a date for their resumption.

I regret that, owing to the limitation of resources due to war conditions, I cannot now say when the Green Line coach services are likely to be restored.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will circulate in the OFFICIAL REPORT the conclusions of the recent Conference of Arab States held in Alexandria.

The text of the Protocol is somewhat long, and I am therefore arranging for a translation of it to be put in the Library of the House.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he can make a statement of the Government's policy regarding the pottery industry, having particularly in mind the development of the country's export trade and the contribution in that connection the pottery industry can make.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply which I gave yesterday to my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke (Mr. Ellis Smith).

asked the Minister of Labour if he has any announcement to make in connection with the threatened strike of aircraft workers at Messrs. A. V. Roe's North-western factories.

The questions in dispute are still under discussion by the parties to the joint negotiating machinery in the engineering industry and in the circumstances I have no statement to make.