§ 99. Mr. R. YOUNGasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture if he will state what was the total amount of subsidy paid to the Agricultural Organisation Society during 1919; whether the organising was done by paid organisers or otherwise; what amount of the subsidy for the year was paid as salaries and expenses, respectively; and wlil he say what was the amount of affiliation fees paid during the said year, the number of societies which paid affiliation fees, and the amount per head of the membership the fees paid represent?
Sir A. BOSCAWENDuring the financial year 1919–20 grants paid to the Agricultural Organisation Society from the Development Fund and the Ministry amounted to £45,600. In addition, a loan of £15,000 was issued to the Society from the Development Fund. The organising was done by paid organisers, but a great amount of voluntary assistance was also given. The salaries and expenses of the staff amounted to £27,810 and £9,462 respectively; of these amounts approximately four-fifths were met by the Government grants. The amount of affiliation fees paid during the year was £6,990. The number of societies which paid fees was 1,074. I regret, however, that it will not be possible to state the relation of fees to membership until the complete annual returns of the societies for 1919 have been received.