§ 65. Colonel WOODCOCKasked the Minister of Labour whether the £4,000 expended by the British Government as a gift to embellish the new building of the International Labour Office at Geneva has been expended; and the precise form upon which this special gift of money was spent?
§ Mr. BETTERTONYes, Sir. The money was spent upon the "decoration and furnishing of the room set apart for meetings of the governing body." I should add that the timber used in this work was presented by the Government of India.
§ Mr. WEDGWOOD BENNHave the Government any sympathy with this campaign against the International Labour Office?
§ 63. Colonel WOODCOCKasked the Minister of Labour what countries are still in arrears with their annual contributions to the International Labour Department; and what are the amounts in each case?
§ Mr. BETTERTONAs the reply contains a Table of figures, I will, if I may, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Colonel WOODCOCKIs any country more than one year in arrear, and have they full voting rights at the Conference?
§ Mr. BETTERTONSome of these countries are more than one year in arrear. I must ask for notice of the second supplementary question.
§ Colonel WOODCOCKCan they have proper voting powers?
§ Mr. BETTERTONThat is the question which I must ask my hon. and gallant Friend to put down.
§ Following is the Table:
§ The amounts outstanding on 31st August, 192S in respect of sums due to the International Labour Organisation from States members up to 31st December, 1927, were as follow:
| Gold Francs. | |||
| Bolivia | … | … | 168,414.86 |
| China | … | … | 2,097,931.92 |
| *Guatemala | … | … | 3,116.86 |
| Honduras | … | … | 53,815.67 |
| Liberia | … | … | 23,148.20 |
| Nicaragua | … | … | 53,815.67 |
| *Paraguay | … | … | 18,109.58 |
| Peru | … | … | 502,910.56 |
| *Salvador | … | … | 7,380.91 |
| *In these cases part payment had been made. |
§ 64. Colonel WOODCOCKasked the Minister of Labour the total expenses of the International Labour Office for the years 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926 and 1927, and the estimated expenses for the present year?
§ Mr. BETTERTONAs the reply contains a number of figures, I will, if I may, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Following is the reply:
§ The figures of expenditure for the International Labour Office were in
| Swiss Francs. | |||||
| 1923 | … | … | … | … | 7,275,832 |
| 1924 | … | … | … | … | 6,670,630 |
| 1925 | … | … | … | … | 7,070,280 |
| 1926 | … | … | … | … | 7,026,230 |
| 1927 | … | … | … | … | 7,659,399 |
§ The estimates for 1928 amounted to 7,958,470.