asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the amount of duty collected on surgical instruments and appliances; dental, surgical and medical and veterinary instruments and appliances; photographic cameras; cinematograph and projection apparatus, including magic lanterns; sensitised photographic paper; sensitised photographic plates and films; cinematograph films; other photographic and cinematograph appliances; optical instruments and appliances; lenses, prisms, etc., optically worked, mounted, or unmounted, including those imported with complete instruments; bodies for telescopes, microscopes, and other instruments for holding lenses; other scientific instruments and appliances, precision balances, gauges, mathematical instruments, slide rules, calculating discs, and cylinders; electrical goods and apparatus; electrical instruments, other than telegraphic and telephone, scientific instruments; electro-medical apparatus and X-ray tubes, wireless valves, and vacuum tubes, for the six months ending March?

The information is as follows:

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he can give any information as to the research which the University of London is conducting into the phonetic analysis of the languages of the British Empire; what results have so far been achieved; and whether he can take any steps to facilitate the extension of this branch of study?

A Department of Phonetics is maintained at University College, London University and the details of the courses provided and the facilities for research work are set out in the University Calendar for 1921–22. Special research courses are provided in Urdu, Bengali, Singhalese, Cantonese, Arabic, Sechuana, and a number of other Asiatic and African languages of the British Empire. The investigations in some cases have revealed new and important points of grammar and meaning and some of the results have been published by the London University Press and the Manchester University Press. An annual grant of £2,000 is made from the Universities and Colleges Vote, specially earmarked in aid of this Department in addition to the block grant to the college. The School of Oriental Languages which is another grant-aided school of London University also offers a variety of facilities for phonetic research in Oriental languages and information as to these is given in the published report and prospectus of the school.

asked the Secretary for Scotland when the Scottish Education Act, 1918, abolished secondary education committees in Scotland and transferred their duties to the newly-created education authorities and pensioned off the clerks to the old committees, who framed the pensions regulations and had they to receive Government approval; how many such clerks were pensioned; how long had each served; how much are their pensions; and had the clerks, or any of them, and, if so, how many, asked for pensions?

As regards the first part of the question, I would refer my bon. Friend to the Fourth Schedule to the Education (Scotland) Act, 1918, and in particular to Section 11 thereof. The information asked for in the second part of the question could only be obtained by calling for a special Return, which I feel would hardly justify the time and labour involved.

asked the Secretary of State for War what steps have been taken to enable the Imperial War Graves Commission to take, or to make arrangements to have taken, photographs of War graves, and so to alleviate the distress of those relatives who, for financial reasons, are unable to make their own arrangements for securing these mementoes of their dead?

Steps are being taken to arrange a contract to take these photographs, and they will be sent to the relatives in due course.

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether his attention has been called to a letter, dated 18th January, 1922, issued from the recruiting depot at Bristol and signed by Flying-officer S. Barnes, of the Royal Air Force, in which it is definitely stated and declared that vaccination is compulsory upon enlistment and every seven years afterwards; and, seeing that such is contradictory to previous statements, will he now declare what is the position adopted by his Department on the subject of vaccination and its compulsory application?

Owing to the closing of the Bristol Recruiting Depot on 25th March last and the destruction (to avoid transport expense) of all routine correspondence, no office copy of the letter referred to is available, and I would be obliged if the hon. Member would send me the letter or a copy. The Recruiting Officer cannot remember having signed such a letter. The position in regard to vaccination is as stated in my reply to the hon. Member for the Leek Division of Stafford on 9th May.

asked the Minister of Health whether the Government have any information confirming the report that 50,000 houses have been built in New York city during a period of 12 months by private enterprise, largely due to the fact that new houses are exempted from rates and taxes for a period of 10 years after completion; and whether, if this information be correct, the Ministry of Health will obtain a full report from the British Embassy in Washington, and, if possible, consider the possibility of introducing a similar scheme into this country?

I am informed that plans were made for the building of some 48,000 dwellings in New York in the year 1921, but I am not aware how far the plans are being carried out. I have obtained various reports in accordance with promises which I made in reply to hon. Members, but these reports do not enable me to judge whether exemption from rates and taxes is the most important factor in encouraging these housing plans. The introduction of any such system of exemption raises many more questions of great difficulty, and I am doubtful whether, if these could be overcome, it would sufficiently stimulate the building industry. It would, in any case, require legislation.

asked the Minister of Health if the Nottingham Corporation have received tenders for building a number of houses of the non-parlour type at a cost of £350 per house, which includes the cost of land and making of roads, and which contain a living room, scullery, three bedrooms, in excess of the Government standard, and a bath room, lavatory, and coal house; whether he will give encouragement to the various local authorities in the different parts of the. country to build houses of a similar type at the same cost; and whether the Government would be prepared to advise the Loans Commissioner to advance money for such a purpose at the lowest possible rate of interest?

I am gratified to note that the Nottingham Corporation have succeeded in obtaining tenders at the figure mentioned, and I am not un- hopeful that still lower prices will be obtained. I shall be happy to entertain proposals from local authorities for building houses at low cost on their own responsibility, and where a local authority is unable to raise the necessary loans from other sources I will consider the question of recommending advances by the Public Works Loan Commissioners.

asked the Minister of Health whether, in view of the doubts as to the efficacy of vaccination which have been raised by the outbreak of small-pox which occurred in the Philippine Islands during the years 1918 and 1919, he will cause special inquiries to be made as to the circumstances attending the outbreak and as to the reasons why vaccination failed to protect the population from this outbreak?

I have given my hon. Friend all the data in my possession on this matter. I recognise that they are not complete and before considering the desirability of making further inquiry I propose to await the Official Report for 1921.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that the criminal lunatic asylum situated at Rampton, in the East Retford Union, has recently been changed into a State institution for mental defectives, who are gathered from all parts of the country; that if and so soon as a mental defective becomes a lunatic he is removed to the Notts County Asylum as a pauper lunatic and is made chargeable to the Retford Union, at a cost of about 28s. per week in each case; and that in such cases the guardians can only escape such payment by themselves proving the legal settlement of the lunatic and his chargeability to some other union; and whether, in order to remedy this injustice to the Retford Guardians, he will direct that in future the pauper lunatics who are removed from the Rampton Asylum shall be either maintained at the cost of the Department which is responsible for the asylum or else that the expense of dis- covering and proving the legal settlement of the lunatic shall in future be undertaken by the Department?

I am aware of this difficulty, but it could only be met by legislation, and I am afraid that, in the absence of such legislation, the suggestions of my hon. and learned Friend cannot be adopted.

asked the Minister of Health whether he would consider a provision in the proposed Smoke and Noxious Vapours Abatement Bill, to be introduced in another place, by which the numerous small back premises, such as garages, can be compelled by local authorities to carry their chimneys up to the top of the main buildings to which they belong, so that the smoke can be better carried away and a better combustion obtained?

I am advised that local authorities already have power to deal with this matter, if they make use of Section 24 of the Public Health Acts Amendment Act, 1907.

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware that the county borough of West Ham have relief works on a farm colony at South Ockenden, which provides for three months' relief work and aggregates 2,673 days' work and maintenance; that men assisting under the scheme are those who have no unemployment pay or income from any other source; that this scheme gives these men the opportunity of earning what they receive, namely, maintenance of the colony on a small weekly wage; that the Committee's available funds are now exhausted; and if he will recommend to the Government to make a grant to the farm colony in questions so as to prevent the men having to apply for Poor Law relief?

I am aware that the arrangement made between the West Ham Guardians and the West Ham Distress Committee with regard to the use of the South Ockenden Farm Colony has been of great assistance to the guardians, and I understand that negotiations are proceeding locally with a view to the future financing of the arrangement. I regret that there are no funds available out of which a grant such as is suggested could be made.

asked the Prime Minister if any further consideration has been given to the scheme prepared by Sir Eric Geddes for the utilisation of the waters of the Severn river for the generation of electrical power; and whether, in view of the widespread unemployment and the possibilities of economy of costs in this scheme, the Government are prepared to sanction its construction?

I have been asked to reply. I would remind the hon. Member that the Water Power Resources Committee considered the subject of tidal power and expressed the view that the technical information available in regard to the possibility of utilising the tides in the Severn for the generation of power was not sufficiently precise to enable them to express a final opinion. The Committee recommended that a Technical Commission should be set up by the Board of Trade in consultation with the Ministry of Transport to investigate the possibility from a commercial standpoint with special reference to the Severn Estuary. Owing to the financial position and the necessity for drastically curtailing the expenditure of Government Departments, it has not been practicable to set up the proposed commission.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport whether the North Devon and Cornwall Junction Light Railway Company has fulfilled the conditions laid down by the Government; whether the Government has now made a grant to assist in the construction of the Torrington and Halwill Light Railway; whether the contract for the works has been executed; when the contractors will be able to start work on the railway; and whether he will use his influence to expedite the opening of this work in order to ease the unemployment situation in this area?

I regret the delay in starting work on this railway, but I am informed by the Company that their negotiations with contractors are still being actively pursued, and that they hope to fulfill the Government conditions. I fully appreciate the urgency of the scheme as a measure for the relief of unemployment, and hope that it may be possible to commence work very shortly.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether he is now in a position to name the members of the Financial Committee which is to make inquiry into the Report on the Finances of India under the chairmanship of Lord Inchcape; and on what date is it expected such Committee will begin its work?

I hope to be in a position to announce the names of the members of the Committee at an early date. As stated in the recentcom muniqué, Lord Inchcape will proceed to India in the autumn to preside over the inquiry; meanwhile preliminary work is being taken in hand in India with a view to assisting the Committees' investigation.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the draft amending ordinance to the forced labour ordinance in East Africa has now been received by the Colonial Office; and whether, before receiving the approval of the Secretary of State, this will be laid upon the Table of the House?

The draft amending ordinance has not yet been received; but I am expecting it by an early mail. I shall be happy to place a copy of the ordinance, as and when finally approved by the Secretary of State, in the Library of the House.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he has yet received the despatch from the Governor concerning the alleged shooting down of natives of Nairobi before any hostile act against the police was made; and whether at any time a single policeman, soldier, or white man, was in any way injured by those who were demanding the release of Harry Thuku?

I have received the despatch from the Governor, and papers including the despatch will be laid this week.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many British children under 16 years of age have been permitted to leave home ports as emigrants for Overseas Dominions by the Government during the four months ending 30th April; and how many children under two years of age of British birth have been allowed to be sent to British Overseas Dominions or foreign countries during that period?

I am obtaining the information asked for by the hon. Member and will communicate the figures to him as soon as possible.

asked the Minister of Pensions how many women are employed in his Department who are not dependent on their wages for their livelihood?

During the past 18 months 4,000 temporary female employés have been discharged, and those remaining have made a declaration, which has been verified wherever it was deemed desirable, that it is necessary for them to continue in employment. In determining the order in which the women should be disbanded and in investigating individual cases, the question of private means was one of the first considerations.

asked the Minister of Agriculture if the monthly journal of the Ministry pays its way?

There was a.mall loss for the whole of the financial year 1921–2. During the latter half of the year, however, the journal was self-supporting, and it is anticipated that this position will be maintained. I should add that I regard the journal as one of the Ministry's main educational activities and as a necessary means of giving publicity to work of all kinds that makes for the improvement of agriculture. I cannot, therefore, regard the journal as a purely commercial undertaking.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether his attention has been called to recent cases in which fugitives from justice in this country who happen to be well equipped with funds have been able to make their escape to countries from which they cannot be extradited; and whether, in view of the Conference at Genoa, steps can be taken to induce all Governments to come into line with regard to the question of extradition?

My attention has not been called to any recent case of a fugitive escaping from justice in this country by going to a foreign State with which His Majesty's Government have no extradition treaty; nor does the question of extradition come within the scope of the work for which the Genoa Conference was summoned.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether on the evening of 20th April last four students and one engineer, Ghandoor Effendi, were arrested in Ezbekieh Garden for trial by a military court, the allegation against them being that they shouted "Long live Zaghloul Pasha,' and that Ghandoor Effendi submitted a written complaint that he was arrested while he was shouting "Long live King Fuad"; and whether these arrests were made under the authority of Martial Law?

We have no information regarding the incident. The last part of the question does not therefore arise.

asked the Postmaster-General, seeing that the Chan- cellor of the Exchequer promised the House on 5th August last that the position of women should not be worsened during the next three years, and seeing that a Treasury Committee on the subject of a common seniority list is being set up, if he will state why women employed till recently in the War Loans Branch and the Warrant Inquiry Branch of the Savings Bank Department have been taken off the work, these branches being now staffed entirely by men?

Women were employed in the two branches referred to only as a temporary arrangement during and after the War. Their replacement by male staff is an essential part of the steps taken by the Post Office to extend the employment of ex-service men, and does not conflict with the undertaking referred to.

asked the Attorney-General if his attention has been drawn to a statement by His Honour Judge Parry in connection with a citizen without a birth certificate; if he is aware that it had been reported to the judge that a small boy of seven years had no birth certificate, but there was plenty of evidence of a proper birth; that the district registrar refused to have anything to do with it, and stated that children over seven years of age could not be registered at all; that it is inflicting great hardship upon such children; and whether the Government is prepared to bring in a Bill to alter the Statute of 1874 in connection with the registering the birth of children?

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply which I gave yesterday to a similar question by the hon. Member for the Moss Side Division of Manchester (Lieut.-Colonel Hurst).

asked the hon. Member for the Pollok Division of Glasgow, as representing the First Commissioner of Works, whether he is aware that the Office of Works, in the year 1914, agreed to permit the use of land at Hampton for the construction thereon of a public swimming bath at a rental of £2 2s. per annum, and to allow the diversion of the water which overflows from the Cardinal's river for a nominal charge of £1 1s. per annum; that, following upon such permission, the ratepayers of the district have expended a sum of about £1,600 on the construction of a swimming bath, and that the permission granted has since been withdrawn unless the ratepayers agree to pay the Commissioners a rental nearly two and a-half times as great, and to pay for the water to be used, which would otherwise run to waste, at a rate which is estimated to cost about £50 per annum, or nearly 48 times as much as was previously asked; and will he be willing to. reconsider this decision?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. The local council, however, wished to raise the original conditions of 1914, and the First Commissioner considered that in the interest of the taxpayers generally he was justified in bringing the terms for the privilege, which is a very valuable one for the people of the locality, more into accord with present day values. The fact that surplus water from the Cardinal's river was not at one time revenue producing is no argument for foregoing revenue when such water is diverted to a practical use. In all the circumstances, the First Commissioner regrets that he is is unable to reconsider his deision, which was taken in the interests of taxpayers generally.

asked the hon. Member for the Pollok Division of Glasgow, as representing the First Commissioner of Works, whether, in view of the decision to discharge workmen in the Royal parks who are 70 years of age or over and the total inadequacy of the old age pensions, together with the fact that these men have given many years of faithful service to the State, he will consider the need of granting to them a supplementary pension to ensure a reasonable maintenance?

The extent to which compassionate allowances can be granted to old employés of the State is prescribed in Acts of Parliament, and the First Com- missioner regrets, therefore, that he is not in a position to act on the suggestion made by the hon. Member.

asked the Home Secretary whether any application has been received from the representative of a large London bank in regard to Mr. G. L. Bevan; what was the nature of that application; and what reply has been given?

No such application has been made to me.

asked the Home Secretary whether he can give a list of offences committed against the Hackney Carriage Act and the number of summonses which were directed against cab drivers during each quarter of the year 1921?

The following statement gives the particulars for which the hon. Member asks: