asked the Minister of Pensions if he is taking steps to obtain legislative sanction to increase the period of validity of a life certificate to 20 weeks, and that, in conjunction therewith, an allowance book containing 26 weekly drafts should be brought into use; and if he is aware that if this recommendation be carried into effect, the estimated saving will be £105,000 annually, besides being mere convenient to pensioners?

This question, which affects not only the Ministry of Pensions, but all pension-paying Departments, is receiving careful consideration. An experiment is at present being tried of issuing half-yearly pay books, containing two quarterly life certificates, in the case of pensioner widows.

asked the Minister of Pensions if in the year 1916 an undertaking in Parliament was given that no grants made out of any local fund should be taken into account as other income in giving the amount of need pensions, provided that it did not form a permanent addition to the income of the recipient; and if this pledge is being observed?

I would refer my hon. and gallant Friend to the answer which my right hon. Friend the Minister of Pensions gave on the same point to the hon. Member for Middlesbrough West (Mr. T. Thomson) en the 27th July. I am sending the hon. and gallant Member a copy.

asked the Minister of Pensions if his attention has been called to the case of Corporal Westerby, of Kirkby Malzeard, near Ripon, whose pension has been reduced on the grounds that his disability, consisting of renal asthma, was not, as originally found, caused, but only aggravated by war service; if he is aware that the disabled man never suffered from renal asthma prior to the War; that repeated official assurances have been given that where it is proved that a disability liras aggravated by war service the disabled man would receive a pension in strict accordance with the final disability without deduction for any alleged original disability; and if he will consider the advisability of circulating local pensions offices with the object of reminding them of the practice, in accordance with pledges definitely given?

My hon. and gallant Friend is under a complete misapprehension in thinking that any reduction of pension in the ease referred to has been made on the grounds stated. So long as any degree of aggravation remains, the man's pension remains at the rate proper to the disability as a whole and as if the disability were attributable to service and had not merely been worsened by it. The decision in the particular ease referred to, that the disability was not caused but- aggravated by service, was only given after the fullest medical consideration of the case and of the nature of this complaint, and if the man is dissatisfied with the decision he has a right of appeal to the independent Appeal Tribunal.

asked the Minister of Pensions if, in dismissals which are about to take place or are taking place in his Ministry caused by the reorganisation of local committees, the recommendations of the Lytton Report, are being carried out regarding the order of dismissals; and, if so, how many men, etc., in receipt. of pensions have been dismissed or given notice of dismissal during the last three months, and, how many men of military age who did not serve during the Great War are being retained, and how many men who served in the Great War, but not overseas, are being retained?

In the selection of candidates for posts in the new area organisation, preference is always given to suitable ex-service men (except for posts suitable only for women), and, so far as practicable., to ex-service men in the existing staffs of local War Pension Committees. I regret that the detailed figures asked for are not available. Of the whole temporary male staff of the Ministry about 99 per cent. are ex-service men.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether he is aware that instructions have been issued at Aldershot stating that only men who have served with the Royal Engineers are to be eligible for employment under the control of the Royal Engineers Department; who issued the instructions; by whose authority they were issued; and whether, if such instructions have been issued, this will exclude from employment men who have hitherto been employed there for many years and who are at present unemployed?

In engaging civilians required for works services at Aldershot, preference is given, other things being equal, to applicants who have served in the Royal Engineers, but no instructions have been issued of the, character indicated in the question.

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether his attention has been called to the death of a Royal Air Force pilot at Hawkinge on the 25th instant; and whether the aeroplane which crashed was fitted with a parachute?

I am aware of the circumstances of the accident to which my hon. Friend refers, so far as they have been revealed up to the present. The aeroplane, which was of a fighting type known as the Snipe, is normally used as a single-seater, but was, in this ease, one of those adapted as a dual control aeroplane for instructional purposes, thereby further reducing the surplus space available. The aeroplane was not fitted with parachutes, and no satisfactory type of parachute has been evolved for this small high-speed type of aeroplane, although considerable progress is being made. I would refer my hon. Friend to my reply to his question of the 17th May, in which I informed him that no fighting aeroplanes are, at present, fitted with parachutes, and would add for his information that, as a result of the service trials referred to therein, parachutes for Avro aeroplanes are now being modified.

asked the Minister of Labour how many metal miners are out of employment in England and Wales and the Isle of Man?

The number of metal miners registered as unemployed in England and Wales at 26th June was 10,664. No figures for the lsle of Man are available.

asked the Minister of Labour how many of the unemployed men and boys now classified on the lists of the employment exchanges as coal miners, etc., have previously worked in metal mines?

I regret that no information is available as to the extent to which metal miner, have transferred to coal mining.

asked the Minister of Labour the number of bricklayers, carpenters, joiners, painters, plumber slaters and masons, respectively, according to the latest Returns?

The following table shows by occupation the number of insured persons in the building trades of Great Britain:

	Estimated Number of Insured Persons.
Bricklayers	62,230
Carpenters and joiners	133,090
Masons	23,720
Slaters	5,430
Plasterers	17,270
Painters	115,780
Plumbers	35,870
All other occupations (mainly labourers)	366,970
Total	760,360

asked the Prime Minister whether the Cabinet Committee that is considering the question of unemployment and the provision of relief work schemes during the winter months can, in consultation with the Scottish Office, arrange for a Sub-Committee, or by some other means, to enable local authorities to submit their difficulties for consideration in view of the peculiar and special difficulties of the shipbuilding, mining and other industries in Scotland, and the relative low rating of. England in comparison with Scotland?

Machinery already exists in the Unemployment Grants Committee for Exchequer assistance for relief works undertaken by local authorities in Scotland as well as in England, and in the Goschen Committee for loans from the Exchequer to local authorities in exceptional cases of stress. There is no reason to suppose that the difficulties of the Scottish local authorities are not as adequately met by these arrangements as those of English and Welsh authorities.

asked the Prime Minister what is the attitude of the Government towards the proposal that Germany should be invited to become a member of the Council of the League of Nations?

This question was answered yesterday by my right hon., Friend.

asked the Home Secretary whether he is aware that, the licences of two small beerhouses, namely, the Olde Lord John, 15 feet frontage, rateable value £25, and average barrellage 405, and the Royal Oak, 14 feet frontage, rateable value £42, and average barrellage 443, both in Sumner Road, in the parish of Camberwell, Newington petty sessional division, were, with other neighbouring licences, refused under compensation in the year 1920: that compensation of £3,008 and £3,785, respectively, was offered by the licensing authority and refused by the parties; that the Inland Revenue have recently fixed the values at £4,755 and £5,643, respectively; and that in the case of the Royal Oak the parties again refused to accept the offer, and on a threat to appeal to the High Court the Inland Revenue increased the figure from £5,643 to £6,000, apparently on the ground that owing to the other neighbouring licensed houses refused in 1920 having recently been closed upon payment of the compensation money the trade of the Royal Oak had since increased, two years after the licence had been refused: and whether the Inland Revenue still recognise the Kennedy judgment as the basis for compensation?

My right hon. Friend has asked me to reply to this question. These. cases were dealt with by the Commissioners of Inland Revenue with due regard to the principles laid down in the Kennedy judgment, both when the original award in each case was made, and also, in the case of the Royal Oak, when, after notice of appeal had been given, the amended award was made.

asked the Home Secretary what is the weekly cost of the special police observation of ex-Inspector John Syme; and the total amount expended on this observation to date?

As I informed the hon. Member in reply to a former question, it is not possible to give any exact figures as to the cost of this police duty.

asked the Home Secretary the terms upon which the solicitors to the Commissioner of Police are employed; to whom costs awarded by the court to the prosecution are paid in cases in which the solicitors appear for the Commissioner; the amount of such costs and of what the sum of, £6,689 2s. 7d., debited in the Metropolitan Police Accounts for legal expenses, consist: and why a full-time solicitor is not employed to do all this work as in other public offices?

Messrs. Wontners are employed when necessary to conduct prosecutions on behalf of the police, to defend appeals from convictions in cases where the police are the original prosecutors, and to give legal advice generally. For this work there is a fixed scale of charges based on the ordinary scale of fees charged by solicitors. Costs awarded to the prosecution are paid into the Police Fund. The amount of such costs recovered in the financial year 1921–1922 was £4,351 11s. 7d. I will send my hon. Friend a statement showing how the figure for legal expenses is made up. It, would be impossible for a single full-time solicitor to undertake the work, and I have no reason to believe that the necessary work could be carried out at less expense under any other arrangement.

asked (1) the Home Secretary whether, in view of the fact that there is, among persons admitted to prisons, an abnormally high percentage of persons prone to insanity and suicide, he will take steps to ascertain whether the present conditions of prison life are suitable to the mental constitution of these persons, and not calculated to aggravate these tendencies;(2) the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will take steps to appoint an independent commission to inquire whether the suicide rate among prisoners is or is not higher than among the ordinary population within the same periods of age?

I would refer to the replies given to questions by the hon. Member for Portsmouth (Sir T. Brams don) on 11th July and to-day. In the event of a general inquiry into the prison system, the point referred to by the Noble Lord will be among the matters for consideration.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies on what date the export duty on palm products was introduced in Sierra Leone in 1920; what the exports on palm oil from Sierra Leone had until that date been per annum: and what, since the date of the imposition of this duty, has been the exports of palm oil from Sierra Leone per annum?

Export duties on palm kernels and palm oil were imposed in Sierra Leone for he first, time in January, 1918, and since been varied at different dates, the last changes being in the case of palm kernels in September, 1921, when the duty was raised from 10s. to per ton, and in the case of palm oil in February of this year, when the duty was reduced feint £4 3s. 4d. to £1 0s. 10d, per ton. The export of palm oil averaged 2,196 tons a year for the five years preceding 191w, and have since been as follows:

	Tons.
1918	1,085
1919	3,453
1920	2,066
1921	191
1922 (January-May)	820

This fall in value gradually, but in the end completely, stopped t to trade. After April, 1921, prices rose gradually, but the export duty of £4:;s. a ton, together with the difficulty, which necessarily exists in bringing trade back into deserted channels, and the poor demand in England, delayed any revival of the trade in Sierra Leone. The gradually improving conditions and the reduction of the. duty are having a stimulating effect this year, and the export is steadily improving. In these circumstances there is no idea of remitting the tax further at present

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonios what was the number of Irish emigrants embarked at Irish ports for destination outside the United Kingdom, especially in vessels sailing for the United States of America, for the last six months ending the 30th of June; whether any estimate. has been made of the diminution of emigration from Ireland since 1914: and what is the estimated population of Ireland at the present time compared with 1914 and 1918?

I regret that I am not in a position to furnish the exact figures asked for; but in the year 1921, 12,248 emigrants left Irish ports, of whom 11,417 proceeded to the United States of America. The corresponding average figures for the. years 1910–14 were 27,096 and 20,882. No statistics have been published for the current year. As regards the last part of the question, the population of Ireland in 1911, the date of the last census, was 4,390,219. No later figure is available as, owing to the disturbed state of the country, it was not found possible to hold the census in Ireland in 1921.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what are the efforts that are being made by the Colonial Office to improve the outlook for the rubber interest and to endeavour to ease the present financial difficulties of Malaya., which are principally due to the unfavourable position of the world market of her chief products?

The Colonial Office has taken, and is continuing to take, steps to secure the co-operation of the Netherlands Government in a scheme for improving the outlook for the rubber industry. Apart from these efforts, the present financial difficulties of Malaya can only be eased as the general position of the world market of her chief products improves.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if the Board of Trade is going to help to finance the establishment of a wool-combing plant to be erected at Trenton, Ontario?

I would refer my hon. and gallant Friend to the oral answer on the same subject given to-day by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade to the hon. Member for Keighley (Sir R. Clough).

asked the Secretary for Mines whether he can state the number of coal mines actually working at the present time in England, Scotland and Wales, respectively; how many mines in each of the countries named are considered dry and dusty mines; at how many of these collieries the screens on the surface for sorting coals are within 80 yards of the downcast shaft; how many of these shafts have been sunk and equipped since 1911; the number of pit tubs made of wood and made of iron, respectively; the number constructed and maintained to prevent coal dust escaping from the sides, ends, top and bottom of the tubs; what means are employed, and at how many collieries, to systematically clean the floor, roof and sides of the roads in the mines so as to prevent coal dust accumulating by watering the roads or stone-dusting the roads; the nature of stone dust used, or other method in use; whether records are kept at the collieries showing the condition of the mines as to coal dust and the steps taken to mitigate the danger arising therefrom; whether these records are open to examination by representatives appointed and authorised by the miners employed at the collieries; whether the Mines Department has any other method of dealing with coal dust under consideration; whether any other method has been submitted to him by working miners, and, if so, with what result; whether he can offer any encouragement to working miners submitting practical schemes by getting them considered and, if proved effective, adopted for use at the collieries; and whether he will cause inquiries to be made with a view to assisting and enforcing the adoption and use of more up-to-date methods of effectively dealing with this great and growing danger of coal dust in mines?

I shall be glad to give the hon. Member all the information I can upon these subjects, but I fear it is impracticable to reply adequately to the 14 questions which he raises within the limits of a Parliamentary answer. I would suggest that the hon. Member should go and see the chief inspector of mines, who will he glad to explain the position.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport whether, in order to assist the railway companies in the economic management of railway traffic and so enable them to reduce passenger fares, the Ministry will exercise its rights to purchase all the private wagons now being operated on the lines and hand them over on payment to the companies?

Circumstances have changed since the passing of the Ministry of Transport Act, and new arrangements in regard to the future organisation of railways have been made in the Railways Act of last Session. His Majesty's Government recognise these alterations in the position and do not contemplate, so far as they are concerned, the acquisition of privately-owned wagons by the State, a course which, in their view, and as they are at present advised, cannot be regarded as practicable.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport whether he is aware that the stations of Wandsworth Road and Clapham, on the South-Eastern and Chatham Railway, are still closed, with the result that the people of these large and populous districts, who have thus been deprived of the use of the railway, are suffering great inconvenience, and that, as a consequence of the closing of the stations, a large amount of additional traffic is diverted to the tramway and motor-omnibus services, which has involved a large increase in the number of street accidents; and whether, in the public interest, he will recommend the railway company to re-open the stations?

While the closing of the stations on the South-Eastern and Chatham Railway has resulted in the diversion of a large amount of traffic to the tramway and omnibus services, the facilities provided by these services have been considerably improved. I am not aware that this has, as suggested, involved any increase in the number of street accidents. The question of the reopening of these stations has been fully considered on many occasions, and I do not think any useful purpose would be served by approaching the railway company in the manner suggested. In coming to a decision the railway companies were influenced by the cost of reopening as against the additional receipts which may be expected, and the fact that, as the lines are generally speaking fully occupied, the reopening of the closed stations would reduce railway facilities for longer distance traffic.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether, in considering the arrangements for the admission of cattle from abroad consequent on the Resolution of the House of Commons, he will take the evidence of Mr. Coote Lake, head of the Department of Agriculture in Vienna, in connection with the importation of a number of American much cows and the precautions that bad to be taken to prevent the introduction of Texas fever to the pasture lands of Austria and the precautions which have been in force in successive months after their introduction?

The Ministry's veterinary officers are fully informed as to preventive measures against the introduction of Texas fever into this country. As, however, there is no question of the importation of cattle from that part of America where Texas fever exists, I do not think it will be necessary to consult Mr. Coote Lake on the point.

asked the Postmaster-General whether the new system of conceding a cheaper race of postage for printed matter posted before 3.30 has increased or decreased business and revenue?

As I stated on the 11th July in reply to the hon. Member for Acton (Sir H. Brittain), I regret that it will not be possible for some time to come to give any definite figures as to the effect of the reduced postage rates upon the business and revenue of the Post Office.