asked the President of the Board of Education the qualifications and experience of the inspector of art in secondary schools; and whether, in the cases where an inspector has recommended or suggested the dismissal of a teacher, the Board refers his recommendation to the chief inspector for art, or whether the recommendation is referred to other expert inspectors for their confirmation, or otherwise, before a Report involving such serious consequences is issued by the Board?

The gentleman in question holds the certificate of the Royal College of Art, and has had nearly 20 years' experience in the teaching of art. With regard to the second part of the question, it is not the practice of the Board to issue any reports, whether they contain any serious criticism of a teacher or not, without full and careful consideration in conjunction with the district inspector.

asked the Solicitor-General for Scotland what salaries are paid to professors and lecturers in Scottish Universities, and to secondary,

— Men. Women. Minimum. Maximum. Minimum. Maximum. Assistant Teachers. Head-masters. Assistant Teachers. Head-mistresses. £ £ £ £ £ £ Graduates … … … 200 660 1,150 180 550 1,000 Chapter V. Teachers … 250 200

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether the Secretary of State is considering, or whether he will consider in the immediate future, the reduction of the Army Council to its pre-War dimensions?

No, Sir. My Noble Friend does not contemplate any departure from the policy laid down in 1920 which made the permanent secretary a member of the Army Council. There are at present two joint secretaries, but this is a temporary and transitory arrangement.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether his Department possesses any information as to the conditions of the graves of British soldiers buried on Russian soil; whether he is aware that the Soviet authorities are destroying the private graves of British residents unless huge payments are forthcoming; and whether this policy is also being applied to the known graves of British soldiers?

The Imperial War Graves Commission have made arrangements for the care of

Chapter V, and graduate teachers in Scottish schools?

The salaries paid to professors in Scottish Universities range from £765 to £1,800 per annum, and those paid to full-time lecturers from £300 to £700 per annum. The salaries paid to graduate teachers and Chapter V teachers employed in secondary schools in which these grades are recognised vary within the limits shown in the following table:—

British War graves in parts of the Caucasus, and they are endeavouring to obtain reports as to the present condition of the graves in Soviet Russia. The last two parts of the question probably refer to a recent letter in the Press to the effect that the Soviet Government are demanding 150,000,000 roubles for each grave in a privately owned English burial ground, failing which, the graves and their monuments will be destroyed. I have no further information on the subject.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War when the special Territorial medal to be issued to those Territorials who went overseas before December, 1914, is to be distributed; and whether, in view of the time which has elapsed since the Armistice, he can expedite the issue?

I am not sure that I appreciate what the hon. and gallant Member has in mind. The Territorial War Medal is already being issued, but eligibility for it does not depend on the date of going overseas. As the hon. and gallant Member will see from Army Order 143 of 1920, a copy of which I am sending him, the main conditions are that the soldier should have effectively under- taken the overseas liability by 30th September, 1914, that he should have actually served overseas at any time before the Armistice, and that he should not be eligible for the 1914 or 1914–15 Star. No other special Territorial medal in connection with the Great War is in contemplation.

asked the Minister of Pensions if he will consider the case of Mrs. Farelly, 74, Donnisthorpe Street, Bradford, widow of ex-Private James Farelly, late of the Scots Guards, No. 10,832, who enlisted 13th September, 1914, and was discharged wounded in the lung 22nd October, 1915, 100 per cent. disability pension, developing consumption through his wound, which ultimately caused his death from hæmorrhage 30th April last, with a view to granting her a compassionate allowance towards the funeral expenses of £25?

The usual funeral grant of £7 10s. has been paid in this case, and I regret that I am unable to agree to any further grant being made.

asked the Prime Minister what facilities the Government proposes to give before the House rises in respect of the various Private Bills which have now passed through a considerable number of their stages?

If any Private Bill is the subject of general agreement and does not give rise to discussion, I hope that it may be possible for the further stages to be taken after 11 o'clock. If, however, any such Bills are not fully agreed Measures, I am afraid the Government cannot undertake to give facilities before the House rises.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been directed to a protracted law suit with respect to a small estate entrusted to the Public Trustee, of which Mrs. C. E. Milner is the beneficiary; whether this suit arose owing to the Public Trustee's Department not making themselves familiar at the outset with the details of the will relating to the estate; and what is the present position of the dispute?

I have been asked to answer this question. Difficult questions of construction arose in this case in relation to a leasehold house which formed part of a trust estate, and an application to the Court became necessary. The proceedings in Court are now at an end and the sale of the house has been completed. The proceedings were rendered necessary, not by any fault of the Public Trustee's Department, but through the obscurity of the will constituting the trust, which, as it appears, was drawn by a person who had no special legal skill. I am sending the hon. and gallant Member a memorandum dealing more fully with the case.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if any loans have been guaranteed under the Trade Facilities and Loan Guarantees Act since the issue of the last Return; and, if so, when the next Paper will be issued?

I have been asked to answer this question. No guarantees in respect of capital issues have been given since the 30th June last. The guarantees given up to that date are set out in the quarterly statements the last of which was presented on 4th July end is now available—House of Commons Paper 95 of 1923. The next statement will be issued as soon after the 30th September as possible.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether the Reparation Claims Department are still prepared to receive claims which through the ignorance of people as to their rights in these matters have not yet been lodged, and which in many cases are only made known to them by the payment of compensation to others similarly placed to themselves?

I would refer the hon. Member to the answer given yesterday to the hon. Member for Birkenhead East (Mr. G. White), of which I am sending him a copy.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will issue a statement showing how the minimum export prices fixed by the German control offices on goods exported to the United Kingdom compares with the prices fixed on goods exported to other European countries?

The prices which German exporters are required to charge for different markets as a condition of the grant of licences are not published by the German Government, and I regret therefore that I am unable to give the information required.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what was the

Title. Remuneration. Date of Appointment of present holder of post. Basic salary scale. Bonus. Allowance. Permanent Appointments. £ £ £ 1 Permanent Secretary … … … 3,000 (fixed) — — 1919 1 Second Secretary … … … … 2,200 (fixed) — — 1919 1 Chief Economic Adviser to His Majesty's Government. 3,000 (fixed) — — 1919 1 Principal Assistant Secretary … … 1,200–1,500 230–217 250 1918 1 Principal Assistant Secretary … … 1,200–1,500 234–213 — 1922 4 Assistant Secretaries … … … 1,000–1,200 234–234 — 1918 1918 1920 1923 1 Deputy Assistant Secretary … … 1,000 (fixed) 234 — 1922 1 Solicitor … … … … … 1,500–1,800 213–200 — 1920 1 Assistant Solicitor … … … … 1,000–1,200 234–234 — 1920 1 Assistant Solicitor … … … … 900–1,000 230–234 — 1922 1 Principal Establishment Officer … … 1,000–1,200 234–234 — 1920 1 Comptroller (Companies Department) … 1,000–1,200 234–234 — 1919 1 Inspector-General in Bankruptcy … 1,000–1,200 234–234 — 1918 1 Director of Transports … … … 1,000–1,200 234–234 — 1922 1 Deputy Director of Transports … … 850–1,000 235–234 — 1923 1 Controller of the Clearing Office (Enemy Debts). 1,500 (fixed) — 750 1919 1 Deputy Controller of the Clearing Office (Enemy Debts). 800–1,000 223–234 — 1919 1 Professional Officer (Mercantile Marine Department). 1,000 (fixed) 236 — 1923 1 Professional Officer (Mercantile Marine Department). 1,000 (fixed) 234 — 1910

number of officers employed by the Board of Trade in 1914 whose scale of pay exceeded £1,200 per annum, including allowances, if any; what is the number of officers employed at the present time whose scale of pay, bonuses, and allowances, if any, exceed £1,200 per annum; when these appointments were made; and what are the duties performed by the officers remunerated as above?

In 1914 there were in the Board of Trade 6 permanent officers, and to-day there are 8 permanent officers, with a scale of salary exceeding £1,200 per annum. In addition, there are to-day 32 permanent officers with a scale of salary not exceeding £1,200 per annum, but with a total emolument, including bonus, and in some cases allowances, at rates sanctioned by the Treasury, on a scale which in some cases wholly, and in others in its higher ranges exceeds that figure. There are also to-day 5 temporary officers employed on temporary work, who have a salary exceeding £1,200 a year. The following is a list of the posts referred to, and of the date of appointment of the present holder of each post:— Title. Remuneration. Date of Appointment of present holder of post. Basic salary scale. Bonus. Allowance. Permanent Appointments —contd. £ £ £ 1 Head of Intelligence and Parliamentary Branch. 700–900 223–234 100 1920 1 Director of Gas Administration … … 700–900 230–236 200 1920 1 Senior Official Receiver in Bankruptcy … 1,000 (fixed) 234 200 1922 1 Official Receiver in Bankruptcy … … 1,000 (fixed) 236 100 1919 1 Official Receiver in Bankruptcy … … 800–1,000 230–236 100 1905 4 Official Receivers in Bankruptcy … … 800–1,000 223–234 — 1908 1919 1920 1922 1 Senior Official Receiver in Companies Liquidation. 1,000 (fixed) 234 200 1921 1 Official Receiver in Companies Liquidation 800–1,000 223–234 — 1921 1 Comptroller-General of Patents … … 1,500 (fixed) 213 — 1909 3 Assistant Comptrollers of Patents … 900–1,100 230–236 — 1921 1921 1922 1 Engineer Surveyor in Chief … … 1,000 (fixed) 234 — 1917 1 Principal Ship Surveyor … … … 1,000 (fixed) 234 — 1920 1 Director of Petroleum Department … 850–1,000 234 300 1920 Temporary Appointments. 1 Legal Advisor (Clearing Office. Enemy Debts). 1,500* — — 1920 1 British Agent (Mixed Arbitral Tribunals) 1,500* — — 1920 1 Resident Agent in Berlin (Clearing Office, Enemy Debts). 1,500* — — 1923 1 Controller and Custodian of Enemy Property in China. 1,800* — — 1923 1 Secretary (Food Department) … … 1,575* — — 1919 * Inclusive salary.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the payments made under the Southborough interim Report and the Sutton Award were allowed for in the Budget of 1923–24; if he will state before the House rises whether any large items of expenditure unanticipated when he prepared his Budget statement have been incurred since that date; and whether he has been able to effect since then any unanticipated economies?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the negative. With regard to the second part of the question, I must ask my hon. Friend to await the Supplementary Estimates, which will, I hope, be available by Thursday next. With regard to the third part, I fear it is too early to make any definite statement as to Budget economies.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury if he will be in a position to state before the Recess what action the Public Prosecutor proposes to take with regard to the state of affairs disclosed by the case in the Hull County Court last month in connection with the issue of 5 per cent. War Bond policies by the Prudential Assurance Company, when they had to refund all premiums paid on account of fraudulent misrepresentation?

This matter is receiving the closest attention from the Director of Public Prosecutions, and every effort will be made to reach a decision before the Recess as to the action to be taken.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the number of Super-tax payers in 1914 and the following years down to 1923; the amount on which Super-tax was paid during the same period, and any changes that were made; the number of Super-tax payers anticipated in 1923 and 1924; and the estimated income of the latter?

The number of persons charged to Super-tax in 1914 and subsequent years, and the aggregate of their total incomes, are as follow: Year. Number of persons charged. Total income (including the first portion of income on which no Super-tax is pavable). United Kingdom. £ 1913–14 13,937 176,425,000 1914–15 29,996 242,534,000 1915–16 29,299 231,898,000 1916–17 31,985 261,939,000 1917–18 35,564 301,311,000 1918–19 47,869 355,754,000 1919–20 54,475 409,800,000 1920–21 77,000* 505,000,000* 1921–22 90,000* 550,000,000* * Estimates. Year. Number of persons charged. Total income (including the first portion of income on which no Super-tax is payaple). Great Britain and Northern Ireland. £ 1922–23 80,000* 470,000,000* 1923–24 75,000* 425,000,000* * Estimates. The rates at which Super - tax was chargeable were increased in 1914–15, 1915–16, 1918–19 and 1920–21; full details of the various changes will be found on page 132 of the 64th Report of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue (Cmd. 1436).

asked the Minister of Health whether he will give the most recent figures showing the death rate per thousand of legitimate and illegitimate infant children, respectively; and will he say how these figures compare with those of 10 years ago?

The most recent figures are those for 1922, in which year the infant death rate per 1,000 children born was 74 in the case of legitimate children, and 139 in the case of illegitimate children. The corresponding figures for the year 1912 were 91 and 181, respectively.