asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether a man who has served 12 years' colour service and three years' war service, and who has drawn a disability pension which has now ceased, is entitled to a service pension?

On the facts as stated, the answer is in the negative, but, if the hon. Member will be good enough to send me full particulars of any individual case that he has in mind, I will communicate with him further.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs how many British subjects there are still resident in Vladivostok; whether he is aware that their position is dangerous and complicated owing to Bolshevist methods; and whether there is any British representative looking after their interests and well-being?

There is at present no British representative at Vladivostok. British subjects there were recently advised to leave, and I am not in a position to give the exact number who still remain, but there are probably between 70 and 80. I have no reason to believe that their situation is any more dangerous than that of British subjects in other parts of the Soviet Republic.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether any assistance is being given to the poor British subjects who are resident in Russia, lost all in the revolution, and are now in this country in extreme poverty; and whether it is understood that their claims for redress will be put forward in any eventual negotiations for a settlement?

No public funds other than the local rates are, I regret to say, available for the relief of these unfortunate people. As regards the second part of the question, I would refer the hon. Member to the replies I gave to the hon. and gallant Member for South Hackney (Captain Erskine-Bolst) on 30th May, 6th June and 21st June.

asked the Minister of Labour what schemes are in hand for the purpose of finding work for the unemployed in the Midland counties?

Local authorities in the Midland counties and elsewhere have been invited by the Unemployment Grants Committee to submit proposals for relief works during the coming winter. It is not yet possible to say what schemes will be put in hand. In addition, negotiations in connection with the construction of the Birmingham and Wolverhampton arterial road are in progress. Further, I may add that certain road works have been anticipated by the Ministry of Transport in order to provide work for the unemployed.

asked the Minister of Labour if he is aware that a number of dock and other workers who are not in any way directly connected with the dock workers' dispute in London and the different part of the country, who are thrown out of employment through the dock workers' strike, have been deprived of their unemployment pay; and what is the general position taken up by the managers of the various Employment Exchanges at Stratford, Canning Town, and the different parts of the country?

The decisions on claims to benefit affected by a trade dispute are, in accordance with the Act of Parliament, given by the Chief Insurance Officer and not by the managers of Exchanges. In the London Docks, within the ambit of the general dispute, the Chief Insurance Officer has held that all dock workers are disqualified for benefit owing to the trade dispute; as regards other workers at these docks, benefit has been allowed in some cases and disallowed in others. The applicants or their association have of course the right of appeal against the disallowance of benefit to a Court of Referees and the Umpire under the conditions provided by the Act. The decisions as regards other ports have been different in different cases, and if the hon. Member will communicate with me regarding any specified ports about which he desires information I will endeavour to supply it.

asked the Minister of Labour if an injured workman in receipt of 21s. per week compensation for partial incapacity, and who has no stamps on his national unemployment insurance card is eligible for unemployment benefit under the provisions of the Unemployment

— Men. Boys. Women. Girls. Total. Oldbury … 30th October, 1922 … … 2,231 119 252 146 2,748 2nd July, 1923 … … … 1,521 38 211 63 1,833 Stourbridge … 30th October, 1922 … … 1,800 44 120 23 1,987 2nd July, 1923 … … … 1,530 49 170 11 1,760 Cradley Heath 30th October, 1922 … … 6,584 191 1,077 95 7,947 2nd July, 1923 … … … 3,428 93 789 56 4,366

asked the Minister of Labour whether, in view of the extension of the juvenile unemployment centres for a further and longer period, he will consider, with the President of the Board of Education, the advisability of allowing the service of teachers in these centres to rank for pension under the Teachers' Superannuation Act?

Insurance Acts; and, if so, what sum would he, if a single man, be entitled to, and for what length of time?

The receipt of compensation is not by itself a disqualification for benefit. The applicant must, however, be capable of some work which he has a reasonable prospect of obtaining. Provided that this and the other conditions are satisfied, he would be eligible for benefit. In the case indicated, as the applicant has no contributions the conditions would be those for uncovenanted benefit. There is no entitlement as of right, but payment of uncovenanted benefit is subject to the discretion of the Minister, exercised in the first instance through the local committee and according to certain rules. The rate of benefit for a single man, over 18 years of age, is 15s. per week; it is payable for a maximum of 44 weeks, in the period of 2nd November, 1922, to 17th October, 1923. I am sending the Member a pamphlet explaining what the conditions are.

asked the Minister of Labour what the unemployed figures for the towns of Oldbury, Stourbridge, and Halesowen (including Cradley and Lye) were on the 31st October, 1922; and what the figures were for those towns on the 30th June, 1923?

The numbers on the Live Registers at the Employment Exchanges mentioned were as under:

My right hon. Friend the Minister of Education has asked me to reply to this question. I may refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply my right hon. Friend gave on the 21st February to the hon. Member for the University of Wales (Mr. T. A. Lewis), of which I am sending him a copy.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport when the new road between Birmingham and Wolverhampton will be started; and will he take steps to expedite this work in view of the fact that such a large amount of unemployment exists in the Midlands?

Surveys and specifications have been prepared by the Birmingham Corporation and a draft agreement has been submitted to the local authorities concerned. Subject to their approval, it should be possible for the work to be begun in the coming autumn. A grant of 50 per cent. of the approved cost has been offered from the road fund, and no effort shall be wanting on my part to expedite the procedure.

asked the Under-Secretary to the Scottish Board of Health whether he is aware that the road between Tarbet and Inveraray and the road between Ardlui and Crianlarich, two of the three main roads and the most direct roads to the West and the North-West of Scotland, are now closed for six months, thus shutting off Inveraray and Campbeltown, etc., by road from the industrial districts of Scotland without great detours being made; does he propose in any way to remedy the inconvenience resulting from this action of the road authority; and is he aware that the road from Gairloch to Arrochar and Tarbet has also been closed for a very long time?

I have been asked to answer this question. I am making inquiries into the points referred to and will communicate with my hon. Friend as soon as I am in a position to do so.

asked the Prime Minister whether he will state, in tabular form, the expenditure incurred by the chief countries of the world, including our own, in 1913 and 1922, respectively, on their naval, military, and air forces, showing the percentage of increase or decrease, as far as possible, based on the sterling or real values in each case?

The information which the hon. Member seeks is already available, in regard to several countries, in the League of Nations' publication entitled, "Budget Expenditure on National Defence, 1913 and 1920–22," a copy of which may, I understand, be seen in the Library, and to which I would refer the hon. Member. Of the chief countries not included in this publication (namely, United States of America, Germany, and Russia), the defence and expenditure of the United States of America is as follows: 1913–14 (Closed Accounts): $ Defence 316,303,000 Army and Navy Pensions 173,251,000 $489,554,000 1922–23 (Most Recent Estimates): $ Defence 675,046,000 Army and Navy Pensions 252,350,000 $927,396,000 As regards Germany and Russia, I doubt whether it would be possible to attach any value to such figures of expenditure as might be given, having regard to the dislocation of the exchanges of these two countries. The hon. Member will doubtless recall that the strength of the defence forces of Germany are now regulated by the Treaty of Versailles.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that the Commissioners of Customs and Excise have ruled that, in respect of musical competitions to which the public are admitted, Entertainments Duty is not payable on the ground of the educational nature of the competition unless a proportion of the competitions permit competitors to make their own choice of subjects to be performed; and whether, since there is no sound foundation for this exception, steps will be taken to reverse this ruling?

I am informed that the Commissioners of Customs and Excise have given no such ruling. The answer to the second part of the question does not, therefore, arise.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he can inform the House of the gross amount of Land Value Duty received under the Finance (1909–10) Act, 1910; and what portion of the sum has been reimbursed to claimants under the provisions of Section 57 (3) of the Finance Act, 1920?

The gross receipt of all Land Values Duties from their inception to the 31st March, 1923, was £6,765,714, and the amount of repayments during the same period was £913,706.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware of the injury caused to English booksellers by the operation of the provisions of the German Reparations (Recovery) Act, 1921; whether he is aware that a large number of cases can be submitted in which consignments have been held up with a view of securing duty amounting to 1d. only; and, in connection with the payment of this duty, four separate Government forms have to be filled up and used, and that the postal expense is three times the amount of the duty?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the negative. In common with other traders importing goods from Germany, English booksellers can deduct the amount of the levy from the purchase price. So far as can be ascertained, the statement that consignments are held up to secure a levy of 1d. per consignment is not substantiated. I would point out that the suggestion would imply that booksellers are in the habit of importing consignments not exceeding 4d. in value. The four Government forms referred to are presumably the notice sent to the importer on the arrival of a consignment; the entry (in duplicate) made by the importer and receipt given for the levy. Without the notice of arrival the importer would not be in a position to claim his goods and without the receipt he would not be in a position to deduct the levy from the remittance to the German supplier. The only form completed by the importer is the form of entry.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether any case has been brought to his notice of the French authorities refusing to grant a licence for export goods from the Ruhr contracted to be sold for export to buyers in this country before the 1st February last?

No recent case of such refusal has been brought to my notice, and, so far as I am aware, no difficulty is now being encountered in obtaining licences for goods which can be shown to have been ordered by United Kingdom traders before 1st February.

asked the President of the Board of Trade, whether he can inform the House of the value of goods imported into this country from the Ruhr for the six months ending the 31st December, 1922, and the six months ending the 30th June, 1923, respectively, upon which revenue has been received by this country?

Goods from the Ruhr are not separately distinguished on importation into the United Kingdom, and the information desired by the hon. Member is therefore not available.

asked the Minister of Health the number of small-pox commissioners appointed at present in the country and the districts in which they are operating; and what are their duties and the degree of co-ordination they observe with respect to the medical advisers of local authorities?

There appears to be some misapprehension as to the nature of the arrangements to which the hon. Member refers. These arrangements have been made solely with a view to securing promptly an accurate diagnosis in suspected cases of small-pox. In ordinary circumstances, if the doctor in attendance upon a patient and the local medical officer of health are doubtful whether the case is one of small-pox, arrangements are made if possible for one of the medical officers of my Department who have special experience in the diagnosis of that disease, to see the patient in consultation with the practitioner and the medical officer of health. The recent outbreaks of small-pox have rendered it necessary that some further assistance should be available for the diagnosis of doubtful cases, and I have secured the services of 12 medical men residing in different parts of the country, each of whom has special knowledge and experience of small-pox, to visit suspected cases when assistance is sought from my Department and the services of medical officers of the Ministry are not immediately available. The sole object of these visits is to assist in diagnosis and the medical men who have been appointed endeavour in each case to arrange to see the patient in consultation with the medical attendant and the local medical officer of health.

asked the Minister of Health will he state for each year from 1871 to 1922 for England and Wales the number of deaths from small-pox, the death rate from small-pox per 100,000 living, and the percentage of vaccinations to registered births?

The particulars asked for by the hon. Member are contained in the answer given on the 16th instant to the hon. Member for South Poplar (Mr. March), with the exception of the year 1871. In that year there were 23,062 deaths from small-pox, and the death-rate from small-pox per 100,000 population was 101.2. The percentage of vaccinations to births in 1871 is not available.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will allow photographs of patients suffering from small-pox to be exhibited in order that the public shall become acquainted with this disease and the facilities for avoiding it?

I am not aware that any permission on my part is required for the exhibition of such photographs.

asked the Minister of Agriculture for what reasons the Deptford Cattle Market is not open for the landing of foreign cattle; and whether the objections emanate from the Ministry?

Deptford Cattle Market has for some years been leased by the City Corporation to the War Department and has consequently not been available for the landing of foreign animals, but I understand that negotiations are in progress between the City Corporation and the War Department with a view to releasing the eastern portion for its original purpose. The Ministry has no objection to the resumption of the foreign cattle trade of Deptford and is prepared to approve the cattle market as an imported animals wharf if the premises, or a suitable part thereof, can be released from their present use and reconditioned. The provision of accommodation, however, for the landing of animals is entirely a matter for the owners and occupiers of the premises