asked the Under-Secretary of State for India the number of deaths from malaria in India during the last five years; and whether, in view of the fact that to drain or otherwise destroy the breeding places of the mosquito is to make an end of malaria in that particular region, every effort is being made to eliminate mosquito pools where these exist?

Deaths from malaria are included in the Indian returns under the general head of deaths from fever. These were (in round numbers) 11,100,000 in 1918; 5,400,000 in 1919; 4,900,000 in 1920; 4,700,000 in 1921; 3,600,000 in 1922. There is no doubt that a very large proportion of these deaths are due to malaria. Public health being a transferred subject, the matter referred to in the second part of the question is not under the control of the Secretary of State or the Government of India. Recent reports show that the desirability of attacking the breeding places of the mosquito are fully realised by the health authorities of the Provincial Governments, but the difficulties in the way of taking effective measures on a large scale are enormous.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India what is the total amount in sterling for which orders have been placed for the supply of rails, rolling-stock, and other materials for the railways in India since 1st January, 1924; and what portion of the total represents orders given for the supply of articles manufactured in Great Britain?

The total amount of the orders placed by the High Commissioner for India for railway stores from the 1st January, 1924, to the 26th March, 1925, was £1,249,000, of which £923,000 represents the value of stores manufactured in the United Kingdom. The corresponding figures for the Indian railway companies working State railways but for the period from the 1st January, 1924, to the 31st December, 1924, are£6,362,000 and £5,430,000, respectively. The companies' figures for the current quarter are not yet available.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India what is the proportion of British troops to Indian employed in India in the years 1919, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923 and 1924; and will he furnish the number of British and Indian troops in each of the respective years and the annual military expenditure of India during the period?

The following show the sanctioned establishments of Regular troops on 1st April of each year, and the proportions of British to Indian troops. The actual strengths vary from month to month:

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India the total volume of the iron and steel production of India for one. year; the total imports for the same year, specifying the quantities that came from Great Britain and the United States of America; the total volume of the manufactures of iron and steel in India; and the total volume imported, specifying the amounts coming from Great Britain and the United States of America?

The steel production of India for the year 1922–23 was about 125,000 tons. No figures of the amount of iron or iron and steel manufactures produced in India are available. The total volume of iron and steel and iron and steel manufactures imported into India during 1922–23 was 771,197 tons. Of this, 383,352 tons came from the United Kingdom and 38,239 tons from the United States of America. Practically all the iron and steel imported had gone through some process of manufacture.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India the number of persons employed by the Government of India in the police force, postal service, educational service, public works, Government railways, Civil Service, and arsenals at a remuneration of £40 per annum less; and, in view of the importance to the 8,000,000 wage-earners of Great Britain of reliable figures of such a nature being published regularly, will he arrange for their periodical publication?

The information necessary to answer the hon. Member's inquiry is not available in this country, and my Noble Friend does not consider that any useful purpose would be served by asking the Government of India to require all the Provincial Governments to make the necessary investigations.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether British firms were invited to tender for the supply of bunker coal to the Royal Yacht at Genoa; whether any British tender was accepted; if not, what was the difference in price between the lowest British tender and the tender accepted; and whether, before the contract was placed, British firms were asked to reconsider their quotation?

The answers to the first two parts of the question are in the affirmative. The third and fourth parts do not therefore arise.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty whether he is aware that though many sick-berth petty officers are allowed in the complement at the Royal Naval Hospital, Haslar, possessing non-substantive qualifications, they cannot be employed in the wards for which they are allowed; that as a result

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether unemployed labour is being used for the Wash reclamation schemes; and how many men are at present employed?

No unemployed labour is at present being used, the 41 men now employed being all skilled men. It is anticipated, however, that the later stages of the work will probably enable

The answers to the first and second parts of the question are in the negative. The third part of the question does not therefore arise.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he will make a full statement concerning the annual progress and cost of the experiment in mussel culture near Conway?

I presume that the hon. and gallant Member's question relates to the work of mussel cleansing at Conway, and I would therefore refer him to pages 96–102 and 105–109 of the Report on Sea Fisheries for the years 1919–1923 which contains a full account of the work during that period, which has since been continued substantially on the lines therein described. The trading and profit and loss account for the season 1923–24 is as follows:the employment of a number of unskilled men.

asked the Minister of Agriculture what methods are being adopted in the experimental scheme for the reclamation of part of the Wash; and what progress has so far been made?

The method adopted has been principally the use of mechanical means of a somewhat novel character for the purpose of forming the bank which is being built up to secure the land in process of reclamation. Large scoops capable of moving about four tons at each operation worked by four pairs of engines are being used. The total length of the bank will be about 105 chains, and it is anticipated that by the end of the month 59 chains will have been completed.

asked the Minister of Pensions what is the name and rank of those members of the medical staff of the Ministry who have been given permanent appointments; what increase has been made in their salary; and whether other temporary officers of the Ministry who are given established posts will receive a similar relative salary?

It is intended to recommend 48 members of the existing whole-time temporary medical staff for permanent appointments, but no such appointments have yet been made. The successful candidates will enter their new posts at their existing rates of pay, subject, in a few cases, to certain slight adjustments, up or down, which may be made in order to remove existing anomalies. In regard to the last part of the hon. and gallant Member's question, the terms and conditions governing the grant of established posts to other classes of temporary employés of the Ministry will necessarily be those laid down for such classes in Government Departments.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether, in view of the recent evictions, or attempted evictions, of Masai, Dorobo, Kamba, and Samburu natives from lands they have long occupied in Kenya Colony, he will adopt the practice of requiring the production of a certificate by the principal medical officer of the Colony as to the entire suitability, from the point of view of health, of the area to which it is proposed to move an evicted tribe?

I am not aware of any recent evictions or attempted evictions such as are purported to be described in the question, with the exception of the removal of a few Masai, to which reference was made in the reply given to the hon. and learned Member for Orkney (Sir R. Hamilton) on the 15th December; nor do I think the suggestion regarding a certificate by the principal medical officer is a practicable one.

asked the Minister of Labour when he expects to issue the revised Abstract of Labour Statistics?

The preparation of the statistics is being pressed forward, and I hope that it may be practicable to arrange for publication in the course of the next few months.

asked the Minister of Health if he will require the General Nursing Council for England and Wales, as he is empowered under the Nurses' Registration Act, 1919, Section 4 (4), to issue to registered nurses a detailed account of the money paid by them for the administration of the Act, approximating to £60,000?

I understand that an audited statement of accounts is issued annually to the Press, including all the nursing papers, and I see no necessity to impose on the council the additional burden involved by the hon. Member's suggestion.

asked the Minister of Health the number of persons in Birmingham who were in receipt of Poor Law relief in January, 1924, and subsequent months; the amount paid for the respective months; the approximate ages of the recipients; and how many were ex-service men?

A reply has been prepared giving such information as is available; but as it contains a number of figures, I will, with the hon. Member's permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

asked the Minister of Health the intentions of the Government with regard to the rating of machinery; and whether it proposes to introduce any Bill of its own taking as a basis the Report of the Inter-Departmental Committee en the subject?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply which I gave on the 17th instant to the hon. Member for Reading (Mr. H. Williams).

asked the Minister of Health if the total amount advanced during 1924 under the Small Dwellings Acquisition Acts?

Information is not available showing the total amounts actually advanced by local authorities

asked the Minister of Health how many houses have been authorised to be built within the area of the Kettering Rural District Council under the Acts of 1919, 192,3 and 1924 respectively?

The numbers of houses authorised to be built in the Kettering rural district under the Acts in question are as follow:

asked the President of the Board of Trade what quantities of arsenic were imported into the United Kingdom from Japan during the months of December, 1924, and January and February, 1925?

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if, in view of the fact that many large contracts are being secured by the nation's competitors, he will consider the advisability of allowing a reduced rate of Income Tax, or some similar method, to firms engaged in shipbuilding and ether national trades, which, without involving a direct subsidy, would give them some chance of competing and thus find work for the skilled unemployed?

I am in full sympathy with the hon. Member's object, but I cannot feel that his method would be capable of application without raising

The quantity of white arsenic and other arsenic compounds imported into Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and registered as consigned from Japan, amounted to 51 tons in December, 1924; 104 tons in January, 1925; and 81 tons in February, 1925. There were no imports of metallic arsenic during the months in question.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what is the value of aircraft and aircraft parts exported from England, Sweden, Franco, the United States of America, and Italy, respectively, according to the latest available Returns?

The following statement shows the values of aircraft and aircraft parts exported from the undermentioned countries during recent mouths, so far as the particulars are available from published Returns.many of the largest questions of principle. Even if the principle of subsidy were accepted as the policy of this country, there are various methods less inconvenient than the one suggested.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the retail price of each article of staple diet and of the necessities of life selected for the purpose of the index figure of the cost of living for each of the months since the beginning of November, 1924?

The following table gives the desired information as regards those commodities for which average retail prices are computed. For other items of working-class expenditure of which account is taken in computing the Ministry of Labour index numbers (e.g., rent, clothing, fares, newspapers, tobacco, ironmongery, brushware and pottery) no calculation of average prices is made, the figures used being the averages of the percentage changes in prices indicated by the individual returns; there

asked the Minister of Transport whether he has yet ascertained if the private firm which is constructing for its own benefit a subway under the main arterial Kensington road is paying compensation in the form of land for street widening or otherwise for this pro was no appreciable change, on average, in prices of these items during the period under review. For articles of food, the averages given are based on information obtained from co-operative societies, multiple shopkeepers, and other retailers in about 500 towns and villages. For other articles included in the table, the figures are the averages of the prices in a number of the larger towns:longed interference with a main route of traffic

I have no power to intervene in the matter, but I understand that in the negotiations now in progress between the private firm and the highway authorities relative to the widening of Kensington High Street, account is being taken of the concession granted for the construction of the subway.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies, seeing that Australian hardwood paving blocks are not regarded favourably by local authorities on the ground that they are not satisfactory for the purpose, if he is making inquiries as to whether there is any other alternative Empire-grown wood which would anwer the purpose, so as to avoid a large number of orders of this nature being placed in foreign countries?

I have been asked to reply. Various attempts have been made to introduce for use as paving materials a wider range of timber, both home-grown own and Empire-grown, but up till now the results have been somewhat disappointing, owing to cost of freight, difficulties of standardisation, etc. While welcoming any specific proposal that may be submitted for the utilisation of Empire-grown wood, I do not see my way to instituting the general inquiry which my hon. Friend suggests.

asked the Minister of Transport whether, in view of the largely increased traffic congestion involved in the rebuilding of the Devonshire House site, he will take steps to construct a tunnel from Berkeley Square to the Green Park in order to relieve the congestion at Berkeley Street, Dover Street, and Albemarle Street?

The matter has been, and still is, under consideration, but I would prefer not to make any statement on the subject at the present time.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he will obtain from the London Traffic Advisory Committee a Report as to the possibility and desirability of converting the little-used railway from Holborn Viaduct station to St. Paul's station into a road leading on to Blackfriars Bridge from the east, thereby diverting the north and south horse-drawn traffic from Farringdon Street and New Bridge Street, and thus relieving the pressure at two of the most congested crossings in the City, namely, Ludgate Circus and Blackfriars?

The proposal contained in the question of my hon. and gallant Friend has already been made to my Department and is now under consideration. If, after preliminary examination, it appears that the proposal is a practicable one, I will consider referring it to the London Traffic Advisory Committee.

asked the Minister of Transport whether the Special Committee, appointed to inquire into and report upon the future developments and control of electricity in this country, has yet reported; if not, when the Report may be expected; and, if the Committee has reported, whether such Report is available?

I would refer my hon. and gallant Friend to the answers given to- questions on this subject by the hon. Member for Newport (Mr. Clarry) on the 17th and 24th February, copies of which I am sending to him.

asked the Home Secretary how many women and young persons employed under the Factory Act now normally work less than the maximum hours allowed by the Act?

No figures are available, but the chief inspector reports that practically all the women and young persons employed under the Act are working less than the legal maximum hours.

asked the Home Secretary whether he is aware of the very unhealthy conditions under which persons are employed by the British Celanese Company, Limited, Spondon, through the noxious fumes arising from the acetone used in the manufacture of artificial silk, where doors and windows are closed and curtained; that, owing to this lack of ventilation, violent sickness is caused among the operatives, bringing on a complaint known as acetone gastritis, affect ing no less than 20 per cent. of the men employed in the week ending 7th March; and whether he will cause inquiries to be made with a view to taking the necessary steps to safeguard the health of the workpeople employed?

It appears from the reports I have received from the Factory Department that the conditions at these works are already being carefully investigated. The hon. Member may rest assured that everything necessary will be done to safeguard the health of the workers.

asked the President of the Board of Education how many teachers who are pensioners are now living who were apprenticed before 1862; and what undertakings as to superannuation were given to them when they signed their indentures stating scale of pension?

I assume that the hon. and gallant Member is referring to teachers who are in receipt of pensions under the Code of Regulations for Public Elementary Schools up to and including that of 1905, which stated that no teacher might receive a pension under Schedule VII who was not in employment or a recognised student of a training college on 9th May, 1862. The number of such pensioners now living is 220.As regards the second part of the question, the Committee of Council on Education, by Minute of the 6th August, 1851, fixed the amount of these pensions at £20, £25, or £30, according to the merits of the particular case—(these sums were increased by Minute of the Board of Education, dated 25th February, 1918, to £30, £35, and £40, respectively)—and by Circular to H.M. Inspectors in October, 1851, pointed out that their Lordships

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total amount, in sterling, of the British debt to the United States of America on the 16th January, 1923; the total amount of the payments made since then by the British Treasury to the United States Treasury in respect of the interest and the redemption charges, respectively; and the total amount, in sterling, of the debt at the present date?

The British debt to the Government of the United States of America is a dollar debt, payable over a long term of years. Though the rise of sterling has very substantially decreased the sterling equivalent of our dollar debt, it would be misleading to give comparisons of the sterling equivalents at the chance rates of exchange prevailing on arbitrary dates. The figures which may properly be given for the purpose of comparison are as follow:—On 16th January, 1923, our American debt amounted to $4,665,128,000 to the United States Government, and $245,640,000 in respect of Market Loans. On the 18th March, 1925, these amounts were $4,554,000,000 and $207,985,000 respectively. In the interval, the principal repayments to the United States Government of $111,128,000 cost the Exchequer £24,252,000, and $37,655,000 of Market Loans were converted into sterling National War Bonds. The interest payments were $277,421,000 (costing £60,817,000) to the United States Government and $31,600,000 (costing £7,100,000) in respect of Market Loans.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the amount of floating debt on 31st January, 1925; what was the average rate of interest payable on same; and what was the gross amount of interest per annum payable on this floating debt?

The amount of the floating debt on 31st January, 1925, was £785,850,000, and the average rate of interest payable thereon was approximately 3 per cent., the approximate annual charge being £23 millions,

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what is the position with regard to the recognition of the present Mexican Government by His Majesty's Government; and whether any negotiations are proceeding?

I would refer the hon. and gallant Gentleman to my reply to a question by the hon. Member for Tottenham North (Mr. R. Morrison) on the 25th instant.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether his Department is considering the extension of training in domestic science; and whether he can give the number of juvenile trainees who are now receiving it?

My right hon. Friend is prepared to consider sympathetically, in connection with the programmes of educational development which he has asked local authorities to submit, schemes for the expansion of this department of school work.As regards the second part of the question, the number of girls who received instruction in domestic subjects during the year 1922–23 (the latest year for which complete returns are available) in public elementary schools of all types in England and Wales, was 481,378. My right hon. Friend has no corresponding figure as to the pupils in secondary schools, but Article 9 of the Regulations provides that in schools for girls the curriculum must include provision for practical instruction in domestic subjects; this subject is not, of course, normally taken by all the girls during the whole of their school careers. Full-time and part-time instruction, in domestic subjects is also provided in technical and continuation schools, and during the year 1922–23, 2,013 students under 18 years of age attended full-time courses, and 346 attended part-time courses in the subject in technical schools. The full-time courses in junior technical schools are designed to prepare girls for a trade or occupation. It is not possible to give the number of students receiving instruction of this type in evening schools, but during the year there were organised in such schools 1,599 classes in cookery, 59 in laundrywork, 609 in housecraft, 2,347 in needlework and embroidery, 3,211 in dressmaking and 1,240 in millinery.