asked the Minister of Labour which, if any, of the railway companies or passenger-carrying companies are not on the King's Roll?

The four main trunk railway companies are on the Roll. The underground railway and the London General Omnibus Company are also on the Roll. I trust that this information is what the hon. and gallant Member requires, but if he has any other companies in mind, I will have inquiries made regarding them.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the amount of foreign bricks imported into Great Britain from abroad for the first four months of 1925?

The following statement shows the quantity of bricks of brick earth or clay, imported into Great Britain and Northern Ireland registered as consigned from foreign countries, during the first four months of 1925:

asked the President of the Board of Trade what is the value of exports to, and imports from, the Colonies and Dominions under separate heads for the year ending 1st May, 1925?

Aggregates of the trade of Great Britain and Northern Ireland with the British Overseas Dominions, Colonies and Protectorates are only made up for quarterly periods. The following statement gives the available particulars for the twelve months ended 31st March, 1925:

For the purpose of the trade returns of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, analyses of trade with individual countries and groups of countries are only made for calendar years. Those for 1924 are in process of compilation, but will not be completed for some time.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty, with reference to the sums allotted in the current Navy Estimates for new works in connection with Devonport dockyard and the Royal Naval Barracks, how many more men it is expected will have employment in excess of those employed last year?

It is anticipated that eventually about 300 men additional to those employed last year will be engaged on new works in the Devonport District.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether, seeing that all the money voted for new works in connection with Devonport dockyard and the Royal Naval Barracks in the Naval Estimates for 1924–25 was not expended, he will undertake to see that the whole of the £204,500 provided for in the current Naval Estimates is expended during the current year, in view of the fact that this will prevent the discharge of men which would otherwise take place?

Unless unforeseen circumstances arise, it is anticipated that the whole of the £204,500 provided in the current year's Estimates will be expended this year.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty whether it is intended to institute courses in catering for hief petty officer cooks in order that they may be better able to deal with the catering as well as the cooking of the general messes in His Majesty's ships and establishments?

The answer is in the negative.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty whether he will amend the scales of disability pensions in attributable cases shown in reply to general request No. 15 of the 1919 welfare requests to pension earned to date for all naval ratings with over 15 years' service on being invalided, observing that the pension for service is less in the case of a rating whose disability is attributable to service than the pension for service of a rating whose invaliding disability is not attributable to service?

I would refer my hon. and gallant Friend to my reply of the 1st April last.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty what scale of pension an ex-naval rating should be drawing who was invalided, owing to an accident on service, from His Majesty's Navy as a leading seaman in 1910 with 10 years' man's time, and who was called up for service in August, 1914, and served the whole period of hostilities?

The scale would depend on several considerations particular to the case, e.g., rank additions, badges, etc., degrees of disability when the man was first invalided and when finally demobilised. If my hon. Friend will furnish me with details of any particular case, i.e., the man's name and pension number I shall be pleased to give him an exact reply.

asked the Postmaster-General whether, in view of the importance of developing the use of the telephone in rural areas, he will consider the possibility of reducing the charge of annual rental for call boxes at rural stations where the railway company concerned is willing to permit the call box to be set up rent free as far the site of the box is concerned?

Call offices are established where prospective receipts equal or exceed the cost of providing and maintaining the service; and in any case where a railway company signified its willingness to forego payment in respect of site, the cost of providing a call office would be proportionately reduced. The whole question of the installation of call offices at rural railway stations is receiving careful consideration, and the Poet Office is at present in communication with the railway companies with a view of ascertaining whether it is practicable to reduce the cost of providing such call offices.

asked the Postmaster-General if there are still any women post officers employed for the delivery of letters in Great Britain; if so, how many are so employed; what is their rate of wages; are they employed full time; and what are their respective weekly earnings?

Approximately 4,200 women are employed on the delivery of letters in Great Britain, and in 11 cases the employment is full-time. The rate of remuneration ranges from 9d. to 1s. 2½d. an hour, according to the length and nature of the service. The weekly earnings vary according to the number of hours worked.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury if he will give the Budget increase or decrease each year of each tax since the Armistice?

For the period down to 1922–23 I would refer the hon. Member to pages 26–31 of the Statistical Abstract (Command Paper 2207). The changes for 1923–24 and 1924–25 are summarised in the Financial Statements for these years (House of Commons Papers, Nos. 60 of 1924 and 84 of 1925).

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what arrangements are being made as to appointing the personnel of the branch of the Ministry of Health which will deal with the administration of widows' pensions; whether the appointments will be made from existing civil servants; and how the higher appointments will be apportioned between men and women?

The work which will arise in connection with the administration of widows' pensions will be carried out by the Insurance Department of the Ministry of Health. The question of staff arrangements and the organisation of the work is engaging my serious attention, but it is not possible, at the present time, to forecast with any reasonable accuracy what additional staff and higher posts may be necessary, or what promotions and readjustment of existing personnel may be involved.

asked the Minister of Health the number of childless widows of insured persons in the following age groups, 20 to 30, 30 to 40, and 40 to 50?

I regret that the statistical information available does not enable me to furnish the particulars desired by my hon. Friend.

asked the Minister of Health if there are any instances where direct labour is employed by boroughs for house erection with the sanction of the Ministry; and, if so, what is the comparable percentage cost with the usual contract work?

The councils of 33 county boroughs and non-county boroughs have schemes for the erection of houses under the Housing Acts of 1923 and 1924 by direct labour. The number of houses included in these schemes is 3,583. Information is not available as to the final costs of these houses, and a fair comparison could only be made if all the conditions such as time, place and type of house were precisely similar.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware of the practice of hawkers in some parts of the country of using chrysaniline, a poisonous dyestuff derived from coal-tar, in order to colour unripe oranges; and, as this preparation is most injurious to health, is he prepared to take steps to make such actions an offence under the Food and Drugs Act?

Section 3 of the Sale of Food and Drugs Act, 1875, makes it an offence to colour or stain any article of food so as to render it injurious to health, or to sell any article of food which has been so coloured or stained. I am not aware of the practice of using chrysaniline for the purpose referred to, though my attention has been called to a case in which chryoidine was used. I am advised, however, that there is no such evidence of toxicity as would justify the prohibition of the use of these colouring matters.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will take steps by legislation to empower boards of guardians to take legal proceedings prior to the birth of a child against the putative father of illegitimate children for payment of the cost of the maintenance of the woman during such time as she shall be in the Poor Law institution before the birth of her child and for the expenses of her confinement?

The Government are not in a position to undertake legislation of the kind suggested at the present time.

asked the Minister of Transport whether any decision has yet been reached as to new Regulations relating to the construction of motor omnibuses.

The answer is in the negative.

asked the Minister of Transport what representations he has had from London local authorities regarding the proposed St. Paul's bridge; whether he is in possession of the opinion of experts as to the effect of the construction of such a bridge on the fabric of St. Paul's Cathedral; and whether any steps are contemplated towards carrying into effect this scheme?

Representations have been made to my Department by local authorities and other interested bodies as to the probable effects of the construction of the suggested St. Paul's bridge. I am not aware that any steps are at present contemplated towards the execution of the project.