asked the Minister of Health whether he can see his way to take any steps to promote the medical education of the people?

If, as I assume, the hon. Member's question refers to the provision of simple information on health questions, I may say that many local authorities already provide such information, and that my Department have recently published a memorandum on public education in health by the chief medical officer, which deals generally with such provision. A proposal to extend the powers of local authorities in this matter is now before Parliament.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that the public attention created by the publication of annual returns of starvation cases was largely responsible for the reduction in the number of such cases in Whitechapel and in London generally after 1912, and for efforts being made by guardians in London unions to induce destitute persons to apply for relief; whether the Local Government Board took any and, if so, what steps to encourage the reduction in such cases; and whether, with a view to the further encouragement of a similar policy, he will revive the publication of such returns?

I cannot accept the view that the publication of the returns referred to, which were first issued in 1871, helped to reduce the number of deaths from starvation. The officers of the central authority made, and still make, close inquiries into any case in which there is any suggestion that a defect in the Poor Law administration may have in any degree contributed to a death of this kind. As regards the last part of the question, I would refer to the reply given to the hon. Member on the 19th ultimo.

asked the Minister of Health the number of persons in receipt of Poor Law relief on the 31st of December for the years 1923 and 1924, respectively?

Figures for 31st December cannot be given. The total numbers of persons of all classes in receipt of Poor Law relief in England and Wales on the 1st January, 1924, and the 1st January, 1925, were 1,372,098 and 1,205,267, respectively.

asked the Minister of Health the maximum number of able-bodied men making claims in Sheffield upon the guardians during the two months immediately preceding the changes made by the Minister of Labour and the average number during the last two months?

I am informed that the maximum number of able-bodied men making claims upon the Sheffield Guardians during the two months preceding the changes made by the Ministry of Labour was 4,550, and that the average number during the last two months was 3,975.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that valuers throughout the country are not agreed as to the value of houses built of asbestos tiles or standard concrete; and whether he will have official tests made of these materials to ascertain their suitability and probable durability, and publish the results with a view to aiding valuers in fixing a reasonable value upon such houses?

I am aware that opinions vary as to the value of many of the new materials and new methods of house construction. As regards asbestos tiles a committee of the British Engineering Standards Associa- tion, on which Government Departments are represented, is at present investigating the practicability of settling standards for this material and their conclusions will no doubt be published in due course. The question of the suitability of concrete for house construction was fully investigated by the Committee on New Methods of House Construction, and I may refer the hon. and gallant Member to that Committee's second interim Report (Cmd. 2310).

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he is aware that there are now about 5,000 refugees in the Tangier international zone, and that the funds at the disposal of the British Red Crescent Society for the maintenance of these people are now practically exhausted; and whether he will consider bringing the condition of these people to the notice of the Powers signatory to the Tangier convention with a view to joint action for their relief?

Relief work at Tangier is a matter for the newly-created international administration, and His Majesty's Government regret that they do not think they can properly take action in the sense suggested.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he has any information showing that Spanish troops have again fired on natives in the Tangier international zone; and whether His Majesty's Government, as a signatory Power to the Tangier Convention, will use their influence to prevent a recurrence of events of this kind?

I would refer the hon. Member to the answer given on the 15th of June to the hon. Member for Bright-side (Mr. Ponsonby).

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs when it is proposed to appoint an ambassador to the United Soviet Republics of Russia; and what steps are being taken to keep British manufacturers informed of the requirements of that country, more especially in the matter of agricultural machinery and rolling stock for the rail and tram roads?

As regard the first part of the question, I have nothing to add to the answer given to the hon. and gallant Member for Central Hull (Lieut.-Commander Kenworthy) on the 23rd of February. As regards the second part, a commercial secretary is attached to the British Mission at Moscow, whose function is to keep the Department of Overseas Trade informed of any openings which may arise for British trade. I may remind the hon. Member that orders for the Soviet Union are usually placed through the various purchasing organs of the Soviet Government established in the United Kingdom and other countries.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he has made any proposal to France for the holding of a conference to arrive at a scheme for the limitation of the manufacture of aeroplanes for war purposes?

The answer is in the negative.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether any joint consultations between Britain, Japan, and the United States were held before the Government arrived at its decision to proceed with the Singapore base?

The answer is in the negative.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty whether he is aware that chief petty officers, petty officers, and men of the Mediterranean Fleet who land on liberty at Malta, when white trousers are the rig of the day, are compelled to take with them a pair of blue cloth or serge trousers and change into them at sunset; whether it is the Admiralty's intention that men should be harassed in this way and made to carry a bundle containing cloth or serge trousers and black boots for five or more hours; and if steps will be taken to cancel the present regulation?

I am having inquiries made into this matter and will let my hon. and gallant Friend know the result in due course.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he proposes to take any action to make emigration agents liable for any loss which some emigrants suffer where the emigrant has been induced to go abroad on the representation of such agents; and whether it is his intention to have all emigration agents registered?

All persons engaged in emigration business are either licensed passage brokers or hold appointments from licensed passage brokers, their appointments being countersigned by a Board of Trade officer. The Merchant Shipping Acts provide that anyone who fraudulently induces or attempts to induce any person to emigrate or to engage a steerage passage in any ship is liable to fine or imprisonment. It is not considered that any additional powers are required at present.

asked the Minister of Pensions whether he proposes to continue the regulation introduced by his predecessor providing for the transfer of a parent's pension to the surviving parent in the event of the death of the person to whom the pension was first awarded?

The provision referred to by the hon. and gallant Member is contained in Article 2 of the Royal Warrant of 2nd September, 1924, and there is no intention of withdrawing this provision.

asked the Minister of Pensions whether he will re-open the case of Mr. Walter Clutterbuck, of 22, Camden Square, Ramsgate, late private Royal West Kent Regiment, who was discharged as medically unfit in 1916, and whose pension awarded in 1919, was terminated in September 1920, his appeal being in respect of varicose veins aggravated by, and paralysis due to, military service, both accounted for, in the opinion of his late commanding officer, by exposure in bad weather for unusually long hours while insufficiently clothed?

Mr. Clutterbuck's claim, in respect of both the disabilities referred to, was very carefully considered by the Ministry at the time, and the decision of the Department was confirmed in each case by the independent appeal tribunal. I am not aware of any fresh evidence in the case which would justify the adoption of my hon. Friend's suggestion.

asked the Minister of Pensions whether, having regard to local medical testimony in the case of Mr. E. Goreing, of 60, Winstanley Crescent, Ramsgate, late private East Kent Regiment, he will inquire into the rejection of Mr. Goreing's claim for treatment allowance for the two weeks commencing the 29th October, 1924, seeing that these two weeks formed part of a period during which he was attended by one and the same local medical practitioner for malaria, contracted while on service at Salonika, and that for the rest of that period treatment allowance was granted?

I find that in this case allowances were paid to the pensioner for the full period during which it was certified, in accordance with the requirements of the Royal Warrant, that the pensioner would be rendered unable, by the treatment necessary in his case, from providing for the support of himself and his family.

asked the Minister of Pensions if his attention has been drawn to the claim of Mrs. Annie Hogan, of No. 9, Main Street, Greenock, to pension in respect of the death of her husband, Private Joseph Hogan, No. 396,176, Labour Corps, as the direct result of disability caused by war service; and whether he can take action to have her claim brought under Regulation 6 of the special grants committee and Article 17 of the Royal Warrant?

I am personally considering the circumstances of this case and will communicate further with the hon. Member.

asked the Minister of Pensions whether the secretariat still exists, as no provision was made for the branch in the Estimates for the years 1924–25 and 1925–26?

The functions performed by staff shown under the heading "Secretariat" in the Estimates for the Ministry of Pensions for 1923–24 are now performed by the staff shown under "General Administration," "Investigation Branch" and "General Staff Administration" in the current Estimates.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, as representing the First Commissioner of Works, if he is aware that the staff of His Majesty's Inspector of Taxes is still working in the overcrowded and insanitary offices at 10, Clarence Square, Brighton; and when it is expected that more suitable accommodation will be available?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. Every effort is being made to obtain other accommodation, but there is great scarcity of suitable office accommodation in the Brighton area.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury if he is aware that none of the men appointed to the administrative class in the Home Civil Service after a selective test under the Third Interim Report of the Gladstone Committee were below 22 years of age when their selective examination took place, and that a large proportion of the ex-service men who took the open competition of 1921 were too young for admission to these Gladstone reconstruction tests in 1919 and 1920; and if, seeing that a certain number of appointments have been given to one body of ex-service men, he will grant equally considerate treatment to an essentially different body of younger men who have taken a much more severe academic test?

Under the reconstruction scheme of recruitment to the Administrative Class of the Civil Service recommended by the Gladstone Committee, candidates were required to have attained the age of 22 on the date fixed for the written examination preliminary to the competition, the object being to afford to men who had spent in the forces all or most of the time which they would normally have spent in completing their education at a university a special opportunity of entering the Civil Service. I am unable to agree that any such special arrangements were necessary in the case of younger men entering for the open competition of 1921, which, as I informed the hon. Member on the 28th May, was not an ex-service competition.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether the Civil Service Commissioners intend arranging for a further examination in order to afford women clerks at present temporarily employed the opportunity of establishment?

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given to-day to the same question put by the hon. Member for Limehouse (Mr. Attlee).

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether, in view of their patriotic action in the War, the Government will sympathetically consider the claim of unestablished civil servants who enlisted without official permission, but who were subsequently reinstated in the Civil Service, to be paid from the date of enlistment, normal deduction, of course, being made for their military pay and allowances?

Under an instruction issued in 1918, heads of Departments were authorised, at their discretion, to reinstate as from the 1st January, 1918, whole-time unestablished employés holding quasi -permanent and regular situations, who enlisted without permission, provided they belonged to adult classes and had served not less than two years in their situations at the date of enlistment. I regret that I do not feel justified in now re-opening this arrangement.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether the British policy of non-interference with religious customs is extended to prisoners?

Yes, Sir.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India if he has any information indicating the state of the Moslem feeling in India with regard to the question of the Riff; and whether he has received any representations from responsible Moslem sources urging that His Majesty's Government should use its influence to procure the independence of the Riff country?

There have been references in the Press to some subscriptions raised for medical relief for the Riffi. I have received no representation of the nature indicated.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether, in view of the fact that there are in England and Wales at least 150,000 defective children, including those blind, deaf, physically defective, and mentally deficient, together with epileptic children, of whom only about 41,000 are provided for in special schools, he will state what education authorities have made full provision under the Elementary Education (Defective and Epileptic Children) Act, 1914, or for physically defec- tive children under the Education Act, 1918; and will he take immediate steps that will result in new special schools being provided for children so afflicted where the local education authorities have not made the necessary adequate provision?

In the areas of about 22 local authorities the provision for the education in special schools of mentally defective children is fairly complete, and one or two authorities have made similar provision for the physically defective children in their areas. As regards blind and deaf children, the large majority of local authorities have made more or less complete provision. In the areas of about a dozen authorities the provision of special schools for crippled children has been rendered unnecessary by the operation of orthopædic schemes, and my right hon. Friend hopes that in the remaining areas, about 100 in number, in which such schemes have been established, or are in contemplation, similar results will be obtained. As regards the last part of the question, I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given him on the 26th February last. My right hon. Friend must, however, deprecate the assumption that the very difficult problem of defective children can be solved by the mere building of additional schools.

asked the President of the Board of Education on what date the trusteeship of the Whitworth Foundation, 1868, was transferred from the Lord President of the Privy Council to the President of the Board of Education?

The trusteeship of the Whitworth Foundation was vested in the Duke of Marlborough and his successors in the office of the President of the Committee of Council on Education by a deed made by Sir Joseph Whitworth on the 23rd September, 1868, and was transferred to the President of the Board of Education by Section 2 (1) of the Board of Education Act, 1899.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether the recommendation of the Haldane Commission on the University of London to transfer King's College from the Strand to the Bloomsbury site behind the British Museum is likely to be carried into effect?

King's College Council have intimated their unwillingness to contemplate moving King's College to the Bloomsbury site on the terms suggested. The Treasury are still in correspondence with the University of London on the subject.

asked the Prime Minister if he can see his way to publish the German Note of 9th February last containing the Security Pact proposal and the French reply to this proposal; and, if possible, will it be published before the Foreign Secretary makes his statement to the House?

Copies of the White Paper containing these and other documents concerning the German proposals for a Security Pact will be available for Members this evening.

asked the Prime Minister whether he contemplates taking any action to amend the Parliament Act of 1911?

I would refer my hon. and gallant Friend to the answer which I gave on Monday last in reply to a question by the hon. and gallant Member for Central Hull (Lieut.-Commander Kenworthy).

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will take steps to have the full-time clerks in the offices of non-salaried official receivers at Lincoln with Boston, Grimsby, etc., placed on the pension list in a manner similar to that recently adopted by the Treasury in respect of the staffs of salaried official receivers and registrars of the County Courts?

I have been asked to reply. Some representations on this subject have already been received, and are being considered.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the amount of the National Debt which was accumulated during, and as a direct consequence of, the World War; and what is the present real worth of this debt after making allowance for the appreciation of the pound since the debt was contracted?

Between 31st March, 1914, and 31st March, 1920, the Deadweight Debt increased in nominal value from £650 millions to £7,829 millions, or by £7,179 millions, nominal value. I do not think it would be practicable to make any reliable calculation of the kind indicated in the second part of the question. There have been so many conversions of one loan into another, of Floating Debt into Permanent Debt, of External Debt into Internal Debt, that it is practically impossible to say with accuracy at what particular level of purchasing power particular fractions of the total debt now existing were raised. Some of it was raised when the purchasing power of the £ was less than it is now, but a great deal was raised when the £ was worth (in commodities) much more than it is now. The hon. Member will find some information on the point in the answer I gave on the 26th May to the hon. Member for Peckham (Mr. Dalton), of which I am sending him a copy.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that silk is largely used in connection with flour-milling machinery, in the form of bolting cloth; and whether anything can be done to exempt from duty silk used in this way so as not to place any additional burden upon this important British industry?

I am aware of the use of silk for the purpose stated in the first part of the question. The duty value of the quantity used, however, is inappreciable, and, as at present advised, I see no sufficient reason to exempt such silk from duty. Bolting cloth in machinery exported would, of course, be entitled to drawback.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the amount and value of the ironstone imported into this country in 1914, and the amount produced in this country during that period?

The imports of iron ore into the United Kingdom in 1914 amounted to 5,705,000 tons, of which the declared value was £5,155,000. The iron ore produced in the United Kingdom in 1914 amounted to 14,868,000 tons.

asked the Minister of Agriculture how much foreign malting barley was imported into Great Britain in the 12 months ending 30th April this year, and how much barley was grown in the United Kingdom during the same period?

The Trade and Navigation Accounts, which give import and export figures for Great Britain and Northern Ireland as a whole, but not for Great Britain separately, show that the total imports of barley for the 12 months ending 30th April, 1925, were 994,000 tons, but they do not distinguish between malting and other varieties. The barley crop of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for 1924 was 1,145,000.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he has received any application under the Safeguarding of Industries Act from the hosiery or boot and shoe trades?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave yesterday to the hon. Member for Mossley (Mr. Hopkinson), a copy of which I am sending him.

asked the Secretary of State for War how many barrack wardens there were who came under the Army Order which excluded them from re-enlisting during the great War; and in how many cases exemptions from the Order thus excluding them were made?

There were 329 barrack wardens employed at the outbreak of war; the Order, issued in September, 1914, that barrack wardens should not be permitted to re-enlist as drill instructors, applied to them all. The second part of question could not be answered without a great deal of investigation, and I do not think the value of the information would justify the labour involved in compiling it.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether his Department has given any further consideration to the position of barrack wardens, who, in view of the heavy work imposed on the barrack branch of the Army Service Corps by the preparation for the accommodation of the new armies at the outbreak of war, were not permitted to re-enlist during that emergency and who, as a consequence of these circumstances, over which they had no control, have received no reassessment of their pensions as contrasted with some of their colleagues who were fortunate enough to obtain exemption from the terms of the Order and who, almost alone among pensioners who gave war service, have been ignored in the granting of higher rates of pension; and whether, in view of the poverty in which this small section of men finds itself, he can see his way to treat these men with generosity?

I find that the position of barrack wardens, together with that of other classes of pensioners who did not re-enlist into the Army for service during the great War, has been fully and carefully considered. I cannot make any exception in their case from the general rule which requires military service during the War as a condition of reassessment of pension.

asked the Secretary of State for War what was the average pension payable to barrack wardens at the outbreak of war; and what is it at the present time?

The amounts payable to pensioners who are barrack wardens are not separately recorded. The information asked for could not be given without laborious investigation.

asked the Home Secretary whether the new Committee just appointed to investigate the method of collecting funds for charities will take into consideration the existence of societies which now make a business of these collections and pay a salary to collectors; and, if not, whether he will extend the scope of the inquiry to embrace them?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative; the second part therefore does not arise.

asked the Home Secretary whether he is aware that the watch committees of many town councils view with distrust the fact that the Home Office Committee, set up to consider the question of the deductions from police pay and allowances, comprises eight police officers, three Government officials, and only four representatives of the ratepayers and taxpayers; and whether he will increase the last-named representation so as to command greater public confidence?

I have received several resolutions on the subject, but I am not aware of any general dissatisfaction with the constitution of the Committee. The object in view in constituting the Committee was to give representation to the police authorities and the various ranks of the police service without unduly enlarging the Committee. The Committee has now completed its labour, and, I am happy to say, has presented a unanimous Report, which I am now considering.

asked the Minister of Transport if he will postpone the coming into operation of the Order granted to the Yorkshire Electric Power Company to lay cables in the district of Tickhill pending the settlement of a dispute between the power company and the local authority; and whether, as the Order does not specify distinctly the places where the cables are to be laid underground or overground, he will have this question decided after consideration of the views of the local authority?

The Order referred to appears to be the South Yorkshire Electricity Special Order, 1924, granted by the Electricity Commissioners to the Electrical Distribution of Yorkshire, Limited (a company associated with the Yorkshire Electric Power Company), which came into force on the 5th August, 1924, the date when the Order was approved by a resolution passed by both Houses of Parliament, and I have no power to postpone the coming into operation of the Order. The Electricity Commissioners are not aware of any dispute between the company and the local authority for Tickhill, nor has the company made an application for my consent to the placing of electric lines above ground in Tickhill.