asked the Minister of Agriculture the number and names of cattle markets at present closed on account of cattle disease?

Five markets are now closed, namely, Wishaw in the Carluke area, Crewe in the Cheshire area, Colchester in the Essex area, and Hagley and Stourbridge in the Worcestershire area.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether, in view of the fact that pig offals imported from the Continent form a useful and cheap food, he can make any statement as to the decision of his Department on the suggested modification of the embargo on these products?

Representations have been made that certain pig offals imported from the Continent form a useful and cheap food. It is the custom heavily to salt these offals in such a manner as to prevent any risk of infection, and their admission to this country has been arranged under licence. I regret that fresh offals, such as plucks, livers, etc., cannot be admitted, as I am advised that the danger of importing foot-and-mouth disease in them is too great.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he has any official information as to what steps are being taken in France, Belgium, and Holland to check the spread of foot-and-mouth disease in the flocks and herds of those countries?

Laws exist in France, Belgium and Holland empowering the Governments to deal with outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease on lines which are similar to our own. Disease in these countries, however, is so prevalent that eradication by slaughter of the infected animals has been abandoned for many years. Farmers are required to report the suspected existence of disease on their farms, and when it is diagnosed the movement of animals off the farms is prevented by Order. In Belgium and Holland clinically non-affected animals are moved under licence from the infected premises to abattoirs for slaughter, and their carcases consumed on the Continent or, prior to the passage of the Importation of Carcases (Prohibition) Order of 1926, in Great Britain. These contact animals are liable to be infectious though slaughtered in an early stage of the disease before lesions have developed.

asked the Secretary for Scotland whether it is proposed to continue experiments in crop-drying this year; and whether the advice and help of the Institute of Agricultural Engineering has been sought and obtained?

Experiments in crop-drying were carried out by each of the Agricultural Colleges in Scotland in 1925 with the machinery devised by the Institute of Agricultural Engineering. Arrangements for the experiments were made on the suggestion of and with the assistance of the Crop-Drying Company, Limited, to whom the commercial exploitation of the system developed by the Institute of Agricultural Engineering was entrusted. I understand the colleges do not propose to continue the experiments this year.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware of the wide variations in the prices which retailers are asking at the present time for English eggs, ranging from 1s. 5d. to 2s. 6d. per dozen; and whether he can take any steps to ensure that the public is not overcharged for this article, especially in view of the low price received by poultry farmers?

I am aware that prices (both wholesale and retail) for English eggs vary according to the size, age and appearance of the egg, and the situation of the market. If my hon. Friend will furnish evidence to show that this variation is due to overcharging, I shall be happy to examine it.

asked the Home Secretary whether Anton Opulsky, of Abercarn, Monmouthshire, who was sentenced for offences under the Emergency Regulations and is due for deportation, will be allowed to go to Soviet Russia, as he desires, instead of to his native country of Lithuania; and what will be his position as regards the pension of £2, which he was drawing for disability as the result of war service in the British Army?

I cannot send an alien to any country of which he is not recognised as a national; and I am engaged in finding out the country to which this alien belongs. As regards the second part of the question, I must refer the hon. Member to the Ministry of Pensions.

asked the Home Secretary the total number of aliens resident in the United Kingdom on the 1st January, 1925, and the 1st January, 1926, and the number of aliens who entered and left the United Kingdom during the first quarter of 1926; and if he will state in each case the percentage of each nationality to the total figures?

The following table shows the number and nationalities of aliens registered with the police on 31st December, 1924, and 31st December, 1925, excluding those whose stay in the United Kingdom was subject to a time condition:

Nationality.	On 31st December, 1924.	On 31st December, 1925.
American	19,985	20,620
Austrian	6,705	6,574
Belgian	11,500	10,879
Dutch	8,636	8,605
French	25,286	24,580
German	19,719	19,289
Italian	29,706	29,633
Polish	6,315	6,694
Russian	89,053	87,724
Scandinavian (including Danish).	13,641	13,441
Swiss	12,844	12,497
Others	29,156	29,114
Total	272,546	269,650

A corresponding table, relating to alien passengers (excluding transmigrants) who landed and embarked during the first three months of this year, will be found in the Quarterly Return presented to Parliament (Omd. 2671), of which I am sending my hon. and gallant Friend a copy.

asked the Minister of Health whether the cancer apparatus, designed by Dr. Pedroso and presented to his Department, has yet been officially tested; and, if so, will he state the result of such tests?

I understand that my Department have not received the apparatus referred to. Perhaps the hon. Member con furnish me with some further information on the subject.

asked the Minister of Health if he will consider legislation having for its object the insurance of small traders, professional men, and people generally working on their own account, whose incomes are under the £250 per year limit and who are debarred under the Widows', Orphans', and Old Age Contributory Pensions Act?

I would refer to the reply given to the hon. Member for Blackpool (Sir W. de Frece) on this subject on the 1st July.

asked the Minister of Health what steps have been taken with a view to the prevention of dermatitis among persons employed in bakehouses?

My right hon. Friend has asked me to reply to this Question. Proposals for requiring the adoption at bakehouses of certain special precautionary measures have been communicated to the associations representing the employers and workers concerned, and the views of these associations having now been obtained and considered, I have decided to proceed at once to the formal issue in draft of an Order for the industry under Section 7 of the Police, Factories, Etc. (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1916. I will see that the hon.

—	L. G. O. C. and Associated Companies.	Independent Proprietors.	Total.
1926
31st January	4,718	611	5,329
30th June	4,571	474	5,045
	(including 99 'buses now controlled by the L.G.O.C. which on 31st January were independent.

I am not in a position to say how many were actually running on the dates in question.

asked the Minister of Pensions, with regard to the pension of ex-Stoker William Ewart Gladstone Day, No. K21,477, late Royal Navy, whether he will take steps to remedy the position arising from an admitted error of opinion of a medical board as from the date of assessment made as the result of such error; whether he will state why, as the result of a medical examination on 17th July, 1925, when the assessment was increased, such increased award was only payable from 24th June, 1925, instead of from the date of occurrence of the relapse, which increased the degree of incapacity

asked the Minister of Transport the number of omnibuses plying on the London streets at the present moment as compared with the number running in January, 1926; how many of these omnibuses are owned by the London General Omnibus Company; and how many are privately owned during the same periods?

The numbers of omnibuses licensed on the 31st January and 30th June last were as follow:and necessitated an operation in June of that year; and why the increased award of 20s. 7d. per week was reduced to 16s. per week after nine months, although his assessment for neurasthenia remained at 20 per cent. and his deafness and ear condition were completely and permanently unchanged?

In the first and second parts of his question, the hon. Member is asking me to deal with one and the same situation in two different ways, but it has not been admitted that the existing degree of disablement was wrongly assessed in the final award made in 1922 in respect of deafness, against which no appeal was made within the statutory time limit. It has been admitted that later developments made that award inappropriate as a settlement for permanent purposes, and it was amended as from the date when examination by a Ministry medical officer established this fact. I cannot go back beyond that fixed date. As regards the last part of the question, I explained this point in my reply to the hon. Member on the 24th June last.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether, arising out of a question as to the rates of wages paid to box porters and to a cutter in the Royal Army Clothing Department, a Trade Board inspector has visited the factory for the purpose of investigating the facts; whether the inspector has submitted his Report; and whether, if the Report is not to be pub-

AVERAGE NUMBERS ON REGISTER.
—	—	Men.	Boys.	Women.	Girls.	Total.
Grimby	1926.
	January	2,402	178	172	197	2,949
	February	2,556	155	190	193	3,094
	March	2,482	138	175	204	2,999
	April	2,240	165	160	191	2,756
	May	3,083	178	300	281	3,842
	June	3,918	178	282	267	4,645
Lincoln	January	1,935	41	250	71	2,300
	February	1,829	40	227	73	2,169
	March	1,762	27	240	62	2,091
	April	1,685	40	210	55	1,990
	May	1,865	45	276	65	2,251
	June	2,131	58	263	67	2,519

There is no local office at Immingham, and persons in that area are probably registered at Grimsby.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he is aware that the Staffordshire Education Com-

Yes, Sir. An investigation has been carried out by an official of the Ministry of Labour. All reports of this nature are regarded as confidential and are never published.

asked the Minister of Labour if he will give the average monthly figures for unemployment during the last six months for Immingham, Lincoln and Grimsby, separately?

The following table gives the available information:mittee are not exercising their powers with respect to the feeding of school children in the mining villages of Penkridge and Huntington; and whether he will make representations to the local authority on this matter?

My right hon. Friend has nothing to add to the reply which he gave to the hon. Member on the 5th July last, a copy of which he is sending him.