asked the Minister of Labour the number of persons, specifying men, women, boys and girls, on the Devonport Employment Exchange during the months of December and January

The following table gives the number of persons on the registers of the Devonport Employment Exchange at the beginning of each week in December, 1926, and January, 1927:for conducting espionage on behalf of Germany against England and France, is on the Royal Air Force Reserve; if he was, in fact, employed since the War on an inter-Allied mission; and if, during his alleged subsequent occupation, he was travelling with a British passport?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the negative. As regards the second part, Mr. Stranders was employed as a temporary officer under the Inter-Allied Aeronautical Commission of Control between the end of 1919 and the beginning of 1921. I have no information in regard to his employment since then. The last part of the question is not strictly for the Air Ministry, but I understand that the answer to it is in the affirmative.

asked the Home Secretary whether he is aware that County Court Judges are at present without guidance as to the procedure required to enable them to hear petitions for declarations of ligitimacy under the Legitimacy Act, 1926; and whether and, if so, when any rules of court are to be issued for County Courts with reference to their jurisdiction under this Act?

I am informed by the Lord Chancellor that the Authority for making rules of procedure for County Courts has the matter under consideration, and Rules will be made as soon as possible.

asked the Postmaster-General the number of calls that have been made between Scotland and America on the trans-Atlantic telephone service since its inauguration?

Since the extension of the trans-Atlantic telephone service to Scotland on 5th February, 1927, there have been three calls between Scotland and America.

asked the Minister of Health the number of deaths occurring from diphtheria for the 12 months ending to the last convenient date; and whether he will consider the introduction of legislation making it compulsory for all children to be immunised from diphtheria by the Schick test and treatment?

The provisional number of deaths registered in England and Wales during 1926 which were certified as due to diphtheria was 2,923. The answer to the second part of the question is in the negative.

asked the Minister of Health the numbers of clerical workers who, in the 12 months specified, worked, approximately, 273,513 hours' overtime in his Department, as stated in his reply to the hon. Member for Blackburn (Mr. Duckworth), on the 22nd November, 1926?

The number of clerical workers who were employed on the overtime in question was 1,615.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that the majority of approved societies, embracing over 90 per cent. of the population entitled to dental benefit under the National Health Insurance Act, have accepted the new scale of fees for dental service under that Act, which scale was negotiated and agreed between representative men in approved society organisations and representative men in dental professional organisations; and whether, in these circumstances, he will take such steps as may be necessary to secure that insured persons who are members of the few approved societies whose officials are opposing such agreed scale shall not be deprived of dental benefit through a refusal by such officials to consider estimates based by dentists upon such scale or through inability on the part of the member to find a dentist willing to do work at lower fees than those so agreed?

The position with regard to the new scale of fees for dental service is as stated by the hon. Member. As regards the latter part of the question, I could not regard it as satisfactory that any Approved Society which has included dental benefit in its scheme of additional benefits should make such arrangements as resulted in its insured members being unable to obtain satisfactory dental treatment with reasonable freedom of choice of dentist, and I shall not hesitate to take the necessary steps to deal with any such case that may be brought to my notice.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will issue information to approved societies as to the decision on applications for widows' pensions and children's allowances in all cases where investigations as to membership qualifications have been investigated by the societies?

The duty of an approved society in this matter is confined to the furnishing from its records, on the application of my Department, of a certificate showing the insurance position of the member whose death has given rise to a claim for pension, and I could not justify the expense which would be involved in notifying to the society the result of the claim, nor is there any evidence of a desire on the part of claimants that this information should be given.

asked the Minister of Health whether the passing of a Legitimacy Act brings any children legitimised under that Measure eligible to claim allowances under the Widows', Orphans' and Old Age Contributory Pensions Act: and, if so, how many such allowances have already been granted and what is the total number of claims in this connection already made?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. As regards the second part, a special record was kept in the Department of claims which, although inadmissible at the time when they were made, might become valid claims if and when the Legitimacy Bill became law. The number of such claims is 709, and they are being investigated to determine whether the other conditions for the grant of pensions or allowances are satisfied.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he can suggest to the Health Committee of the League of Nations that, in their statistics of notifiable diseases, they will state the. deaths from small-pox that have occurred in European countries as well as the cases, as they have done for America and Asiatic countries, for the year 1925; and, in those instances in which they have not received particulars of the small-pox deaths, whether he will request them to obtain them from the Government statistical bureaux of the countries question?

I have been asked to reply. As regards the first part of the question, the hon. Member will find that the publication to which he refers contains in the detailed statistics relating to the individual countries information as to the number of deaths from small-pox during 1925 in a number of European countries. As regards the last part, I will see that the matter is brought to the notice of the British representative on the Health Committee of the League of Nations.