asked the Secretary of State for War the annual cost to the State of a private soldier in a Regular infantry battalion and the annual cost of a private soldier in a Territorial infantry battalion?

As explained to the hon. Member for King's Norton (Mr. Dennison) on 10th February, the cost of a private soldier varies according to the conditions of his service. But the hon. Member will find a broad comparison between the cost of a Regular infantry battalion serving at home and a Territorial infantry battalion in the figures given on pages 65 and 255 of Army Estimates for 1926.

asked the Secretary of State for War the number of beds in Imtarfa Military Hospital, Malta?

The Imtarfa military hospital has accommodation sufficient for six officers and 190 other ranks, but at present beds are equipped for only six officers and 119 other ranks.

asked the Secretary of State for Air, if he is satisfied with the results of the training of the boys at the Royal Air Force school at Halton; that whereas the Report admits the standard of entry in school work is a high one there were no less than 72 boys dismissed the service as complete failures out of a total of 569 boys after three years' continuous training; and, considering the annual expense of each boy to the country, will he take steps to ensure that more efficient instructors are available, add that boys likely to be classed as complete failures should be dismissed the service as early as possible, thus giving them an opportunity to find a new career?

I am satisfied with the quality of the training given at Halton, and my view is borne out by independent reports which I have received as a result of inspections by the Board of Education, and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Results must of course depend largely on the quality of the pupils and, inasmuch as the airmen now passing out of the school entered in the initial stages of the Aircraft apprentice scheme, it would be misleading to draw unfavourable deductions from the proportion of failures among these early entries. As the quality of the entrants improves through a wider appreciation of the advantages of the scheme I am confident that there will he a steady improvement; indeed, I look forward to a time when a large proportion of the apprentices will pass out, as they are all eligible to do, as leading aircraftsmen and when the number of failures will be reduced to very small dimensions. As regards the last part of the question the regulations provide that apprentices unlikely to succeed shall be discharged at an early stage, and in point of fact a certain number of pupils were so discharged during the course referred to by my hon. and gallant Friend. I may add that the statement that 72 boys were dismissed the service as complete failures at the termination of that course is incorrect the number actually so discharged was nine.

asked the Secretary of State for Air the comparison of the net cost of a cadet per annum at Cranwell with that of Sandhurst; if he can explain the disparity in such cost; and what steps he is taking to reduce the annual amount required for Air Force cadets?

I would refer toy hon. and gallant Friend to the answers given to the hon. Members for Rusholme (Mr. Merriman) and Thanet (Mr. Harms-worth) on the 24th February and 17th March last respectively. The disparity of cost per cadet as between Cranwell and Sandhurst is not in any way ex cessive if proper allowance is made for the different circumstances and in par' ticular, the far more specialised and technical character of the training at the former and the smaller number of cadets. I should add that, as previously stated, if a comparison is desired, that with Woolwich would be more appropriate, though, even here, owing to the quite different requirements of the two services, there is a wide divergence in the character of the instruction given and the two establishments are not strictly comparable. The possibility of reducing the cost anti especially the overheads of the station is, however, constantly under review.

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether his attention has been called to the statement of the official receiver at Salisbury Bankruptcy Court, when an officer of the Royal Air Force was being examined, that officer after officer came before him; and will he cause an independent investigation to be made respecting the mess expenses in the Royal Air Force?

I hive seen the Press reports of the statement referred to by my hon. and gallant Friend. Full information in regard to mess expenses in the Air Force is already in the possession of the Air Ministry, and I do not consider that further investigation is necessary. The expenses are strictly limited for the purpose of ensuring that the most junior offices s shall be able to live on their pay without difficulty. I am sending particulars of the average messing charges which are in fact incurred to my hon. and gallant Friend and from these he will see that the criticism in regard to standard of living in Royal Air Force messes is unjustifiable.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty the reasons for the withdrawal by his Department of the claim for £77 10s. 5d. for the services of naval ratings at Hackney electricity works during the general strike?

The claim was withdrawn, because was found that, owing to a misunderstanding of procedure on the part of the Conlieil'S officers, payment had been made to the naval ratings direct.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty how many applicants were accepted in the year 1926 for His Majesty's Navy, and how many were rejected on account of some physical or medical disability?

The number of applicants accepted in the year 1920 for the Royal Navy was 6,625, and for the Royal Marines 1,063, a total of 7,688. Separate totals of numbers rejected on account of some physical or medical disability cannot be given, but the total number of candidates for entry in the Royal Navy and Royal Marines rejected on these accounts was 5,427. This number does not include men and boys rejected by recruiters, i.e., those not sent forward for final medical examination, of which there is no record.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty the number of discharges from each of His Majesty's dockyards for each year from 1923?

The numbers of workmen discharged on "reduction" frcan the Vote 8 Departments during the calendar years 1924, 1925 and 19241 were as follow:

—		1924.	1925.	1926.
Portsmouth	…	19	25	310
Devonport	…	151	139	449
Chatham	…	2	11	486
Rosyth	…	12	409	723
Sheerness	…	1	—	50
Pembroke	…	5	378	518

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether it was the intention of the Board of Admiralty, when Article 107 of the King's Regulations and A dmiralty instructions was revised, that naval ratings who had hitherto had their ability assessed as superior were to automatically drop to moderate for efficiency on 31st December, 1926; whether he is aware that in some cases wholesale assessments as moderate have been made; and whether he will issue orders to amend this, and make it clear to all officers commanding ships and establishments that automatic drops in assessments were not intended?

The answers to the first and third parts of the question are in the negative, and to the second part that the Admiralty have no statistics available. The basis of the efficiency assessments is quite different from that of the former ability assessments, and I have no reason to think either that the new system is not understood or that it is not being properly carried out.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty the number of beds in Bighi Royal Naval Hospital, Malta'?

The peace accommodation in the Royal Naval Hospital, Malta., is as follows:

			Officers.	Men.
(1) General:	…	…
Medical	…	…	15	90
Surgical	…	…	32	108
(2) Infectious	…	…	4	20
(3) Lunatics	…	…	—	4
Totals	…	…	51	222

These totals are capable of expansion in emergency.

asked the President of the Board of Education the estimated number of teachers drawing pensions on the 31st March, 1927; the estimated cost of these pensions for the year ending the 31st March, 1927; and the estimated total contributions paid by teachers for the year ending the 31st March, 1927?

The following were the estimated figures for 1926–27:

	£	£
Estimated number of teachers drawing pensions		24,855
Estimates cost of pensions:—
Recurring expenditure	2,729,585
Non-recurring expenditure	1,480,750	4,210,355
Estimated total conbutions paid by teachers		2,400,000

asked the President of the Board of Education if he, can give any analysis of the academic careers of holders of national scholarships to the universities from 1924 onwards, distinguishing between men and women?

The following table shows the honours degrees obtained by State scholars at universities in the three years 1924, 1925 and 1926:

asked the President of the Board of Education how many pupils in 1025–26 left elementary schools to enter secondary schools; and what percentage this was of the 10 to 11 age group in elementary schools?

The number of pupils ho are recorded as having left public elementary schools in England and Wales during 1925–26 to enter secondary schools was 62,228. This figure is 10.6 per cent. of the number aged 10 and under 11 years on the registers on the 31st March, 1926.

asked the President of the Board of Education the average gross expenditure of local education authorities on salaries and on other expenditure, respectively; the average receipts from fees and other sources for each registered pupil in a secondary school in the year 1925–26; and the corresponding estimates for 1926–27?

I assume that the hon. Member desires me to supply him with figures for 1925–26 and 1926–27 corresponding to the figures given on page 10 of the Board's Estimates Memorandum [Cmd. 2688] relating to gross cost per registered pupil in secondary schools maintained by local authorities. The The figures for 1925–26 may be provisionally given as follows:

Gross expenditure—
	£	s.
Salaries	20	13
Other Expenditure	6	11
	27	4
Receipts; Fees, etc	7	16
Net expenditure per registered pupil	19	8

The above figures are based on returns of expenditure for completed years, and corresponding figures cannot, therefore, be given for 1926–27.

asked the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs whether the emigration schemes or the schemes for assisted passages to the Dominions apply to the Union of South Africa; and, if not, the reasons?

I would refer my hon. Friend to paragraph 17 of the Report of the Oversea Settlement Sub-Committee of the Imperial Conference, which shows that the limited field for white labour in South Africa precludes the Government of the Union of South Africa from co-operating in schemes of assisted migration on the lines which have been adopted in other Dominions.

asked the 'Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he has considered the provision of a bacteriological laboratory and a qualified bacteriologist for the hospital at Suva, Fiji, in view of its importance as a medical centre for a wide tropical area?

These suggestions have not previously been made to me, but I will communicate with the Governor.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he has received a Report from the Government of Hong Kong relative to the despatch of British troops to police the district of Shantaukok, a district 10 miles beyond the frontier of the British leased territory at. Kowloon; how many troops have been sent to this place; and how many British subjects there are requiring protection?

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply returned to the hon. and gallant Member for Centra' Hull (Lieut.-Commander Kenworthy) on the 17th February, to which I have nothing to add.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs how many British subjects have been killed during the last two years in China; how many were killed in anti-foreign disturbances; at what places the deaths occurred; and how many of the deceased persons were of European birth or origin?

I am unable to state the number of British subjects killed in China by all causes during the past two years. Twelve British subjects were killed during this period in anti-foreign disturbances as follows:

• 2 at Canton,
• 1 at Shanghai,
• 8 at Wanhsien,
• 1 at Chengtu.

A British subject was killed by brigands near Taipingfu in the province of Kwangsi, and there is every reason to believe that a British subject was killed in the course of the seizure of the steamship "Sunning" by the Bias Bay pirates in November last, and another, also by pirates, in the Canton delta in September last. All these persons were of European birth or origin, with the exception of two Indians killed at Canton.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the Government have yet ratified the Arms Traffic Convention concluded at Geneva in June, 1925; and, if not, will he state the reason?

His Majesty's Government have not yet ratified the Convention, for the reasons given in my reply to the hon. and gallant Member for Ripon (Major Hills) on the 24th November last.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury when the up-to-date list of situations in the Civil Service, falling under Schedule (B) of the Order in Council of the 10th January, 1910, referred to in his reply to the hon. Member for the London University (Dr. Little) on the 19th February, 1926, will be available for Members of the House?

The revised list is now in course of preparation, and will be made available as soon as it is completed.

asked the Minister of Agriculture the number of proceedings instituted for breaches of the Agricultural Wages Board orders during the year; the amounts of fines inflicted in such cases; and the amount of arrears of wages ordered to be paid farm workers following action by the officials of his Department?

Daring the year 1926, proceedings were instituted against 82 employers for breaches of the Orders of the Agricultural Wages Board. Fines amounting to £308 wore inflicted, together with costs amounting to £122, and a total of £l,625 was ordered to be paid in respect of arrears of wages due to the workers concerned.

asked the Attorney-General whether he will advise the appointment of a Royal Commission to inquire into the codification and amendment of the criminal law of England and Wales and to prepare a draft code?

No, Sir. Certain branches of the Criminal Law Have been codified in recent years, and it may be possible by proceeding gradually to make further progress in that direction. I have consulted my Noble Friend the Lord Chancellor upon the suggestion contained in this question, and I concur in his view that the appointment of a Royal Commission would not be likely to produce any useful result.

asked the Home Secretary what number of girls are at present in prison, apart from the Borstal institution, from 16 to 21 years of age and from 21 to 25 years of age, respectively?

Apart from a few on remand there are 23 of ages from 16 to 21, and 79 of ages from 21 to 25 in prison in England and Wales.