asked the President of the Board of Trade the number of shorthand typists and typists, respectively, with over five years' service who have been classified A, or above average, for promotion purposes in his Department?

asked (1) the First Lord of the Admiralty what is the number of writing assistants with over and under six years' service, respectively, but with more than two years' service, who have been classified as A, or above average, for promotion purposes in his Department; and what is the number of shorthand typists and typists, respectively, with over five years' service who have been similarly classified;(2) the Secretary of State for Air the number of writing assistants with over and under six years' service, respectively, but with more than two years' service, who have been classified as A, or above average, for promotion purposes in his Department; and what is the number of shorthand typists and typists, respectively, with over five years' service who have been similarly classified;(3) the President of the Board of Trade what is the number of writing assistants with over and under six years' service, respectively, but with more than two years' service, who have been classified as A, or above average, for promotion purposes in his Department; and what is the number of shorthand typists and typists, respectively, with over five years service who have been similarly classified?

asked the Minister of Health the number of writing assistants with over and under six Years' service, respectively, but with more than two years' service, who have been classified as A, or above average, for promotion purposes in the General Register Office; and the number of shorthand typists and typists with over five years' service who have been similarly classified in the same Department?

I have been asked to answer these questions, and would refer the hon. Members to the reply which I gave to questions on the same subject on the 28th February.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he is aware that successful candidates at the Southborough examination appointed by reason of their age, as unestablished clerks in the Civil Service are liable to pay unemployment contributions although they can never receive benefit; whether he will con- sider the desirability of exempting them from this burden; and, if he has not the power, whether he will undertake to include this amendment in the earliest legislation remedying the various defects in the Unemployment Insurance Act?

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 10th February, to the hon. Member for Stockport (Mr. Townend) in regard to the "P" Class. I will give attention in the same way to the position of the Southborough entrants who by reason of their age were unable to obtain establishment.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the British Government has received any request, official or unofficial, from the French Government for British co-operation in protecting the French concession at Shanghai: and, if so, the nature of the British reply?

No such request has been received. The authorities of the two countries at Shanghai are however working in close collaboration in preparing the defence of the International and French settlements. The juxtaposition of the two settlements obviously makes such co-operation necessary.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he proposes to publish the Hankow Agreement as a White Paper; and whether all the negotiations with the Chinese Nationalist parties will be similarly issued, so as to put on record the exact terms of settlement reached, for the information of all parties?

It will, I think, probably be desirable to publish the Hankow Agreement as a White Paper when I am in possession of the full text, and to treat in the same way any other agreements if and when such are reached. It is not always possible to give information as to negotiations actually in progress, but it has been my practice and is my desire to keep the House fully informed of results.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether there were any casualties to foreigners on the occasion of the capture of the British concession at Hankow; what was the nature of these casualties; and whether any persons were killed?

In the attack on the concession on 3rd January, two British naval ratings received severe head injuries inflicted by bamboo poles, and a third received bayonet wounds. All these men had to be removed to hospital. Several special constables and civilians were also injured by stones and bricks, and a German merchant was stabbed 36 times by the mob.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he can briefly explain the stage to which the deliberations of the Preparatory Commission on Disarmament have now progressed; and whether he is able to give any indication of an approximate date on which the Conference proper may meet?

In December, 1925, the Council of the League of Nations appointed the so-called "Preparatory Committee" to prepare the ground for a general Conference on the reduction and limitation of armaments to be held as soon as possible. The Preparatory Committee held its first meeting in May last and referred certain technical questions to two sub-committees, the one to deal with naval, military and aerial and the other with economic subjects. The first sub-committee has produced a voluminous report which has recently been published; the second has produced a first report which has also been published. Copies of both these reports have been placed in the Library of the House. They are now under the consideration of the various Governments. The economic sub-committee will, I understand, submit a further report to the Preparatory Committee which is to meet again on the 21st March. These two sub-committees were instructed to consider the technical aspect only of the questions referred to them, the Prepara- tory Committee itself being alone responsible for any final proposals that may be laid before the Council.At its forthcoming meeting the Preparatory Committee will consider these various reports, draw up the agenda of the Conference itself and report to the Council on the possibility of fixing a date for the meeting of the Conference.Until the Preparatory Committee has met again and reported to the Council, I am unable to give any indication as to the date on which the Conference proper may meet.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been drawn to the proposed imposition by the French Government of a 5 per cent. tax on imported anthracite coal; and whether any action has been taken by the Government in this connection?

I have seen reports that such a duty may but no official notification appears to have been issued.

asked the Secretary of State for Air when it is proposed to open up the air service between Egypt and Karachi?

I would refer the hon. and gallant Member to the reply which I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Acton (Sir H. Brittain) on 21st February.

asked the Minister of Health what were the ages of the nine persons on whose death certificates the word vaccination, or vaccinia, appeared as the cause or one of the causes of death in 1925 and in 1926; and what were the ages of the eases in 1925 and 1926 in which such certification as the cause of death was subsequently withdrawn?

The ages of the persons referred to in the first part of the question were, respectively, 5½ months; 8½ months; 3 months; 5 months; 5 months; 9 weeks; 17 days; 1 month, 6 months. The ages of the persons referred to in the second part were, respectively, 4 months; 4 months; 7 weeks; 1 month.

asked the Minister of Health whether, in the case in 1925 and the three cases in 1926 in which certification of vaccination, or vaccinia, as the cause of death was subsequently withdrawn by the certifying practitioner, such withdrawal was the, outcome of correspondence with a representative of Somerset House or an official of his Department; and how long after vaccination death took place in these four cases?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative, but I should make it clear that the correspondence undertaken by the Registrar-General in these cases consisted solely of a routine inquiry addressed to the certifying practitioner as to whether he was of opinion that the cause of death was in any way associated with vaccination. This is in accordance with the practice which has been followed for many years of addressing inquiries to certifying practitioners respecting any indefinitely certified causes of death. As regards the second part of the question, the period between vaccination and death was seven days in two of the cases, and nine and 17 days, respectively, in the other two.

asked the Minister of Health what were the ages of the 19 persons whose deaths were registered in 1926 as due to small-pox or to small-pox and some other complication; in what districts were they registered; in how many of them was the word small-pox the only cause of death shown on the certificate; and what were the other diseases mentioned on the certificates of those whose deaths were wholly, or mainly, or partly caused by such other diseases although occurring at or shortly following discharge from a small-pox hospital?

In accordance with the usual practice, detailed information relating to the deaths registered in 1926, in respect of which small-pox was entered on the death certificates by the certifying practitioners, will be given in the forthcoming Annual Report for the year 1926 of the Chief Medical Officer of the Ministry.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether, in connection with the construction of warships and the allocation of work generally for the Admiralty, he will give favourable consideration to the claims of the Belfast shipyards for a share of such work?

The answer is in the affirmative as far as may be campatible with the prices tendered.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty how the 600 men to be discharged from Devonport dockyard between March and April will be distributed between hired and established men, respectively?

The 600 men to he discharged will ho hired workmen; unless in any grade the number to Le discharged exceeds the number of hired men borne, in which case the La lance would be comprised of established men.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether, in view of the unemployment in Plymouth and distress among dockyard employés, he can see his way to spread the discharges of the 600 men, who according to present arrangements are to be put out of work between March and April, over a longer period?

I regret that the answer must be in the negative.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty the number of dockyard discharges that are contemplated within the next three months; and the respective contemplated quotas from each dockyard?

The discharges contemplated, and the quotas from the several dockyards, within the next three months are as given in the last part of my reply to the bon. Member for Devonport (Mr. Hore-Belislia) of the 10th February (OFFICIAL REPORT, column 913).

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether, seeing that it is not the practice of the Admiralty to consider a disability attributable to service when it is due to ordinary conditions of service, and seeing that the ordinary conditions of service are very different from those which obtain in civilian occupations, he can see his way when a man is invalided from a disability which is due to conditons of service to grant him an appeal, where he can state his case before an independent tribunal who can gauge whether the conditions are more or less severe than those which would have obtained in civilian life?

The Naval medical authorities are considered fully competent to advise the Board of Admiralty as to the conditions of an invalided rating's service. The question of setting up an independent appeal tribunal other than the Board has been fully considered and I have nothing to add to my reply of the 25th October last (OFFICIAL REPORT, column 568) in which I referred the hon. and gallant Member to the reply which I gave to the hon. and gallant Member for North Portsmouth (Sir B. Falle) on the 18th May (OFFICIAL REPORT, columns 123–4).

asked the Minister of Labour, whether he is preparing any schemes that will assist in finding employment for the large number of miners who are unable to get work in the mining districts; and whether he will consider the relaxation of the conditions for extended benefit in cases where great unemployment has continued for a period of time?

As regards the first part of the question, I would refer the hon. Member to the reply which I gave to the hon. Member for Aberdare (Mr. G. Hall) on 24th February. As regards the second part of the question, the conditions for extended benefit are statutory, and I have no power to relax them.

asked the Minister of Labour how many persons were refused unemployment benefit during the 12 months ending 31st December, 1926, because they were resident with relatives whose incomes were considered sufficient to include the maintenance of such persons; what is the minimum amount of income per head coming into a family which entitles the exchange authorities to refuse the grant of unemployment pay; and whether, in fixing the minimum, account is taken of rent, travelling and other expenses incurred by those members of the family who are at work?

In the 12 months ended 12th January, 1927, the number of cases where this ground of disallowance applied (including those of married women dependent on their husbands) was 126,436, being 33 per cent. of the extended benefit cases considered during that period. No rigid income limit has been laid down below which benefit should always be allowed or above which it should always be refused. Cases are dealt with on their merits, but memoranda for the guidance of local committees have been issued and copies are in the Library. The memorandum chiefly relevant on this point is L.E.C. 82/21, of which I am sending the hon. Member a copy.

asked the Minister of Labour (1) if he will enumerate the industries and state the number of work-people employed in each industry covered by the Unemployment Insurance Acts;

The "Ministry of Labour Gazette" for February, of which I am sending the hon. Member a copy, contains on pages 70 and 71 a list of the insured industries, with the number of insured persons in each. The only industry entirely excluded from the Acts is agriculture, while private domestic servants also are not insurable. At the Population Census of 1921 there were approximately 986,000 employ és of all classes in agriculture and 1,232,000 in private personal service. Certain groups of workpeople within the insured industries (principally permanent railway servants) are excluded by certificates of exception; particulars of these will be found in the Report of the Ministry of Labour for the years 1923 and 1924 (Cmd. 2481). The total number of uninsured adults registered at the Employment Exchanges on 24th January, 1927. was 28,314, but this figure is doubtless not exhaustive.