asked the Postmaster-General if his attention has been drawn to the insanitary condition of public telephone call-boxes; and whether he will consider the desirability, from a public health point of view, of periodical disinfection of the mouthpieces of instruments and airing of the boxes?

I beg to refer the hon. Member to the reply given to a similar question on 8th April, 1927, of which I am sending him a copy.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that dissatisfaction exists among the staff at the Edinburgh sorting office on account of the practice of passing over senior officers in making selections for the acting list; that not one of the 15 senior officers nominated by the staff has been included in the list; that only one of the 80 officers at the head of the seniority list figures on the acting list; and that in the view of the staff the exclusion of senior officers cannot be justified on grounds of efficiency and suitability; and whether he will take steps to see that the nominations submitted by the staff in accordance with the terms of the promotion Report are given full consideration and not rejected merely on account of the age of the officers nominated?

I am aware of the circumstances, and am satisfied that full consideration was given to the representations made by the staff.

asked the Secretary of State for Air what Air Force units are now stationed at Tientsin; whether the despatch of additional units is contemplated; and, if so, to what extent?

The answer to the first part of the question is none. As regards the remaining parts, the despatch of Air units to Tientsin is not at present contemplated.

asked the Secretary of State for Air the number of discharges from the Royal Air Force for heart disease for the years 1921 to 1927; the number of such cases under 21 years of age; and the number of cases in which a history of rheumatism was obtained?

The following table gives the information requested:

DISCHARGES from the Royal Air Force for Heart Disease (Organic).
Year	Total Discharges for valvular and other Diseases of the Heart.	Under 21 years of age.
		With definite history of Rheumatism.	Other cases.
1921	16	4	5
1922	17	5	4
1923	15	4	7
1924	14	6	—
1925	10	5	—
1926	14	2	2
1927 (to date).	8	—	2

These figures do not include 90 cases of heart disease (of which 23 were valvular) who were invalided by the Discharge Board in 1921, but who, from the fact that this was a post-war clearance of medical unfits, probably did not include any under the age of 21.The cases in the third column are those in which, from a scrutiny of individual records, a history of "rheumatism" was obtained.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India the duties of the labour commissioner in Madras; and whether he will take steps to satisfy the widespread desire in India for the enlargement of the scope of the functions of the labour commissioner, so that he may be able to intervene to prevent strikes instead of waiting, as he does at present, to inquire into the subject of a dispute only after the men have come out on strike, and then only after he has been approached by representatives of both the employers and workers concerned?

The duties mainly relate to the amelioration of the condition of the "depressed classes" and to the welfare of labour generally. The Government of India, in consultation with local Governments, are considering the question of legislation in regard to trade disputes.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether his attention has been drawn to the case of ex-Sub-Inspector of Police Khondkar Muhammad Zakaria, who, after 20 years' service, was dismissed about three years ago for alleged neglect of duty; whether he, is aware that this man, while at Katihar P.S., recorded some complaints against subordinates, that with a view to stopping the malpractices, he made an inquiry into the cases and submitted a report to his superiors for necessary action; that all the cases were disposed of by the divisional inspector and the then inspector of police; that more than a year after a new superintendent of police took up the cases and dismissed Khondkar Muhammad Zakaria and several others from the service; and that various appeals have been made since without effect; and whether, in view of this man's long service, he will make inquiries into the case and, if it is found to be impossible to reinstate him, consider the propriety of granting him a gratuity?

No, Sir. Local Governments have full authority to deal with officers of this grade, and my Noble Friend is not prepared to interfere with the action taken by the Government of Bengal in this case or to institute inquiries.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether he is aware that the Government of India invited manufacturers of locomotives and railway wagons by their communiqués of 1918 and 1921 to establish factories in India; whether he can give the terms of those communiqués showing what assurances were given to manufacturers; how many factories were established in response to the Government's communiqués; how many of these factories are now working; and whether he can state how much capital has been lost by Indians and Englishmen through the failure of the Government of India to carry out the assurances given to them?

Copies of the communiqués referred to by the hon. Member, together with one modifying that of 1st March, 1918, are given below.Two companies were formed in response to these communiqués, one for the manufacture of locomotives and the other for the manufacture of wagons. The former on finding that the demand for locomotives would not justify it undertaking their construction, adapted its works for the manufacture of wagons. When it became necessary for the Government of India last year to reduce the orders for wagons, they offered to purchase the works of these two companies. Only one company accepted this offer, the other, I understand, preferring to continue its operations. I am unable to state the amount of capital lost.

asked the Minister of Labour the latest information in the possession of his Department in

Industry and year to which the figures relate.				Average full-time hours per week.
				Males.	Females.	All Workpeople.
Cotton (1926)*	…	…	…	53·8	52·8	53·3
Woollen and Worsted (1926)*	…	…	…	49·3	49·3	49·3
Hosiery and Underwear (1924)†	…	…	…	51·6	50·4	50·7
* "Monthly Labour Review," February, 1927.
† "Wages and hours of Labour in the Hosiery and Underwear Industry, 1907 to 1924."
Particulars of the average full-time hours per week in each of the principal occupation in the cotton and textile industries in the United State, extracted from the same source, were published in the "Ministry of Labour Gazette, for April, 1927.

The latest information in my possession regarding hours of labour in the textile industries of Germany is taken from the results of an investigation made by the German Federal Ministry of Labour in October, 1926, and published in "Reichsarbeitsblatt" for 10th February, 1927. It was found that, out of 307,386 workpeople in the various textile industries, representing 33 per cent. of the total number of workpeople employed in these industries, the proportions working 48 hours, under 48 hours and over 48 hours a week were as follow:Weekly working hours and percentages of workpeople working these hours:

	Per cent.
42 hours and under	11·47
Over 42 and less than 48 hours	12·29
48 hours	12·93
Over 48 and up to 54 hours	57·65
Over 54 to 60 or more hours	5·66
	100·00

It is stated that, in those undertakings in which the weekly working hours exceeded 48, a 53-hour week appeared to be general.As regards the United States, the following figures relating to the average weekly hours of labour ascertained as the result of official inquiries covering a selection of representative establishments, in the cotton, woollen, and hosiery industries, are extracted from the publications of the United States Department of Labour:

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether any compensation claims have been filed by British firms with responsible authorities relating to the recent looting and destruction of British property by Nationalist troops in Nanking; and is he now in a position to estimate the total of these claims?

I can add nothing to the reply returned to the hon. Member by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary on the 25th May last.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is now in a position to give information to this House as to the number of persons arrested as an outcome of May Day demonstrations held in Haifa, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem on 1st May last; whether these persons were granted bail; what sentences they ultimately received; what is the sentence passed on Mr. Arie Karp; and whether he is recommended for deportation?

The answer to the first three parts of the question is in the negative. As regards Mr. Karp, I have nothing to add to the reply I gave to the hon. Member on 1st June.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what proportion of German to English subjects are returning to Tanganyika Territory for the purpose of taking up land; the present number of German and British-born residents, respectively; what facilities, if any, exist for the purpose of assisting British ex-service men and others who are suitable and anxious to take up land in Tanganyika; and if there is any fund available for purpose of loaning the necessary capital to suitable is any fund available for the purpose of British-born applicants desirous of settling in the territory?

The total numbers of British and Germans at present in the Tanganyika Territory are understood to be approximately as follows:

British (official)	…	…	1,400
British (unofficial)	…	…	1,400
Germans	…	…	500

Between 1st January, 1926, and 31st March, 1927, 453 Germans, including women and children, entered the territory. It is not possible to say how many of these entered the country with a view to settlement, trade or merely as visitors. The corresponding number of unofficial British who entered the territory during the same period was 346. All possible encouragement is given to British enterprise in the territory, but there is no special fund for financing British settlers there.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the names, of the Scottish county councils and burghs that have issued local Orders under the Wild Birds Protection Acts, 1880 to 1908, extending the close time after 1st August, and for a list of those county councils and burghs who have also made additions to the 1890 Schedule?

The hon. Member no doubt refers to Orders made by the Secretary of State on the application of county and town councils. The only city or county in Scotland in which the close season for wild birds has been extended after the 31st July by such an Order under the Wild Birds Protection Acts, is the City of Aberdeen.Orders, however, under Section 1 of the Wild Birds Protection Act, 1896, protecting all wild birds or certain species of wild birds outside the close season have been made for the following cities and counties:—

Cities.
Aberdeen.	Edinburgh.
Dundee.	Glasgow.

Counties.
Aberdeen.	Dumfries.
Argyll.	East Lothian.
Ayr.	Fife.
Banff.	Forfar.
Berwick.	Inverness.
Caithness.	Kincardine.
Clackmannan.	Kinross.
Dunbarton.	Kirkcudbright.

asked the hon. Member for Monmouth as representing the Forestry Commissioners, how many gates in to the enclosures in the New Forest have been locked since the beginning of the year; how many padlocks have been bought; what is the cost of the padlocks and chains; and why, in view of the provisions of the New Forest Act, 1877, the locking of gates across ancient highways and footpaths through the enclosures has been carried out?

654 padlocks have been bought of which 653 have been issued in replacement of old padlocks which are being used elsewhere than in the New Forest. The cost, of each padlock was 2s. 8d.; the chains were not purchased by the Department but similar chains have been bought for 1s. 1d. each. Section 7 of the New Forest Act, 1877, provides that the enclosures are free from all rights of common, and from all other rights, privileges, and claims whatsoever, except a right of the public to use any public highway. No public highway has been closed by the locking of gates or otherwise.