SHIP CONSTRUCTION.
asked the First Lord of the Admiralty in respect of each ship built in His Majesty's Dockyards during the years 1924, 1925 and 1926, the dockyard where the main and auxiliary machinery was ordered and made?
The information is given in the following statement:
with the comparable figures for the year 1913?
pursuant to his reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 15th December, 1927; col. 2535, Vol. 211] supplied the following particulars:
Largest Submarines Built or Building and Cost. Name. Displacement. Cost. 1913. Tons. Great Britain "Nautilus" (building) 1,440 £231,273. United States of America G.3 (building) 430 £115,000 (at $4.8665 to £1). Japan No. 15 (building) 450 Not known. Germany U.28 (building) 750 Not known. France "Mereide" (building) 787 £151,812 (at fr. 25 to £1). Italy "Galileo Ferraris" (building). 344 Not known. 1927. Great Britain X.1 (built) 2,525 £1,043,993. United States of America V.4 (building) 2,890 $7,150,000 (estimated). Japan 14(building) 1,970 Yen 8,000,000 (approximate estimate). France Cruiser S/2 (building) 3,000 Fr. 66,000,000 (estimated). Italy "Ettore-Fieramosca" (building). 1,378 Not known.
GLASS (IMPORTS).
asked the President of the Board of Trade the amount of blown sheet window-glass which has been imported into this country during the last five years; whether any import duty is charged on this article; and, if so, how much?
The imports into the United Kingdom of plate and sheet glass other than polished plate glass, have been as follow in the years 1922 to 1925:
Weight of plate and sheet glass imported. Year. Cwts. 1922 669,844* 1923 637,984* 1924 718,827 1925 930,661 1926 1,173,669 * Imports into Great Britain and Ireland prior to 1st April, 1923, and into Great Britain and Northern Ireland since that date.
No information is available as to the amount of blown sheet window-glass in cluded in these totals. No import duties are payable on importation of any kind of sheet glass.
DIPHTHERIA.
asked the Minister of Health the number of diphtheria cases notified in each of the last four weeks?
This information will be found in the Weekly Returns of Births, Deaths and Infectious Diseases published by the Registrar-General.
TELEGRAMS, KINLOCHBERVIE AND FANAGMORE.
asked the Post-master-General what number of telegrams were dispatched in the months of November, December, and January from the Kinlochbervie post office and Fanagmore telephone call office, respectively?
During the month of December, 1926, January, 1927, and November, 1927, respectively, 411, 341 and 167 telegrams were dispatched from the Kinlochbervie Post Office. During the month of November, 1927, 56 telegrams were despatched from Fanagmore over the private telephone wire to Scourie rented by the Sutherlandshire County Council. There is no Post Office at Fanagmore; and I am unable to give any figures of Fanagmore telegraph traffic for the months of January and December last.
AGRICULTURAL RETURNS.
asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether in future agricultural returns he will cause the areas of deer forests and economic timber and other woodlands to be separately specified?
The acreage of deer forests, as ascertained in 1926, is given in Part I of the Agricultural Statistics for Scotland for that year, and corresponding figures will be given in future years. Woodlands were not included in the scope of the Agricultural Returns Act, 1925. I understand that the Forestry Commission is carrying out a survey of woodlands in Scotland, the results of which will be published in due course.
SMALL HOLDINGS.
asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he is yet in a position to state the result of the local investigation by the Board of Agriculture for Scotland into the demand for small holdings in the district of Clynekirkton, in the parish of Clyne, Sutherland?
The Board of Agriculture for Scotland are at present considering proposals for meeting the demand of certain applicants in the district to which the hon. and gallant Member refers. I am not yet in a position to state whether a scheme will proceed, but there will be no undue delay in coming to a decision.
asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will state what has been the total sum expended by the State on land settlement in Scotland since the Small Landholders (Scotland) Act, 1911, came into force; how much of this sum was expended before 1919; how much since that year; what is the capital value of land and buildings owned by the Board of Agriculture, and of credit advanced by them in connection with land settlement schemes in Scotland; and what is the annual income received from small landholders in respect of rents for land and buildings and interest on credit advanced?
The gross payments by the State in connection with land settlement in Scotland during the periods referred to by the hon. and gallant Member are as follow:
£ s. d. From 1st April, 1912, to 31st March, 1919 542,473 12 5 From 1st April, 1919, to 31st March, 1927 3,543,659 14 5 Total since the Small Landholders (Scotland) Act, 1911, came into force 4,086,133 6 10
The capital value (at cost or valuation at date of acquisition) of land and buildings owned by the Board of Agriculture is £845,040, and the total amount of loans advanced in connection with land settlement schemes is £746,491. The annual income payable to the State by smallholders under the heads specified in the question (including sinking fund payments) amounted to £69,137 in 1926–27.
UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFIT DISALLOWED (DEVONPORT).
asked the Minister of Labour (1) how many persons in Devonport have been disallowed unemployment benefit during the current year on the ground that they had not genuinely sought work;
(2) how many persons in Devonport have been disallowed unemployment benefit during the current year on the ground that they had not a reasonable period of insurable employment during the preceding two years?
Out of 4,178 applications for extended benefit considered by the local committee at Devonport in the period 11th January, 1927, to 14th November, 140 were recommended for disallowance on the ground that the applicants were not making every reasonable effort to obtain suitable employment or were not willing to accept suitable employment, and 371 because they had not had a reasonable period of insurable employment during the previous two years. Statistics regarding the number of separate individuals concerned in these applications are not available, nor with regard to the number of disallowances in Devonport on the ground that the applicants were not genuinely seeking work.