asked the First Lord of the Admiralty how many times the Board Committee set up by him to investigate the possible reductions in staff at the Admiralty 'Office has met; when their Report is expected to be ready; and will it be available to Members of the House?

The Com-has held eight full meetings. It is proceeding by way of personally investigating work, organisation and methods on the spot rather than by taking formal evidence. It will make interim Reports to the First Lord whenever it is in a position to do so. One interim Report has already been made. The Reports are for the First Lord's information, and will not be published, but a statement of the decisions arrived at as a result of the investigation will be made public in due course.

asked the Minister of Labour why, with reference to the 300 vacancies announced in the departmental class, it is proposed to appropriate the greater part of these to the new entrants from the examinations held in October and November last, although 122 ex-service men were discharged from the Kew department on the ground of redundancy?

asked the Minister of Labour whether, in view of the fact that 122 ex-service clerks have been discharged from his department since last November, that out of 1,996 P-class men in the Ministry only 25 have been promoted, and that nearly 500 vacancies have recently been announced in his department for competition by new boy and girl entrants, and in view of the pledge of the late Financial Secretary to the Treasury that open recruitment would not restrict the promotion or involve the discharge of efficient ex-service clerks, he will look into this matter?

The claims of temporary clerks to appointment to permanent posts have been very carefully considered in relation to the Civil Service as a whole, and have been dealt with on agreed terms which covered the whole field of temporary ex-Service men remaining employed in the Government service on clerical duties in 1925, and covered by the recommendations of Lord South-borough's Committee. These agreed terms involved:—

(1) the absorption of some 8,000 temporary ex-Service men into the established Civil Service;

(2) the employment of a like number as "P" class clerks;

(3) the employment of some 6,000 ex-Service men on temporary or seasonal work so long as such work is available.

The agreement contained a clause dealing with the promotion of "P" class men to established posts, and the promotions already made in the Ministry of Labour have been made in accordance with this clause. Fifty male and fifty female junior clerks are being recruited by examination to replace wastage in the established departmental staff. The employment of temporary clerks on temporary work is not affected. Accordingly full regard will be had to the pledge given by the late Financial Secretary to the Treasury, and I may invite the attention of my hon. Friends to the answer given by the present Financial Secretary to the hon. and gallant Member for North St. Pancras (Captain Fraser) on 17th November last. It will be seen that the arrangements proposed, which are in accordance with the views of the Select Committee on Estimates as set out in their recent Report, do not affect any aspect of the agreed settlement referred to.

asked the Minister of Labour the number of per-

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty the number of ratings one naval cook rating is expected to cook food for under the general messing system, allowing for his ordinary night leave, long leave, and average sickness?

The complements of cook ratings in ships on general messing system are calculated on a scale which (including bakers) allows approximately one cook rating for every 50 men in the complement.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether the sum of £90,000 mentioned in the reply to Item 48 of the 1926 general welfare requests is part of the amount required to pay the age pension of 5d. per day to Class A of the Royal Fleet Reserve on reaching the age of 50 years and not to supplement the Greenwich Hospital funds for the age pensions at 55 years?

The reply is in the negative. The sum necessary to pay the age pension to Class A of the Royal Fleet Reserve on reaching the age of 50 amounts to £29,000 in the current year' and is shown separately in the printed details of Navy Vote 14, Subhead A.

sons, specifying men, women, boys, and girls, on the Devonport Employment Exchange for the months of December, 1927, and January, 1928, respectively?

The following table gives the number of persons on the registers of the Devonport Employment Exchange at the beginning of each week in December, 1927, and January, 1928:

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty the number of naval ratings invalided from the Royal Navy between the 1st January, 1927, and 31st December, 1927; the number in which the invaliding disability was accepted as attributable to service; the number of ratings invalided with tuberculosis during the same period; and the number of tuberculosis cases in which the invaliding disability was accepted as attributable to service?

The numbers are respectively: 1,359 and 84 and 180 and 18. Royal Marines are included.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether his Department has been experimenting as to the possibility of utilising pulverised fuel for generating steam on British men-of-war; and what conclusions have been reached up to date?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the negative, but this development is being closely watched. It is considered to have immediate possibilities for merchant ships of low speed, but it is improbable that existing requirements in design will permit of this fuel being utilised for warships.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty what coverings are provided for bedding of men on draft?

I would refer my hon. and gallant Friend to my reply of 29th June last to a similar question. [OFFICIAL REPORT, col. 412.] An Admiralty Fleet Order, No. 1739, dated 1st July last, was issued on the subject.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty what is the cost to the Exchequer of fresh meat consumed by the personnel of the Navy; what is the quantity for the years 1925, 1926, and 1927; and what proportion of such meat was British, Colonial, and foreign, respectively?

The cost of meat (fresh or frozen) consumed by the Navy in 1926–1927—the latest completed figures—was, approximately, £320,000. The quantities purchased in the undermentioned years were, approximately, as follow:

At a rough estimate of the quantities purchased in 1926–1927, 1 per cent. was British, 86 per cent. Colonial, and 13 per cent. foreign. The proportions for 1924–1925 and 1925–1926 are not readily available, but would approximate, roughly, to those quoted for 1926–1927.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will supply the exact terms of the contracts entered into between various Government Departments and the film companies who have the use of Government material, troops, or naval ratings for the purpose of making films for exhibition to the public?

I regret that it would be contrary to the public interest to disclose the exact terms of Government contracts.

asked the Secretary of State for Air at what figure he estimates the annual saving in cost as a result of his utilisation of the Moth machines for Service purposes?

Moth machines have been issued to certain units with a view to testing their suitability for communication work, but it is too early as yet to estimate what saving will be effected if the experiment is satisfactory.

asked the Home Secretary the number of vehicles that pass daily at the following points: junction of Lillie and Fulham Palace Roads, S.W., and the junction of Goldhawk and Pad-denswick Road, "Seven Stars," W.?

I regret the figures are not available.

asked the Home Secretary how many prosecutions for offences against Section 3 of The Women and Young Persons (Employment in Lead Processes) Act, 1920, by occupiers of factories and workshops, and others, employing women and young persons in processes involving the use of lead compounds were instituted in 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926 and 1927, respectively; and will he give the number of samples of materials taken by inspectors for the same period?

The returns of prosecutions (which are tabulated each, year in the Chief Inspector's Annual Report) do not show whether any proceedings have been taken against occupiers for obstructing Inspectors under the section in question. The Chief Inspector states that he cannot recall any case in which such proceedings were taken, but if the hon. Member so desires, and will let me know, special inquiry can be made to confirm this. The numbers of samples taken by the Inspectors in the years mentioned, were as follow: six in 1922; one in 1923; one in 1924; one in 1925; none in 1926; and six in 1927. These figures do not include the pottery industry, in which samples are taken under the Regulations of 1913.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what action has been taken on the question of the piracy off Gibraltar?

I have seen Press accounts of the incident to which the Noble Lord doubtless refers, but no report on the matter has been received from the Governor of Gibraltar, and no action has been taken by His Majesty's Government with regard to it.

With the exception of the treaty with Uruguay, the general arbitration treaties concluded by Great Britain exclude questions affecting the vital interests, independence and honour of the contracting parties.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will give a Return showing the number of international arbitration treaties made by Great Britain and by the other Powers of Europe before 1914 and since 1914, respectively, showing how many of these treaties contain reservations excluding from arbitration questions which concern the honour and vital interests of the parties concerned?

The following table gives the information desired by the hon. Member:

II—GENERAL TREATIES OF ARBITRATION CONCLUDED BY EUROPEAN STATES.

The following list, which does not include treaties with Great Britain, has been drawn up from such information as is available.

Treaties marked (a) contain a reservation of questions affecting the honour, independence and vital interests of either party.

Those marked (b) contain a reservation of questions affecting constitutional principles of either party.

Spain and Peru.—July 16, 1897. (Questions incompatible with arbitration or affecting national sovereignty to be referred to the mediation or good offices of a friendly Government).

(a) Spain and Mexico.—January 11, 1902.

(b) Spain and the Dominican Republic.—January 28, 1902.

(b) Spain and Salvador.—January 28, 1902.

(b) Spain and Uruguay.—January 28, 1902.

(b) Spain and Bolivia.—February 17, 1902.

(b) Spain and Colombia.—February 17, 1902.

(a) Spain and Guatemala.—February 28, 1902.

(a) France and Italy.—December 25, 1903.

Denmark and the Netherlands.—February 12, 1904.

(a) France and Spain.—February 26, 1904.

(a) France and the Netherlands.—April 6, 1904.

(a) Portugal and Spain.—May 31, 1904.

(a) France and Norway.—July 9, 1904.

(a) France and Sweden.—July 9, 1904.

The Netherlands and Portugal.—October 1, 1904. (Convention for submission to Permanent Court of Arbitration of disputes in regard to which the two parties had previously agreed to resort to an arbitral decision.)

(b) Spain and Nicaragua.—October 4, 1904.

(a) Belgium and Russia.—October 30/17, 1904.

(a) Belgium and Switzerland.—November 15, 1904.

(a) Italy and Switzerland.—November 23, 1904.

(a) Belgium and Sweden (and Norway).—November 30, 1904.

(a) Russia and Sweden (and Norway).—December 9/November 26, 1904.

(a) France and Switzerland.—December 14, 1904.

(a) Sweden and Norway and Switzerland.—December 17, 1904.

(a) Belgium and Spain.—January 23, 1905.

(a) Spain and Sweden (and Norway).—January 23, 1905.

(a) Denmark and Russia.—March 1/February 16, 1905.

(a) Italy and Peru.—April 18, 1905.

(a) Belgium and Greece.—April 19/May 2, 1905.

(a) Belgium and Denmark.—April 26, 1905.

(b) Spain and Honduras.—May 13, 1905.

(a) Portugal and Sweden.—May 6, 1905.

(a) Italy and Portugal.—May 11, 1905.

(a) Belgium and Roumania.—27/14 May, 1905.

(a) Portugal and Switzerland.—August 18, 1905.

(a) Denmark and France.—September 15, 1905.

(a) Norway and Sweden.—October 26, 1905.

(a) Denmark and Spain.—December 1, 1905.

Denmark and Italy.—December 16, 1905.

(a) Austria-Hungary and Portugal.—February 13, 1906.

(a) Belgium and Nicaragua.—March 6, 1906.

(a) France and Portugal.—June 29, 1906.

Denmark and Portugal.—March 20, 1907.

(a) Spain and Switzerland.—May 14, 1907.

(b) Italy and the Argentine.—September 18, 1907.

(a) Italy and Mexico.—October 16, 1907.

(a) France and the United States of America.—February 10, 1908.

(a) Switzerland and the United States of America.—February 29, 1908.

(a) Italy and the United States of America.—March 28, 1908.

(a) Norway and the United States of America.—April 4, 1908.

(a) Portugal and the United States of America.—April 6, 1908.

(a) Spain and the United States of America.—April 20, 1908.

(a) Netherlands and the United States of America.—May 2, 1908.

(a) Sweden and the United States of America.—May 2, 1908.

(a) Denmark and the United States of America.—May 18, 1908.

(a) Denmark and Sweden.—July 17, 1908.

(a) Denmark and Norway.—October 8, 1908.

(a) Norway and Portugal.—December 8, 1908.

(a) France and Colombia.—December 16, 1908.

(a) Austria Hungary and the United States of America.—January 15, 1909.

(a) Portugal and Brazil.—March 25, 1909.

(a) France and Brazil.—April 7, 1909.

(a) Spain and Brazil.—April 8, 1909.

(a) Norway and Brazil.—July 13, 1909.

(a) Portugal and Nicaragua.—July 17, 1909.

(a) Portugal and the Argentine.—August 9, 1909.

Italy and the Netherlands.—November 20, 1909.

(a) Greece and Spain.—December 16/3, 1909.

(a) Italy and Costa Rica.—January 8, 1910.

France and Colombia.—August 5, 1910. (Additional to 1908 Convention and providing for submission of minor juridical questions to an ad hoc arbitral tribunal.)

(a) Russia and Spain.—August 15/2, 1910.

(a) Russia and Brazil.—August 13/26, 1910.

(a) Italy and Spain.—September 2, 1910.

(a) Austria-Hungary and Brazil.—October 19, 1910.

(a) Italy and Russia.—October 27/14, 1910.

(a) Belgium and Italy.—November 18, 1910.

(a) Italy and Norway.—December 4, 1910.

(a) Italy and Ecuador.—February 25, 1911.

(a) Italy and Sweden.—April 13, 1911.

(a) Italy and Paraguay.—May 11, 1911.

(a) Italy and Bolivia.—May 17, 1911.

(a) Denmark and France.—August 9, 1911.

(a) Italy and Brazil.—September 22, 1911.

(b) Denmark and Brazil.—November 27, 1911.

(a) Spain and Panama.—May 31, 1913.

(a) Italy and Guatemala.—May 31, 1913.

(a) Spain and Switzerland.—June 19, 1913.

(a) Italy and Chile.—August 8, 1913.

(a) Austria-Hungary and Switzerland.—September 2, 1913.

(a) Portugal and Sweden.—November 15, 1913.

(b) Italy and Honduras.—December 8, 1913.

(b) France and the Argentine.—July 3, 1914.

The Netherlands and China.—June 1, 1915.

France and Uruguay.—April 18, 1918.

Sweden and Chile.—March 26, 1920.

Germany and Switzerland.—December 3, 1921.

Spain and Uruguay.—March 23, 1922.

Sweden and Uruguay.—February 24, 1923.

Austria and Hungary.—10 April, 1923.

Austria and Poland.—November 13, 1923. (Applies to disputes regarding (a) application or interpretation of treaties, (b) pecuniary claims.)

Sweden and Switzerland.—June 2, 1924.

Denmark and Switzerland. June 6, 1924.

Hungary and Switzerland.—June 18, 1924.

Switzerland and Brazil.—June 23, 1924.

(a) Sweden and the United States of America.—June 24, 1924.

Denmark and Finland.—June 27, 1924.

Denmark and Norway.—June 27, 1924.

Denmark and Sweden.—June 27, 1924.

Finland and Norway.—June 27, 1924.

Finland and Sweden.—June 27, 1924.

Norway and Sweden.—June 27, 1924.

Italy and Switzerland.—September 20, 1924.

Austria and Switzerland.—October 11, 1924.

Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Poland.—January 17, 1925.

Latvia and Sweden.—March 28, 1925.

Estonia and Germany.—August 10, 1925.

Czechoslovakia and Germany.—October 16, 1925.

Poland and Sweden.—November 3, 1925.

Norway and Sweden.—November 25, 1925.

Netherlands and Switzerland.—December 12, 1925.

Denmark and Norway.—January 15, 1926.

Finland and Norway.—February 3, 1926.

Austria and Poland.—April 16, 1926.

Spain and Switzerland.—April 20, 1926.

Denmark and Poland.—April 23, 1926.

Belgium and Sweden.—April 30, 1926.

Germany and the Netherlands.—May 20, 1926.

Austria and Sweden.—May 28, 1926.

Denmark and Germany.—June 2, 1926.

Italy and Spain.—August 7, 1926.

Czechoslovakia and Denmark.—November 30, 1926.

Denmark and Lithuania.—December 11, 1926.

Denmark and Estonia.—December 18, 1926.

Belgium and Switzerland.—February 5, 1927.

Italy and Chile.—February 24, 1927.

Belgium and Denmark.—March 3, 1927.

Hungary and Italy.—April 5, 1927.

France and Serb-Croat-Slovene State.—November 11, 1927.

asked the Minister of Health the number of houses built and authorised, but not completed, under each of the Housing Acts by local authorities and by private enterprise, distinguishing between urban and rural areas?

The following is the information which the hon. Member requires: