asked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been called to the practice of certain companies of issuing shilling shares with a controlling vote which, for control purposes, ignores the capital subscribed' by preference and debenture holders; and will he include legislation in the Company Law Amendment Bill to stop this practice?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer I have given to-day to the hon. Members for Guildford (Sir H. Buckingham) and South-East Essex (Mr. Looker), a copy of which I am sending him.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that foreign ships using British ports, not being liable to official inspection, frequently leave port loaded below the Plimsoll mark; and whether he will promote legislation to enforce adherence to the load-line upon all vessels leaving British ports, irrespective of nationality?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the negative. As regards the second part, foreign ships in British ports are subject to the same rules as to loading as British ships, and are when necessary detained and prosecuted.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware that a consignment of ink from America to Messrs. Higgins is still refused admission to this country and is. lying at the docks; that the dyestuffs used in the manufacture of the ink were specifically purchased in this country in order to comply with the Dyestuffs Act; that, as a matter of fact, British dyes are now used by the firm involved in America; and why the consignment is still held up?

The importation of the ink referred to is, I am advised, prohibited under the Dye-stuffs (Import Regulation) Act; and, after consultation with the Dyestuffs Advisory Licensing Committee, I am not prepared to grant a licence. The fact that about 2 per cent. of the value of the material proposed to be imported represents dyestuffs of British origin is not by itself sufficient ground for the issue of a licence under Section 2 (4) of the Act.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the total export of sugar-beet pulp for the year ending 31st December, 1927?

I have been asked to reply. The total export of sugar-beet pulp for the year ended 31st December, 1927, was 37,285 tons, of which 21,279 tons were from the 1926 crop.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware that his Department are still refusing to recommend the issue of exemption orders applied for over 18 months ago under Section 10 (5) of the Finance Act, 1926, in respect of cocaine, cocaine hydrochoride, and lactic acid B.P., being pro- ducts liable to duty under Part I of the Safeguarding of Industries Act, 1921, although the products in question are still not made in His Majesty's Dominions; that, in consequence, hospitals, the general medical services, and other users of these products, which have to be imported, are still compelled to pay more than would otherwise be the case; and, in view of Section 10 (5) of the Finance Act, 1926, which provides for the issue of exemption orders in respect of products liable to key industry duty which are either not made or there is no reasonable probability of their being made in His Majesty's Dominions within a reasonable period in quantities sufficient to meet normal requirements, whether he will take steps to order the issue of the exemption orders in question forthwith?

These matters are being constantly watched, but until I am satisfied that the conditions of Section 10 (5) of the Finance Act, 1926, are fulfilled, I am unable to make any recommendations to the Treasury.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury if the Customs authorities insist on payment of import duty on woollen rags which may contain an admixture of silk, where such rags are imported expressly to be carbonised for the extraction of the wool and where the silk is destroyed in the process of carbonisation?

Payment of Silk Duty is not required in respect of imported woollen rags containing a small admixture of silk which is subsequently destroyed.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether he has received a letter from the Association of Women Clerks and Secretaries dealing with the position of the temporary typing staffs in the Civil Service; whether he will agree to set up a central pool for the typing staffs; and whether he will accord some measure of security to those typists who have served in the Departments efficiently for a number of years?

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given on the 15th February to the hon. Member for Batter-sea North (Mr. Saklatvala), a copy of which I am sending him. I may add I am seeing representatives of the association on Friday next.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the number of persons who were liable to pay Super-tax for the years 1921–22, 1923–24, and 1926–27, respectively; and the total income returned for Super-tax, as well as the yield for each of the three years?

I would refer the hon. Member to the various tables relating to the Super-tax in the 69th Report of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue (Command Paper 2783) and in the 70th Report of the Commissioners (Command Paper 2989) just published.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will consider a variation in the system of taxation of motor cars by levying the tax on the amount of petrol used and not in regard to the horse-power of the vehicles?

I would refer my hon. and gallant Friend to the answer which I gave this afternoon in reply to a question by my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Chelmsford (Colonel Howard-Bury).

asked the Postmaster-General whether he will supply the exact terms of the licence granted by the Post Office under which the Marconi Company has secured power to maintain communications with certain European countries and with extra-European countries outside the British Empire?

The document to which the hon. Member refers was laid upon the Table of the House on the 22nd February, 1926. I am sending him a copy.

asked the Postmaster-General the number of inland trunk lines that were put out of action and blown down during the storm on 11th February?

687.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that apprehension exists among the staff employed in Central Hall at the Central Telegraph Office on account of the structural defects of the hall; that the rays of the sun are almost entirely excluded, artificial light being continuously in use throughout the day; that there is no direct access to a sufficient supply of fresh air, and that this condition has been only partly mitigated by recent alterations; that the air is continually laden with dust; that within a year no fewer than four members of the staff have contracted tuberculosis requiring sanatorium treatment; and what steps are proposed to remove conditions which are regarded as a menace to the health of the staff?

I have not yet completed my inquiries in this matter. I will write to the hon. Member.

asked the Minister of Labour the places where juvenile training centres have been established in South Wales and the number of persons attending each centre?

The places in South Wales where juvenile unemployment centres have been established and the average daily attendance at each place are shown in the following table:

Abertillery—108 boys.

Aberdare—105 boys.

Blaina—68 boys.

Cardiff—165 boys; 167 girls.

Ebbw Vale—91 boys

Ferndale—96 boys.

Merthyr Tydvil—95 boys.

Pontypool—93 boys.

Pontypridd—86 boys.

Port Talbot—72 boys.

Swansea—207 boys.

Tonypandy—92 boys.

Ammanford—Opened 13th February; figures of attendance not yet available.

Additional centres are due to open to-day (21st February) at Bargoed and Maesteg.

asked the Minister of Labour the number of unemployed persons sent from South Wales to training centres during the past 12 months and the districts from which these persons were sent?

210 unemployed persons have proceeded to training centres from South Wales during the past 12 months. The numbers from the various districts are as follow:

asked (1) the Secretary of State for War what is the cost to the Exchequer of fresh meat consumed by the personnel of the Army; what is the quantity for the years 1925, 1926 and 1927, respectively; and what proportion of such meat was British, Colonial and foreign, respectively;

(2) the Secretary of State for Air what is the cost to the Exchequer of fresh meat consumed by the personnel of the Royal Air Force; what is the quantity for the years 1925, 1926 and 1927; and what pro portion of such meat was British, Colonial and foreign, respectively?

I presume that my hon. and gallant Friend refers to ration meat, other than preserved meat. The estimated cost of meat purchased for the Army and Royal Air Force during 1927, apart from certain

asked the Minister of Labour the number of persons receiving unemployment benefit for the first weeks of November, 1924, 1925, 1926, and 1927, respectively; the total amount of unemployment benefit paid out for those years; and the respective amounts contributed by the State, the employers and the insured persons?

Statistics are not available with regard to the number of persons actually in receipt of unemployment benefit, but the number of claims current were: 3rd November, 1924, 1,160,330; 2nd November, 1925, 1,136,069; 1st November, 1926, 1,474,265; 7th November, 1927, 1,025,309. The amount of benefit paid and contributions received during the calendar years, 1924, 1925, 1926 and 1927, were as follow:

stations abroad where contracts are made locally, but including Naval requirements in the Mediterranean, is about £800,000. The approximate quantities purchased are as follow:

Practically all the meat was of Dominion origin, the average proportion of home and foreign for the three years being estimated at about two-thirds of one per cent. of each.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether his attention has been called to the proposals of Admiral Sir Charles Ottley as to submarine salvage; whether this matter has been investigated; and, if so, with what result?

If my noble Friend is referring to Admiral Sir C. Ottley's letter of 25th December, 1927, to the "Times," the answers to the first and second parts of the question are in the affirmative, and to the third part that it is not considered practicable to adopt the devices proposed.

asked the Undersecretary of State for India whether official estimates are regularly prepared for the Government of India of the total area under opium poppy in British-Indian territory; whether these estimates and later corrected estimates are issued by the Government for public information; whether he will inform the House of the estimated and the actual area devoted to opium poppy cultivation in the year 1926–27; and if any estimate has been published of the probable area so cultivated during the year 1927–28?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. The area engaged and that actually cultivated are stated in the Report of the Opium Department published after the end of the year. The last Report received here is for the year ended October, 1926. The following are the figures in acres for that and the preceding year:

asked the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs why the Empire Marketing Board are undertaking publicity on behalf of those interested in the production and distribution of fresh milk only and have refused to include dried milk and similar products?

The Empire Marketing Board have been advised that a campaign in favour of the consumption of fresh liquid milk afforded the best single means of helping the home producer and of impressing upon the public that the produce of their own country has the first claim upon their purchases. They have felt unable to complicate the proposed campaign by its extension to include the products mentioned in the question.

asked the President of the Board of Education how many children it is estimated in each year since 1913 have grown up without school education?

I am afraid that I have no information on which I could base any estimate, but, in view of the provisions of the Education Acts, the number must be very small.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he is aware that no district committee in the county of Inverness has adopted any scheme for assistance under the Housing (Rural Workers) Act, 1926; and whether, in view of the housing conditions in Inverness-shire, he can take any steps to call the attention of the district committees to the provisions of the Act?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. As regards the second part, a conference of northern local authorities, including the district committees of Inverness county, convened by the Scottish Board of Health, was held at Inverness on the 26th May, 1927, when the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State presided and explained the provisions of the Housing (Rural Workers) Act, 1926. On the invitation of the Board a further conference was held in Edinburgh on the 16th December last, when the question of the adoption of schemes was discussed with representatives of those northern local authorities (including the Inverness-shire district committees) that had then declined to proceed. The Board have subsequently communicated with the local authorities, pressing them to adopt schemes, and I am now informed that the district committees in Inverness county are contemplating holding a conference to consider the question further.

asked the Secretary for Mines the countries where Government assistance is given to the coal industry; what form the assistance takes in each case; whether it is given by means of specially favourable freight charges; and what is, approximately, the amount expended, calculated per ton raised or otherwise?

Government financial assistance is given to the coal industries of Spain and Portugal. Preferential rail rates for the movement of coal exist on the State railways in Poland, France, Belgium and South Africa. Foreign coal can only be imported into Germany and Poland under licence. In Spain, the use of a proportion of native coal is obligatory for certain purposes. In Czechoslovakia, the coal tax is remitted on all coal exported and coal used in production of goods for export. In some cases the assistance is indirect in character, and I have no information as to the amount expended on it, either directly or indirectly.

asked the Minister of Transport whether the question of making third-party insurance compulsory on the registered owners of motor vehicles will be included in any future Road Transport Bill?

A scheme of compulsory insurance applicable to motor vehicles generally would involve great difficulties, but I have included in the draft Road Traffic Bill certain proposals with regard to insurance by owners of motor omnibuses and motor coaches.

asked the Minister of Transport, for the latest year for which the figures are available, the mileage under the control of rural district councils in England and Wales of first-class, second-class, and scheduled unclassified roads, respectively?

The mileages of roads under the control of rural district councils in England and Wales in the three categories referred to in the question are at the present date approximately as follow:

Class I roads, 376 miles.

Class II roads, 2,674 miles.

Scheduled roads, 35,250 miles.

asked the Minister of Transport if he will sanction that portion of the Glamorgan inter-valley road between Abergwynfi and Rhigos in order to find employment for the large number of unemployed workmen at Abergwynfi due to the closing down of the whole of the collieries in that neighbourhood?

At the present juncture, it is not possible to determine what balances, if any, may be available for extensions, out of the total provision made for the Inter-Valley Road Scheme, but I intend to review the situation in July, when I will bear in mind the hon. Member's suggestion.

asked the Minister of Health how many persons in the borough of Southwark have been refused widows' pensions up to and including the 31st January, 1928; and the reasons for these refusals?

The information asked for is not available as the claims are not arranged on a territorial basis.

asked the Home Secretary the number of staff, superior and subordinate, employed in connection with the Holloway prison hospital and the daily average of patients in the hospital for October, November, and December last?

The medical staff at Holloway consists of the Governor, who is also the medical officer, and two junior medical officers; the nursing staff consists of one hospital lady superintendent and twenty-six nurses. The daily average population of the hospital was 111 in October, 96 in November, and 113 in December last.