asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is aware that barley millers in Scotland are being compelled to dismiss their workmen owing to the operation of the Public Health (Preservatives in Food) Regulations, which prohibit the use of sulphur in the milling of barley; and what action does he propose to meet the request previously submitted to him by the Scottish Millers' Association to allow the use of sulphur in the milling of barley?

I have received representations from barley millers to the effect that their trade in barley has been adversely affected by the operation of the Public Health (Preservatives in Food) Regulations. As the hon. Member is doubtless aware, a considerable proportion of Scottish barley is produced for export, and I am accordingly keeping the matter under observation in consultation with my right hon. Friend the Minister of Health.

asked the Minister of Health whether his attention has been called to the death of Mr. J. H. Chetter, of Warrington, after vaccination imposed on him by his employers as an alternative to suspension from work for an indefinite period; whether any representatives of his Department were present at the post mortem examination or at the inquest; and whether the vaccination was carried out by a public vaccinator with Government lymph?

I have seen a report of the proceedings at the coroner's inquest on this case. The answer to the second and third parts of the question is in the negative.

asked the Postmaster-General the number of insurance policies issued through the Post Office, life insurance and endowment insurance, respectively, for the years 1924 to 1927, respectively?

The numbers are as follow:

asked the Postmaster-General whether all applicants for service in the Post Office as messengers suffering from flat foot are medically rejected: and whether the number so rejected can be given.

It is the practice to reject all applicants for service in the Post Office as boy messenger who are found to be suffering from flat foot. The number so rejected during the year 1927 was 17.

asked the Minister of Pensions if his attention has been drawn to the delay, ranging from two to eight days, before a man applying for treatment may be visited by the area Deputy Commissioner of Medical Service; and if he will consider the desirability of consulting the British Medical Association with a view to arranging terms so that there may be a medical man in every town not more than three miles from the area office that may be consulted by men suffering from their War disabilities, the expenses of medicine and treatment being met by the Ministry of Pensions?

The occasions which necessitate a visit by a medical officer of the Ministry to a patient s home are comparatively few, and it has long been the practice of the Ministry to employ a medical man on the fee basis in the rare cases where the Deputy Commissioner of Medical Services is not able to visit the case with reasonable promptness. At the same time, I may remind the hon. Member that disabled pensioners, under the arrangements made in connection with National Health Insurance, have normally the services of their insurance practitioners available at call for purposes of treatment at home or otherwise, and my right hon. Friend would not be justified in duplicating those arrangements.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many sailors, firemen, cooks, stewards, and petty officers were employed in the British Mercantile Marine at the end of 1927;

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that Gravesend Sea School is experiencing a shortage of applicants for training for the mercantile marine; and whether, in view of the national importance

The following table gives statistics of the engagements of British and foreign seamen at Mercantile Marine offices in the United Kingdom during 1927 and preceding years. No other figures relating to employment in the British Mercantile Marine during 1927 are yet available. I will send the hon. Member a print of the detailed results secured at the count of seamen employed on 31st March. 1926.of a sufficient supply of trained merchant seamen, he is prepared to give fuller publicity to the advantages offered by this centre?

I am not aware that the Gravesend Sea School is experiencing a shortage of applicants for training, but if it is, I feel sure that the management committee is fully competent to take any steps that may be necessary to deal with the position.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether, in view of the fact that derelicts continue to be a menace to shipping, and having regard to the fact that their destruction by fire has been found to be unsatisfactory, he will consider the issue of explosive charges to cargo ships for this purpose?

So far as my information goes, the danger from derelicts is decreasing. In any case, I am afraid I cannot regard the hon. Baronet's suggestion as a practicable one.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will consider granting compensation to Mr. S. A. Wandesforde, of 29, Church Lane, Brighouse, Yorkshire, whose private school at Scarborough had to be closed after the bombardment during the Great War and who was refused compensation on

asked the President of the Board of Trade the value of imports and exports for the following articles for the years 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, and 1927, respectively: net silk stockings, artificial silk stockings, net silk scarves,

I regret that the answer must be in the negative. This gentleman's application for compensation was rejected in 1921 on the advice of the Royal Commission on Compensation for Suffering and Damage by Enemy Action, on the ground that the damage he suffered was outside the terms of Annex I to the Reparation part of the Treaty of Versailles. The Board of Trade have no authority to make any payments other than those recommended by the Royal Commission.

asked the Minister of Labour the number of insured persons in employment at the end of February?

The following table shows the estimated numbers of insured persons aged 16 to 64 in employment on 22nd February; corresponding figures for 23rd January are added for comparison:artificial silk neckties, net silk neckties, artificial silk neckties, net silk garments, and artificial silk garments?

Apart from artificial silk stockings, for which separate particulars are available for 1927, I regret that the figures asked for in the question are not available. The following table shows, however, the total declared values of the undermentioned descriptions of hosiery (knitted, netted

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the yield of the Betting Duty for November, 1927, December, 1927, and January, 1928; the number of bookmakers' certificates renewed; the number of entry certificates renewed;

The net revenue derived from betting taxation in the months referred to by my hon. Friend was approximately as follows:

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the total amounts invested in and the withdrawals from National Saving Certificates in each week during the year 1927?

I regret that aggregate weekly figures are not available. The amounts invested and the withdrawals month by month during the year 1927 were as follow:

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, seeing that in addition to the fixed quota of Land Tax raised in each parish and paid into the Treasury, the assessors and collectors are empowered to raise in each parish a sum not exceeding £5 for their personal remuneration, what was the total sum raised by way of such remuneration in the last Land Tax year; and what was the total amount of Land Tax paid into the Treasury during the same period?

The rate in the £ at which the Land Tax is assessed normally yields a sum slightly in excess of the quota fixed for the parish. The surplus is statutorily devoted to redemption of the tax, with the exception that the Land Tax Commissioners may, subject to the approval of the Board of Inland Revenue, grant thereout to the assessors of Land Tax such sum as they certify to be reasonable remuneration for the work of assessing the tax. The aggregate of the awards to assessors for the latest year for which figures are available, namely, the year 1925–26, was £38,000. The net receipt of Land Tax for the same year was £673,454. Assessors and collectors of Land Tax are also assessors and collectors of Income Tax. The remuneration granted as above for Land Tax services is taken into account by the Board of Inland Revenue in determining the total award of remuneration for the services of these officers as assessors and collectors of taxes generally.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his attention has been called to the cases where administrative charges have been as much as 15s. for the levy of Id. Customs Duty; and whether any steps can be taken to discontinue such a position?

No administrative charges are levied by the Customs upon goods imported into this country in addition to the duty to which they may be liable, but I am informed that charges are made by dock companies and forwarding agents for their services in handling the goods.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the Treasury minute of 1920, restricting the appointments of public auditors under the Industrial and Friendly Societies Acts. 1893 and 1896, to members of the institute of Chartered Accountants and the Society of Incorporated Accountants and Auditors, has been amended at any time so as to permit of persons other than members of these bodies being appointed; whether he is aware that from the list of Public Auditors, published in the "London Gazette" in respect of the year 1927, it would appear that eight persons were appointed public auditors who were not members of these bodies; and if he can state the reasons for this departure from the conditions laid down in the Regulation?

An exception was made to the general conditions governing the appointment of Public Auditors in the case of the eight persons referred to in the question. This was a condition of an arrangement made with the co-operative movement to overcome a difficulty in which they were placed by reason of the condition of 1920. The members of the audit department of the Co-operative Wholesale Society, Limited, are responsible for the audit of the returns of approximately 600 distributive trading societies, and any disturbance of the arrangements for conducting these audits would have caused great inconvenience to the societies in question. In 1926 an arrangement was come to under which future members of the audit staff of the Co-operative Wholesale Society will be able to obtain one of the qualifications laid down, but in order to provide for adequate service until such time as the arrangement could take full effect, appointments were made exceptionally.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he can give the latest information about the prevalence of foot-and-mouth disease in the Argentine; what further precautions have been undertaken by the Argentine authorities to secure that carcases exported to this country are free from disease; whether the agreement arrived at on the occasion of Lord Bledisloe's recent visit, to the Argentine has been implemented; whether the same arrangements with regard to inspection obtain in those continental countries which export pork to this country; and, if not, whether steps can be taken to enable trade to be resumed on normal lines?

With regard to the first, second and third parts of the question, I would refer the hon. and gallant Member to the replies I gave yesterday to my hon. Friend the Member for Devizes (Mr. Hurd). Conditions in the European pork trade are not comparable with those in the chilled and frozen meat trade from South America, for infection from the carcases of European pigs was proved to be responsible for outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease in Lanarkshire in 1926, whereas no cases have been definitely traced to South American meat, although there has been experimental evidence that the bone marrow can remain infective for a period which covers the voyage from South America. The risk of infection is therefore much greater in the case of continental fresh carcases, and I have no intention of withdrawing or modifying the existing prohibition on their importation.

asked the President of the Board of Education how many children have passed into secondary schools from the areas covered by the urban councils of Aspull, Blackrod, Hindley, Horwich and Westhoughton, respectively, during the last four years?

The information asked for is as follows:

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether he will give a complete list of the Turner drawings damaged in the recent floods?

These drawings are so numerous that I fear I cannot circulate a complete list; but an inventory of all the Turner drawings is contained in Sinberg's "National Gallery: Turner Drawings: Inventory," published by the Stationery Office in 1909. About 15,000 of of the drawings, many of which are sketches of the very slightest nature, were damaged by the flooding of the Gallery, none, it is believed, seriously.