asked the Secretary of State for War the number of P (probationary) clerks in his Department?

The number of P (permanent non-pensionable) clerks employed in the War Office is 140. The number of the analogous grade employed in War Department out-stations is approximately 850.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the number of P (probationary) clerks in his Department?

The number of P (permanent non-pensionable) clerks employed at the present time in the Board of Trade is 431.

asked the Minister of Health the number of P (probationary) clerks in his Department?

The number of P class clerks serving in my Department is 312.

asked the Minister of Pensions the number of P (probationary) clerks in his Department?

The number of P (permanent non-pensionable) clerks now employed by the Ministry of Pensions is 1,469.

asked the Minister of Labour the number of P (probationary) clerks in his Department?

There were 1,873 permanent unestablished clerks employed in the Ministry of Labour on 29th June, 1928, the latest date for which figures are available.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether he is prepared to issue a statement giving the value of foreign goods purchased in respect to all Government Departments?

This information is not available, and could only be obtained at a cost of labour and time which I do not feel justified in asking Departments to incur.

asked the Minister of Labour the number of persons regularly employed in his Department during the months of March, April and May in the years 1926, 1927 and 1928 respectively?

The statement below gives the figures of staff employed by the Ministry on the dates mentioned.

Statement of staff employed during March, April and May of 1926, 1927 and 1928.
——		Permanent Staff.	Temporary Staff.	Total.
1926.
March	…	7,238	6,866	14,104
April	…	7,247	6,686	13,933
May	…	7,287	8,795	16,082
1927.
March	…	10,131	4,141	14,272
April	…	10,184	3,811	13,995
May	…	10,196	3,611	13,807
1928.
March	…	10,250	3,744	13,994
April	…	10,229	4,173	14,402
May	…	10,186	4,618	14,804

These figures exclude branch managers and industrial staff, but include messengers and cleaners (who numbered at the end of May, 1928, 1,119).

asked the Minister of Health whether he will issue a Return giving particulars of the vaccination officers' annual returns since 1917, similar to the Return for the five years ending 1917 which appeared in the Forty-eighth Annual Report of the Local Government Board?

A summary of the annual returns of the vaccination officers for each of the years 1918 to 1925 will be found in Appendix A to the Report of the Chief Medical Officer of the Ministry for 1926, and similar figures for the year 1926 will be published in the forthcoming Report for 1927. The preparation of a Return for each county similar to that referred to in the question would involve an expenditure of time and labour which, in my opinion, would be out of proportion to the value of such a Return.

asked the Minister of Health the population of the County Borough of West Ham, according to the last census taken, and the number of people living 10 in one room, nine in one room, eight in one room, seven in one room, six in one room, five in one room, four in one room, three in one room, and two in one room; and the number of dwelling-houses in the area?

According to the 1921 census, the total population of West Ham County Borough was 300,860. The populations comprised in families of the specified numbers living in one room in the county borough were:

Families (living in one room) consisting of:				Population comprised in such families.
10 persons	…	…	…	—
9 persons	…	…	…	9
8 persons	…	…	…	8
7 persons	…	…	…	63
6 persons	…	…	…	180
5 persons	…	…	…	495
4 persons	…	…	…	1,224
3 persons	…	…	…	2,970
2 persons	…	…	…	2,510

The number of structurally separate dwellings in the county borough was 48,599.

asked the Home Secretary the name of each trade and occupation now scheduled under the industrial disease provisions of the Workmen's Compensation Acts?

I am sending the hon. and gallant Member a list of the diseases and processes scheduled under Section 43 of the Workmen's Com- pensation Act, 1925. It must be remembered that the scheduling of certain processes in the case of particular diseases does not have the effect of limiting to persons, engaged in that process the right to claim compensation in respect of the disease; it merely establishes a presumption that where the workman was employed in a scheduled process at or immediately before the time of disablement, the disease was due to the nature of that employment. Where the workman was employed in some other process the onus of proof that the disease is due to the nature of the employment rests upon him. In addition to the scheduled diseases, two schemes have been made under Section 47 of the Act for silicosis, one for the refractories industries and the other for the metal grinding industries.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether consideration has been given to the letters of 28th March and 9th May, 1928, addressed to the Commercial Relations and Treaties Department of the Board of Trade by the liquidator of Darwins, Limited, Sheffield, regarding a safeguarding duty on high-speed steel; and, if so, what action the Board of Trade propose to take in the matter?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. As regards the second part, the position with respect to the safeguarding of the iron and steel industries has already been explained on many occasions in the House.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he will submit a statement showing the equivalents in the Estimates of 1928 of those branches, etc., shown in the Estimates for 1914 on the lines of the tables furnished in the Royal Warrant for the pay, appointment, promotion, and non-effective pay of the Army, 1926, wherein is set forth the number of the article in the warrant for 1926 which corresponds with an article of a different number in the warrant for 1922, thus enabling Members to make effective comparisons on the increases or decreases in expenditure on branches in 1928 as compared with 1914 when the establishment of the Army was much larger than at present?

The table in the pay warrant to which the hon. Member refers, compares the numbers of the articles of the warrant with those in the previous issue. There have been so many inevitable changes in the Army since 1914, that it would be impracticable to institute a comparison on the lines suggested.