asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether, in view of the powers granted to England under the Public Health (Smoke Abatement) Act, 1926, he proposes to introduce legislation on similar lines for Scotland?

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply on this subject given yesterday to the hon. Members for Dunfermline (Mr. W. M. Watson) and Inverness (Sir M. Macdonald).

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) whether he has seen the reports of the city analysis upon three samples of water taken from the River Lochy in August and September, 1927, stating that the water is unfit for drinking or other domestic purposes; and whether, as these complaints have been lodged with his Department since 1926, he can state if any action is contemplated;

(2) whether he has received any petition from the inhabitants of the village of Lochyside regarding the alleged pollution of the River Lochy by the operations of the British Aluminium Company; and, if so, what action he has taken or proposes to take, or what reply he has given to the petitioners;

(3) whether he is aware that complaints are being made about the pollution of the River Lochy, and that the powers given by Statute for the work which is alleged to be responsible for the pollution contain safeguards to prevent pollution or, alternatively, to provide a sufficient and suitable water supply; and what action he proposes to take to secure to the complainants a suitable supply of water for drinking and domestic purposes?

I propose to answer these three questions together. In April, 1926, the Scottish Board of Health received a petition signed by residents at Lochyside complaining of the pollution of the River Lochy by works in connection with the Lochaber Water Power Scheme. Several samples of the water were analysed and a full report by the local authority's Medical Officer of Health was obtained. As these showed that the water was free from pollution by oil or sewage the Board informed the complainers in August, 1926, that they could not take any further action. The complaints were renewed in September, 1927, and the Board received copies of the analytical reports referred to showing the water to have been unsatisfactory at the dates and points of sampling. The Board, having considered another report obtained from the sanitary officers of the local authority together with copies of analytical reports on further samples of the water from the river, remitted the matter for direct investigation by one of their medical officers and their chief engineer. These officers visited Lochyside in February last, but, owing to the high state of the river and general wet conditions, they were then unable to arrive at definite conclusions. A further visit was made in May after a spell of dry weather and the report of the Board's officers is now under consideration. I am aware of the obligation of the Lochaber Water Power Company under their private Act to provide a sufficient and suitable supply of water for domestic purposes in the event of their works render- ing the existing supply from the river unsuitable or inadequate. The Board's interest, however, is confined to the exercise of the provisions of the Public Health Acts, and until the report referred to has been considered, I am not in a position to sav what action the local authority should be asked to take.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he has been informed of the intention of the Turkish Government to introduce a revised customs tariff at an early date; and if he is taking appropriate measures to protect the interests of British trade?

I understand that the Turkish Government are engaged on a revision of their customs tariff, but the tariff established by the Lausanne Commercial Convention applies to the goods of Great Britain and other countries parties to that Convention until its expiry in August, 1929, by which time I hope it will be possible to conclude a satisfactory commercial treaty.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what is the source of revenue of the Patent Office; what was the surplus of revenue over expenditure in that office during the past 10 years in the aggregate and in the years 1925, 1926, and 1927, individually; and to what purpose the surplus is applied?

The revenue of the Patent Office is derived mainly from fees received in connection with the granting and renewal of patents and the registration and renewal of designs and trade marks. The estimated surplus of revenue over expenditure was, during the last ten years, £881,676; in 1925, £88,540 in 1926, £98,813; and in 1927, £112,939. The surplus is paid over to the Exchequer.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many applications for patents are in hand awaiting the first official action at the Patent Office; at what rate the arrears of work at that office are accumulating; how many com- plete specifications were filed during the first six months of 1912 and 1928, respectively; what was the total strength of the examining staff, as distinct from non-technical staff, during the same two periods; how many members of the technical examining staff have resigned at their own request since the War; and whether, in view of the large capital sums depending on patents and of the fact that the work to be done has increased while the staff has decreased, he will endeavour to restore the prompt and efficient discharge of patent business?

The number of complete specifications filed in connection with applications for patents and awaiting first action by the examiner is about 6,300; during the present year these arrears have accumulated at an average rate of about 67 per week; the number of complete specifications filed in the first half of 1912 was 9,313, and in the corresponding period of 1928, 11,751; the number of the examining staff in 1912 was 262, and in 1928, 236; the number of members of the examining staff who have resigned at their own request since the War is 12, and a further 29 were transferred to other Government Departments; an addition to the examining staff has recently been made, and steps have been taken for further increasing the examining staff, as soon as the necessary arrangements can be made, to deal with the additional work.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury (1) for what positions in the Civil Service women already serving are declared to be ineligible for promotion;

(2) for what examinations for positions in the Civil Service are women ineligible to sit; and what authority is responsible for decisions on this matter?

I will answer these questions together. As the hon. Member will see from what is stated below, there are certain classes of situations in the Civil Service to which women are not admitted. In certain Departments the work is divided into men's branches and women's branches, or separate avenues of promotion are provided for men and women. Apart from these arrangements, I am not aware of any barrier to the promotion of women Civil Servants, on merits, to higher posts in the branches or Departments in which they are employed. Regulations were made by the Civil Service Commissioners under the authority of the Order in Council of 22nd July, 1920, made under Section 1 ( a ) of the Sex Disqualification Removal Act, 1919, whereby the following posts involving service overseas are reserved to men:—

All posts in the Diplomatic Service and in the Consular Service;

All posts in the Government Services of the Colonies and Protectorates to which appointments are made in the United Kingdom, other than posts for which women may be specially recruited;

All posts in the Civil Services of His Majesty in India to which appointments are made in the United Kingdom, other than posts for which women, may be specially recruited;

All posts in the Commercial Diplomatic Service and the Trade Commissioners Service, provided that this reservation is not applicable to the post of Chief Clerk in the respective offices of His Majesty's Trade Commissioners.

In addition there are certain situations in the Civil Service designated for men or in regard to which it has been found necessary to prescribe that women shall not be accepted as candidates, examples of which are as follow:—

Postmen.

Male Warders.

Executive Officers in the Defence Departments.

Assistant Preventive Officers in the Customs Waterguard Service.

Officers of Customs and Excise.

Cartographers in the Hydrographic Department of the Admiralty.

Under the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries:

Veterinary Inspectors.

Assistant Fishery Officers.

Assistant Naturalists in the Fisheries Department.

Live Stock Officers.

The regulations governing appointment to these situations are made by the Civil Service Commissioners, in consultation with the Department concerned, subject to approval by the Treasury.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury if he is aware that 16 employés of the Parliamentary Debates section of the Stationery Office were given 14 days' notice before the rising of the House in August and December of last year and were given no compensation for the loss of employment during the Parliamentary Recess; if, seeing that the men were not given any warning of the action to be taken, he will state if any of these men, some of whom have upwards of 20 years' service to their credit, are to be granted any payment under the Superannuation Act, 1887; and whether he will take steps to ensure that employes of the Government are not suddenly deprived of their means of livelihood for long periods without compensation?

The employés in question were engaged solely on the production of Parliamentary Debates. This work is done during the night, and the men employed are paid extra for night work. At the end of the Session they were given the usual trade notice. This is inevitable when there is a total cessation of the work on which men are engaged. In this particular case, however, other work could be found for half the number during the day, and it was arranged that they should all share in this, so that each man had work during half the Recess. This arrangement suits the men and they fix the rota themselves. Similar arrangements will be made during the coming Recess. The employes in question are not entitled to compensation under the Superannuation Act for the period of the Recess, but on the final retirement of any one of them from Stationery Office employment the whole of his service will be taken into account in considering his eligibility for a gratuity under the Act.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether be will consider such amendments of the regulation exacting Income Tax from overseas residents remaining in England over a period of six months so as to exempt those who are employed in public or other duties, and who come to England only for the period for which they have been granted furlough?

The matter has, on several occasions in the past, received very careful consideration from every point of view. The decision arrived at has been that an alteration of the law on the lines suggested by my hon. and gallant Friend could not, from the standpoint of the general taxpayer, be justified.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury if he will make public the instructions given to the Customs officials with regard to the amount of dutiable articles permitted to be brought into this country free of duty by travellers?

I am not prepared to publish the instructions given to the officers of the Department in this matter. If passengers declare and produce all the dutiable articles in their possession, they have no difficulty in obtaining the customary concessions.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he is aware that the Northumberland County Council is importing Norwegian stone for the Great North Road, near Alnwick, where unemployment benefit is being paid to a large number of men usually engaged in the production of road material, which is one of the chief industries of the district; and if he will undertake not to make any grants in aid of road construction where foreign stone is used?

I understand that the Northumberland County Council, after obtaining quotations for British and foreign kerb, respectively, accepted, after the fullest consideration, a tender for 1,200 yards of Norwegian granite kerb, the price of which was a third lower than that of British material, while conditions of delivery were also more advantageous. Although the use of British materials was made a condition of grants towards works expedited for the relief of unemployment, I am not prepared to apply this condition to the whole of the work of highway authorities throughout the country. Circulars have, however, been issued urging upon local authorities the desirability of using British materials and plant.

asked the Minister of Transport the total amount of

asked the President of the Board of Education whether ahead teacher who is displaced by any scheme of reorganisation receives compensation for loss of office?

This is a matter for the local authority. Perhaps I may refer the hon. Member to Section 49 of the Education Act, 1918, as preserved by Section 172 (c) of the Education Act, 1921, and to paragraph 6 of Appendix III on page 20 of the Third Report of the Standing Joint Committee on the Salaries of Teachers in Public Elementary Schools, a copy of which I am sending him.

asked the President of the Board of Education (1) whether he can extend the tables set out on pages 19, 22, 27, 29, 39, 43, 44, 48 and 51 of the New Prospect in Education (pamphlet No. 60) so as to show in appropriate columns the numbers and sex of the head and assistant teachers under the old organisation and under the new;

(2) the number of men head teachers who have been replaced by women head teachers in the present scheme of reorganisation; and how many men assistant teachers have been displaced?

grants made to the different classes of roads in Devonshire during the past 12 months compared with the previous 12 months; and what is the mileage of any new roads which have been scheduled during the respective periods for the receipt of assistance?

The amounts of the grants made from the Road Fund to highway authorities in the administrative county of Devon during the last two years were as follow:—

I will answer these two questions together. The particulars asked for are not available, and I am afraid that I should not feel justified in undertaking the very considerable expenditure of time and labour which would be required in order to collect them.

asked the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs whether his attention has been called to some pictures of playing cards being displayed by the Empire Marketing Board; what goods they are meant to advertise; and what is the estimated cost of printing and posting them?

I have been asked to reply to this question. The set of posters to which the hon. Member refers is designed, as the wording upon it makes clear, to call the attention of the public to the desirability of drinking more milk. The estimated cost of the printing and posting is approximately £750.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether his attention has been called to complaints respecting the condition of the tomb of Napoleon at St. Helena; and whether he has any information as to its state of preservation and as to the condition of the apartments occupied by Napoleon at Longwood?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the negative. As regards the second part, my right hon. Friend has not been furnished with any recent information as to the present condition of Napoleon's tomb at St. Helena or of his apartments at Longwood, which are the property of the French Government through the gift of her late Majesty Queen Victoria.

asked the Home Secretary whether his attention has been called to the numerous deaths, either accidental or suicidal, following upon the taking of lysol, which have recently been reported; and whether he can state the total number of such deaths during 1927, and also during the first six months of 1928.

I am aware that of recent years there has been a considerable increase in the number of deaths from the taking of lysol and my Department has brought the relevant mortality statistics to the notice of the Inter-Departmental Committee which is considering the law relating to the sale of poisons. The figures for 1928 are not yet available; those for 1927, which are provisional, are as follow: Deaths from lysol poisoning: by accident, 13; by suicide, 361.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India when the normal term of the present Madras Legislative Council expires; and whether there is any proposal on the part of the Government to extend its period of life?

In December, 1929. I am not aware of any propsal that the term should be extended—a power which vests in the Governor.

asked the Minister of Health whether, taking the working of the formula in paragraph 23 of Command Paper 3134, he will give the figures they apply to Lancashire.

The following statement gives the information desired by the hon. Member:—

Administrative County of Lancaster.

Elements of the Formula:

Calculation of weighted population:

A grant of 31.35 pence per head of a total weighted population of 4.415,798 is equivalent to a grant of 77.3 pence per head of an actual population of 1,789,700.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty if his attention has been drawn to the dissatisfaction exist- ing in the lower deck at the administration of the Royal Navy Benevolent Fund; whether the Admiralty has any representative on the Committee of the Fund; and the amount spent on expenses and the amount disbursed in grants for 12 months to the last convenient date.

The information in the possession of the Admiralty does not bear out the hon. Member's suggestion, but quite the reverse. The Admiralty is represented on the Central Committee of the Trust by the President, who is appointed by the Admiralty. and by the Governors, who include the Commanders-in-Chief of the three Home Ports, the Adjutant-General, Royal Marines, and another officer specially selected for the purpose. The Board's policy, however, is to leave this great Benevolent organisation which has been created for the Navy to be managed as far as possible by the Navy itself. The grants for the twelve months ending 30th June, 1927, amounted to £36.592 4s. 2d. and the general administration expenses to £4,773 11s. 11d. But these two sets of figures cannot be closely related, as in addition to making money grants, the Trust manages a Naval school of motoring and two children's homes, and also conducts a good deal of correspondence on behalf of ex-naval men and their dependants with other charitable institutions, the Ministry of Pensions and the Service Departments.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is aware that conditions in the Somersetshire coalfield are rapidly worsening because, owing to the poorness of the export trade, the Bristol market is flooded with coal at prices with which the local coal cannot compete; and whether, so far as it may be possible, he will insist that all coal-burning ships in the Navy shall use British coal.

The use of coal in the coal-burning vessels of His Majesty's Navy is practically confined to the best grades of steam vessel coal from the South Wales coalfields.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether, under the terms on which it occupies the Naval Yard at Hong Kong, the Admiralty would, if it discontinued the use of the yard for Admiralty purposes, be entitled beneficially to dispose of the premises or if such premises would, in that event, revert to the Crown for all beneficial purposes?

The Admiralty would not be able to dispose beneficially of the premises if the Naval Yard was no longer required for naval purposes. The original yard was established on land leased from the Colonial Government at a peppercorn rent, which provides that the buildings erected thereon are to be maintained and delivered up in proper repair to the Colony on the determination of the lease. The yard was extended between 1896 and 1911, partly on Colonial military land which, when no longer required for Imperial purposes, automatically reverts to the Colony; a portion was reclaimed water area which is granted by the Colonial Government for so long as required for use of His Majesty's Services. Two small portions were purchased from the Colony and the conveyance provides in one case that the Colony will refund the original purchase price, and in the other case, the Colony will pay reasonable compensation on surrender to them of the land. Should the Admiralty decide to close Hong Kong Yard, the actual negotiations for reversion of the land to the Colonial Government would be a matter of agreement and, subject only to any compensation payable to the Admiralty, the Colony will be able to dispose of it in any way they like.

asked the Minister of Labour the hours of labour per week of attendants and doorkeepers employed at theatres and music halls in London?

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply which was given to a similar question on 24th May.