asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he took any, and, if any, what, steps to invite an expression of local opinion as to the desirability of uniting the burghs which are to be compulsorily united under the Local Government (Scotland) Bill; and, in particular, whether the town councils of the various burghs were consulted previous to the introduction of the Bill?

The replies to the first and second parts of the question are in the negative, but the local authorities concerned will have ample opportunity of submitting their views during the progress of the Bill.

asked the Minister of Health if he is willing to make provision in the Local Government Bill for the superannuation of all Poor Law officers, to be financed by a central national fund?

No, Sir.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will provide statistics showing for each week from 1st May, 1928, to the latest available date, the cost of relief to the Pontypridd Board of Guardians granted to persons who are deprived of their compensation as the result, of colliery companies having gone into liquidation or bankruptcy?

My right hon. Friend regrets this information is not in his possession. He will ask the board of guardians if they can supply him with a statement, and will communicate with the hon. Member.

asked the Minister of Health if he is prepared to issue a circular to all boards of guardians recommending an extra grant, either in cash or in kind, to people eligible for out-relief at the week-end prior to Christmas Day?

The boards of guardians are well aware of their power of granting reasonable special allowances at Christmas time, and make substantial use of those powers. My right hon. Friend sees no necessity for action on his part.

asked the Minister of Health whether he has any statistics in his possession that will show the death rate from diphtheria in the United States of America, Germany, and France, respectively, for the years 1920 to 1925; and will he give particulars?

The statistics in the possession of my Department do not enable me to give the particulars asked for in the case of France. In the case of the United States of America and Germany, the particulars required are as follow:

Death-rate from Diphtheria in United States of America and Germany per 10,000 population.
—		United States of America.	Germany (Diphtheria and Croup).
1920	…	1·5	1·3
1921	…	1·8	1·0
1922	…	1·5	0·7
1923	…	1·2	0·7
1924	…	0·9	0·6
1925	…	0·8	0·5

asked the Minister of Health why the number of deaths has not been stated, as usual, in the table on page 22 of the Report of the chief medical officer of his Department for 1927; and, in the absence of any sufficient reason for such omission, will he arrange for the figures to be duly inserted in future annual Reports?

Full particulars relating to the small-pox deaths during 1927, including the vaccinal condition at time of infection, are given in the table on pages 18–20 of the Report referred to, and it was not considered necessary to repeat this information in the table on page 22.

asked the Minister of Health which are the 13 deaths in the list set out on pages 18–20 of the Report of the chief medical officer of his Department for 1927 which have been excluded by that officer from the total number of deaths recorded by him as being attributable to small-pox during the year 1927?

The deaths in question are distinguished by the following numbers in the table on pages 18–20 of the Report referred to: 2, 4, 8, 10, 27, 36, 37, 40, 44, 45, 46, 47 and 48.

asked the Minister of Health what action is being taken towards the preservation of London's squares and enclosures, following the Report of the Royal Commission and pending the promised legislation on the subject?

I have no power to take action in the matter pending legislation, and, as I informed the hon. Member for Gateshead (Mr. Beckett) on the 9th ultimo, I fear that legislation in the present Session is impracticable owing to pressure of other business.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will now consider the appointment of a committee to inquire into the working of the Bank Charter Act, 1844?

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has received a Report from the British Electrical and Allied Manufacturers' Association on the subject of a trade survey dealing with the Bank of England and trade depression; if he is aware that the industrial committee, represented by the members of the Trade Union Congress general council and a group of employers representing various industries, recommend that a committee of inquiry be set up to inquire into the financial policy of the Bank of England; and whether, in view of the fact that this association recommends this course to be adopted, he will take action in the matter?

I will answer these two questions together. The Report referred to in the first part of the question by the hon. Member for Plaistow (Mr. W. Thorne) has not been forwarded to me, though I am aware of its terms from notices appearing in the Press. The recommendations of the industrial committee were made public before the passage of the Currency and Bank Notes Bill. This is certainly not the time to debate the very large and well known issues which would be raised by the appointment of such a Committee of Inquiry as is suggested.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give the figures showing the taxation per head of population in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and the United States of America for 1913 and for the years 1919 to 1927, inclusive?

TAXATION PER HEAD.
—			United Kingdom.			France.	Germany.*	Italy.	U.S.A.*
			£	s.	d.	Francs.	Reichsmarks.	Lire.	$
1913 or 1913–14	…	…	3	11	4	84·5	31·3	53·8	6·8
1919 or 1919–20	…	…	21	14	5	221·1	—‡	179·3	53·8
1920 or 1920–21	…	…	22	0	8	393·2	—‡	248·7	45·2
1921 or 1921–22	…	…	18	1	10	426·9	—‡	313·9	32·5
1922 or 1922–23	…	…	17	8	1†	467·7	—‡	327·7	28·6
1923 or 1923–24	…	…	16	2	5†	522·7	—‡	373·2	29·7
1924 or 1924–25	…	…	15	9	0†	676·1	117·0	380·4	27·5
1925 or 1925–26	…	…	15	2	8†	702·4	108·4	426·8	29·6
1926 or 1926–27	…	…	14	11	8†	910·2	113·4	394·4	30·0
1927 or 1927–28	…	…	15	6	3†	1,104·7	134·2	409·6	28·4
* Excluding taxation raised by States.
† Excluding Irish Free State.
‡ Owing to the depreciation of the paper mark, the annual returns of tax revenue during the period 1919 to 1924 are of no statistical value.

As I have before now had occasion to explain, a comparison of the kind requested is apt to be misleading. To obtain a complete picture it is necessary to take into consideration payments to local as well as to national authorities, the local purchasing power of money, the various standards and habits of living, the character of the national expenditure and its relation to the national wealth, the weight of indirect taxation and its effect on prices, together with other important factors. Further, the statistical value for purposes of comparison of the figures for our own country is affected by various special factors which should be taken into account, e. g.:

(a) the figures for the years before 1921 include and the figures since 1921 exclude the Irish Free State;

(b) the abnormal decrease in the yield of taxation in 1926 was due to the dislocation of trade following the coal stoppage; and

(c) the smaller but considerable temporary rise in 1927 was apparent rather than real, being due to the new method of collecting Income Tax, Schedule A.

Subject to qualifications of this nature, the following figures represent the taxation per head of population raised by the central Governments in the respective countries;

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he can give the figures showing the total burden of the National Debt and the amount per capita in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the United States of America, respectively?

Owing to differences in the political constitution of the countries concerned, it is not possible to give strictly comparable figures. The figures below represent the nominal amount of the debts of the central Governments in the respective countries. It should be borne in mind that the nominal amount of a nation's indebted-

National Debts, 31st March, 1928.
—	Currency.	Debt.			Per head in sterling at current rates of exchange.
		Amount.		Per head in currency.
					£
United Kingdom	£		7,527,570,000	165·7	165·7
France	Francs	Internal	291,306,000,000	7149·7	57·6
		External	178,738,000,000	4386·8	35·4
		Total	470,044,000,000	11,536·5	93·0
Germany (apart from Reparations).	Reichsmarks		7,890,600,000	124·8	6·1
U.S.A.	$		17,633,115,000	149·4	30·6

(1) The figures for the external debt of France are as at 31st December, 1927, and represent the equivalent in paper francs, at the current rate of exchange, of the various obligations or France in foreign currencies, including the war debts to this country and to the United States, at their nominal amounts.(2) The figures for Germany represent the amount of the public debt of the German Reich, but do not include either the debt of Germany for reparations in respect of which 2,500 million gold marks are at present payable each year, or the debts of the separate German States.(3) The figures for the United States represent the debt of the Federal Government and do not include the debts of the several States of the Union.It should be borne in mind that, apart from the qualifications referred to in the above notes, the nominal totals or public debts afford no measure of their real burden and any comparison between the various figures of the debts per head, taken by themselves, would be misleading.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether regulations are making it imperative for all ships to have wireless transmitting and receiving apparatus, with at least one qualified operator and a continuous wireless watch, human or efficient automatic; and does this apply to all ships in the lighthouse service?

The present British law and regulations require all passenger ships and all ships of 1600 tons gross to be provided with wireless apparatus and at least one operator; and if they carry more than 50 persons they must keep a continuous watch. Lighthouse tenders would not be subject to the requirements unless they came within one of these classes.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the quantity and value of road material including granite, broken granite, slag, setts, kerb, etc., imported into this country for the year ending 31st December, 1927, and for the nine months ending 31st October, 1928, stating the country of origin?

pursuant to his reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 6th Decem-

Description and Countries from which consigned.	1927.		January to October, 1928.
	Quantities	Declared Values.	Quantities.	Declared Values
	Tons.	£	Tons.	£
Unmanufactured Granite, other than setts and pavement curbs and monumental and architectural objects:—
Consigned from Finland	5,387	10,990	1,147	2,806
Sweden	5,467	17,579	9,401	26,230
Norway	9,243	15,664	33,662	34,036
Netherlands	3,395	3,805	720	662
Belgium	172,449	153,329	215,647	157,787
France	33,266	30,938	33,990	27,428
Other Foreign Countries	54	270	134	624
Channel Islands	300,163	249,032	278,160	226,350
Other British Countries	986	534	718	385
Total Imports	530,410	482,141	573,579	476,308
Granite setts and pavement curbs—
Consigned from Sweden	42,815	109,927	26,567	66,568
Norway	92,345	249,737	64,862	174,394
Belgium	420	1,302	433	951
Other Foreign Countries	1,707	4,409	—	—
Irish Free State	305	616	480	825
Channel Islands	2,743	7,384	3,712	10,726
Total Imports	140,335	373,375	96,054	253,464

asked the Minister of Transport what are the present through freight rates for the carriage of butter, eggs, and bacon from Copenhagen to London and Manchester; what is the sea freight and railway freight, respectively; and if any rebate or other allowance is given or received by either of the two services in respect of such through freight charges?

The railway companies state that they do not quote through sea and rail rates for the carriage of butter, eggs or bacon between Copenhagen and Manchester or London.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been called to the proposal to increase the tariff on foreign cotton materials entering Brazil; and whether, in view of the adverse effect of such proposals on lower quality grades of British cotton goods, he intends to take any action to protect British interests?

Proposals for increasing the Brazilian duties on cotton goods were recently under consideration by the Commission which is engaged in the revision of the Brazilian tariff, and the hardships which the proposals entailed on the British export trade were explained to His Majesty's Ambassador. These proposals are not being proceeded with for the present, but an emergency measure has recently been introduced into the Brazilian Congress providing for increases, which, I am given to understand, are of a much less drastic character. The Brazilian Government are being asked to give adequate notice before these new rates are enforced.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been called to the high tariff which Spain is raising against British steel; and whether, in view of the adverse effect upon the British steel industry, he proposes to make any representations to the Spanish Government on the matter?

As I explained in an answer to the hon. and gallant Member for Maidstone (Commander Bellairs) on 30th November, the general revision of the Spanish Customs Tariff has been postponed. The existing duties on certain classes of steel are amongst those fixed by treaties between Spain and other countries which expire at the end of the year, but the Spanish Government have recently issued a decree under which they have power to continue any or all of these treaty rates in force after 1st January. So far as I am aware, they have not yet arrived at a definite decision as to the extent to which these powers will be exercised, but their attention has been directed by His Majesty's Ambassador to the articles of primary importance to British trade, and I have some grounds for hoping that there will be no alteration in the steel duties for the present.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what reductions in the prices of tyres have taken place since the duty was imposed in April, 1927?

It would appear from announcements which have been made in the Press from time to time, that the prices of tyres have, on the average, been reduced by some 15 per cent. since April, 1927.

asked the Secretary to the Overseas Trade Department whether he has received any representations respecting the effect on British exports of the present Australian tariff?

I have been informed by several firms that the effect of the present Australian tariff, so far as they are concerned, has been to restrict their exports to the Commonwealth.

asked the President of the Board of Trade in respect of each commodity to which a safeguarding duty has been applied, the price of such commodity at convenient six-monthly intervals for the past three years, and also the price of each such commodity at the latest convenient date before the imposition of the duty?

Owing to the great variety of the products of many of the safeguarded industries and to the variations in the demands for particular products, I regret that it is impracticable to prepare a general statement such as the hon. Member asks for. So far as price comparisons of the home-produced articles between a recent date and a date prior to the imposition of the various duties can be made, the position is as follows—the prices being wholesale prices in all cases:

asked the Minister of Labour the total number of prosecutions by his Department during the past year of employers for in any way defrauding the Ministry of Labour; and the number of workpeople and the number of employés in the Department?

, pursuant to his reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 14th November, 1928; col. 901, Vol. 222], supplied the following information:

asked the Minister of Labour the number of persons in each insurable industry who have ceased to be insurable under the Unemployment Insurance Acts on account of being over 65 years of age?

I am circulating in the OFFICIAL REPORT a statement containing such information as is available.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he has decided to extend the period for the operation of the transitional Clauses of the 1927 Unemployment Insurance Act, or whether he has any statement to make on the matter?

I would refer the hon. Member to the statements made by my right hon. Friend in the Debates on the Unemployment Insurance Bill, to which I have nothing to add.

asked the Minister of Labour whether the gardeners and horticulturists in the employ of public authorities, having been declared outside the scope of the Unemployment Insurance Act, will receive only the amount of contributions paid, or does he intend to add interest on moneys paid to the Government Fund?

Refunds of unemployment insurance contributions paid under the erroneous belief that they were payable are governed by the provisions of Section 28 (1) of the Unemployment Insurance Act, 1920, and the Regulations made thereunder which do not permit of including interest in the amount of contributions returned.

asked the Minister of Labour which local authorities have applied for grants from the Unemployment Grants Committee under the conditions laid down in the Circular issued to those authorities on 9th November dealing with the transfer of labour from depressed areas; and the total number of men who will be transferred as the result of grants already made?

Up to 6th December, the Committee have received definite proposals from the undermentioned local authorities, namely:

• Staines Rural District Council.
• Landudno Urban District Council.
• Prestatyn Urban District Council (two schemes).
• Honiton Rural District Council (two schemes).
• Blandford Forum.
• Thurmaston Urban District Council.
• Wareham Borough Council.
• Cleethorpes Urban District Council (two schemes).
• Redruth Urban District Council.
• Braintree Rural District Council (three schemes).
• Dunbar Town Council (two schemes).
• Redruth Rural District Council.
• Havant Rural District Council.
• Grimsby County Borough.
• Newbury Town Council.
• Hornsey Borough Council.
• Lee Conservancy Board.
• Truro Rural District Council.
• Bedlingtonshire Urban District Council.

The authorities estimate that the total number of men to be employed on these schemes will be 1,750, not less than 50 per cent. of whom will be men transferred from the depressed areas.

asked the Minister of Labour whether any juvenile labour has been moved from a distressed area and placed in employment in Rochdale, Oldham, and Manchester; and, if so, will he give the figures and the work of these young people?

Up to the present no boys have been transferred from the distressed mining areas to employment in Manchester or Oldham, but five boys were transferred from Bishop Auckland to employment in Rochdale, two as "little piecers" in a cotton mill, two as page boys, and one as a kitchen boy in an hotel.

asked the Minister of Labour whether any juvenile labour has been removed from distressed areas and placed in employment in the borough of Southwark; and can he give particulars of the numbers and the work of these juveniles?

Fourteen boys have been transferred from the distressed mining areas to employment in the Borough of Southwark. The occupations in which the boys are working are engineering, cabinet-making, provision stores, dairies, pawnbrokers, drapery stores and carpet warehouse.

asked the Minister of Labour whether his attention has been called to the case of a man called Barber, the father of a deceased child, whose case was inquired into at the Lambeth coroner's court; and what is the record of the man Barber referred to in relation to unemployment benefit paid to him during the past nine years?

It is not the practice to publish information of this kind, but I will let the hon. Member have it privately if he so desires.

asked the Minister of Labour whether his attention has been called to the sale of a British-owned west end hotel, and the supersession of many of the British staffs by foreigners; whether any of the latter have entered this country recently under special permits; and whether he will inquire into the system under which a number of British subjects have been dismissed in favour of these foreigners?

If the hon. Member will give me the name of this hotel, I will make inquiries in order to see how many of the staff hold permits. Except in so far as it is desired to engage staff from abroad, I have no control in the matter.

asked the Minister of Labour when the inspectors of the Trade Boards Department last visited the works of Messrs. E. A. Brough, at Liverpool, and examined the wages books; and whether consideration has been given to the wages paid to the workpeople?

The establishment referred to by the hon. Member was last visited on 26th July last. The reply to the last part of the question is in the affirmative.

asked the Minister of Transport whether there has been laid before him any proposal for utilising the tidal power of the Wash, which has tides of from 17 to 25 feet, for the generation of electrical power; whether he has examined the project; and whether his advisers consider it a practical scheme?

I have seen in the Press some reference to this proposal, but neither I nor the Electricity Commissioners have given it any countenance or approval.

asked the Minister of Transport if he is aware that many public conveyance companies in different parts of the country have raised their mileage fares by 50 per cent. or more on the ground of the imposition of the Petrol Duty; whether he can state the estimated increased cost per mile per person of ordinary motor omnibus and kindred vehicles plying for public hire; and whether he can arrange to have the facts of all such increases brought to the notice of the local vehicle licensing authorities concerned?

I cannot give the figure asked for by the hon. Member which would vary according to the nature of the vehicle concerned and the average number of persons whom it carried.

asked the Minister of Transport the number of railway companies which have decided to replace wooden, sleepers by steel ones; and the approximate number of tons of steel that would be used in the event of all British railway companies adopting such a course?

As regards the first part of the question, I am not in a position to add to the reply which I gave on 6th December to the hon. and gallant Member for Maidstone (Commander Bellairs). As regards the second part, I am not in possession of the data necessary to make any estimate.

asked the Minister of Transport whether his attention has been drawn to the increasing congestion and dangers at the level crossings in the city of Lincoln; and whether he has taken any recent steps to urge the London and North Eastern Railway Company to construct the short avoiding line on the east and west sides of the city for which Parliamentary sanction was secured in 1924?

The hon. Member has on several occasions called my attention to the level crossings to which he refers, but I am not aware that the arrangements at these crossings involve any avoidable congestion or danger. As regards the second part of the question, I understand that the railway company are not in a position to indicate when the avoiding line referred to is likely to be constructed.

asked the Secretary for Mines how many colliery companies have gone into liquidation since 1st January, 1927, to date; what is the name and situation of each such company; what was the total number of millers employed by each such company; and can he designate which, if any, of them have since been scheduled as abandoned mines?

As stated by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary on 6th December, efforts are being made to collect information about colliery companies which have gone into liquidation. If the hon. Member likes to repeat his question in a week's time, I hope to be then in a position to reply.

asked the Secretary for Mines what was the total output of coal in each British coalfield for the year ended 30th September, 1928; what was the total quantity shipped as export and as bunkers during the same 12 months; and what is his estimate of the quantity of coal used over the same period by the iron and steel industry in Great Britain?

The figures of output and shipments of coal are given below, but I regret that I am unable at the present time to estimate the amount of coal used by the iron and steel industry.

(1) Output of Saleable Coal during the year ended 30th September, 1928.
	Tons.
Northumberland	12,683,500
Durham	34,563,900
Yorkshire	44,396,700
Lancashire, Cheshire and North Wales	18,686,600
Derby, Nottingham and Leicester	29,927,400
Stafford, Salop, Worcester and Warwick	17,210,700
South Wales and Monmouth	43,539,000
Other English Districts	5,300,700
Scotland	32,998,900
Croat Britain	239,307,400

(2) Coal shipped abroad during the year ended 30th September, 1928.
			Tons.
Cargo*	…	…	49,163,890
Foreign Bunkers	…	…	16,703,169
Total	…	…	65,867,059
*Coal only, Coke and Patent Fuel excluded.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what was the average f.o.b. price of coal shipped for export and as bunkers from the ports of Cardiff, Hull, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Leith, Glasgow, and Liverpool in each of the years 1913, 1920, 1924 and 1927; and what was the average c.i.f. price of export and of bunker coal in each of the said years from Cardiff to the Mediterranean ports and to the Argentine, and from Hull, Newcastle-on-Tyne and from Leith to Riga, Stockholm, Hamburg and Rotterdam?

Information as to the average value per ton of coal shipped as bunkers, and as to the average c.i.f. value of coal exported, is not available. The following table, however, shows the average declared values per ton f.o.b. of coal exported from the undermentioned ports during each of the years 1913, 1920, 1924 and 1927.

asked the Secretary for Mines how many coal mines have been abandoned in each British coalfield since 1st January, 1927, to date; what was the total number of miners em-

District.			Number of Pits abandoned.	Normal number of Wage-earners employed prior to abandonment.
1. Northumberland	…	…	17	739
2. Durham	…	…	52	3,950
3. Cumberland and Westmorland	…	…	2	84
4. Lancashire and Cheshire	…	…	36	4,304
5. Yorkshire, South	…	…	17	1,192
6. Yorkshire, West	…	…	30	2,284
7. Nottinghamshire	…	…	4	35
8. Derbyshire, North	…	…	39	1,366
9. Derbyshire, South	…	…	2	554
30. Staffordshire, North	…	…	31	1,199
11. Cannock Chase	…	…	17	1,005
12, South Staffordshire and Worcester	…	…	56	1,239
13. Leicestershire	…	…	1	10
14. Warwickshire	…	…	5	1,282
15. Shropshire	…	…	14	422
16. Forest of Dean	…	…	12	128
17. Somerset	…	…	1	328
18. Bristol	…	…	—	—
19. Kent	…	…	—	—
20. South Wales and Monmouth	…	…	83	6,067
21. North Wales	…	…	11	1,948
22. Fife and Clackmannan	…	…	8	936
23. Lothians (Mid. and East)	…	…	4	743
24. Lanarkshire, etc.	…	…	78	3,218
25. Ayrshire, etc.	…	…	20	1,306
Great Britain	…	…	540	34,339

I will send the hon. Member a list of those normally employing 50 or more persons prior to abandonment.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if the

The information is as follows:removal and subsistence allowance circular, dated 16th June, 1926, as applied to the Civil Service in England, affects any civil grades outside the prison department in Scotland?

The circular to which the hon. Member refers was a departmental circular applying to the English Prisons Service the National Whitley Council Report on Removal Expenses of 24th October, 1925. This Report applies generally to civil servants both in England and Scotland who are within the scope of the National Whitley Council.

asked the Minister of Labour the number and grade, respectively, of women civil servants who resigned on marriage, from the Ministry of Labour during the year 1927?

The only information I have is in respect of women permanent civil servants who applied for marriage gratuities on resignation. The number and grades of such women civil servants in the Ministry of Labour for the year 1927 are as follow:—

Treasury Glass.
Clerical Officers	…	22
Writing Assistants	…	12
Superintendent of Typists	…	1
Shorthand Typists	…	8
Typists	…	10
Departmental Glass.
Third Class Officer	…	1
Employment Officers	…	6
Employment Clerks	…	30

asked the Postmaster-General the total amount of deposits placed to the credit of telephone subscribers; and for what purpose the interest accruing from such deposits is being used?

The amount standing in the books as subscribers' deposits at 30th September last was about £2,500,000. It forms in the first instance part of the general balances of the Post Office out of which, after providing the necessary working balance, weekly payments are made to the Exchequer on account of Post Office revenue earned and in hand. As accounts for telephone call fees (trunk and local) are rendered at a considerable interval after the services have been performed, it follows that the amounts in question, although standing in the books as deposits, are in fact as a general rule more than balanced by the accrued liabilities of subscribers for which accounts have not yet been rendered.

asked the Postmaster-General what is the number of telephone subscribers in the London area whose names and addresses are omitted by request from the telephone directory; and whether, in view of the extra trouble and inconvenience which they cause to the Department, but for which they do not pay, he will consider making consent to the publication of the subscriber's name and address a condition of having a telephone installed?

About 9,000 subscribers in the London area have asked that their names shall not appear in the telephone directory. I do not think it would be desirable to impose the condition referred to in the latter part of the question. Subscribers concerned have been approached with a view to obtaining their consent to the insertion of their names in the telephone directory, and if this appeal meets with little success the taking of other measures will be considered.

asked the Postmaster-General if his Department will allow all letters and parcels from Tristan da Cunha to be delivered free of charge in Great Britain since, as there is no money in the island, it is impossible to stamp letters and there is no post office?

Letters from Tristan da Cunha which do not bear postage stamps are charged on delivery single postage (not double as is usual when postage is not prepaid), and parcels are charged at the inland parcel rate, to cover the cost of conveyance in the United Kingdom. I regret that I am not prepared to make any further concession.

asked the Postmaster-General the number of horse vans and electric vans, respectively, in use by his Department in the Metropolitan area; how the two forms of transport compare in service and cost; and whether, in view of the greater obstruction to other traffic caused by horse vans, it is his intention ultimately to replace them entirely by electric vehicles in London?

There are about 270 horse mail vans at present in use under contract in the London Postal area. No electric vans are as yet in service, but seven will shortly be brought into use experimentally on services at present performed by foot postmen. Until the result of the experiment is known, I am unable to make any statement with regard to future policy.

asked the Postmaster-General whether his attention has been called to the way in which our export trade in fishing tackle is handicapped by the limitation in the size of postal packets; and whether he can see his way to make such small increase in the permitted length, without reducing the girth, of such parcels as would enable exporters to make use of this means of despatch?

The existing limits of size are amply sufficient for most classes of goods, and I regret that it would not be practicable to adapt the arrangements of the Parcel Post to provide for the handling and conveyance of parcels in excess of those limits.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the Government will consider the possibility of making arrangements for residents on Tristan da Cunha to settle in Africa, since the entire population of 156 is penniless and is finding it very difficult to avoid starvation?

The question of the immigration to South Africa of the residents on Tristan da Cunha has been under consideration for some years and hitherto the chief difficulty has been the problem of transport. It now seems possible that more frequent communication may shortly be established between Tristan and the Cape, and may afford opportunities for a few of the younger men to leave the island.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether his attention has been called to the fact that in Tristan da Cunha there are one or two individuals charged with criminal practices; and whether, in these circumstances, the Colonial Office will give the missionary on the island all support in maintaining law and order and, in case of need, remove such offenders from the island if the offences continue, since there is no prison?

A few instances of petty theft have recently been reported, but I have no reason to suppose that the population is not generally law-abiding. Should any case of serious crime occur, efforts would be made to secure the removal of the offender so soon as the limited facilities for transport permitted.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the Palestinian tithe is still in operation, or whether it has yet been stabilised in all the Jewish colonies; and, if not, for what reason?

I have been asked to reply to this question. The system of commuted tithes is still in an experimental stage. During the past two years it has been extended to a large number of areas and sub-districts selected by the High Commissioner in the exercise of his powers under the law. I am unable to say whether those areas and sub-districts include all the Jewish Colonies.

asked the Secretary of State for War how many applications for enlistment in the Regular Army have been made during the year 1928, and how many men were accepted?

The number of applicants for enlistment in the Regular Army during the recruiting year ended 30th September, 1928, was 82,938, of whom 30,185 were finally approved.

asked the President of the Board of Education if the committee investigating methods of building schools has concluded its inquiries; and when their interim Report, completed over a year ago, will be published?

The Committee have now concluded their investigations, and I understand that their complete Report, which embodies the material assembled in their Interim Report together with additional material relating to central and secondary schools, is almost ready for signature. I hope that the Report will be published early in the New Year.