asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether he can furnish the number of male tax clerks in receipt of basic salaries, as follows: between £52 and £95 per annum, over £95 but not exceeding £105, £105 but not exceeding £115, £115 but not exceeding £125, £125 but not exceeding £135, £135 but not exceeding £145, £145 'but not exceeding £155, £155 but not exceeding £165, £165 but not exceeding £175, £175 but not exceeding £185, £185 but not exceeding £200?

The numbers of male tax clerks, as at 1st February, 1929, in receipt of basic salaries between the points mentioned are as follow:

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury the number of whole-time unestablished employés qualified by service for superannuation gratuities under Section 4 of the Superannuation Act, 1867, whose claims have been rejected by reason of their appointments having been terminated on grounds of redundancy 'before 1st September, 1928; and whether he will consider favourably a variation of the qualifying date so as to permit the issue of gratuities to those whose employment commenced before 1st September, 1921?

I have no information as to the number of the claims which have been or might have been made but for the rule, which is well known, that service is reckoned in these cases only from. 1st September, 1921. The reason for that date was explained in my answer to the right hon. Gentleman on the 19th December last to which I would refer him. I regret that I am not able to vary it.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the revenue derived from the duty on cheques; and what would be the estimated net loss to the revenue by reducing the duty to 1d.?

The yield of the Stamp Duty on cheques is now in the neighbourhood of £3,500,000 per annum, and the reduction of the duty from 2d. to 1d. would therefore involve a hiss of revenue, in a full year, of approximately £1,750,000.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is prepared to consider the modification of the Betting Duty or the substitution of a simpler form of collection of this revenue?

I would refer my hon. and gallant Friend to the answer given to-day to my hon. Friend the Member for Deritend (Mr. Smedley Crooke).

asked the Minister of Transport whether attention has been given to the Annual Reports of 1925 and 1927 of Dr. Waldo, His Majesty's senior coroner for London, with regard to electrical explosions and fire prevention; and what steps are being taken in support of his recommendations that the existing regulations for securing the safety of the public and for ensuring a proper and sufficient supply of electrical energy should be revised?

I would refer the hon. Member to the answer, which appears in yesterday's OFFICIAL REPORT, to a similar question asked by him on this subject.

asked the Minister of Transport whether his attention has been drawn to the systematic wrecking of signals on the Southern Railway Company's main London to Brighton line; and whether he proposes to hold an inquiry into the matter?

I am informed by the railway company that they have, in conjunction with the police authorities, investigated the circumstances of the damage caused to signals on their system between London and Brighton and are taking action as regards the persons alleged to have caused the damage. The answer to the second part of the question is in the negative.

asked the Minister of Transport the estimated total amount of money spent on the upkeep of roads in Great Britain in 1926–27, 1927–28, and 1928–29?

The figures are not yet available. The figures for the years 1910–26 are given in Appendix 13 of the Annual Report on the Administration of the Road Fund for the year 1927–28, and Appendix 14 contains estimates of the expenditure on ordinary maintenance and repairs of Class I and Class II roads up to the year 1927–28.

asked the Minister of Transport whether his attention has been called to the coroner's verdict at the recent Blackpool bridge disaster that it was brought about by faulty steel from which the bridge was constructed; and whether he is investigating, in the public interest, the origin of this steel and the circumstances under which it came to be used?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer which I gave yesterday to questions on this subject asked by the hon. Members for Central Hackney (Sir R. Gower) and Bilston (Mr. J. Baker).

asked the Minister of Transport whether the Report on the Severn barrage has been presented; and, if so, when it will be published?

The Report on the present preliminary investigations in regard to the practicability of a Severn barrage has not yet been submitted to the Committee of Civil Research. I am not in a position to anticipate the decision of that Committee on the question whether it will be published.

asked the Minister of Health the number of widows receiving a widow's pension on 31st December by reason of their having children under 14, and the value of such pensions; the total number of widows in respect of whom pensions were being paid on that date, and the value of such pensions; the number of children in respect at whom children's allowances were being paid on 31st December, and the value of such allowances; the number of orphans in respect of whom allowances were being paid on that date, and the value of such allowances; the number of old age pensioners between 65 and 70 receiving the old age pension under the Widows', Orphans' and Old Age Contributory Pensions Act on 31st Decem- ber, together with the value of such pensions; and the number of pensions payable under the 1908 and 1924 Acts by reason of the Widows', Orphans' and Old Age Contributory Pensions Act to persons over 70, and the value of these pensions?

The following particulars showing the position on 31st December, 1928, relate to England and Wales: 70,920 widows of men who died before the commencement of the Contributory Pensions Act, whose title depended on there being children under the age of 14, were drawing pensions at a cost of £35,460 a week; the total number of widows in receipt of pensions was 207,351, at a cost of £103,675 10s. a week: allowances were being paid for 223,311 children at a cost of £44,925 a week: orphans' pensions were being paid for 12,792 orphans at a cost of £4,797 a week: 475,808 persons between the age of 65 and 70 were drawing old age pensions at a cost of £237,904 a week and 290,413 persons over 70 were drawing old age pensions by virtue of the Contributory Pensions Act, 1925, at a cost of £145,207 10s. a week.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the amount of moneys held by the Finance Department of the Board of Trade for so-called seamen deserters' wages; and will he provide a return including the names of the men, their ships, the amount in each case, and the dates of the periods covered by the various moneys?

The amount of wages of seamen left behind abroad held by the Finance Department of the Board of Trade in respect of the period from 1st April to 31st December, 1928, was £4,138 4s. 8d. The information asked for by the hon. and gallant Member is not readily available, and could only be obtained at considerable cost.

asked the Minister of Pensions whether Form M.P.O. 644 (a), relating to the nature of employment and earnings of wounded officers both before and after the War, is now in use by the Ministry, and, if riot, the date of its withdrawal; whether earnings are taken into account in assessing disabilities; and, if so, the number of cases in which awards have been varied in consequence of such evidence having been furnished by employers?

The form referred to is still used for the few cases in which a special class of pension is available, the continuance of which involves considerations of earning capacity and riot, as in the case of ordinary pensions, simply the specific degree of physical disablement. I have no record of the total number of cases when may have been varied, adversely or otherwise to the beneficiary. Earnings are never taken into account in assessing the rate of disablement for pension purposes.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether the boots supplied to the Army are all of English manufacture; and, if not, whether he will indicate the percentage of foreign manufactured boots supplied and the countries of origin?

Yes, Sir; except india-rubber gum boots, which are manufactured in Canada. These represent about one-half of 1 per cent. of the total supplied.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that after building the. Territorial Army Association Drill Hall in Chestnut Grove, at Brentwood, the Brentwood Urban District Council have been called upon by the War Office to provide an additional surface-water sewer at a cost of £70; that they are required to pay. £35 for half the cost of a proposed new wall; to pay 145 for a strip of land required for widening the road in Chestnut Grove; to make up the little-used road in Chestnut Grove, which will mean an an extra 2d. rate; and whether, although requests from the urban district council for an interview with the War Office have been refused, he will give orders so that the Brentwood Urban District Council may have the opportunity of discussing the matter with the War Office so that a compromise might be arrived at?

My hon. and gallant Friend is under a misapprehension. No action on the part of the War Office or the Territorial Association has caused the expense to the urban district council in connection with the surface water sewer. As regards the terms on which facilities can be granted for the improvements that the urban district council wish to carry out in Chestnut Grove, the council should approach the Territorial Army Association. Neither the Association nor the Army Council, I understand, have been asked to grant the urban district council an interview.

aked the Postmaster-General if he has any information to give concerning the mail bag containing registered packets which disappeared on the journey from Hull to London on 10th February?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave yesterday in reply to a question on this subject by my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle North (Sir N. Gratton-Doyle), of which I am sending him a copy.

asked the Postmaster-General if he will look into the matter of complaints made in connection with the telephone service; and if he will take steps to ensure that the most prompt and effective methods are used to remedy the causes of such complaints?

I would refer the hon. Member to my reply to his question of the 18th instant.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he has any means of ascertaining the nationality of persons registered at the Employment Exchanges so that the number of Irishmen, Welshmen, or Scotsmen on the registers in England can be indicated, persons from the North of Ireland being distinguishable from those from the Free State?

The records maintained at the Employment Exchanges do not enable this information to be given.

asked the Minister of Labour the number of persons registered as unemployed at the latest available date at Plymouth?

At 11th February, 1929, there were 4,557 persons on the registers of the Plymouth Employment Exchange.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will make inquiries into the question of the construction of a road between the new settlement and the main public road in the island of North Uist?

The question of constructing a road between Lochportain and the main North Uist road was fully considered before the settlements on the Newton estate were formed, and again upon recent applications by the holders. Owing, however, to the nature of the country, provision of a roadway (or even a footpath) would involve the construction in its three miles of length of at least two bridges or "clachans" across tidal waterways, and the cost in present circumstances is regarded as prohibitive.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether, and, if so, for what reason, it is proposed to extend the superannuation limits in the case of any employ6 in the Sasines Department, Edinburgh; and whether he is aware of the objections entertained by the staff to any interference with the normal course of promotion?

The Keeper of the Registers and Records of Scotland has represented to me that it is desirable in the public interest that the services of a certain officer in the Sasines Office should be continued for a short period after his attainment of the age of 65. No decision has yet been reached in the matter, but it is possible that application for sanction to a short extension may be made to the Treasury in accordance with Clause 15 of the Order in Council of 10th January, 1910. As regards the last part of the question, I am not aware that any dissatisfaction has been expressed by the staff of the Department at the suggestion that this officer's service may be extended.

asked the Secretary to the Overseas Trade Department whether his Department is taking any and, if so, what steps to develop the Egyptian market, in view of its importance to the British manufacturer; and whether his attention has been drawn to the statement of the British Chamber of Commerce in Egypt that if British goods sold in Egypt were more systematically pushed as being British the sales would go up enormously?

My Department constantly receives from the Commercial Secretary to the Residency, who maintains close relations with the British Chamber of Commerce, reports relating to openings for British trade, and these are circulated to the proper recipients in this country. The answer to the second part of the question is in the affirmative. For a fuller review of the position I would refer my hon. Friend to "Report on the Economic and Financial Situation of Egypt," published by His Majesty's Stationery Office, price 1s. 6d.

asked the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs whether an advertisement of British textile goods will be included in the advertisements issued by the Empire Marketing Board; and, if so, whether the advertisement will appear in the leading newspapers of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Czechoslovakia, Russia, South America, and the United States?

The Empire Marketing Fund was constituted for furthering the marketing in this country of Empire products. The activities of the Empire Marketing Board extend to home agricultural produce; but it would not be within the Board's province to advertise textile goods in the manner suggested.