asked the President of the Board of Trade, what was the number of complete specifications examined during the year by the Patent Office for each of the past 25 years; what was the total strength of the examining staff on 1st January of each one of these years; and what was the number of complete specifications awaiting examination on 1st January of each year?

The following table gives the desired information:in the case of women clerical officers, writing assistants, and members of the established typing grades, respectively, employed in his Department; and what was the average number of days of sick leave per head in the case of each of the grades concerned taken on account of gastric or nervous trouble, respectively?

—					Average number of days' sick leave per head.
					1926.	1927.	1928.
Women Clerical Officers	…	…	…	…	8·0 (a)	8·3	4·3
Writing Assistants	…	…	…	…	6·4	7·1	4·5
Established typing grades	…	…	…	…	7·8	7·0 (b)	5·2 (c)
(a) Excluding two women who had 155 days' sick leave each.
(b) Excluding four women who had 303, 231, 105 and 101 days' sick leave respectively.
(c) Excluding four women who had 122, 109, 104 and 88 days' sick leave respectively.

To furnish the information requested in the last part of the question would involve the scrutiny of a large number of medical certificates, and I do not think the labour involved would be justified.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the official prices per 100 lbs. of comparable grades of wheat flour on the same date in London, Berlin, Paris, Brussels, Vienna, and

City.			Description of Flour.	Price quoted converted into shillings per 100 lb.		Import duty of country on flour (converted into shillings per 100 lb.).
				s.	d.	s.	d.
London	…	…	Straight run flour	13	0½	—
Berlin	…	…	Wheat flour, 70 per cent.,			5	1
	…	…	home grown.	12	0
Rome	…	…	Flour, home grown	16	7	5	4
Paris	…	…	Flour	14	2	(4s. 5d. to 5s. 10d.)*
Vienna	…	…	Wheat flour, No. 0	15	5¾	1	10
Brussels	…	…	Particulars not available				1
* According to fineness.

The duties shown in the table relate, in the cases of Germany and Austria, to the rates applicable to imports from countries receiving most-favoured-nation treatment.

asked the Secretary for Mines what action, if any, the Government propose to take to give effect to the Royal Commission's Report on Mining Subsidence?

The following table gives the information for which the hon. Member asks in the first part of the question:Rome; and the rates of duty on flour imported into the country represented by each of those cities.

The following statement relating to the middle of January last summarises the information available. I am, however, unable to say how closely the figures for the different capitals are comparable; for instance, as regards the London quotation, the price at which flour is actually sold by millers may be lower than the "official" price by 5 per cent. or more:

I an not yet in a position to make any announcement in the matter.

asked the Minister of Health in how many instances inspectors of his department visited hop picking areas during 1928; whether they found the conditions set out in the revised model bylaws issued by his department early in 1926 had been carried out; and whether all the district councils in the hop-picking areas have adopted these by-laws?

Eleven rural districts were visited by my officers during 1928. Unsatisfactory conditions were observed in some instances, and the attention of the local authorities concerned was drawn to those instances. The answer to the last part of the question is in the negative.

asked the Minister of Health the amount of money that has been expended in slum-clearance schemes during the past five years and the amount of loans that have been sanctioned by the Ministry in connection with the acquisition of property for re-housing during the same period?

On the information available from local authorities, it is estimated that the amount of capital expenditure on slum clearance schemes in the last five years is roughly £5,250,000. The loans for this purpose sanctioned by my Department during the same period amount to £3,162,952; this sum does not include loans sanctioned by Parliament for the county of London.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he can show the highest percentage of insured persons recorded as unemployed at the five Employment Exchanges in Scotland where these percentages were highest as at the last convenient date?

I have been asked to reply. At 11th March, 1929, the five Employment Exchanges in Scotland with the highest percentage rates of unemployment were:

	Per Cent.
Alexandria	23.5
Wishaw	22.3
Leith	20.3
Coatbridge	19.1
Airdrie	18.6

asked the Minister of Agriculture the number of men and women who are employed in the fishing industry in Great Britain, with the number registered under the National Insurance Acts?

The estimated number of men and boys employed in Sea Fishing in Great Britain in the year 1927, the latest year for which figures are available, was 60,018. No women, so far as I know, are regularly engaged in this industry. All those who are employed under a contract of service and all fishermen who work on the sharing system are, with a few negligible exceptions, required to be insured under the National Health Insurance and Contributory Pensions Acts. As, however, health insurance statistics are not compiled on an occupational basis, it is not possible to state the actual number of persons in the industry who are insured under the Acts.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury the estimated amount received from stamps on cheques for the 12 months ended to the last con venient date?

The net receipt of Stamp Duty from cheques in the year ended 31st March, 1928, was £3,463,074.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the amount of income derived as Stamp Duty for property sold in Great Britain in respect of conveyances on sale of lands and houses for the 12 months ended to the last convenient date?

The net receipt of Stamp Duty in the year ended 31st March, 1928, in respect of Conveyances on Sale of Lands and Houses was £3,392,143.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury the total number of blind persons in England and Wales who were in receipt of blind old age pensions, giving their respective ages, as at the last convenient date?

The total number of persons in receipt of pensions under the Blind Persons Act, 1920, was stated in the reply given by the Minister of Health to the hon. Member for Cheltenham (Sir W. Preston) on 5th February. Statistics of the age of blind pensioners are not available.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will give a list of British merchant vessels sold to foreign countries in 1920 and 1921?

The number of vessels reported to the Registrar-General of Shipping and Seamen as having been transferred from the British register on sale to foreigners during the years 1920 and 1921 was 837. The names of the vessels concerned were included in the monthly returns "Registry of Ships" (reference, G.R. 128), for the months in question, which were printed and published by the Stationery Office, and can be obtained by the hon. and gallant Member in the usual way.