asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that applicants for the blind persons old age pension are compelled to travel from West Ham to Harley Street, London, entailing a good deal of personal hardship; and whether he will consider making arrangements for the attendance of an eye specialist at the local offices of the regional medical officer or examination at the local hospital?

It is only in very rare cases that a claimant for an old age pension under the Blind Persons Act is required to be examined by a specialist, and in such cases the claimant's travelling expenses and those of a sighted escort are paid by my Department. I have had no previous complaint that any hardship is caused, and I do not think it is necessary to make such arrangements as are suggested in the question.

asked the Minister of Health if he will state the total number of cases of small-pox in the West Ham county area since January, 1929; whether the disease has been of a mild character; and whether he will state what fees have been paid to the public vaccinators for their services from January, 1929, to the end of May?

Six hundred and ninety cases of small-pox were notified in the county borough of West Ham during the 26 weeks ended 29th June last. These figures are provisional. The disease has, generally, been of a mild degree. The amount of the fees paid to the public vaccinators in respect of the vaccination of persons resident in the county borough during the three months ended 31st March last was approximately £91. Information as to the fees paid in respect of the months of April and May is not yet available.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether it is his intention to administer the terms of the Education Act of 1921, Section 24, in respect of allowances for the maintenance of pupils between the ages of 12 and 14 plus, attending public elementary schools, and thus put an end to the present policy of the Board of Education set forth in the Elementary Education (Substantive Grant) Amending Regulations, No. 4, 1929.

Any review of the Board's present practice with regard to maintenance allowances for pupils between the ages of 12 and 14 attending public elementary schools, which was laid down in regulations published as long ago as 1922, should form part of a general review of the educational facilities to be provided for older children, and I am not prepared to anticipate that general review by piecemeal consideration of merely one aspect of the problem.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he is aware that, under recent arrangements made by the Southern Railway Company, there is inadequate arrangements for safety for people using the Tovil crossing; and, as children attending school have to cross four times a day, whether he will hold an inquiry into the matter?

:I am not aware of any recent alteration in the arrangements of this place subsequently to the correspondence, which took place on the subject between my predecessor in office and the hon. and gallant Member. If, however, he will let me know in what respects he thinks the arrangements could be improved, I will consider whether there is any action I could usefully take.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he has received any complaints and, if so, of what nature with regard to the dial system of telephoning; and whether he proposes to institute an inquiry into them?

The automatic system of telephony, involving dialling by subscribers, has long been in use in a number of provincial areas with satisfactory results. In London the system has recently been introduced at various exchanges and on the whole is giving efficient service. The conditions of working are necessarily much more complicated than in the smaller provincial areas and I have received a certain number of complaints of varying nature into which I am instituting a special inquiry.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what was, respectively, the excess of exports of manufactured goods from Great Britain and the United States of America to the outlying parts of the British Empire after deducting the imports of manufactured goods and excluding re-exports for the latest years for which the statistics are available?

In 1927, the exports of United Kingdom goods classed as wholly or mainly manufactured, consigned to British countries overseas, amounted to £ 275,600,000; and imports of goods similarly classified, consigned from British countries overseas and retained in the United Kingdom were £ 28,200,000. The excess of these exports over these imports was thus £ 247,400,000. Similar aggregates are not available in respect of the trade in manufactured goods between the United States of America and British countries overseas.