asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the amount raised by Entertainments Duty in each month between August and November this year?

The approximate net amount of revenue from Entertainments Duty in each of the months, August, September, October and November, 1929, was as follows:

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will insert a provision in the Companies Acts so as to make the appointment of a proportion of British directors obligatory in the case of a British firm situated in this country being purchased by foreigners?

As at present advised, I do not propose to introduce general legislation for the purpose indicated in the question.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty if he will consider the use of light craft in detecting vessels engaged in illegal trawling round our coasts, these vessels to be supplementary to those already in use under the Fishery Board?

I understand the question to refer to the Scottish fisheries. One fishery protection gunboat is regularly placed at the disposal of the Fishery Board for Scotland and employed in policing Scottish waters, and this vessel is occasionally supplemented by others as circumstances require and permit. I understand that the general question of fishery protection in Scottish waters is receiving the consideration of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland, within whose jurisdiction the matter primarily lies.

asked the Secretary for Mines the average net earnings for all mine workers in Great Britain for the years ended 30th September, 1925, 1928, and 1929?

The average cash earnings of all wage-earners in the coal mining industry in Great Britain during the years ended 30th September, 1925, 1928 and 1929 were £132 2s. 5d., £113 19s. 5d., and £117 4s. 3d. respectively. To these there should be added the value of allowances in kind which are appreciable in certain districts.

asked the Postmaster-General whether, seeing that the British Broadcasting Corporation are responsible to him for their accounts, he will say how their profits are allocated?

The British Broadcasting Corporation's Report for 1928, which has been published as Command Paper No. 3324 of 1929, shows that the net revenue of the Corporation at the end of the year 1928 was £141,409 and that of this amount £134,167 was transferred to capital account to cover capital expenditure incurred on the regional stations and for other purposes, while the balance of £7,242 was carried forward to the 1929 account.

asked the Minister of Transport if his attention has been called to the accident near Llangadoet, Carmarthenshire, in which three persons lost their lives; if he has received a recommendation from the coroner's jury that steps should be taken to have this and other similar places properly protected; and if he proposes to take any action in the matter?

My attention has been called to this accident, but I have not received any recommendations from the Coroner. The question of protection of roads is a matter for the highway authority, but I have asked for a report on the accident from my divisional road engineer, and after considering the report I will, if necessary, consult with the highway authority.

asked the Minister of Transport whether, in connection with the scheme of road widening submitted by the Leicestershire County Council and approved by him, provision has been made for the improvement of the dangerous crossing at Hoo Ash at the junction of the roads leading to Swannington, Ravenstone, Coalville and Ashby?

Approval in principle has been given to certain schemes in this neighbourhood; but until the detailed drawings have been received I am unable to say to what extent the Hoo Ash crossing will be affected.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Air the gross amount of public money that has been expended on the various contests in which the Royal Air Force participated for the Schneider trophy, giving these gross amounts separately for each year?

The contests in which the Royal Air Force participated were those of 1927 and 1929. The cost involved in such participation in the latter year was given in my reply to the hon. Member for Wolverhampton, East (Mr. Mander) on 15th November. In that reply I explained the difficulty of segregating expenditure for the Schneider contest from expenditure on the official programme of high-speed development and, in consequence, of quoting a precise figure for the former purpose. The same reservation must be made in regard to the contest of 1927, but subject to it, the expenditure involved was of the same order of magnitude, and the same figure, £100,000, may be quoted as an approximate indication of the difference due to participation in the contest. The specific additional expenditure on transportation, travelling and maintenance in 1927 was approximately £3,400.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the number of deaths certified as being from diphtheria, cancer, typhoid fever, and small-pox in Scotland during the years 1926, 1927, 1928, and to the latest date for which figures are available in 1929.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what balances now stand to the credit of the Miners' Relief Fund for Scotland; what is the present average weekly rate of expenditure from the fund; and at what date it is estimated that the fund will be exhausted.

I am informed that the balance at the credit of the fund in question is estimated at approximately £10,000. No assistance has been given from the fund since 13th September last, by which date the Central Advisory Committee had distributed the whole of the money at their disposal with the exception of a small balance which they reserved to meet undisclosed liabilities and other contingencies. It has now been found on a more complete examination of the accounts of the local committees that the unexpended balance is greater than was expected. The Central Advisory Committee are holding a meeting on the 6th December next to determine the disposal of the balance.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he is now in a position to give a full account of the disaster to the Scottish fishing fleet off the East Anglian coast, and an estimate of the losses sustained by the fishermen, showing to what extent each fishery district has suffered.

As the hon. and gallant Member is no doubt aware from reports which have already appeared in the Press, the disaster occurred as the result of a gale of exceptional violence which set in after most of the Scottish

The number of deaths certified as being from diphtheria, cancer, typhoid fever and small-pox in Scotland during the years 1926, 1927, 1928 and to the 30th September, 1929, is—

fleet had left for the fishing grounds early on Monday, 11th November, after the customary week-end rest and had shot their nets. Particulars of losses of individual boats collected by officers of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries from the fish salesmen at Yarmouth and Lowestoft show that 571 boats in all were involved. Of these 542 were registered in Scotland or were on hire to Scottish crews. According to the information in my possession the total number of nets lost by the Scottish fishermen was approximately 27,800, allowing for some nets spoilt or damaged. In addition about 300 warps were lost and also about 6,000 buffs, of which some may yet be recovered.

The following particulars show the approximate extent to which each fishery district has suffered loss of and damage to nets:—

Assuming that the average values of the nets, warps and buffs were £2, £6 and 5s. respectively, the actual loss would be about £60,000. The cost of replacing the nets, warps and buffs with new ones would be about £143,000.