asked the Minister of Labour whether she can supply for any given recent date additional figures respecting the number of persons wholly on the registers of the Employment Exchanges in Great Britain, showing the number who, at that given date, have been continually out of work for three months and the number who have been continually out of work for five months?

The latest available figures giving an analysis of this kind relate to 16th September, 1929, and were published on pages 6 to 8 of the

Persons on the Registers of the Chatham Employment Exchange.
Date.				Men.	Boys.	Women.	Girls.	Total.
28th April, 1930	…	…	…	2,959	185	355	291	3,790
29th April, 1929	…	…	…	2,099	277	241	328	2,945
During the period 30th April, 1929, to 28th April, 1930, 64 men were transferred from depressed areas to employment in the area of this Exchange.

asked the Minister of Labour what is the number of foreign musicians now employed in this country

The number of alien dance and restaurant musicians employed on permit in this country at the present time is 68, of which number 45 are in dance bands. In addition, there are in the country under permit at present the New York Philharmonic Orchestra of about 120 performers, which is giving four performances, and a small number of concert artistes.

asked the Minister of Labour what is the number of British

asked the Minister of Labour what was the number of unemployed persons registered at the Chatham (Kent) Employment Exchange on 30th April, 1930; what was the number on the corresponding date last year; and how many, if any, workers have been transferred in the interval from depressed areas?

The information desired is as follows:musicians who are now unemployed in this country?

At 28th April, 1930, the latest date for which figures are available, the number of musicians aged 18 and over, recorded as wholly unemployed in Great Britain, was 1,884 men and 574 women. Separate statistics for those of British nationality are not available.

asked the Lord Privy Seal the approximate cost to the State of putting 1,000 men to work on road building?

I would refer the hon. Member to the White Paper (Cmd. 3519) issued in March last.

asked the Minister of Labour the total number of registered unemployed in connection with shipbuilding at Middlesbrough, Haverton Hill, and Stockton at the end of April, 1930, and the corresponding figures for 1929?

The numbers of insured persons, aged 16 to 64, classified as belonging to the shipbuilding and ship-repairing industry, recorded as unemployed at 28th April, 1930, were 556 at Middlesbrough, 405 at South Bank, and 714 at Stockton. The corresponding figures for 29th April, 1929, were 338 at Middlesbrough, 148 at South Bank, and 626 at Stockton.

Industry.						28th April, 1930.		22nd April, 1929.
						Number.	Percentage.	Number.	Percentage.
Bread, biscuits, cakes, etc.				…	…	13,817	9·9	9,878	7·1
Printing, publishing and bookbinding					…	15,788	6·1	10,504	4·2
Building	…	…	…	…	…	110,930	13·7	79,925	10·0
Electrical wiring and contracting					…	1,661	10·1	1,073	7·1
Public works contracting			…	…	…	43,202	27·3	32,309	20·8
Gas, water and electricity supply					…	11,572	7·3	9,165	5·7
Transport and communication				…	…	138,252	17·4	112,555	14·6
Distributive trades		…	…	…	…	140,503	8·5	97,074	6·1
Commerce, banking, insurance and finance						8,060	3·6	5,874	2·7
Entertainments and sports				…	…	11,155	15·4	7,331	10·9
Hotel, boarding house, club services					…	43,316	13·2	26,863	8·6
Laundries, dyeing and dry cleaning					…	8,392	6·3	4,722	3·7
Total		…	…	…	…	546,648	11·5	397,273	8·6

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether since the beginning of the year there have been any proposals in the tariff changes introduced by foreign nations of a nature beneficial to the trade of this country; and, if so, of what nature?

The new Egyptian Customs Tariff, though generally on a higher scale, reduced duties on certain goods, including coal and some descriptions of machinery. In Estonia duties

asked the Minister of Labour the number of unemployed, and the percentage of these to the employed, in each of the sheltered industries of the country; and how these figures compare with those for the corresponding period in 1929?

, pursuant to her reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 29th May, 1930, columns 1501–2, Vol. 239], supplied the following statement:There is no authoritative list of "sheltered industries." The "Survey of Industrial Relations" prepared by the Committee on Industry and Trade contains a list of certain industries of the "sheltered" type, and the following table gives the statistics asked for in respect of these industries, so far as available, and of certain other industries which appear to be relatively little exposed to foreign competition.have been reduced on artificial silk goods and on whisky and in Iraq on cotton, yarn, certain kinds of machinery and machine belting. In Hungary, Jugoslavia and Poland temporary suspensions or reductions of duty have been granted on a few articles; in Albania the duties on a number of manufactured good have been reduced under a Commercial Treaty concluded with France, and there have been reductions of minor importance in several other countries. I may, perhaps, add that the new Austro-German Commercial Treaty when it comes into force will lead to reductions of duty in both countries on certain classes of goods, including some textiles and metal manufactures and some descriptions of machinery.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the amount of so-called peasant wares imported into this country from Russia during the last three months; and whether these articles are sold below the cost of production?

I regret that the information desired by the hon. Member is not available.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether arrangements have now been effected to replace the vessels constituting the Devonport torpedo school "Defiance."

Arrangements are not yet finally decided, but it is anticipated that an efficient and economical scheme of replacement, which will ensure the continuance at Devonport of the essential duties of the "Defiance" establishment will be possible.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty when it is proposed to scrap or otherwise dispose of the five British ships "Benbow," "Iron Duke," "Marlborough," "Emperor of India," and "Tiger," referred to in Article 2, Part I, of the London Naval Treaty?

It is proposed to comply strictly with the provisions of the Treaty in the Article quoted, when it shall have come into force in accordance with the provisions of Article 24.

asked the President of the Board of Education to what extent his Department is co-operating with the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust; and what results have been obtained?

The Carnegie United Kingdom Trust has been brought into touch with the Board of Education through its co-operation with local education authorities in such services as those of adult education, the development of public libraries in rural areas, and provision for the training of teachers of physical exercises. If the hon. Member so desires, I shall be pleased to supply him with further particulars of these activities.

asked the President of the Board of Education if he will furnish a list of those education authorities who have submitted schemes for the operation of the reorganisation of schools consequent upon the raising of the school age in 1931?

The names of the 142 local education authorities to which I referred in my speech on the Second Reading of the Education Bill are set out in the accompanying list. All these authorities have submitted schemes and, I am satisfied, should have substantially reorganised most of their areas by the time when the new age-group will be in the schools. This list, however, should not be regarded as exhaustive. The great majority of the remaining authorities are actively preparing for the reorganisation of their schools, and the only reason that they have not been included in the list is either because their programmes have not yet been completed, or because it cannot at present be said with the same degree of certainty that they will have made equal progress by the time stated.

NAMES OF LOCAL EDUCATION AUTHORITIES.
Counties.
Middlesex.	Lancashire.
Wiltshire.	Leicestershire.
Durham.	Oxfordshire.
County Boroughs.
Croydon.	Burton-on-Trent.
Hastings.	Walsall.
Southampton.	Coventry.
Brighton.	Dudley.
Great Yarmouth.	Tynemouth.
Norwich.	Darlington.
Ipswich.	Gateshead.
East Ham.	Bootle.
Southend.	St. Helens.
West Ham.	Warrington.
Bath.	Wigan.
Stoke-on-Trent.	Rochdale.
West Bromwich.	Bury.

County Boroughs.
Barrow.	Oxford.
Birkenhead.	Lincoln.
Wallasey.	York.
Blackpool.	Middlesbrough.
Preston.	Barnsley.
Manchester.	Dewsbury.
Salford.	Doncaster.
Bolton.	Rotherham.
Nottingham.	Halifax.
Leicester.
Part III Authorities.
Acton.	Stockton-on-Tees.
Ealing.	Jarrow.
Edmonton.	Felling.
Enfield.	Hebburn.
Hendon.	Hartlepool.
Heston and Isleworth.	Darwen.
	Crewe.
Wood Green.	Waterloo.
Kingston-upon-Thames.	Widnes.
	Ince.
Richmond.	Stalybridge.
New Windsor.	Bacup.
Winchester.	Rawtenstall.
Worthing.	Stretford.
Hove.	Chadderton.
Tunbridge Wells.	Chorley.
Beckenham.	Eccles.
Folkestone.	Leigh.
Gosport.	Farnworth.
Faversham.	Radcliffe.
Gillingham.	Accrington.
Maidstone.	Clitheroe.
Erith.	Colne.
King's Lynn.	Nelson.
Cambridge.	Lancaster.
Luton.	Lytham-St.-Annes.
Harwich.	Dukinfield.
Leyton.	Congleton.
Walthamstow.	Hyde.
Barking.	Macclesfield.
Salisbury.	Swinton and Pendlebury.
Taunton.
Yeovil.	Buxton.
Newcastle-under-Lyme.	Chesterfield.
	Glossop.
Cannock.	Ilkeston.
Nuneaton.	East Retford.
Leamington.	Loughborough.
Cheltenham.	Kettering.
Oldbury.	Beverley.
Coseley.	Bridlington.
Rowley Regis.	Scarborough.
Wallsend.	Brighouse.
Whitehaven.	Harrogate.
Workington.	Keighley.
Durham.	Pontefract.

Part III Authorities.
Shipley.	Todmorden.
Spenborough.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether any estimate has been formed and, if so, of what nature of the number of parents in the Willesden Urban District Council area who will be affected by the raising of the school-leaving age in the first year in which the Bill comes into operation?

I regret that I have not sufficient information to enable me to form an estimate.

asked the President of the Board of Education the number of inspectors of secondary, continuation, technical and public elementary schools, respectively, in England and Wales on 31st March, 1930; the number of pupils enrolled in each of these categories of schools on that date; and the aggregate amount of the sums involved in paying the salaries and expenses of each category of inspectors for the year ended 31st March, 1930?

The latest available returns for the number of pupils enrolled in the various types of schools referred to relate to the year 1929. The figures, which are taken as on the 31st March, or other more appropriate date in the school year, are as follow:

Number of pupils and students on the registers.
Public elementary schools	5,565,565
Secondary schools	463,027
Continuation and technical schools (including schools of art, evening classes and adult education classes):
Full time	33,500
Part time	932,099
Total	6,994,191

The total number of the Board's inspectorate on 31st March, 1929 (and also on 31st March, 1930), was 334, of whom some 87 officers were concerned with more than one branch of education, the remainder being allocated approximately as follows: Elementary, 188; secondary, 28; continuation, technical and art schools, 31. The aggregate amount involved in paying the salaries and expenses of these officers for the year ending 31st March, 1930, was £310,829 (salaries £261,409, expenses £49,420). It would be impossible without disproportionate labour to allocate this amount as between the different categories of inspection.

asked the President of the Board of Education the number of pensioned secondary and continuation school teachers in England and Wales on 31st March, 1930; the number of pensioned public elementary school teachers on the same date; and the amount of money paid in pensions to each category of retired teachers during the year ended at that date?

There were 29,804 retired teachers in receipt of pensions on 31st March, 1930, and the expenditure on pensions and gratuities in the year ended on that date amounted to £4,776,392. No records are kept which would enable me to apportion these totals as between teachers in schools of various types.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he has instructed the advertising agents to his Department to terminate all contracts for the display of alcoholic advertisements?

About a year ago the advertising agents were instructed to terminate contracts for the display in Post Office buildings and publications of advertisements relating to alcoholic beverages as soon as the provisions of current agreements admit.

asked the Postmaster-General the number of employés in the engineering department of the Post Office on 1st January, 1930, and the corresponding figure at the latest convenient date?

These figures fluctuate considerably according to storm conditions. As I informed the hon. Member in answer to his question on 11th February, the number of employés in the engineering department of the Post Office on 1st January, 1930, was 31,544. The corresponding figure on 1st May, 1930, was 32,128.

asked the Postmaster-General the reason of the delay in having the new Post Office opened at Redcar?

The erection of the new Post Office at Redcar was begun in January, 1929, and in ordinary course would have been finished early this year. Unfortunately, the work was hampered in the initial stages by frost and other adverse weather conditions, and subsequently by difficulty in the supply of steel casements. The building, however, is expected to be ready for occupation next month.

asked the Minister of Health whether the Calmette prophylactic treatment in regard to tuberculosis which has been followed by the death of 16 infants in Lubeck, Germany, is being advocated or employed in this country with the permission or under the instructions of the Ministry of Health?

The answer is in the negative. I may, however, add that the Medical Research Council has been engaged since 1925 in investigating the statistical and bacteriological evidence relating to this treatment, and I am kept informed of their researches. I am informed that two representatives of the Medical Research Council have gone to Germany to obtain further information concerning the deaths at Lubeck.

asked the Minister of Health the number of prosecutions that have taken place under the Public Health (Smoke Abatement) Act, 1926; and can he give particulars?

I regret that I have not this information.

asked the Minister of Health if he will issue a table showing the number of appeals made to his Department by insured persons against the refusal of societies to meet their claims for sickness or disablement benefit, giving the figures of the number of appeals allowed and disallowed for each of the last three years?

The number of appeals made under Section 90 of the National Health Insurance Act, 1924, to the Minister by insured persons in respect of claims for sickness and disablement benefit, and the number of such appeals which have been allowed and disallowed during the last three years are given in the following table:

—	1927–28.	1928–29.	1929–30.
Total number of such appeals.	55	57	78
Number allowed	20	25	28
Number disallowed	35	32	50

asked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies the amount that has been sanctioned by the authorities in Kenya as special expenditure for an anti-locust campaign; and whether any permanent organisation has been set up for the purpose of studying the origin and future prevention of locust swarms?

I have been asked to reply to this question. The expenditure, for which provision has been made by the Government of Kenya on anti-locust measures, is as follows:

In 1928	£20,988
In 1929	£60,830

No permanent organisation has been set up in Kenya for studying the origin and prevention of locust swarms, but a sum of £660 is provided in the Estimates for 1930 to meet the cost of maintaining a nucleus organisation for locust control, and if necessary this organisation could be expanded. A further sum of £1,500 is included provisionally as the contribution which would be made by the Government of Kenya towards the scheme of locust research which the Locust Committee of the Economic Advisory Council has under consideration.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the numbers of persons relieved under the Poor Law in Scotland at April, 1929, and April, 1930, respectively?

I am not yet in a position to give complete figures for the dates in question. But the figures for the areas in Scotland tabulated in the Ministry of Labour Gazette for May, 1930, show that the number of persons relieved on 15th April, 1930, exclusive of casual poor, lunatics in asylums, registered hospitals and licensed houses and persons in receipt of outdoor medical relief only was 88,770, or 24 per cent. less than in the previous month and 25.5 per cent. less than in April, 1929.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether, in view of the increased expenditure falling on the Lord High Commissioner in consequence of the union of the Churches of Scotland, he will consider recommending a proportionate increase in the allowance made to the Lord High Commissioner?

I understand that legislation would be required to effect an increase of the allowance made to the Lord High Commissioner. I shall look into the matter.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the number of inspectors of secondary and continuation schools in Scotland on the 31st March, 1930; the number of pupils enrolled in these schools at that date; the amounts paid in salaries and expenses in the year ended at that date to these inspectors; the number of inspectors of other public schools in Scotland on the same date; the number of pupils enrolled in these other public schools; and the amounts paid in salaries and expenses in the same year to these inspectors of other public schools?

The members of the inspection staff of the Scottish Education Department are not assigned to particular types of school, so that it is not possible to classify them in the manner stated in the question. The total number of inspectors in the service of the Department on 31st March, 1930, was 62. The amounts paid in salaries and expenses on account of inspection in the year ended on that date were £51,494 and £10,273, respectively. The average number of pupils enrolled in State-aided secondary schools in Scotland for the year ended 31st July, 1929, the latest date for which information is available, was 154,240. The number of pupils in continuation classes was 159,414. The average number of pupils enrolled in other State-aided schools was 665,333.

asked the Minister of Transport what interest the Greater London and Counties Trust has in the development of electrical supply under the terms of the Electricity Act; what proportion of the capital of this trust is British; whether the control is British; and which are the authorised undertakers that operate under the control of this trust?

The Greater London and Counties Trust is not an authorised electricity undertaker within the meaning of the Electricity Acts. Information is not available as to the proportion of the capital of the trust which is British, but, in a public statement by the chairman on 15th February, 1929, it was stated that the board of directors is and will remain British. So far as I have been able to ascertain, there are upwards of 50 authorised undertakers operating directly or indirectly under the control of the trust.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether, in view of the state of recruiting, he is taking any special steps and, if so, of what nature, to popularise recruiting, especially at this time of industrial depression?

I am unable to add to the reply which I gave on 21st May to the Noble Lord the Member for Roxburgh and Selkirk (Earl of Dalkeith), a copy of which I am sending to the hon. Member.

asked the Secretary of State for War what are the objections to insisting that every soldier on enlistment shall produce a birth certificate which should serve for the purpose of special campaign pensions?

To insist upon recruits producing a birth certificate might deter many would-be recruits. For example, some recruits, though of full age, might refuse to go to the trouble and expense of obtaining such a certificate and there might also be difficulties and delays in obtaining birth certificates.

asked the Secretary of State for War how many married quarters there are at Bull Point; how many are occupied, specifying the different Government Departments to which the tenants belong; and what is the rent paid in each case?

There are at Bull Point married quarters for one officer and nine other ranks. Of these the officer's quarters and eight of the soldiers' quarters are occupied by an officer and soldiers entitled to quarters at the public expense, the remaining quarter being temporarily vacant.

asked the Secretary of State for War the value of the total amount spent by the War Office and Air Force in purchasing meat from foreign countries, Dominions and Colonies during the latest available year; and how much of this was spent by forces allocated to the British Isles?

The value of the total amount of meat, other than preserved meat, purchased in 1929 for the Army and Royal Air Force at home, Mediterranean and Chinese stations was approximately £800,000, and of this £650,000 was for home consumption. Practically all this was of Dominion origin. In addition, preserved meat to the value of £54,000 was purchased. This was of foreign origin. The purchases at stations abroad, other than the Chinese and Mediterranean stations, are made locally and complete figures cannot be given.

asked the Prime Minister if it is proposed to put the resolutions passed at the recent meeting of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce before the coming Imperial Conference for its consideration; and, if not, what are the objections to this course?

The proceedings of the Imperial Conference are settled in consultation between the various Governments represented. So far as His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom are concerned, they can only undertake to study every proposal brought to their notice by representative organisations.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he has now the information with regard to the fact that the Grain Stabilisation Company, which is the commercial agent of the United States Federal Farm Board, has made arrangements for 100,000,000 bushels of wheat to be milled by United States millers and exported within the next five months; and, seeing that the largest proportion of this flour will find its way to the United Kingdom, whether he intends to take any steps to obviate the detrimental effect which such importation of foreign wheat is bound to have on British farmers and millers?

My right hon. Friend understands that in an attempt to equalise prices at the sea-board and the interior, the Grain Stabilisation Corporation has sold some wheat to interior millers at its export value—that is, what it could have been sold for if sold for export on the same day. It appears that there had accumulated at the sea-board large stocks of wheat for export, which were not being moved owing to the slight demand, and the holders of this surplus wheat were offering it for sale at a price lower than that for which wheat could be delivered to sea-board from interior markets. This situation placed the millers at interior points at a disadvantage as compared with millers located at the sea-board who had access to the surplus stock, and also as compared with millers abroad who had a like opportunity of buying the stock at a price less than its comparative value at interior points. The Grain Stabilisation Corporation accordingly bought up 3,000,000 bushels of this wheat and disposed of it, at a small profit. My right hon. Friend understands that at, no time has any wheat been sold to interior millers or to millers at the seaboard at a price below that at which foreign millers could buy the same wheat at the sea-board or at the world market level. He has no information regarding the suggestion that it was a condition that the flour milled from the wheat sold by the Grain Stabilisation Corporation should be exported within the next five months.