asked the Minister of Health the total population of Great Britain; the population of London; and the numbers of men as compared with women in this country?

The compilation of the preliminary Census Report for England and Wales is in progress; but complete figures are not yet available. With regard to Scotland, the hon. Member should address an inquiry to the Secretary of State for Scotland.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he is yet in a position to give the population of Scotland, and of each county and large burgh in Scotland, according to the recent Census, with the increase or decrease as compared with 1921?

I am informed by the Registrar-General for Scotland that according to the summaries of population received from the registrars, the information desired by my hon. Friend is as set forth in the following table. The figures, though believed to be substantially correct, are provisional and subject to correction when the Census Returns have been examined in detail. The figures relating to counties include the populations of the burghs situated therein, and the 1921 figures given for comparison relate to the counties and burghs as at present constituted.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what reply he has returned to the request of the British Herring Fishing Association for power to control the industry?

The terms of the resolutions passed at the meeting on 2nd June have reached me this week. I, obviously, cannot reply until the proposals have been fully considered by the Departments concerned and possibly discussed with the various branches of the industry. I have asked the Fishery Board for Scotland to give the matter early attention.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what was the total value of imports from Soviet Russia into this country month by month between May, 1030, and May, 1931?

I am not yet in a position to Stat" the figure for May, 1931, but as soon as it is available I will send it to the hon. Member.The following statement shows the total declared value of merchandise imported into the United Kingdom and registered as consigned from the Soviet Union (Russia) during the months specified

asked the President of the Board of Trade what considerations he has taken into account in issuing licences for the export of tanks and other armed vehicles to Soviet Russia; how many applications for such licences were refused in 1930; and for what reasons?

Applications for licences to export war material to the Soviet Union are dealt with in exactly the same way as applications in respect of any other foreign country. In accordance with the usual practice the Foreign Office and the War Office were consulted and they concurred in the issue of the licences in question. No applications for licences to export material of this description to the Soviet Union were refused in 1930.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he can now make any statement as to the importation of Russian sweets in each of the last two months as compared with the same two months in 1930; and how the prices of these imports compare with those of similar products in this country?

During March and April, 1931, the imports of chocolate and sugar confectionery into the United Kingdom registered as consigned from the Soviet Union amounted to 3,843 cwt. valued at £6,300, and 510 cwt. valued at £1,196, respectively. During the corresponding months of 1930 they amounted to 657 cwt. valued at £2,331, and 1,226 cwt. valued at £3,975, respectively. I regret that I have no information in regard to the latter part of the question.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will inform the various professional bodies controlling the auditing of accounts of companies operating under the Companies Act, 1929, that auditors, when certifying the balance sheets of holding companies, should present them in such a way as to provide the public with the protection afforded by consolidated balance sheets which disclose detailed information?

The duties of companies and auditors in the matter of the form of balance sheets are laid down in the Companies Act, 1929, and I would refer the hon. Member in particular to Sections 125, 126 and 134. The period of Trade have, of course, no power to prescribe requirements which go beyond the statutory provisions.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what professional qualifications, if any, are necessary in the case of auditors appointed under Section 132 of the Companies Act, 1929?

The Companies Act does not lay down any professional qualifications for auditors.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if his attention has been drawn to the conditions of labour in the lumber camps and timber raising areas of Florida, United States of America, where convict labour is leased by the Government to contractors for 20 dollars a month; and whether he will take steps to prohibit the importation of wood from this area and consider the advisability of asking the permission of the United States Government to send out a committee of investigation to inquire into the matter?

My attention has not been drawn previously to this matter. The answer to the second and third parts of the question is in the negative.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware that men's suits, manufactured in Poland, are now being offered to retailers in this country at 12s. 6d. each and trousers at 3s. 6d. each; and what would be the cost of a similar product made from similar material in this country?

I have seen statements to the effect indicated in the first part of the question, but I am unable to give the information asked for in the second part.

asked the Secretary of State for War the total expenses, incurred by the various departments of the chemical warfare committee for the purpose of experiments on living animals during 1930, divided into the most detailed classification available?

Experiments on animals play but a small part in the scientific investigations which are necessarily carried out in connection with protection against poison gas, and it is not possible to give a specific figure for this part of the total cost of the chemical defence research department.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware of the dissatisfaction existing among those officers who were promoted to permanent commission rank in the Regular Army for service in the field in regard to their retired pay being at a much lower level than that of warrant officers and similarly promoted officers of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines; and whether he will consider the setting up of a small committee of the House composed of all parties to inquire into this question?

This question has been fully considered on more than one occasion, and I see no ground for re-opening it.

asked the Postmaster-General whether, in considering the question of the sale of picture postcards at post offices, he will pay due regard to the interest of retail shopkeepers to whom this is an important part of their business; and whether he will seek the opinion of their representatives before taking a decision?

I would refer the right hon. Gentleman to the answer to similar questions given on Monday the 8th instant.

asked the Minister of Labour the number of workpeople engaged in the paper-making industry in the United Kingdom, and the numbers recorded as being unemployed at the latest available date?

The following table gives the information desired:

asked the Secretary for Mines the quantity, in tons, of fuel oil suitable for marine use, as distinguished from lubricating oil and motor spirit, which has been produced from low-temperature distillation of coal in the years 1921, 1929, and 1930, and for such period of the present year as figures may be available?

The information asked for is not available, but in the present state of development of low temperature carbonisation the amount of fuel oil produced cannot be large.

asked the Secretary for Mines what quantity, in tons, of fuel oil suitable for marine use, as distinguished from lubricating oil and motor spirit, has been produced from high-temperature manufacture of coke during the years 1928, 1929, and 1930, and for such period of 1931 as figures may be available?

No official information is available, but from estimates furnished to the Mines Department it appears that during each of the past three years from 320,000 to 350,000 tons of creosote oil were distilled from coal tar produced in this country by the carbonisation of coal at coke ovens and gas works. No information is available of the quantity of such oil which was used for fuel purposes.

asked the Minister of Health whether his Department is taking any action in regard to the adoption of the use of an anti-vaccinal serum as a treatment in cases of post-vaccinal encephalitis which was strongly urged by the Rolleston Committee on page 72 of their Second Report?

An anti-vaccinal serum has been made available and has been employed by the medical attendant in those cases of suspected post-vacinal encephalitis which have since been reported and of which sufficiently early information has been received.