asked the Home Secretary when he proposes to introduce the projected Factories Bill?

I would refer the hon. and gallant Member to the reply I gave to a similar question asked by the right

asked the Minister of Labour if there are any relief schemes at present being considered by the Unemployment Grants Committee for the purpose of giving opportunities of work to the unemployed of Devonport and Plymouth; and, if so, what is the nature of the schemes, the cost, and the number of persons estimated to secure employment?

No schemes of work to be undertaken in the area of Devonport and Plymouth are at present under consideration by the Unemployment Grants Committee.

asked the Home Secretary the number of aliens who are at present in this country on a six months' period of grace; and in how many cases in which the six months' permission was originally granted there has been an extension of time?

I regret that statistics on these points are not available.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he will give consideration to the request of the London Schoolmasters' Association, which is the London branch of the National Association of Schoolmasters, that they should be represented on the teachers' panel of the Standing Joint Committee on the salaries of teachers in elementary schools?

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he will reconsider his decision as to the advisability, on the representations made, of including a representative from the National Association of Schools Members and from the London Schoolmasters' Association on the teachers' panel of the Burnham Committee?

The representations which have been made to me, in regard to the inclusion of the National Association of Schoolmasters among the bodies represented on the Standing Joint Committee on Teachers' Salaries, have not brought to my notice any fresh information

asked the Secretary of State for India what have been the changes in the rate of duty against British iron and steel imported into India since a duty was first imposed; and what has been the course of imports of British iron and steel into India since the date of imposition of the duty?

asked the Secretary of State for India how many persons are employed in the manufacture of iron and steel and iron and steel goods in India; how many companies are registered for the purpose of such production; what is the present rate of duty on iron and steel goods imported into India; and what has been the annual output of iron and steel in India since the duty was first imposed?

As regards the first part of the question, I would refer the hon. Member to page 703 of the Statistical Abstract for British India from 1919–1920 to 1928–1929 (Cmd. 3882). Later figures are not available. The number of joint stock enterprises registered in India at work at the end of 1927–28 in the iron, steel and shipbuilding trades was 47. No separate figures or later figures are available. In addition there were 18 companies incorporated elsewhere than in India, but working in India in the year ending 31st March, 1928. I am sending the hon. Member a copy of the Indian Tariff now in force. As regards the last part of the question, the latest information available is that given on page 48 of the Statistical Abstract for the British Dominions and Protectorates for 1913, and 1922 to 1927 (Cmd. 3434), namely:

There are so many subheadings of iron and steel manufactures in the Indian Tariff that the first part of the question cannot be answered fully within the limits of a Parliamentary reply, but I am sending the hon. Member a copy of the Indian Tariffs for 1930 and 1931 (the latter in connection with his previous question), and the tariffs for earlier years will be found in the Statistical Abstracts for British India which are in the Library of the House. The protective duties on iron and steel were first imposed in 1924 but revenue duties were levied for many years before that date. The following quantities of iron and steel were imported into India from the United Kingdom in the years shown:—

asked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies what schemes are in operation for carrying out systematic inspection and control of mui-tsai, as ordered by Lord Passfield in his despatch of 22nd August, 1930?

In addition to the general supervision of the Department of the Secretary for Chinese Affairs, special inspection of the mui-tsai is carried out by the European police attached to that Department as well as by the Chinese lady who has been appointed inspector by the Society for the Protection of Children, and my Noble Friend has given directions for the appointment of an additional officer who will visit the mui-tsai regularly in their homes and see that the regulations are being fully com plied with. Control has been secured by regulations which require employers to produce their mui-tsai at any time and place specified by the Secretary for Chinese Affairs and to submit written reports regarding any change of address, death, marriage or intended removal from the Colony of mui-tsai.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether the report of the Committee on Naval Education has yet been received; and, if so, whether it is intended to publish it?

It is presumed that the committee referred to is the com- mittee on systems of cadet entry. If so, it is anticipated that the report will be presented in the course of a few days. The question of publication will be considered, but I can make no promise at present.

asked the hon. Member for Central Leeds, as representing the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, the attitude of the Commissioners towards the appeals that have been made to them with a view to relieving land under their control from the burden of tithe?

The Commissioners will be represented at the coming conference of tithe owners with the Minister of Agriculture, and in the meantime I can make no statement.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether it is the intention of His Majesty's Government to introduce legislation, at an early date or at all, for the purpose of curtailing the period of the herring fishing seasons and of determining the opening and closing dates at the various herring centres; and, if so, when such legislation is likely to be introduced?

I have nothing to add at present to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Caithness and Sutherland (Sir A. Sinclair) on 11th June.

asked the Minister of Agriculture how many inoculations against distemper in dogs have been made from the beginning of the practice up till the present time; what has been the preventive effect of the inoculations; and what percentage of the dogs inoculated have died as the result of inoculation?

I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Lord President of the Council. The hon. Member's question presumably refers to the method of preventive inoculation introduced as a result of researches promoted by the "Field" Distemper Council. As the preparations are issued by a commercial firm to veterinary practitioners throughout the country, no complete statistics of the results are obtainable. Inquiry was recently made, however, into the histories of some hundreds of foxhounds inoculated in 1928 and 1929. Taking only the 23 packs in which subsequent exposure to infection was certain, the incidence of distemper among inoculated hounds was found to be 1.4 per cent. and the death rate from this cause 0.3 per cent. Without inoculation, the incidence of dis- temper among young foxhounds in this country approaches 100 per cent., while the death rate is frequently 50 per cent. and may exceed 75 per cent. on occasion.

asked the Minister of Health the number of departmental inquiries which have hitherto been held into the objections of parishes to be absorbed in schemes drafted by county authorities under the Local Government Act, 1929, where they have been held; and how many applications are still to be considered?

I presume that the hon. Member has in mind the review of county districts under the Local Government Act, 1929, and I am sending him a statement which I trust will give him the information he seeks.

asked the Minister of Health how many houses have been built in the borough of Camberwell, from 1st January, 1923, to date, by the borough council of Camberwell, private enterprise, and the London County Council, respectively?

Apart from a number of flats built in replacement of houses demolished under improvement schemes, the numbers are 12, 785 and 89 respectively.

asked the Minister of Health, if, taking the case of a man, wife, and three children receiving from the exchange in benefit a sum of 32s. a week, he can state the average additional contribution made by the different public assistance committees?

I can only refer the hon. Member to the last part of the answer which I gave him on 23rd January, 1930.