asked the Secretary of State for Scotland in how many cases has he exercised the default powers under the Housing Act, 1930?

Following on a complaint in terms of paragraph (i) of Sub-section (1) of Section 37 of the Housing (Scotland) Act, 1630, the Department of Health for Scotland have caused a public local inquiry to be held in one burgh, and an Order has now been issued declaring the authority in question to be in default and directing them to submit proposals for the erection of houses.

asked the Minister of Transport whether the scheme for the extension of the main transmission lines into the Highlands of Scotland has yet been sanctioned; whether he is now in a position to give any particulars to the House; and when work is likely to begin?

The Electricity Commissioners have informed me that as the outcome of their engineering survey, a scheme under the Act of 1926 is now in course of preparation for Northern Scotland.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury the amount of money the expenditure of which upon the maintenance and improvement of piers and harbours in Caithness and Sutherland has been authorised by the Development Commissioners and the Public Works Loan Board, respectively, during each of the years from 1925 to the present day?

The information desired by the hon. and gallant Member is as follows:

• 1925—£3,250 loan.
• 1926—£4,000 loan.

asked the Minister of Health, for each of the past 10 years, the lowest and highest number of persons who, at the close of each such year, were in receipt in England and Wales of indoor relief and outdoor relief, respectively; and the lowest and highest number in receipt of payment or relief in respect of unemployment under the various Unemployment Insurance Acts in both the last official year and in the earliest official year for which figures may be available?

The following statement gives the desired information as regards poor relief.

asked the Secretary of State for War the number of cases of deaths from meningitis in the British Army stationed at home during each of the last three years?

The number of deaths from cerebro-spinal meningitis in the British Army at home during the years 1928, 1929 and 1930 was two, nine and 10 respectively.

asked the President of the Board of Trade in respect of farmers in England and Wales, the number of receiving orders in bankruptcy made during each month of the current year; the total number made during each of the preceding 30 years; what occupations in the same years showed a higher number of receiving orders; and, if any, what were the number and occupations, respectively?.

The number of receiving orders made against farmers during each month of the six months of the current year were 16, 19, 32, 14, 20 and 21, respectively. The number of deeds of arrangement executed by farmers during the same months were 26, 32, 26, 17, 15 and 8, respectively, so that the total failures of farmers under both the Bankruptcy and Deeds of Arrangement Acts during those six months have been:

asked the Secretary of State for India whether he has considered the communication sent to him by Mr. R. J. Allison, lately employed as senior supervisor for the offset lithography department in the Government of India Security Printing Press, with regard to the termination of his appointment; the reasons for the termination of this appointment; and whether the appointment has been filled since and at what salary?

I have received no communication cither from Mr. R. J. Allison or from the Government of India with regard to the termination of his appointment. He was engaged by the High Commissioner for India on behalf of the Government of India, and it is open to that. Government to terminate his appointment without any reference to me.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the quantity of bromine landed in Great Britain from the Dead Sea Company in the month of

During the month of June, 1931, 507 cwts. of bromine and bromides were imported into the United Kingdom and registered as consigned from Palestine. For the rest I would refer the hon. and gallant Member to the answer I gave to his question on 30th June.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if the coast-watching stations are now directly connected by telephone, and if improved methods of communication with lifeboat and rocket stations have been devised since August last; and, if so, whether a report has been made to him on this matter as was promised last year?

All coast-watching stations are provided with telephones. It is the policy of the Board to connect them as far as possible and as opportunity offers with the national telephone system instead of directly with one another, and this has been done in the great majority of cases. While the methods of communication are constantly being improved, no special development in this sense has taken place since August last. The report of the committee which is considering the coast-watching organisation as a whole will, I understand, be presented shortly.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he has considered the view expressed in the Macmillan report that Governmental enterprise should be invoked to encourage greater freedom in the lending of money for business and industrial development; and what policy he proposes to adopt in this connection?

I would refer to the reply given by my right hon. Fries the Chancellor of the Exchequer to my hon. Friend the Member for Lincoln (Mr. R. A. Taylor) on 15th July.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he can make a statement as to the attitude of His Majesty's Government to the negotiations between the French and German Governments with regard to the guarantees required from Germany as to the abandonment of the proposed customs union with Austria and the suspension of the German naval programme so far as the new 10,000-ton cruisers are concerned?

As the House is aware, a conference is now meeting in London for the purpose of examining the financial situation in Germany and the means of remedying it. My right hon. Friend is not at present in a position to make any further statement.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Air the result of the investigation that has been undertaken by the French authorities into the accident to the British machine G ABBH; and whether he can add any further information to that already given as to the cause of this accident?

I regret that I cannot yet add to my previous replies on this matter. I am in touch with the French authorities regarding it.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Air the expenditure incurred by his Department on surgical instruments and appliances during the last financial year, or the latest year for which such information is available, and how much of this expenditure is in respect of purchases of foreign instruments; and whether he is prepared to give instructions that British-made instruments are to be purchased whenever they can be obtained in this country at a competitive price and of a comparable quality?

During the year ended 30th June last the amount expended by the Air Ministry on surgical instruments and appliances was £1,410, of which £96 was in respect of foreign-made articles. It is already the policy of the Department to purchase British-made instruments whenever they are of suitable quality and can be obtained at a competitive price.

asked the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs the number of British cinema films that have been banned by the Censor of the Commonwealth of Australia; and the reasons?

Information on the points in question is contained in the report of the Chief Censor on the work of the Commonwealth Film Censorship for 1930, of which I am sending the hon. Member a copy.

asked the Home Secretary whether, having regard to the immoral character of many cinematograph films, he will state what steps he has taken to secure a more continuous contact between the board of film censors and representative local opinion?

As I have previously stated, I have been considering whether any steps could be taken to secure a more continuous contact between the British Board of Film Censors and representative local opinion, and I have made some proposals to the local authorities through their accredited organisations. I am not in a position to make any further statement at present. I must not be taken as agreeing with the assumption in my hon. Friend's question.

asked the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs the names of the 20 selected speakers now employed by the Empire Marketing Board; the subjects with which each deals; and the number of lectures delivered during the past year by each?

A list of the speakers now employed by the Empire Marketing Board, with their subjects and the number of lectures delivered by each during the year ended 31st March, 1931, is given below. In addition, 84 lectures were given during the year by speakers who are no longer employed:

• Professor J. R. Ainsworth Davis, M.A., M.Sc. "Empire Food Resources." "Science and Food Production." "History of Empire Food." (71.)
• Mr. A. Buchanan, M.B.E., J.P. "Empire Marketing." "The National Mark."^* (64.)
• Mrs. H. F. Buchanan. "Empire Marketing." "The National Mark."^* (22.)
• Mrs. N. A. Clowes. "Home Agricultural Production." "The National Mark."^* (171.)
• Lieut.-Colonel T. S. Cox, F.R.G.S. "India." (19.)
• Miss E. Gregg. "Empire Marketing." (14.)
• Dr. L. Haden Guest, M.C. "Empire Development." (40.)
• Mr. J. Nugent Harris. "Australia; Canada; The Empire Marketing Board." "The National Mark."^* (121.)
• Commander the Hon. Sereld Hay, O.B.E., R.N. (Retired). "South African Oranges." (40.)
• Miss Y. M. Herbert-Smith. "Canada; Australia; New Zealand; Empire Marketing." "The National Mark."^* (92.)
• Mr. D. L. Kelleher. "The Irish Free State." (5.)
• Miss G. Powell. "Empire Marketing. The National Mark."^* (†).
• Mr. A. E. Smith. "London's Empire Trade." (6.)
• Mrs. C. M. Wadham. "Empire Marketing."†
• Miss L. E. Walter, M.B.E., B.Sc.
• "Empire Agricultural Research."
• "The National Mark."^* (19.)

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his Department proposes to introduce any administrative economies in advance of and apart from the economies which the economy committee may recommend?

My right hon. Friend expects to receive the report of the National Expenditure Committee at an early date. The hon. Member may however, rest assured that under the regular machinery of control no opportunity is lost of securing whatever administrative savings may be possible, nor would the absence of specific recommendations by the committee in any way affect the constant endeavour to secure all practicable economies of the kind he has in mind.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will now say if any Members of Parliament use their free railway warrants for third-class tickets and, if so, how many?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. As explained in my reply to the hon. and gallant Member on 29th June, the labour involved in ascertaining precise figures would not be justified; but I understand that the number of third-class tickets issued form a relatively small proportion of the total number.

asked the Minister of Labour as regards Denmark (or Copenhagen), France (or Paris), and Great Britain (or London) the average price of the 4-lb. loaf (wheat) in 1930?

The following table gives the averages, for the year 1930, of the retail prices of white bread as officially compiled at monthly intervals for London and Paris, and at quarterly intervals for Copenhagen. In the absence of information as to the qualities of bread to which the quotations relate, it is not known how far the prices shown may be regarded as comparable one with another.

asked the Minister of Labour what number of seasonal workers have come from Ireland to work at the potato harvest or as fish workers at northern ports; whether this work was made available for local unemployed; what steps have been taken by the Ministry to draw the attention of Employment Exchanges to the prospects of work of this character; and what report has been made by the managers of the result of such notice?

No information is available as to the number of workpeople who come to this country from Ireland for seasonal work of the kind referred to by the hon. and gallant Member. My Department makes every effort to put suitably qualified unemployed workpeople in this country in touch with this employment. Their ability to do this necessarily depends on the extent to which the employers concerned notify their vacancies to the Employment Exchanges, and it is the practice every year to draw the attention of employers of seasonal labour to the facilities for engaging labour offered by the Employment Exchanges. I am not yet in a position to give particulars of the number of workpeople placed in such employment this year.

asked the Minister of Labour on what date the Woolwich Borough Council was asked to submit their unemployment schemes for the autumn and winter before 30th June so as to be in active operation before 30th October next; whether any application has been received from the council; and whether any such schemes have been approved by the Unemployment Grants Committee?

A circular letter to local authorities inviting applications before 30th June for grant from Exchequer Funds in aid of schemes of work to relieve unemployment during the coming winter was issued by the Unemployment Grants Committee in March last. No formal application has been received from Woolwich Borough Council, but the committee are in communication with them regarding certain schemes in contemplation.