asked the President of the Board of Trade the number of vessels registered in this country before 1st January, 1930, which have been since transferred to foreign flags, under which they are now operating, giving the respective totals in the case of the different countries concerned?

446 vessels registered at ports of the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and Channel Islands before 1st January, 1930, were reported during the period 1st January, 1930, to 31st March, 1932, as having been removed from the register on sale to foreigners. Information is not readily available as to the flags under which these vessels (if still in service) are now operating, but the countries to which the vessels were reported as having been sold were as follow:

asked the President of the Board of Trade, if, taking the 12 nations which possess the chief mercantile marine, he will state the measure of assistance given to shipping in each case, either by way of subsidy or otherwise?

I am having a statement prepared, which I will send to my hon. Friend as soon as possible.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he proposes to take any legislative action on the interim report of the Gas Legislation Committee, especially in view of the recommendations that the industry should be freed from some of the restrictions which now impede its operations?

I am unable to make any statement as to possible legislative action pending the report of the joint committee to be appointed to consider this interim report and the extent to which gas undertakers should be authorised to invest funds in other undertakings.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if a block of marble and sawn random scantling are respectively being treated as raw material by the officials of his Department or as finished articles?

The classification of a block of marble for purposes of the trade returns would depend upon the condition of the particular consignment at the time of importation. As regards sawn random scantling, if my hon. Friend would care to furnish me with a more precise description of the commodity he has in mind, I will cause the necessary inquiries to be made.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will send to the Stroud District Development Committee the names and addresses of the 390 foreign firms which are contemplating establishing factories in this country?

The particulars available to the Board of Trade regarding the establishment of new undertakings have been received in circumstances which make it necessary to regard them as confidential, and I regret therefore that I am unable to comply with my hon. Friend's request.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware that large sums of money have accumulated in the hands of trustees under deeds of assignment since the passing of the Bankruptcy Act, 1880; and will he take steps to amend the Deeds of Arrangement Acts to make it compulsory for trustees under deeds of assignment to pay in to the Board of Trade dividends and other undivided moneys remaining in their hands after the realisation of estates?

I have no information which would lead me to suppose that large sums of money have accumulated in the hands of trustees under deeds of arrangement since 1880 or since the passing of the Deeds of Arrangement Act, 1887. With regard to the hon. Member's suggestion in the second part of the ques- tion, I would remind him that under Section 16 of the Deeds of Arrangement Act, 1914, at any time after the expiration of two years from the date of registration of a deed of arrangement, it is open to the trustee or a creditor or the debtor to apply to the court for an Order that all moneys representing unclaimed dividends and undistributed funds in the hands of the trustee or under his control shall be paid into court.

asked the Minister of Labour the number of unemployed in March, 1931, and 26th March, 1932, for the following Exchanges in Durham: Lanchester, Stanhope, Wolsingham, Barnard Castle, Cockfield, Middleton-in-Teesdale, and Esh Winning?

The following table gives the information desired, so far as it is available:

asked the Minister of Labour the number of insured persons in the Ardwick Employment Exchange area who were unemployed on 31st October, 1931, and 1st April, 1932, respectively, showing men and women separately?

There is no Employment Exchange in the Ardwick Parliamentary Division. It is probable that the majority of unemployed persons resident in that division would register at the Manchester Employment Exchange, but separate figures for Ardwick are not available.

asked the Minister of Labour the number of applicants for un- employment insurance benefit whose claims have been disallowed during the last six months to the nearest available date, on the respective grounds that they were not normally in insurable employment or under any one of the disqualifications imposed by the Anomalies Act; and the number of cases in which by the operation of the means test benefit has either been reduced or completely withdrawn?

pursuant to his reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 25th April, 1932; col. 45, Vol. 265], supplied the following statement:Claims for unemployment insurance benefit are not subject to the condition that the claimants must be "normally insurable and will normally seek to obtain a livelihood by means of insurable employment" nor are they subject to "the means test." These conditions relate only to applications for transitional payments. Statistics of disallowances under the Anomalies Regulations do not distinguish between claims for insurance benefit and applications for transitional payments.The figures given below relate to claims and applications and not to separate individuals. In particular the determinations of public assistance authorities include renewals and revisions, and figures for separate individuals are not available for the period as a whole.A.

asked the Postmaster-General whether any contracts have been made by his Department with foreign manufacturers during the past six months for the supply of office machinery, such as typewriters, addressing machines, etc.; and, if so, whether he will give details and state whether similar machines could have been obtained from British firms?

During the last six months, 50 office machines of foreign origin have been ordered for use by the Post Office. Of these 32 were accounting machines of three different makes, 15 were duplicating machines of two makes, and three were miscellaneous machines of small cost. In no case was there a British equivalent; and during the same period orders for substantially more than 1,000 machines were given to British manufacturers.

asked the Postmaster-General how many telephone calls have been received in this country from South Africa; and what is the total amount of revenue derived from this service since its inauguration?

The number of telephone calls received in this country from South Africa from the opening on 1st February up to 20th April is 32; and the total Post Office revenue derived from this service since its inauguration is about £370.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will consider incorporating in the Finance Bill some allowance in respect of the pay- ment of Income Tax to the younger members of families who are supporting their parents, although these may not be aged or incapacitated but are unemployed through no fault of their own?

My hon. Friend will appreciate that there are many kinds of domestic responsibilities affecting taxpayers in general, and I do not think it is possible to single out by Statute for separate consideration the particular class to which he refers.

asked the Minister of Health the average weekly cost of maintenance of a patient in the county mental hospitals in Lancashire?

For the year ended 31st March, 1931, the average weekly cost of maintenance of a patient in the county mental hospitals in Lancashire was approximately l9s. 5d.

asked the Minister of Health the average weekly cost for the maintenance of an inmate in a public assistance institution in Lancashire?

The average weekly cost per inmate, including loan charges but excluding capital expenditure defrayed from revenue was, during the year 1930–31, 24s. 6d. This cost relates to Poor Law institutions only, and not to Poor Law hospitals or children's homes.

asked the hon. Member for Central Leeds, as representing the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, the respective amounts for the county of Durham for land rents, tithes and royalty rents on coal and lead, for the year 1931?

The gross rents, etc., received by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners from their estates in the county of Durham for the year to 31st March, 1931, were as follow: