asked the President of the Board of Trade if he can now make a statement on the negotiations with the French Government in relation to a trade treaty, with particular reference to the silk and rayon industries?

I am not in a position to add anything to the reply I gave on 19th June to the hon. Member for Aberdare (Mr. G. Hall).

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will state separately, for the financial years ended 31st March, 1930, 1931 and 1932, respectively, the weight of foreign raw cane-sugar, of Colonial raw cane-sugar, of foreign raw beet-sugar, and of home-grown raw beet-sugar; and the amount of duty paid thereon, respectively, delivered to British sugar refiners?

The quantities of foreign cane sugar, of Empire cane sugar, of foreign beet sugar and of homegrown beet sugar delivered for refining during each of the financial years ended 31st March, 1930, 1931 and 1932, and the amounts of duty paid thereon respectively were as follow:

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will state separately for the financial years ending 31st March, 1930, 1931, and 1932, respectively, the weight of foreign raw cane-sugar and of Colonial raw cane-sugar, respectively, on which duty was paid and the amount respectively delivered for direct consumption year by year, the weight of foreign refined sugar and the amount of duty paid thereon that was delivered for direct consumption year by year, and also the weight of British

The following table gives the information required:

asked the Home Secretary whether he is now in a position to say what action, if any, is to be taken in connection with the accident which occurred recently at the Heaton Bleaching Mills, Blackley, Manchester, when four youths lots their lives?

The reports show that this accident arose from the accidental admission of scalding liquor into a kier, and that this was due to a momentary lapse on the part of a kier-man. It would have been prevented if a recommendation made by a factory inspector some years ago had been observed, but this recommendation was not based on any specific provision of the Factory Acts and no breach of those Acts was involved. The question of the precautions to be taken against accidents from this cause was discussed at conferences with the industry in 1914, but, owing to the diversity of the plant, the agreement then reached provided only in general terms that the means adopted should be the best possible having regard to the circumstances of each case. Accidents of this kind have been very rare, but the recent case has shown the need for more specific requirements, and I have approved a proposal of the chief inspector to convene at an early date a special meeting of the trade associations concerned to discuss the position.

asked the Home Secretary the saving in annual expense (represented either as a number of police constables or as an annual amount of money) which has been effected in the Metropolitan Police area in each of the last three years by the substitution of traffic light signals for police constables for the purpose of controlling vehicular traffic at cross roads and road junctions?

From the introduction of the system in 1932 to the end of 1932 a saving of 21 constables was effected, and in 1933 a further saving of 224 constables. In the current year savings effected by the installation of signals have so far been absorbed by the calls of traffic duty in other directions.

asked the Home Secretary what sum was paid by a lady sympathiser in connection with the imprisonment of Mr. Carr, of Trowbridge, to secure his release after one week's imprisonment for non-payment of a vaccination fine?

I am informed that on 19th January a postal order for 13s. was received by the prisoner from Mrs. Carr, to whom this sum had been handed by a "Wellwisher."

asked the Home Secretary whether he is aware that Walter Prince, at the Nottinghamshire Assizes on Monday, 18th June, confessed that he had been guilty in 1928 of the wilful murder of Mr. Charles Armstrong, of Rusholme, Manchester; and whether, in view of the fact that a Mr. George Fratson, of Royton, is now undergoing a sentence of penal servitude for life on a charge of murder of Mr. Armstrong, he will cause further investigation to be made into the matter?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply which I have given to-day to similar questions by my hon. Friends the Members for Salford South (Mr. Stourton) and Attercliffe (Mr. Pike).

asked the Home Secretary in how many cases during the past four months courts of summary jurisdiction, on convicting an individual for cruelty to a dog, have exercised their powers to order that such individual shall, for a period, not be entitled to take out a dog licence or have the care or custody of a dog; and in how many cases has the power not been exercised?

I regret that this information is not available.

asked the Minister of Labour the total number of insured persons estimated to be in employment on 14th June, 1934?

The latest date for which information is at present available is 14th May, 1934, when the estimated number of insured persons in employment in Great Britain was 10,187,000. The next estimate, which will relate to 25th June, will be published on 10th July.

asked the Minister of Labour the number of insured workers there are in England, Wales and Scotland, respectively; whether there has been an increase or a reduction; if so, the number in each country; the number of unemployed in 1933 in each of these

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office why he is unable to say when the Kilmainham Hospital Trust will be wound up finally?

The trust cannot be wound up without further action on the part of the Irish Free State, probably in the form of legislation.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty what are the terms and conditions at present in force in respect of the payment of gratuities to skippers of the Royal Naval Reserve; and whether any alteration in such terms and conditions has been made since the year 1926, and to what effect?

The conditions at present in force for the payment

The following table shows, for England, Wales and Scotland, separately, the estimated number of insured persons at July, 1933 (exclusive of those insured under the special schemes for the banking and insurance industries, for which separate figures are not available for England, Wales and Scotland); the numbers of unemployed persons, insured and uninsured, on the registers of Employment Exchanges at 22nd May, 1933, and 14th May, 1934; and the decrease in the numbers unemployed between these two dates.of discharge gratuities to skippers, Royal Naval Reserve, are laid down in Order in Council of 27th October, 1930, No. 70. This authority provides for the payment of proportionate gratuities under prescribed conditions to

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education whether his attention has been called to the permanent hardship imposed upon teachers who retire during the years immediately following the recent economy cuts; and whether it is proposed that steps should be taken to restore to pensioners the full rate of pension as and when the salary cuts are restored?

My Noble Friend would invite attention to the answer given to-day to the hon. Member for Spelthorne (Sir R. Blaker), of which he is sending his hon. Friend a copy.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer in terms of sterling the amount of taxation per head of population in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and the United States of America, respectively, on the latest available date?

Data for a comparison including local taxation are not available for all the countries concerned. The amount of taxation per head for the central government only (excluding States governments in the United States and Germany) in the currencies of the countries concerned is stated below, but my hon. Friend will appreciate that calculations of this kind are an inadequate guide to the true burden.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether any settlement has been arrived at regarding the future of Marr College, Troon; and whether any date has been fixed for the opening of this college?

As stated in my reply to the question put by the hon. and gallant Member for Ayr Burghs (Lieut.-Colonel Moore) on the 19th instant, I remitted the Marr Trust Scheme to the Commissioners, who have now decided that it would serve no material purpose to proceed further in the matter of making a scheme for the future government of the Marr Trust. Nothing now stands in the way of the opening of the college at the earliest date administratively possible, but I am not yet in a position to make any statement as to a definite date.