asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the number and names of the persons who were arrested at Dundee for alleged rioting in the recent unemployed demonstration; and whether he intends to order an inquiry into the allegations of brutal conduct by the police?

Eight men and two women were arrested at Dundee on 13th February, 1935, for offences alleged in connection with open-air demonstrations, and I am sending the hon. Member a list of the names. I have obtained a report on the disturbances which took place on that day, and, after careful consideration, I find no ground for any further action on my part.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the estimated quantities of milk consumed as liquid milk and bread consumed in Scotland during the year 1934, or the latest year for which figures are available?

The total quantity of milk sold for liquid consumption in Scotland during the year 1934 is estimated at about 75,000,000 gallons. This figure does not include milk consumed in farm households, milk produced by institutions for consumption by inmates and staff, or milk sold for liquid use by small producers exempted from the milk marketing schemes in operation in Scotland. With regard to bread, I would refer to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture on 20th February.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the amount of money held by the Second Scottish National Housing Company (Housing Trust, Limited) from the £1 deposit demanded on letting of the houses; and the amount held from each scheme, respectively?

The amount at present held by the company is £2,493, spread over the various housing schemes as follow:

			£
Clydebank:
Whitecrook	…	…	100
Dundee:
Craigiebank	…	…	300
Edinburgh:
Wardie	…	…	100
Lochend	…	…	250
Glasgow:
Garngad	…	…	86
Shettleston	…	…	474
Robroyston	…	…	200
Springboig	…	…	484
Greenock:
Carsburn	…	…	100
Inverkip	…	…	60
Craigieknowes	…	…	40
Hamilton:
Burnbank	…	…	49
Mid-Lanark:
Torbothie	…	…	50
Bellshill	…	…	100
Cambuslang	…	…	100
Total	…	…	£2,493

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will arrange to take a census of the distributive trades either separate from, or in. conjunction with, the census of production which is due to be taken next year?

The answer is in the negative.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is aware that during the current season more than 6,000,000 boxes of citrus fruit will be exported from Palestine, and that, as a consequence of recent planting, the amount available for export will be no less than 20,000,000 boxes annually at the expiration of seven years; and whether any steps are being contemplated by the Government which will assist towards the absorption of the increased exports in British and other markets?

I have seen various estimates of the future expansion of citrus exports from Palestine approximating to that mentioned by my hon. Friend. The Government of Palestine is co-operating, and will continue to co-operate, with representatives of the industry in schemes calculated to improve marketing prospects and increase sales, and my hon. Friend may rest assured that His Majesty's Government will not lose sight of this matter in negotiating trade agreements with foreign countries.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the total British imports and exports, respectively, between this country and Italy for the last three years?

The desired information is shown on pages 183, 187 and 191 of the "Accounts relating to Trade and Navigation of the United Kingdom" for January, 1935.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the number of claims outstanding against the Anglian Insurance Company; the total sum involved in those claims; how many claims have been made which have not yet come to trial; and whether he proposes to make inquiries into the transactions of this company during the last few years?

The company referred to is in process of being wound up by order of the Court of Session, and accordingly its affairs are now in the hands of the liquidator appointed by the court. The liquidator is not under my jurisdiction, and information on the points mentioned in the first three parts of the question is not available. As regards the last part of the question, in the present circumstances the matter is not one calling for inquiry on my part.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will make it a condition of any renewal of the tin restriction scheme that no representative of Malaya or Nigeria on the International Tin Committee or on the Buffer Stock Committee shall have any personal interest in tin; and if he will report to the House whether any such representative or any official or unofficial member of the International Tin Committee has any personal tin interests?

I will consider the suggestion, but it is premature to lay down conditions for renewal of a scheme which is in force until the end of 1936. The representatives of Malaya and Nigeria on the International Tin Committee are officials with no special financial interests in tin, but the representatives of the Netherlands East Indies and of Bolivia on the committee, who have been appointed by their respective Governments, include business men interested in tin production, while practically all the advisers who attend the committee are persons who are interested in the tin industry.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether any steps are taken by his Department to prevent representatives of the private tin pool who attend meetings of the International Tin Committee from making improper use of advance information of the decisions of that committee in regard to altering the quotas of production or selling the buffer stock?

The decisions of the committee regarding alterations of quotas are published immediately after the meeting, so no question of using advance information can arise. As regards the buffer stock, no question of selling has yet arisen.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether, in view of the fact that the Malayan representatives on the International Tin Committee were ordered by the Colonial Office to support the inauguration of the tin buffer stock scheme in spite of the opposition of the Council of the Federated Malay States Chamber of Mines, the Singapore Chamber of Commerce, the Federated Malay States Chamber of Commerce, the Straits Settlements Association, the Selangor Miners' Association, and the London Metal Exchange, he will set up an inquiry into the working of the scheme; and whether any private speculative tin pools have been operated in conjunction with the buffer stock?

The buffer stock has not yet bought or sold any tin: it has merely collected tin from the contributing Governments in accordance with the scheme. There can, therefore, be no question of inquiring into its operation. The answer to the second part of the question is in the negative.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is aware that, as a result of the present level of tin prices brought about by the operations of the tin restriction scheme, the Belgian Congo is producing 425 per cent. of its 1929 output, while Malaya and Nigeria are restricted to 40 per cent. of their output that year; and whether he will have the scheme reconsidered at the earliest opportunity?

I am aware of the increased production of tin in the Belgian Congo and of the terms on which that territory has been admitted as a participant in the International Tin Control Scheme. The International Tin Committee, after full examination, considered it preferable to admit the Congo on these terms, rather than to contemplate wholly unrestrained production in that region. I have been informed by the chairman of the International Committee that the large increase in the Congo production was planned and arranged for at a time when tin prices were at the lowest levels of recent years. The control scheme expires in December, 1936, and the terms for its renewal will require careful consideration in due course. In order that the hon. Member's figures should be fairly appreciated, I ought to add that if the whole of the Belgian output for 1934 could be completely suppressed it would not justify an increase of more than 2.8 per cent. in the quotas of the four signatory Governments.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what report he has received from the Acting-Governor of British Guiana on corruption in recent elections in the Colony; and what action he proposes to take thereon?

I have not yet received the Acting-Governor's report.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether, in view of the exclusion of the Dominions from the opportunity of tendering for contracts to be financed by loans from the Colonial Development Fund, he can explain how it is that a sub-contract has been approved entailing payment of about one-third of a contract valued at approximately £1,000,000, and financed by a loan from the Colonial Development Fund, which was recently placed by the Crown agents for the Colonies on behalf of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago to a firm registered in this country with a capital of only £2,000 of which £1,800 is held in Holland, although substantial British firms in the Dominions and Great Britain endeavoured to secure the subcontract in question?

The contract referred to in my hon. Friend's question is one which has been awarded by the Crown Agents for the Colonies to Messrs. Edmund Nuttall, Sons and Company and John Mowlem and Company (Joint), Limited, of 91, Ebury Bridge Road, London, for harbour works at Port of Spain, Trinidad. For the necessary dredging work the sub-contract has been entered into by the main contractors with the Nash Dredging and Reclamation Company, Limited. The entire project, which will involve an expenditure of approximately £1,000,000 will be assisted by a free grant from the Colonial Development Fund of the net interest on constructional costs during the period of construction, and for one year thereafter. The Nash Company have undertaken to build or purchase in this country such plant as they may require, and the staff which will be employed is to be as far as possible British. I am informed that the company have placed an order with a Clyde firm for a new bucket dredger at a cost of over £31,000, and that they have also purchased from British firms a suction dredger, hopper barges and a tug. These are being reconditioned in British yards at Southampton and Cowes. In all, I understand, the orders they have placed or expect to place in the United Kingdom total some £90,000. The management of the company remains in this country, and the contract further provides that the company shall pay 'United Kingdom income tax on all profits made during its currency, wherever earned. Before the contract was awarded, the chairman of the Colonial Development

Accidents at Mines under the Goal Mines Act, 1911, in Great Britain.
Year	Number of Persons killed (below and above ground).			Number of persons injured* (below and above ground).			Average Number of shifts worked per man.
	Per 1,000 persons employed.	Per 1,000,000 tons of mineral raised.	Per 100,000 manshifts worked.	Per 1,000 persons employed.	Per 1,000,000 tons of mineral raised.	Per 100,000 manshifts worked.
1913	1·55	5·81	Not available.	157·1	587	Not available
1923	1·06	4·57	0·41	173·9	747	66·8	266
1930	1·07	4·04	0·43	176·2	663	70·8	248
1931	0·98	3·82	0·41	161·3	629	66·9	241
1932	1·06	4·13	0·45	152·1	590	63·7	238
1933	1·03	3·87	0·43	153·5	578	63·7	241
1934 (provisional)	1·34	4·73	0·53		(Not yet available.)
* Including persons disabled for more than 7 days in 1913 and 1923 and for more than 3 days in 1930 and subsequently.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Air whether, in order to ensure the safety of persons travelling by air liners, he will take steps to render it compulsory for every such air liner to carry a steward in attendance on such passengers?

My Noble Friend does not consider that such a regulation is necessary.

asked the Secretary for Mines the rate of accidents in the coal-mining industry of Great Britain, surface and underground, per thousand employed, per million tons raised, and per man-shift worked, respectively, for the year 1913, the year 1923, and for each year from 1930, together with the average number of shifts worked per man employed in each year?

I have been asked to reply. The information is as follows:

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty the names of the departments in naval establishments and the number of persons (established) employed therein who do not receive a reduction in their wage on being placed on the established list in those departments?

The approximate numbers of established industrial em ployés at present borne in the various departments in grades in which no deduction from wages is made on establishment are as follow:

Captain of Dockyards	…	314
Naval Store	…	307
Armament Supply	…	207
Victualling	…	78
Civil Engineer-in-Chief	…	35
Medical	…	32
R.N. Colleges	…	1

NOTE.—The figures given have been confined to workpeople. Salaried officers and office staffs normally suffer no reduction in pay on establishment.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty what was the total amount disbursed in gratuities during the past financial year to established industrial employés on retirement?

Assuming that the hon. Member. has in mind the additional allowances (lump sums) payable under Sections 1 (2) and 3 of the Superannuation Act, 1909, the approximate amount paid during the financial year 1933 was £73,000.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty what is the present annual amount disbursed by way of pensions to established Admiralty industrial employés?

The annual value of pensions now in issue (including compensation allowances awarded in respect of abolition of office) is approximately £384,500.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty what is the approximate annual difference between the total amount actually paid to established Admiralty industrial employés and the amount which would be paid if a deduction were not made from their pay on establishment?

The amount is estimated very roughly at £52,000.

asked the Postmaster-General whether printed matter of a religious nature is accepted in England for transmission to Mexico; and whether such postal matter is delivered by the postal authorities in that country?

Printed matter of a religious nature is accepted for transmission by post to Mexico and there is nothing in the published restrictions announced by the Mexican postal administration to suggest that such matter is withheld from delivery.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury the estimated expenditure of the State in the present financial year upon scientific research, including grants through the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, the Colonial Development it und, and any other channels?

The expenditure of the State upon scientific research in the current financial year is estimated as follows:

	£
Admiralty	771,100
War Office	321,450
Air Ministry	1,430,000
Colonial Services	7,000
Colonial Development Fund	28,500
Dominion Services	31,233
Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries	327,232
Department of Agriculture for Scotland	47,180
Fishery Board for Scotland	15,500
Development Fund (direct grants)	18,091
Forestry Commission	10,915
Mines Department	1,750
Department of Scientific and Industrial Research	559,894
Vote for Scientific Investigation (including Agricultural and Medical Research Councils)	199,473
Ministry of Health	3,320
Post Office	68,000*
Office of Works	140,765
	£3,981,403
* Includes £18,000 charged to Post Office loan.

NOTES:1. The above figures do not include expenditure in respect of salaries, etc., of administrative staff except in the case of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.2. In the case of the Defence Departments (and to some extent of other Departments also) it is impracticable to distinguish between expenditure on pure scientific research and that on technical research and experiment. The figures given include so far as possible the provision for all such expenditure.3. The normal work of the Government chemist entails a cerain amount of research to which no definite proportion of the annual expenditure can be assigned, and nothing has been included in respect thereof in the above figures.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to what extent the embargo on the export of arms to Bolivia has now been raised?

His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom informed the League on 31st January that they were prepared to accept the recommendation contained in the League Advisory Committee's report of 16th January last to the effect that the enforcement of the prohibition of the supply of arms to Bolivia should not be continued. Similar communications have been addressed to the League by the Governments of Sweden, France, Italy, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the Netherlands, Poland, Belgium, India and Southern Rhodesia.

asked the Minister of Labour the number of those who have been unemployed for more than two but under three years, more than three but under four years, more than four but under five years, and for over five years, respectively; and the principal age groups in which they are to be found in each case?

I regret that statistics giving the desired information are not available.

asked the Minister of Labour when he expects to be in a position to make any announcement as to the selection of the second appointed day in connection with the work of the Unemployment Assistance Board?

I am not yet in a position to make any statement on this subject.

asked the Minister of Labour how many people lost their insurance rights in 1934 through the failure of their employers properly to stamp their cards?

I have no statistics on this point, but I would remind my hon. Friend that failure to stamp an unemployment book does not prejudice a subsequent claim for benefit, provided that the insured contributor can show that he has made every reasonable effort to secure that the contributions were paid.