asked the Minister of Labour whether he will state the average number of boys and girls per week who attended juvenile instruction centres in 1934 and 1935?

The averages of the average attendance in the first week in each month were:

	1934.	1935.
Boys	9,884	15,868
Girls	3,250	7,675

asked the Minister of Labour what is the result of his appeal to the railway companies and the London Passenger Transport Board for cheaper travelling facilities at suitable hours for young persons in employment in the area of the London Juvenile Advisory Council?

I understand that the London Regional Advisory Council for Juvenile Employment approached the London Passenger Transport Board and the railway companies on the question of cheaper travelling facilities for young persons, but that these bodies have indicated that they are unable to agree to any extension of the existing facilities.

asked the Minister of Labour whether in the training scheme for potmen and barmen, the officials of the Ministry have done anything to bring to the notice of the trainees, who are often young miners from Tyneside, that the mortality rate among barmen is more then 10 times that among miners; and if he will devise schemes for these youths which are attended with less risk?

No, Sir. I am not aware of any evidence in support of the allegation about relative mortality rates contained in the question.

asked the Minister of Labour what are the branches of industry in which there is the shortage of skilled labour referred to in the statement relating to defence (Cmd. 5107); and what particular measures he is taking to deal with the position?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the statement made by the Prime Minister in the Debate on the White Paper on the 9th March.

asked the Minister of Labour whether, in the case of an unemployed person who has registered a patent but owing to a period of unemployment and lack of capital has been unable to develop the marketing of such a patent, he will consider exempting such a person from the payment of the fees that are necessary to keep such a patent registered if a specified period of unemployment is proven?

The suggestion made by the hon. Member has been noted. I would point out that the first renewal fee is not payable until the end of the fourth year of the patent and there is thus an appreciable period during which the invention can be developed without payment of a further fee.

asked the Minister of Health whether he can furnish the latest return from rating authorities in England and Wales showing the amount of rates levied in the various classes of rateable hereditaments, distinguishing in the case of dwelling-houses those under or over £30 rateable value, and separating those which are dwelling-houses only from those connected with other premises?

According to returns made to my Department the income from rates in the year ending 31st March, 1936, is estimated to amount to £163,500,000. The returns do not distinguish the several classes of rateable hereditaments.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer which of the emergency taxes imposed during the financial crisis of 1931, in addition to the increased petrol tax, now remain in force; and whether it is still his policy, when opportunities for reducing taxation arise, to give first consideration to the removal of those imposed during that emergency?

For particulars of the changes in taxation made, in the second Finance Act of 1931 and in subsequent years I would refer my hon. Friend to the Revised Financial Statement of Revenue and Expenditure presented to the House on the 10th September, 1931, and to the Financial Statements presented each year in opening the Budget. As regards the second part of the question, I cannot anticipate the Budget statement.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will consider the advisability of reimposing the 80 per cent. excess profits duty on firms holding armament contracts?

No, Sir. I am not anticipating that the need for such a provision will arise.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether he is aware that alcohol produced in this country and used for power purposes is non-dutiable, and in addition receives an allowance; will he state at what rate is this allowance; and also what proportion of this alcohol is distilled from imported material?

I am aware of the facts stated in the first part of the question; with regard to the second part, the rate of the allowance is five-pence per proof gallon; with regard to the third part, the official statistics do not distinguish between alcohol distilled from imported material and alcohol distilled from home-produced material.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury what quantities of power alcohol distilled from molasses, and used as motor fuel, have been produced in the years 1932, 1933, 1934 and 1935?

The quantity of home-made spirits produced from molasses, delivered for use in the manufacture of power methylated spirit in each of the calendar years 1932, 1933, 1934 and 1935 was:—

	Proof gallons.
1932	105,000
1933	391,000
1934	1,695,000
1935	1,475,000

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that wines and cocktails were admitted to have been sold illegally during the last 10 years under a licence to sell medicated wines at Dagenham; and if he is satisfied that the system of inspection by Excise officers, or other plans adopted by the Excise Department, are adequate to prevent a repetition of the prolonged offence at Dagenham?

Excise wine licences cannot legally be limited to the sale of medicated wines, and the Excise licence held by the trader concerned in the present case was issued on payment of the full rate of licence duty and authorised the sale of any wines, whether medicated or not. The question is, therefore, not one for the Revenue.

—				Number of Students who left Training Colleges and Departments in July, 193		Number of these Students who were known to be seeking employment as teachers and who had not obtained employment by 31st December,1935.
				Men.	Women.	Men	Women
England		…	…	2,016	4,458	346	511
Wales	…	…	…	369	426	133	164
Many of the teachers who are shown as seeking employment will by now have obtained posts, and from these figures there have been excluded students who were known not to have attempted to obtain posts, or students about whom the Colleges have no information.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he will state the total grants in aid to voluntary schools during the last financial year?

I would refer the hon. Member to the answer which I gave him on Thursday last.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he has obtained from the German Government any elucidation as to the meaning of the phrase, colonial equality of rights, contained in the last paragraph of the German memorandum of 7th March (Cmd. 5118)?

No, Sir.

asked the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs whether the Irish Free State have imposed any new duties on imports from the United Kingdom since the conclusion of the recent

asked the President of the Board of Education how many men and women teachers, respectively, left the training colleges and university training departments in 1935; how many of those men and women, respectively, have up to the present failed to obtain employment as teachers; and if he has separate, and, if so, what, figures for Wales and Monmouthshire?

Following is the information:trade agreement; and, if so, whether these duties affect any articles the import of which into the Irish Free State purported to be facilitated by the said agreement?

I have seen an announcement of a recent Order made by the Irish Free State Government imposing a new or increased duty on certain classes of cast-iron goods; these duties, I understand, form part of the general tariff of the Irish Free State and apply to all imports from whatever source. The goods affected do not fail into the category of goods subject to emergency duties in the Irish Free State, the duty on which has been reduced under the recent arrangement made.

asked the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs (1) whether any agreement is at present in force with the Dominion of Canada as regards the importation of oats from that Dominion; and, if so. whether this agreement has been completely observed by all parties;

The position is still as stated in the answer given to my hon. Friend by the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries on the 24th February. I am awaiting a reply from the Canadian Government to a communication which was recently made to them in the matter.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he has considered the Report of the Committee of Investigation for Scotland on the complaints of distributors in the area of the Scottish Milk Marketing Board, against the scale of prices fixed by the board for the year 1935–36; whether any recommendation has been made by the Committee with regard to the variation of this scale; and what action he proposes to take?

The answer to the first two parts of the question is in the affirmative. On a careful examination of the position in the light of the Committee of Investigation's Report I have come to the conclusion that there is no necessity to make adjustments in the interests of distributors in the scale of prices fixed by the board for the year ending 30th September next and that the prescribed scale does not unduly favour the general body of producers. I have accordingly decided that the prescribed scale should remain in operation. As my hon. Friend will appreciate, the circumstances of this industry and the relations between all the interests con-'corned will fall for review when the Report of the Reorganisation Commission for Great Britain is available.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether, in the discussions which are proceeding between his Department and the Shipping Federation, on the question of crews' accommodation on board ship, steps are being taken to consult the representative organisations of the officers and seamen?

When the revised recommendations of the Shipping Federation Committee on Crew Accommodation are available, the current Board of Trade Instructions on the subject will be reviewed. The revised instructions will be sent in draft to the Merchant Shipping Advisory Committee, on which the officers' and men's organisations are represented.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether replies have yet been received from the load-line convention countries as to the steps they are taking to implement the convention?

No, Sir. Replies cannot be expected for some time, particularly as the material sent to the countries concerned will require consideration.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether, in the discussions taking place between his Department and the Classification Societies on the question of the seaworthiness of ships, he will also take into consultation the representative organisations of the officers and the seamen?

The main subject of consultation with the Classification Societies is the procedure in connection with load-line surveys. In this matter the Classification Societies act as agents of the Board of Trade. The discussions are necessarily of a technical character. Revised instructions regarding annual load-line surveys will shortly be issued, but they will first be referred in draft to the Merchant Shipping Advisory Committee, on which the officers' and seamen's organisations are represented.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he has any information as to the extent to which the southward drift of industry in this country is due to high road transport costs and as to the tendency for that movement to increase as a result of recent additions to the taxation of fuel?

I have received no evidence that high road transport costs have led to the establishment of industrial undertakings in the South of England.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he can state the number of dead wild duck, mallard, widgeon and teal, other than frozen duck from China, imported into this country during the past 10 years, with the countries of their origin?

I regret that the desired information is not available, as such imports are not separately recorded in the United Kingdom trade returns.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will give a list of sums of £500 and upwards which have been revealed as owing to the Inland Revenue in bankruptcy and company liquidation proceedings since 1920; and what is the total of these sums?

I regret that the information is not available.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Air whether his attention has been called to the order of the German Government that, on certain days, fish shall be issued as rations to the armed forces; and whether, with a view to assisting the herring-fishing industry, he will give instructions that rations in His Majesty's Air Force shall consist of herrings in one form or another on at least one day in the week?

No, Sir. Fish is not an item of the ration issued in kind, and it is left to the messes to decide whether they will buy it out of their cash allowance or not. Herrings are regularly quoted in the price lists of the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes, and are no doubt purchased as often as desired by the airmen generally.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Air what is the present strength, officers and men, of the Air Forces stationed in Great Britain and Northern Ireland; and how many of these have pilot's certificates?

The present normal home strength is 2,644 officers and 29,012 airmen; 2,092 of these are pilots. I should add that a proportion of this personnel is temporarily overseas at the present time as a result of the emergency.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Air how many holders of A or B licences are serving officers in the Royal Air Force or are in the Reserve or Auxilary Air Force; and what is the percentage of A licences which have been granted to persons in this country and have subsequently lapsed?

The information desired in the first part of the question could not be given without considerable research. The answer to the second part is that annual wastage represents on a five years' average 30 per cent. of licences current.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Air the weight of the largest bomb ever dropped on a British target-ship; how this compares with that of bombs dropped during American tests; and what explosive was used in the British tests?

I am sure my hon. Friend will appreciate that it would not be in the public interest to supply this information.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Air whether any British air-bombing tests have been carried out against merchant ships in order to determine their resistance to this form of attack?

The answer is in the negative.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Air by what date the new flying boats to be operated by Imperial Airways, Limited, on Empire routes will be available for service?

I understand that, of the 28 flying boats on order by Imperial Airways, the first should be available for service in the Mediterranean early in June. The remainder are expected to follow at intervals of two or three weeks.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Air whether permission has been or will be granted to the new German Zeppelin to fly over England during its trials?

No permission is required, the flight being covered by the existing Anglo-German Air Navigation Agreement.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether the proposed levy on foreign bacon will be used to give a fair guaranteed price to pig producers or only to compensate them for any fall in price which may result from an increase of imports?

I would refer my hon. and gallant Friend to the reply which I gave to a question on this subject by my hon. Friend the Member for Devizes (Sir P. Hurd) on 9th December, 1935, of which I am sending him a copy.

asked the minister of Agriculture what were the largest quantity of milk manufactured into cheese in England and Wales in any one month during 1935; and can he give similar figures for better and condensed and dried milk for the same month?

The month in which the largest quantity of milk was manufactured into cheese during 1935 was May. The following table, which has been compiled from information supplied by the Milk Marketing Board, shows the quantities of milk manufactured into cheese, butter, condensed milk and milk powder during that month.

	Gallons.
Cheese	13,520,608
Butter	11,533,605
Condensed Milk	7,702,105
Milk Powder	2,037,124

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether he will take immediate steps to effect the repeal by the Government of India of the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1935?

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to a similar question by the hon. Member for Clayton (Mr. Jagger) last Monday.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty whether he is aware that Jamieson and Company, sheet metal works, Rawsdale Street, Glasgow, which are on the Admiralty list, are paying boys 16 years of age 9s. per week and other workers are also not being paid the trade union rate of wages; and what steps he is prepared to take to see that this firm pays wages in accordance with the fair wages provisions governing Government contracts?

Jamieson and Company, of Glasgow, are noted as eligible to tender for sheet iron and sheet steel work, but no orders are held by them. Before receiving an order, they would be required to satisfy the Department that there are fully complying with the terms of the Fair Wages Clause.

asked the Secretary of State for War how many men of the Army Reserve would be required on mobilisation to bring the Regular Army up to war establishment, and what would be the remaining strength of the Army Reserve after that had been done?

It would not be in the public interest to disclose this information.

asked the Secretary of State for War what was the establishment at actual strength of the following in 1914 and what they are to-day: Regular Army at home and abroad, officers and other ranks; Reserve; Militia; and Territorials?

Following is the information:The establishments included in the Estimates for 1914–15 and 1935–36 respectively were as follows:

—	1914–15.	1935–36.
Regular Army, at home and abroad, including the British Troops on Indian establishment—
Officers	12,895*	12,215
Other Ranks	244,569*	196,415
Total	257,464*	208,630
Army Reserve	147,000	113,000
Special Reserve	80,120	Nil
Supplementary Reserve	Nil	24,978
Territorial Army	312,890	175,094
*Excludes 171 officers and 1,361 other ranks of the Royal Flying Corps and Central Flying School.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether his attention has been called to the order of the German Government that, on certain days, fish shall be issued as rations to the armed forces; and whether, with a view to assisting the herring-fishing industry, he will give instructions that rations for His Majesty's troops shall consist of herrings in one form or another on at least one day in the week?

No, Sir. Fish does not form part of the standard ration but may be purchased by units out of the messing cash allowance. Commanding officers are instructed to include fish, both fresh and dried, in the dietary as often as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he will give the number of recruits accepted for service in the Regular Army in each of the years 1926 to 1935; and will he state what percentage in each case these numbers represented of the number who volunteered?

Following is the answer:

Recruiting year ending 30thSeptember.	Number of recruits finally approved.	Percentage of recruits finally approved to the number of men served with Notice Papers.
1926	29,061	35
1927	27,938	33
1928	30,185	36
1929	28,131	39
1930	26,550	40
1931	34,458	42
1932	27,417	39
1933	28,841	40
1934	25,564	44
1935	25,681	53

Records of the numbers applying to enlist are only available for 1934 and 1935. During these years the percentages finally approved to total applicants were, respectively, 32 and 38.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he will state, as at the last convenient date, by how many men the Regular Army, the Territorial Army, the Army Reserve, and the Supplementary Reserve, respectively, are short of the establishments provided for in the Estimates for 1935–36?

On 1st February, the approximate deficits on the respective recruiting establishments were: Regular Army, 4,000; Territorial Army, 40,000; Supplementary Reserve, 4,000. The strength of the Army Reserve was approximately 1,700 below the maximum numbers provided in the Estimates.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he will give particulars of the composition of the new type of thin carpet for road surfacing for the avoidance of skidding, which his Department hope may be the means of reducing accidents; and what steps he is taking to encourage its adoption or trial by more local authorities?

Details of this highly technical matter, which is somewhat too complicated to explain in answer to a Parliamentary question, are contained in a publication of the Stationery Office entitled "Experimental Work on Roads" which has been specially brought to the notice of all highway authorities.

asked the Home Secretary whether it is his intention to snake, on 3rd April, an official statement as to whether or not Government legislation is to be introduced to deal with pool betting in this country?

I regret that I cannot anticipate any statement that may be made on behalf of the Government in the Debate on the private Member's Bill down for discussion on 3rd April.

asked the Home Secretary whether he is aware that the risk of accident among window cleaners is due to the lack of suitable safety attachments on London buildings; and if he will take legislative powers to remedy this failing?

I have no information as to the number of accidents to window cleaners or as to the extent to which they have been due to the fact that such an attachment was not available, but the absence of such attachments is certainly not the only cause. If, however, the hon. Member will send me any particulars in his possession I shall be prepared to consider them.

asked the Home Secretary whether his attention has been called to the decision of a coroner's jury in Nottingham in bringing a verdict of guilty against Nurse Waddingham; if he is aware that she was afterwards tried before a jury composed of persons from the same area at the recent Nottingham assize; and, in view of these facts, can he state whether the. Government intend to take any action in connection with the recent report of the departmental committee on coroners?

The Committee's report is under consideration and I am not at present in a position to say what action may be taken on its recommendations.

asked the Home Secretary whether his attention has been called to the use of a certain type of air-rifle by persons without a licence, especially by children in the form of a toy; and whether, in view of the fact that such weapons are included in the classification of firearms under the Act of 1870, he will state whether any action can be taken by his Department to prevent the sale of such weapons to children and young persons?

The sale to, or purchase by, a person under the age of 17 years of any air gun or air rifle which is a lethal weapon is prohibited by Section 1 of the Firearms Act, 1934.

asked the Home Secretary whether he will have recorded at the Home Office statistical information in respect to persons who are remanded in custody and refused bail and who are subsequently not convicted?

The question whether a Court is right in granting or refusing bail has no relation to the question whether the accused is or is not subsequently convicted, and I do not think that the labour that would be involved in collecting and tabulating this information would be justified.

asked the First Commissioner of Works whether he will place a tablet in Westminster Hall to commemorate the lying in state of His late Majesty King George V?

Yes, Sir.

asked the Secretary for Mines whether he is satisfied that the system of supporting the roof by packing is as adequate in mechanised pits as it is in pits where the coal is hand got; what relationship the lessened support, if any, is responsible for any increase in the accident rates; and whether the inspectoral department has been consulted on this aspect of safety in mines?

The available data are not sufficient to enable me to make any generalised comparisons in these matters but the great importance of timely and sufficient packing for the support of machine-mined faces is being increasingly verified by the experimental work of the Safety in Mines Research Board and is being repeatedly stressed by the Inspectors of Mines in their daily work and reports. The effect of mechanised mining on liability to accident is one of the matters to which the attention of the Royal Commission on Safety in Mines has been called.

asked the Secretary for Mines whether, in view of the high percentage of overtime recently worked in the North Derbyshire coalfield, he is aware that mechanical breakages in mechanised mines elongate the shift working, and frequently the period of breakage is not regarded as part of the 7½-hour day, resulting in extra work being done without payment; and will he consider giving instructions that, when the time expires, men must leave their work except in cases of extreme urgency, and that full rates shall be paid for extra time worked?

I have been asked by my hon. and gallant Friend to say that the notice given has been insufficient to enable this question to be answered to-day. Perhaps the hon. Member would be good enough to put it down again next week.