asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many complaints were received during 1936 of illegal trawling off the Kincardineshire coast; how many prosecutions there were for such illegal trawling; and what fine was imposed in each case?

No complaints of illegal trawling off the Kincardineshire coast were received by the Fishery Board for Scotland during 1936. One detection of illegal trawling in the area was made by a Fishery Board cruiser. At the trial the accused was admonished.

asked the Lord Advocate whether he is aware that two detectives forced their way into the house of Mr. A. Ross, 5, Holywell Street, Glasgow, E.1, between one and two o'clock in the morning of 11th February, 1937, and searched the house without a warrant; that the detectives pushed two persons into the house when they were leaving and forcibly detained them and did not discover anything, but called again later with a lady and again searched the house; whether he is aware that neither the husband nor wife has ever been in the hands of the police; and what action he intends to take to put an end to occurrences of this kind?

I am informed that on the date mentioned two detectives called twice at this house while investigating a theft by housebreaking from neighbouring premises. On the first occasion they inspected the house at Mr. Ross's invitation, and on the second occasion, when they were accompanied by an employé of the firm whose premises had been broken into, they did not enter the house. The police officers appear to have acted reasonably and in good faith, and in these circumstances no ground for any action on my part arises.

asked the Lord Advocate whether his attention has been drawn to cases that have come before the courts in which magistrates have refused to consider the charges until the persons concerned have gone home and changed from sports dress, which they maintained was an insult to the courts; and whether, in view of the Government's new Health Bill, he will alter the law in order to allow persons to appear in healthy outdoor dress?

I have seen a newspaper report of one incident of the type referred to. Every Scottish Court has a discretionary power to control judicial proceedings in regard to matters of propriety and decorum, and I do not consider that such questions could appropriately be made the subject of statutory regulation.

asked the Lord Advocate whether he intends to take legal proceedings against the lawyer who paid the sum of 30s. per week to Constable William John Cruickshanks for supplying him with information daily of traffic accidents and who was sentenced to six months' imprisonment by Sheriff Wilton at Glasgow, on 22nd February, 1937, under the Prevention of Corruption Act?

Yes, Sir. The accused has been committed for trial on charges of embezzlement and of contravention of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1906.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether the limited extension of the search for novelty in connection with applications for patents which was undertaken in pursuance of the Patents and Designs Act, 1932, has given satisfactory results; and, if so, whether he will now consider the possibility of authorising a further extension of the area of search?

The additional material collected for search under the powers conferred by the Act of 1932 has included specifications issued since that date by the United States of America, British and foreign text-books and periodicals and other available publications. This extension of search has fully justified itself, and citations from the additional material are made in many cases and are increasing. The cost has hitherto been limited by the proceeds of the increase of £1 in the fee charged for each complete specification which the Act of 1932 authorised, but it has now been decided that an additional amount should be provided from the Patent Office receipts to improve still further the quality of the United Kingdom patent, and preparations are being put in hand to extend the search to British Dominions and French specifications.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that, during the trial of Major Sandford, R.E., by general court-martial, counsel for the accused protested in court against the manner in which the proceedings were being recorded by the Judge Advocate, and that counsel on two occasions handed written submissions to the court on behalf of the accused requesting that the manuscript record taken down by the Judge Advocate should be preserved and attached to the proceedings; will he state whether these requests were complied with; and whether these requests are attached to the proceedings now in the custody of the Judge Advocate-General?

I am aware that the proceedings of the trial show that counsel for the accused protested in court against the form of an entry made by the Judge Advocate in the proceedings relating to a matter connected with a request for an adjournment; and that the court subsequently informed counsel that they were satisfied that the Judge Advocate had correctly recorded the proceedings in that respect. I cannot find in the proceedings that any submission made by counsel in writing to the court contained a request that the manuscript record taken down by the Judge Advocate should be preserved and attached to the proceedings. The remaining points raised in this question do not therefore arise.

asked the Secretary of State for War what are the basic pay and allowances of a married Army captain, aged 30, serving a t a home station for whom no married officers' married quarters at public expense are provided, and a married newly-promoted Army major serving under the same conditions,The current yearly rates of pay and allowances of the officers described in the question and the approximate annual total of their emoluments, are as follows:

	Regimental Pay.			Ration Allowance.		Lodging Allowance.		Fuel and Light Allowance (yearly average).		Furniture Allowance.		Total.			Approximate total per annum.
	per diem.			per diem.		per diem.		per diem.		per diem.		per diem.			per diem.
	£	s.	d.	s.	d.	s.	d.	s.	d.	s.	d.	£	s.	d.	£	s.	d.
Captain, on promotion:
If commissioned before 26th October, 1925.	1	1	4	1	5	4	6	2	8	2	0	1	11	11	582	9	7
If commissioned after 26th October, 1925.		19	0	l	5	4	6	2	8	2	0	1	9	7	539	17	11
Captain, after 15 years' service.	1	3	6	1	5	4	6	2	8	2	0	1	14	1	622	0	5
Major, on promotion	1	8	6	1	5	4	6	2	10	2	0	1	19	3	716	6	3

Average age of promotion to rank of major, at present time:

Infantry	…	…	…	41 years.
Foot Guards	…	…	…	37 years.
Cavalry	…	…	…	38 years.
Royal Artillery	…	…	…	41 years.
Royal Engineers	…	…	…	40 years.
Royal Corps of Signals	…	…	…	42 years.
Royal Army Service Corps		…	…	42 years.

asked the Secretary of State for War what alternative arrangements have been made to take the place of the post of inspector, Royal Tank Corps, which has been abolished?

Owing to the increasing importance in the Army of armoured fighting vehicles generally, of which tanks form only a part, it was found necessary to create a special branch in the War Office to deal with and co-ordinate all matters appertaining to these vehicles. The duties of the Inspector, Royal Tank Corps, have been largely absorbed in those of the officer in charge of the new branch, the first holder of which post is a senior officer of the Royal Tank Corps.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health, as representing the First Commissioner of

Following is the information:Works, what is the average price his Department paid for coal and coke, respectively, in each year since 1930 to 1936, respectively?

I am afraid that the records available do not allow of this information being compiled without an undue expenditure of time.

asked the President of the Board Trade whether he can state the total premiums paid to insurance companies in respect of workmen's compensation; the total amount paid to injured workpeople; and the total costs of administration and profits for each year from 1926 to 1936?

pursuant to his reply (OFFICIAL REPORT, 2nd March, 1937; col. 171, Vol. 321) supplied the following statement:

RETURNS confined to particulars of Workmen's Compensation business are not rendered to the Board of Trade, but the following particulars (extracted from the Returns made in accordance with the Assurance Companies Act, 1909) have been furnished in respect of the Employers' Liability Insurance business transacted within the United Kingdom by Insurance Companies during each of the years 1926–1935.
[NOTE.—Particulars for the year 1936 are not yet available.]
	Year.
	1926.	1927.	1928.	1929.	1930.	1931.	1932.	1933.	1934.	1935.
	£	£	£	£	£	£	£	£	£	£
Premiums (less re-insurance).	5,689,228	5,861,556	5,796,240	5,826,521	5,790,236	5,373,600	5,054,935	4,965,327	5,354,000	5,861,879
Payments under policies, including medical and legal expenses in connection therewith.	3,166,648	3,147,928	3,297,532	3,291,750	3,302,211	3,156,853	2,975,505	2,905,636	3,205,075	3,354,156
Commission and Expenses of Management.	1,891,251	1,925,057	1,907,961	1,899,377	1,919,623	1,808,110	1,738,523	1,720,563	1,787,585	1,851,944
Net transfer to Profit and Loss Account excluding amounts provided out of interest and dividends on reserves.	502,030	556,184	587,860	533,483	512,741	616,055	431,861	164,604	93	90,817

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he can state the approximate percentage of the total annual tonnage of shipping bringing goods to this country which is required for imports of fruit, vegetables, meat, cereals, and sugar, respectively?

I regret that the desired information is not available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies when the Government of British Malaya propose to extend the same measures of relief to the unemployed non-coolie inhabitants of the Federated Malay States as they do to those of the Straits Settlements, in view of the substantial surplus in both areas?

There is no single central Government in British Malaya and the relief of destitution in the Federated Malay States, as in the Colony of the Straits Settlements, is a function of the local authority boards. I cannot at present say whether any special fund, such as the Jubilee Fund in the Straits Settlements, is to be collected in the Federated Malay States for a similar purpose.

asked the Minister of Health whether, in obtaining the promised return from local authorities of compensation allowances which have been made to shopkeepers displaced by slum-clearance schemes, he proposes to obtain the numbers of such claims which have not been met in any way?

Yes, Sir.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he will state the total number of unemployed in the Highland counties of Caithness and Sutherland, Ross and Cromarty, Inverness and Argyll, and in the South Wales Special area?

The total numbers of unemployed persons on the registers of Employment Exchanges, in the areas named, at 22nd February, 1937, were as follow:

Caithness and Sutherland	2,311
Ross and Cromarty	4,586
Inverness-shire	3,641
Argyllshire	3,361
The Special Area in South Wales and Monmouthshire	120,687

asked the Minister of Labour whether he will indicate the course of employment in the City of Leicester by industries, numbers, and percentages for February, 1937?

The available figures relate to the area served by the Leicester Employment Exchange and Juvenile Employment Bureau. The following table shows for this area (a) the numbers of insured persons, aged 16 to 64 years, recorded as unemployed in the principal industries in Leicester at 22nd February, 1937, and (b) these numbers expressed as percentages of the estimated numbers insured at July, 1936.

	Number.	Per cent.
Building	863	11·4
General Engineering, etc.	277	2·6
Printing, Publishing and Bookbinding.	114	3·3
Hosiery	2,639	8·5
Boots, Shoes, etc.	1,496	7·6
Distributive Trades	922	6·3
All other industries and services.	2,851	7·9
Total, all industries and services.	9,162	7·5

NOTE.—The figures given in the table are exclusive of agricultural workers; 45 such workers, aged 16–64, were recorded as unemployed at the Leicester Employment Exchange at 22nd February, 1937.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he will give the number of persons registered for employment in the hosiery and underwear trades who were respectively unemployed, wholly or partially, at the end of February, 1937, or at the latest convenient date; the corresponding figures for similar dates at each of the last three years; and separate figures for the City of Leicester?

The following table shows the numbers of insured persons in

—		Hosiery.			Shirts, Collars, Underclothing, etc.
		Aged 16–64.		Aged 14 and 15 years.*	Aged 16–64.		Aged 14 and 15 years.*
		Wholly unemployed.	Temporarily stopped.		Wholly unemployed.	Temporarily stopped.
		Great Britain.
22nd February, 1937	…	4,551	6,089	239	3,003	1,532	290
24th February, 1936	…	4,946	6,714	338	3,406	1,711	447
25th February, 1935	…	6,589	13,583	512	3,787	2,320	399
19th February, 1934	…	4,376	6,742	†	2,633	1,378	†
		Leicester.
22nd February, 1937	…	952	1,687	6	5	5	—
24th February, 1936	…	1,010	1,678	11	6	3	—
25th February, 1935	…	1,656	3,392	25	9	9	—
19th February, 1934	…	955	1,668	†	—	3	†
* Separate statistics of the numbers wholly unemployed and temporarily stopped are not available for persons under the age of 16.
† Juveniles under 16 years of age were not insurable before 3rd September, 1934.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether, in view of its importance to British shipping, he can state what information he has re-received from the combatants in Spain with regard to the placing of mines in Spanish waters?

All warnings which my right hon. Friend has received from the Spanish authorities with regard to the laying of mines in Spanish waters have been passed on to British shipping by broadcast or by Notice to Mariners in an appropriate form. I will send my hon. Friend a copy of the Notice to Mariners in question.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the basis of the double taxation agreement between the United Kingdom and France; and what is the reason for the delay in ratification?

The proposed agreement with France is concerned primarily with modifications of the liability of British companies to the French tax on

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he can state the estimated loss to private farmers in this country through the incidence of poultry disease; and what steps are being taken to cope with it?

There are no data on which to base an exact estimate of the losses sustained by farmers through the incidence of disease among poultry. An unofficial estimate, however, puts such losses at £4,000,000 per annum. The question of poultry mortality is being reviewed by a technical committee set up by the Secretary of State for Scotland and myself, and the Agricultural Research Council is paying special attention to research into poultry disease. In addition, under the powers of the Diseases of Animals Act, 1935, Orders have been made to protect poultry in this country from the importation of disease and to check the spread of infection by the disinfection of poultry markets and of receptacles used in the conveyance of poultry.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he can give any information as to the quantity of milk coming into London daily; and what quantities come, respectively, from within a radius of 100 miles, 150 miles, 200 miles and from Aberdeen?

By the courtesy of the Milk Marketing Board, I am able to supply the hon. Member with the information he desires. The quantity of milk coming into London daily is approximately 550,000 gallons, of which some 53 per cent. comes from within a radius of 100 miles, 30 per cent. from within 100 to 150 miles, and 7 per cent. from within 150 to 200 miles, from London. The remaining 10 per cent. comes from over 200 miles from London and includes approximately 5,000 gallons from Aberdeen.