asked the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether he will take into consideration the need for veterinary surgeons and technical advice in breeding and improving livestock in the Western Isles; whether he will take special measures in this connection; and what these steps are likely to be?

Technical advice in the breeding and improvement of livestock is provided, without charge, by the staffs of the Agricultural Colleges in Scotland and their free services will continue to be available for the purpose. As regards the treatment of sick animals, no proposals designed to increase the number of veterinary surgeons in private practice in the Western Islands are at present in contemplation.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what progress has been made since last autumn towards a settlement of the question of salaries of sheriffs-substitute in Scotland; and whether he can give an assurance that a statement will be made before the end of July?

My right hon. Friend has nearly completed a review of the salaries of the sheriffs-substitute and hopes to be able to communicate with the Association of Sheriffs-Substitute on the subject before the end of this month.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will give the respective balances of trade with all countries with which agreements have been negotiated since the dates thereof up to the latest convenient time?

The following table shows the total declared value of merchandise imported into and exported from the United Kingdom in trade with the under-mentioned foreign countries during the periods specified, together with the balance of imports or exports.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he can make any statement on the resolution of the Economic Committee of the League of Nations endorsing the recommendation by the Dutch representative that the new Oslo Convention should be supported by other Governments through adhesion to the Convention or by means of parallel agreements?

I am unable to trace the passage by the Economic Committee of any such resolution.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many British ships have entered Santander Harbour during the past fortnight; whether they experienced any difficulty in doing so; and whether they all carried observers?

According to the information available to the Board of Trade, the number of British ships which entered Santander during the fortnight ended 30th June was 15, all of which carried Observing Officers. The Board have no information that any of the vessels experienced difficulty. Since 30th June, however, Spanish insurgent war vessels have been endeavouring to prevent the entry of merchant ships into Santander, and they captured a French vessel on 4th July. A notification was sent to the British shipping industry on 2nd July regarding the risks which British merchant ships bound for Santander may encounter in territorial waters.

asked the Secretary for Mines whether he will state the amount of coal consumed by the electricity supply undertakings in each of the years 1934, 1935, and 1936?

The coal consumption at the electricity stations of authorised undertakers and railway and tramway authorities was 11.17 million tons in 1934, 12.24 million tons in 1935, and 13.60 million tons in 1936.

asked the Attorney-General whether his attention has been drawn to the recent refusal of a court of quarter sessions to hear an appeal against an order of a court of summary jurisdiction directing the destruction of a dog found to be dangerous, under Section 2 of the Dogs Act, 1871, on the ground that no appeal lay, inasmuch as the proceedings had been instituted by way of complaint instead of information; and whether he will introduce legislation to remove this anomaly, in order that the owners of dogs proceeded against under the said Section may have a right of appeal to quarter sessions in common with other persons convicted by courts of summary jurisdiction?

I have seen Press reports of the case to which my hon. and learned Friend refers. As he is aware, there is a distinction between proceedings which may result in a conviction of an offence and those which may result in an order. There is no general right of appeal against orders made by courts of summary jurisdiction on complaint, and on the information at present before me I know of no sufficient reason to justify me in introducing legislation to provide a right of appeal in the type of case to which he refers.

asked the Secretary of State for War to what extent, if any, as regards equipment in modern guns and motor transport the Territorial anti-aircraft and searchlight units fall short of the establishment?

My hon. Friend will, I hope, realise that it is not in the public interest to give this information.

asked the Secretary of State for War to what extent, if any, as regards equipment in modern guns and motor transport the Regular anti-aircraft and searchlight units fall short of the establishment?

My hon. Friend will, I hope, realise that it is not in the public interest to give this information.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he will state the total number of men in the different sections of the Army Reserve at the latest available date and on the corresponding dates for the past five years?

The total number of men in the different sections of the Army Reserve on the 1st June, 1937, and on the corresponding date for the past five years is as follows:

1st day of June.	Section A.	Section B.	Section D.	Total.
1937	4,476	85,181	34,463	124,120
1936	2,922	87,619	24,890	115,431
1935	2,914	88,144	20,341	111,399
1934	2,929	92,843	22.969	118,741
1933	2,947	96,519	23,921	125,387
1932	2,692	97 ,801	24,238	124,731

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he has yet received a report from his expert who visited the Sannox measured mile on the island of Arran at the beginning of June; and, if so, what steps are going to be taken to alter the positions of the beacons?

A report has been received on the observations made at Sannox Pier during recent runs by His Majesty's ships on an experimental track placed as far North of the existing track as was considered practicable. This report show that the use of the experimental course would only very slightly improve the conditions at Sannox Pier; and after the most careful consideration, it has been decided that the considerable expenditure which would be involved in moving the trial course to the experimental position cannot therefore be justified.

Arrangements will, however, be made to avoid, as far as possible, runs on the measured mile between 2–3 hours before high water and high water. With this precaution, in addition to the existing instructions that wherever possible the Northern half only of the two miles course is to be used, and that notice of trials is to be given to the Arran Barytes Company, I am satisfied that all practicable steps will have been taken to reduce local inconvenience to a minimum.

asked the Minister of Labour whether, taking the 324,000 persons on the register for benefit and unemployment allowances on 19th April who had been on such register for 12 months or more, he can state how many of these were men, how many were women, and how many were between 60 and 65 years of age?

The number of applicants for benefit or unemployment allowances on the registers of Employment Exchanges in Great Britain at 19th April, 1937, who had been continuously on the registers for 12 months or more was 320,981. Of these 302,390 were males and 18,591 were females. I regret that statistics showing the number, included in this total, who were aged 60–65 years are not available.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education at how many schools in the county of Carmarthen provision is made for the supply of milk to children during school hours and how many schools made no such provision?

According to returns from the schools showing the position on 31st March, 1937, provision for the supply of liquid milk to school children was made on that date in 172 public elementary school departments in the administrative county of Carmarthen. Of the remainder, one department provided dried milk only and 19 departments made no such provision. Liquid milk was provided in all the departments in the borough of Llanelly, and in 10 out of 12 departments in the borough of Carmarthen, where the remaining two departments provided dried milk.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education, how many school buildings in Carmarthenshire are on the board's black list; and whether he can give particulars of the schools so listed at the last convenient date?

Ten public elementary schools in Carmarthenshire are on the black list. Of these, five council schools and four Church of England schools are in Class A of the black list, and one Church of England school in Class B.