asked the Secretary of State for Air whether he has yet inquired from the German Government as to whether they use petrol-engines or engines of the Diesel type on their service over the South Atlantic?

I understand that the German Company operating the South Atlantic service is using both types of engines. Two machines using Diesel engines have been in service about 20

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether, in view of his recruiting campaign, any special attention is being paid to providing better prospects for the re-entry into civil life of those men who are now being absorbed on a restricted period of service?

asked the Secretary of State for Air how many Ensign air-liners have been delivered to Imperial Airways, Limited.

One Ensign has been delivered to Imperial Airways, Limited, and I am informed that another one should be delivered to the company very shortly.

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether it is the intention of the Air Ministry to employ local labour as far as possible on Minchinhampton aerodrome?

Yes, Sir.

asked the Secretary of State for Air what is the number of awards of the distinguished flying medals and Royal Air Force medals since these decorations were established and since January, 1930, respectively?

The numbers are as follow:

The great majority of airmen are entered for training in skilled trades which should normally enable them to obtain suitable employment on return to civil life at the end of their engagement. Those entered as aircraft hands for general duties have an opportunity of being selected for training in a skilled trade at a later date.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what steps he proposes to take to ensure that there shall be a global increase in. the British-Colonial sugar quota under the international agreement, in view of the fact that failure to ensure an increase will result in Jamaica having to reduce her crops for 1938–39 and her plantings for 1939–40, with a consequent reduction of some £100,000 a year in wages to the Jamaican sugar industry?

The basic quota for the British Colonial Empire is fixed at 965,254 metric tons under the International Sugar Agreement, and can only be increased in any quota year if the consumption requirements of the United Kingdom and the Empire as a whole in that year are in excess of the requirements for the year ended the 31st August, 1937. I have no means of ensuring that this condition will be fulfilled in the coming quota year.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many persons in each parish in Jamaica have been arrested by the police since the 1st January, 1937, in connection with strikes or other forms of disturbance; how many of such persons have been admitted to bail pending their being charged before any court; how many have been refused bail; how many have been released without further proceedings; how many have been charged, and with what offences, before courts of first instance; how many have been sentenced to penalties by such courts and in respect of what offences; how many have been discharged without conviction; how many have been committed for trial by higher courts and on what charges; how many on bail, how many without bail being granted; how have such cases been dealt with by higher courts, stating how many have been convicted and of what offences; and how many have been discharged as acquitted?

I have not the information asked for, nor do I think it would serve any useful purpose to ask the Government of Jamaica, with its many pressing preoccupations, for a return of this kind in advance of the general report on the disturbances, which will be rendered as soon as circumstances permit.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether, in view of the fact that, in addition to the recent disturbances and economic difficulties in the West Indies, there are serious problems connected with the cocoa and palm oil industries in West Africa, trouble in Northern Rhodesia, distress in Mauritius, and a fall in the purchasing capacity of the cotton growers of Uganda and Tanganyika, he can now give an assurance that the proposed Royal Commission to investigate West Indian problems will have the fullest scope for examining and reporting on Colonial economic policy as a whole?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the replies which I gave to him on 22nd June and to my hon. Friend the Member for Ayr Burghs (Sir T. Moore) on 29th June.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many natives and white people, respectively, are employed by the Government in the Gold Coast, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Ashanti?

The figures for the approved establishments are as follow:

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will abolish, without waiting for the report of any inquiry, the penal clauses by which child labourers in Africa are liable to fine or imprisonment for the contravention of contracts of which they cannot have a full understanding, and in order that young African children, of no criminal intentions, may not find themselves in conflict with the law over such matters?

I think that it is clearly desirable for me to await the results of the inquiries which are being made before deciding what action should be taken, but I have no reason to suppose that the application of penal sanctions to children is other than of very rare occurrence.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he will state the total number of men, women, and young persons in receipt of Unemployment Assistance Board's benefit in the city of Kingston-upon-Hull during the period of 1936–37 to the present date, and the total amounts paid?

pursuant to his reply (OFFICIAL REPORT, 16th June, 1938, col. 427, Vol. 337), supplied the following statement:Statistics showing the number of separate individuals in receipt of unemployment assistance allowances during the periods in question are not available. The following table shows the average weekly numbers of payments of unemployment assistance allowances (exclusive of payments in supplementation of insurance benefit) made through the Kingston-upon-Hull Employment Exchange during 1936, 1937 and the first five months of 1938, and the total amounts paid during those periods:

asked the Minister of Labour whether he can state the total payment per year made by the Unemployment Assistance Board to the Ministry of Labour for services rendered by the Employment Exchanges?

In the year ended 31st March, 1938, the total amount paid out of the Unemployment Assistance Fund in respect of services rendered by the Ministry of Labour in connection with the receipt of claims for, and the payment of, unemployment allowances, was approximately £2,580,000, made up as follows:

asked the Minister of Labour whether he can state the total number of persons employed by the Unemployment Assistance Board in South Wales and Monmouthshire, and also the total cost of salaries, wages, office accommodation, and other expenses during last year?

I regret that information concerning South Wales is not readily available but in the Board's administrative region of Wales, the average number of persons employed by the Board during the year ended 31st March last was 1,189. With regard to the second part of the question it is estimated that in the same period the total cost of administration of unemployment assistance in Wales, inclusive of the

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the modifications made in quotas of cotton and artificial silk piece-goods allowed to be imported into Ceylon have been such as to meet the representations that have been made by the Ceylon ministry as to the hardship caused by the imposition of such quotas?

I have no reason to doubt that the modifications made achieved their object, which was to meet the representations made to my predecessor by Ceylon Ministers.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he will state the number of engine-room artificers who were this year qualified educationally and professionally for commissioned rank; the number eligible by service; the number recommended by their captain; the number who appeared before the Fleet Selection Boards; the number who were recommended by the boards; where the boards were held and the numbers which appeared before each of them; and the number finally commissioned as sub-lieutenant (E)?

When the Fleet Selection Boards sat recently, 15 artificers were qualified educationally and professionally for commissioned rank; all of these were eligible by service. The details for which the hon. Member asks are:

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education whether he can state the number per 1,000 of elementary school children who, during the past 10 years, have been admitted to the universities, and similar information in respect of public school children?

I regret that the information for which the hon. Member asks is not available.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he will give particulars of the reductions in fares afforded to the English public desirous of visiting the Empire Exhibition at Glasgow by the railway companies since 13th April?

I am informed by the railway companies that since the opening of the Exhibition on 3rd May, 1938, the following reduced fare facilities have been available to visitors:Cheap monthly return tickets, available for periods of more than one day up to one calendar month, are issued from any station in Great Britain to Glasgow at approximately 1d. per mile, third class, a reduction of 33⅓ per cent. on the ordinary fare.Day excursion facilities are offered from the more important towns throughout the country and, where the anticipated traffic is insufficient to warrant the running of special excursion trains, the facilities are, by special announcement, available by ordinary trains where the service permits.In addition, specially reduced fares for day outings are quoted for parties of not less than eight passengers at approximately ¾d. per mile, third class, a reduction of 50 per cent. on the ordinary fares.Parties of not less than 25 passengers desiring a two-day facility are given special reductions on the ordinary fares varying from approximately 50 to 75 per cent. according to the size of the party and the distance from Glasgow. This facility is available by ordinary and special services.

asked the Minister of Transport whether his attention has been called to a pronouncement made recently in a police court at Chatham that there is no such thing as a right and a wrong side of the road; and whether he will consider introducing amending legislation to clarify the law on this point?

I will keep my hon. Friend's suggestion in mind but the existing statutory provision has not been found inadequate. It is an offence for a driver not to keep to the left of the road when meeting another vehicle.

asked the Minister of Transport whether the Ministry's inquiry, to be held at Doncaster into the proposed scheme for the construction of a by-pass road from Bawtry to the Sun Inn, will take into consideration the Doncaster Corporation's scheme to cut a new road from Frenchgate to Wheatley Hills; and, if not, does he propose to make a grant toward the corporation scheme?

The inquiry to be held on 7th July relates primarily to my proposal under Section 1 (3) of the Trunk Roads Act for a by-pass to Doncaster on its western side. The proposal which the corporation have under consideration is for a new road from Frenchgate, in the centre of the town, north-eastwards to Wheatley Hills. The two proposals are not related. In reply to the second part of the question, I am unable, on present information, to undertake to make a grant towards the corporation's scheme.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he is aware that motorcars are being offered for sale which are capable of a speed of over 100 miles per hour, and that on a recent run to Cambridge a speed of 109 miles per hour was reached by one such motor-car; and, in view of the road danger of this speed, what action he proposes to take to prevent such speeds?

Certain types of car are capable of speeds which can rarely be attained on the highway under normal conditions. I have no evidence to show that such vehicles are specially liable to accident. I am precluded by Section 10 of the Road Traffic Act, 1930, from imposing any special limit of speed upon these cars.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he is aware of the widespread anxiety concerning the future of electricity undertakings; and whether he is in a position to state when the proposed Bill is likely to come before the House?

I am not in a position to add to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 1st March regarding the proposed Bill to provide for the reorganisation of the distribution of electricity.

asked the hon. Member for Dulwich, as Chairman of the Kitchen Committee, what was the price charged in the Members' Dining Room for a portion of roast leg of lamb in June, 1936, June, 1937, and June, 1938, respectively; and what was the average price per pound paid by the Kitchen Committee for their purchases of lamb during the said months, respectively?

The price charged in the Members' Dining Room for a portion of roast leg of lamb in June, 1936, and in June, 1937, was 1s. 9d. and in June, 1938, 1s. 11d., but these prices include vegetables, bread and butter and cheese. The average price paid per lb. for best English or Scotch lamb in June, 1936, was 1s. 3d.; in June, 1937, 1s. 4d.; and in June, 1938, 1s. 2½d.

asked the hon. Member for Dulwich, as Chairman of the Kitchen Committee, whether the strawberries which have been supplied to the Dining Rooms and on the Terrace of the House of Commons are British grown?

Yes, Sir.

asked the Postmaster-General when postcards and stamped envelopes bearing the effigy of his present Majesty will be placed on sale?

I am sorry that I am unable at the moment to make a definite statement on this question, but a great deal of preliminary work has been done and my hon. and gallant Friend may rest assured that matters are now well advanced.