asked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been called to the fact that iron-ore miners at Caistor, Lincolnshire, are being placed on part time; and whether he will further regulate the importation of iron and steel from abroad?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. The duty of 33⅓ per cent. on foreign pig iron, which was removed on 3rd March, 1937, was reimposed on the 13th May last. The duties on foreign steel, which were reduced on 7th July, 1937, reverted on 1st April last to their former levels, i.e., 10 per cent. for steel accompanied by quota certificates and various higher rates of duty for other imported steel. Comparatively little iron and steel is now being imported and I see no need for any further regulation of imports.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will state the total exports to and imports from the Argentine republic for the years ended June, 1937 and 1938?

Particulars for the twelve months ended June, 1938, will not be available until the end of July, but the following table shows the total declared value of merchandise imported into and

Period			Imports consigned from theArgentine Republic	Exports consigned to the Argentine Republic
				Produce and Manufactures of the United Kingdom	Imported Merchandise.
			£000	£000	£000
Twelve months ended—
March, 1937	…	…	53,306	15,645	287
March, 1938	…	…	51,670	20,640	353

asked the Minister of Health whether his attention has been drawn to the recent statement of the chairman of the Board of Control at the annual meeting of the Mental Hospitals Association respecting mental patients affected by divorce proceedings, and obligations on the part of a medical superintendent definitely to express his opinion in reply to questions by petitioners or petitioners' solicitors as to whether a patient is or is not curable; can he say whether he proposes to circularise mental hospital committees to this effect; and will he make a statement?

Yes, Sir. I understand that the Mental Hospitals Association circulated to their members a communication on this subject from the Board of Control in January last, a copy of which I will send the hon. Member; and, on the information before him, my right hon. Friend is doubtful whether it is necessary to issue a circular to Mental Hospital Committees.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether an inspection by officials of the Board of Trade is carried out on the hull, fittings, safety appliances, etc., before a ship can obtain British registration, in order to ensure that the hull and fittings are of such a standard that they comply with the rules and regulations laid down by the Board of Trade?

There is no power to refuse registration of a ship at a port in this country provided that the statutory requirements as to ownership are satisfied and certain requirements, such as tonnage measurement and inspection of draught marks in dry dock, are complied with. But before sailing, the ship must comply with the Load Line Rules of 1932, under which a Surveyor of the Board of Trade or of a Classification Society, acting as agent of the Board of Trade, must be satisfied that the hull and deck fittings are in good condition. The crew spaces, navigation lights and lifesaving appliances are also inspected by a Board of Trade Surveyor, and appropriate action is taken to bring those items into compliance with the Regulations.I should add that Provisional Certificates of Registry—the object of which is to enable buyers to take their vessels to a British port for registration—are issued in foreign ports by British Consuls, without survey. Their maximum period of validity is six months.

asked the Lord Advocate whether he is aware of the sentence of two months imprisonment, without the option of a fine, imposed upon a farm servant for securing a pair of boots, valued at 13s. 6d., from a shopkeeper in Lockerbie by means of false pretences, and that this sentence has been quashed by the Judiciary Appeal Court at Edinburgh as oppressive and an award of seven guineas for expenses made to the farm servant; and whether he can state who or what fund is called upon to meet the costs of this appeal?

I have seen the report of these proceedings, which originated in the local police court in Lockerbie. Cases of this kind are regulated by Section 507 of the Burgh Police (Scotland) Act, 1892, under which provision is made for expenses falling upon the local rates.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what acreage of land is held in Scotland by the Department of Agriculture; what acreage of that area is under crop, used as pasture lands, under cultivation as afforested land, and devoted to grouse moor or to deer forest, respectively, at the last available date; what was the corresponding position in 1913; and to what extent effort is made to convert grouse moor and/or deer forest into pasture or arable land, and to what effect, over the last four and eight years, respectively?

The land held by the Department of Agriculture for Scotland at 31st December, 1937, in connection with their statutory duties extended to approximately 439,252 acres, as detailed in the appended statement. Very full information regarding the acreage under head (a) of the statement which constitutes the main portion of the land held by the Department will be found on pages 134 to 139 inclusive of the Department's report for the year ended 31st December last (Cmd. 5736). The classification of the information approximates to that desired by the hon. and learned Member and it is hoped that it may serve his purpose. I regret that similar information is not available for year 1913.On all their estates, the aim of this Department is to secure the best and fullest agricultural use of the land. Sporting facilities are let subject to the rights of the agricultural tenants and in no case to their detriment.With regard to the last part of the question the Department in pursuance of their statutory duties have regard to the possibility of the fuller use of sporting lands for agricultural purposes and have in suitable cases taken steps to acquire and let to agricultural tenants lands of this nature under the conditions stated in the previous paragraph. For example, two deer forests extending to 5,946 acres and 7,720 acres were acquired at Martinmas, 1929, and Martinmas, 1933, respectively, and on these there have been constituted a total of 45 holdings on which the holders are in course of establishing breeding sheep stocks.

Statement showing acreage of land held by the Department of Agriculture for Scotland at 31st December, 1937.
		Acres.
(a)	Department's estates as shown on pages 134 to 139, inclusive, of the Department's Report	351,571
(b)	Estates taken over from the Congested Districts Board (approximately)	84,500
(c)	Fishermen's schemes	739
(d)	Leased for plots for cultivation by unemployed persons	982
(e)	Stud Farms:
	Owned 225
	Leased 1,126
		1,351
(f)	Egg-laying Test Station and Seed Testing Station:
	Owned 82½
	Leased 26½
		109
	Total acreage	439,252

asked the Secretary for Mines how many pits in Fife are still without pit-baths; and what arrangements are in hand to provide early installations in those pits?

Pithead baths have been completed at eight of the largest mines in the Fife and Clackmannan area. Of the remaining 13 mines which employ more than 400 persons, applications for baths have been made on behalf of ten, and installations are under construction or in preparation at five of these The accelerated programme of building already announced is expected to provide baths for all the mines in this area, except the small ones, during the next six years.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether, in view of the general adoption of the principle of holidays with pay, consideration will now be given to that section of hired Admiralty employés who fail to get a full year's work in the dockyards; and will every effort be made to give casual workers the benefits enjoyed by others?

The question of the modification of the existing arrangements for the holidays of temporary or hired Admiralty workpeople with less than 12 months' service is already receiving consideration, and a decision may be expected in the near future.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury why the State grant to the Travel Association of Great Britain and Ireland was reduced from £6,660 in 1937 to £5,000 in 1938?

I have been asked to reply. The grant in aid of this association included in 1937 a contribution of £1,660 towards additional expenditure incurred by the association in connection with the Coronation.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether his attention has been drawn to the large number of unnecessary full stops at the end of headings in Government publications; whether he is aware that His Majesty's printer is now the only important printer who maintains this practice; and whether he will instruct His Majesty's printer, in the interests of economy and good printing, to abandon it?

Modern printing practice is to avoid unnecessary full stops in displayed headings and there are none in ordinary Government publications, including Command Papers. The standing instructions are to omit them. It is a matter of taste or fashion rather than of "good" or "bad" printing, and the saving by the omission is too infinitesimal to be calculable.My hon. Friend probably has in mind such documents as Bills, Votes and Proceedings, and the like, which are ordered by the House to be printed. For these the "copy" is supplied directly to the printer by officials of the House, or by Parliamentary Counsel, and I should not feel justified in giving instructions to the printers to alter the long-standing format in which they are set without consultation with the authorities concerned. I am in communication with them on the subject.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that the bigger grant for messing, which has recently been made in the Army, is being negatived because of the high charges of the Navy, Army, and Air Force Institute; and whether he will take steps to remedy this?

If the hon. Member means that the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes have increased their charges because the grant for messing has been increased, I am informed that such is not the case, and that the charges continue to be based on market prices.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he will state the area of the land acquired by the War Office at St. Joan in Gore Cross, extending for about a mile on either side of the main Devizes-Salisbury Road, for the purposes of a large Tank Corps camp and depot; what was the price paid or agreed upon; for what purpose the land was previously used; and what was its previous rateable value?

In 1936, 1,475 acres at St. Joan in Gore Cross were purchased as part of the Imber training area. The price paid was £45,000. The land was previously used for farming; as regards the last part of the question I have no information.

asked the Minister of Transport whether, in view of the fact that it is estimated that there are between 8,000,000 and 10,000,000 cyclists in Great Britain, he will increase the number of representatives of cyclists on the Transport Advisory Council?

I have no authority to vary the representation on the Transport Advisory Council of the various interests concerned as this is prescribed by the Second Schedule to the Road and Rail Traffic Act, 1933.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he has considered letters sent him by the Mid-Cumberland Electricity Company, Limited, suggesting that a training centre should be established in West Cumberland for the training of youths to be wiremen; is he aware that the company offered their premises and were prepared to give other facilities towards helping such a scheme; and what decision has he come to?

I am aware of this proposal and of the facilities offered by the company, and have the matter under consideration.

asked the Minister of Labour how many patternmakers and sheet-metal workers, respectively, were unemployed on 1st June this year, and what were the corresponding figures for last year on the same date throughout

Area			Patternmaker, etc. (as defined above).		Sheet-iron Worker, Sheet metal Worker, Tinsmith, etc. (as defined above).
			7th March, 1938	1st March, 1937	7th March, 1938	1st March, 1937
Glasgow	…	…	60	26	148	343
Greenock	…	…	4	2	8	24
Coventry	…	…	4	1	39	28
Birmingham	…	…	10	2	162	251
Liverpool (including Bootle)	…	…	5	—	97	86
Birkenhead	…	…	2	1	1	6

A special inquiry into the costitution of the unemployed in the engineering and motor vehicle, cycle and aircraft industries showed that at May, 1937, the numbers of pattermakers and sheet-metal workers(including sheet-iron workers, sheet-metal

pursuant to his reply (OFFICIAL REPORT, 30th June, 1938; col. 2102, Vol. 337) supplied the following statement:The statistics which are obtained quarterly by my Department as to the numbers unemployed in individual occupations relate to the numbers of wholly unemployed persons, aged 18 and over, registered