asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will give the balance of trade between this country and Germany and between this country and Russia for 1931 and for 1937–38?

The following table shows the total declared value of merchandise imported into and exported from the United Kingdom in trade with Germany and the Soviet Union, respectively,

Country of consignment and period		Imports into the United Kingdom.	Exports from the United Kingdom.		Excess of imports over exports.
			Produce and manufactures of the United Kingdom.	Imported merchandise.
		£'000.	£'000.	£'000.	£'000.
Germany:—
1931	…	64,163	18,412	13,590	32,161
1937	…	36,118	21,561	7,321	7,236
9 months ended:
September, 1937	…	26,297	16,189	5,787	4,321
September, 1938	…	22,688	15,236	4,612	2,840
Soviet Union:—
1931	…	32,286	7,291	1,912	23,083
1937	…	29,124	3,085	16,420	9,619
9 months ended:
September, 1937	…	18,584	1,894	12,767	3,923
September, 1938	…	13,674	4,387	8,471	816

asked the President of the Board of Trade what was the number of automatic scales in use in the United Kingdom, as ascertained by his Department, in the years 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930 and 1937, respectively; and what changes, if any, in the regulations affecting weights and measures were made to meet the situation arising from the supersession of the system of old-fashioned weights periodically tested and stamped on behalf of the Government by the modern automatic system?

I regret that the statistical information for which the hon. and learned Member asks is not available. With regard to the second part of the question, provision with respect to the verification and stamping of weighing instruments is made in the Weights and Measures Regulations, 1907 (S.R. & O. 1907, No. 698), as amended by an additional Regulation made in 1926 (S.R. & O. 1926, No. 1348). In accordance with No. 16 of the former Regulations, patterns of weighing instruments presenting any novel features and patterns of price-computing instruments must be approved by the Board of Trade before the instruments can be stamped.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury the total amount during the undermentioned periods, together with excess of imports over exports.advanced for new industries in the Special Areas by the Special Areas Reconstruction Association, showing each Special Area separately; and how many concerns have gone into liquidation, and the loss involved?

The total sums agreed to be lent by the Special Areas Reconstruction Association in the four Special Areas to assist new (as distinct from existing) businesses are:

		£
Durham and Tyneside	…	162,650
South Wales	…	186,150
West Cumberland	…	47,650
Scotland	…	164,250
Total	…	£560,700

None of the 90 companies involved has gone into liquidation, but in three cases a receiver has been appointed. It is not possible at this stage to compute the loss which may fall on the association in these cases.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will state the names of the firms who are in the Trinity House Commissioners' list of contractors for the building of ships of all tonnages over 100?

As I am informing the hon. Member in reply to another question, the Trinity House and other General Lighthouse Authorities do not use a list of the kind implied. As each case arises, the firms asked to tender are selected from those most capable of doing the work.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will state

Vessels constructed during the last 10 year for the General Lighthouse Authorities and the Board of Trade.
Year of Completion.		Name	Gross Tonnage.	Type.
		Trinity House.
1930	…	No.85.	Not measured.	Light vessel.
1931	…	No.86	Not measured.	Light vessel.
1932	…	No.87	Not measured.	Light vessel.
1934	…	"Reculver"	683	Motor tender.
1935	…	"Strathearn"	683	Motor tender.
1938	…	"Patricia"	1,116	Motor tender.
1936	…	No.88	Not measured.	Light vessel.
1936	…	No. 89	Not measured.	Light vessel.
1937	…	No.90	Not measured.	Light vessel.
1938	…	No.91	Not measured.	Light vessel.
1938	…	No.92	Not measured.	Light vessel.
Under construction	…	No.93	—	Light vessel.
Under construction	…	No.94	—	Light vessel.
Under construction	…	No.95	—	Light vessel.

Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses.
1931	…	"Pole Star"	750	Steam tender.
1933	…	"North Carr"	Not measured.	Light vessel.
1937	…	"May"	491	Motor tender.
Under construction	…	(Not yet named)	—	Motor tender.

Commissioners of Irish Lights.
1928	…	"Isolda"	734	Steam tender.
Board of Trade.
1937	…	"Termite"	5	Motor launch.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many British merchant ships, excluding tankers, available for the carriage of food, raw materials and men were laid up in 1914 in the United Kingdom and the Clyde, respectively; and what are the corresponding figures at the present time?

No statistics are available regarding laid up tonnage in 1914. According to the latest return of laid up tonnage published by the Chamber of Shipping of the United Kingdom, the number of vessels, of all sizes, classified in the return as "British," laid up at all ports in the United Kingdom on 1st October last was 165, excluding tankers, sailing vessels and non-trading vessels.

The required information is as follows:Of this number it has been ascertained that three were laid up on the Clyde (Gareloch).

asked the President of the Board of Trade what was the nationality of the non-British ships chartered for the carrying of grain from the Danube for Government food-stock; what were the names and sizes of the ships; and the sums spent on chartering each?

The name, size and nationality of the non-British ships chartered for the carrying of the Rumanian grain purchased by the Government are as follow:

asked the President of the Board of Trade what was the number of British Mercantile Marine officers employed on sea-trading vessels registered in the United Kingdom and Scotland, respectively, in 1911, arranged according to grades; and what are the corresponding figures for 15th June, 1937, or other latest date?

The following statement shows the number of British officers employed on 3rd April, 1911, and 15th June, 1936, respectively, on sea-trading vessels registered in the United Kingdom, including the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.

—	3rd April, 1911.	15th June, 1936.
Masters	7,908	3,796
Deck and Navigating Officers.	12,268	8,191
Ships' Engineers.	17,301	13,786
Total	37,477	25,773

These totals are not strictly comparable, owing,

asked the Minister of Labour what progress has been made in the direction of staggering holidays?

The spreading of holidays is very largely a matter for industrial organisations and municipal authorities to settle in the light of local circumstances. As the hon. Member is doubtless aware, arrangements for spreading holidays have been in operation for many years in some parts of the country, such, for example, as Lancashire and parts of Scotland, and I understand that the possibility of instituting a similar system in other areas is under consideration by the interests involved. I am at present collecting information as to the extent of holidays given and the arrangements for settling their dates, and hope in due course to be able to make this information available for the assistance of those concerned in this problem.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he will give the numbers of the insured population of the administrative county of Durham and of the county boroughs of South Shields and Sunderland, respectively; and the percentages of those populations which have been unemployed for less than three months, three months but less than six months, six months but less than nine months, nine months but less than 12 months, and 12 months or more, respectively?

The estimated number of persons, aged 16–64, insured under the General and Agricultural Schemes of unemployment insurance, at July, 1938, in the Administrative County of Durham, and the County Boroughs of South Shields and Sunderland, as indicated by the numbers of unemployment books exchanged at Employment Exchanges in those areas, were 263,990, 31,080 and 59,900 respectively. Statistics as to the duration of the last spell of registered unemployment so far as they are available were given in the reply to the hon. Member for Houghton-le-Spring (Mr. W. Joseph Stewart) on 22nd November last. The hon. Member should note that these figures of unemployment contain uninsured as well as insured persons.

asked the Minister of Labour what is the retail price of sugar in this country at the present time and how this compares with that obtaining in France, Holland, Germany, Italy, and the United States of America?

The average retail price of granulated sugar in Great Britain and Northern Ireland at 1st November, 1938, the latest date for which this information has been collected, was 2½. per lb. As

Retail Prices of Sugar in France, Germany, Holland, Italy and the United States of America.
Country.	Kind of Sugar.	Unit.	Retail Price.	Date to which price relates.
France (Paris)	Lump (Sucre scié)	Kilogramme	5.25 francs	October, 1938(average for month).
Germany (Berlin)	Coarse crushed household (Melis, gemahlter, Haushalts-zucker).	Kilogramme	74 Pfennigs	19th October, 1938
Germany (Vienna)	Lump (Wiirfelzucker)	Kilogramme		84 pfennigs
Holland (Amsterdam)	Granulated (Kristal melis).	Half Kilogramme.	23 cents	30th September, 1938.
	Moist (Eng. basterd)	Half Kilogramme.		25 cents and 26 cents.
	Brown (Donker-bruine).	Half Kilogramme.		25 cents and 28 cents.
Italy (Rome)	Refined (Raffinato, semolato).	Kilogramme	6.55 lira	1st October, 1938.
United States of America (average of 51 towns)	(Not specified)	Pound	5.3 cents (for sales in units of 10-lb each).	12th July, 1938.

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether the present scheme of allowing A-licence pilots to instruct is of a permanent or temporary nature?

Consideration is now being given to proposals for strengthening the instructional arrangements at flying clubs; but it is not proposed to cancel the regulation which allows an A-licence pilot duly qualified as an instructor to teach other members of a club of which he himself is a member.Special arrangements had to be made earlier this year and are still in force as a temporary measure to secure an adequate supply of instructors fro the training of pilots for the Royal Air Force, the Royal Air Force Reserve, the Auxiliary Air Force and the Royal Air Force Volun-

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many prosecutions were undertaken last year for offences under the Unemployment and National Health Insurance Acts; the number of such cases where there was a common law charge, and the number where the charge was under the penalty section of the Acts; whether he is aware that heavier penalties have been, and are being, imposed under the common law procedure than was sanctioned by Parliament in the penalty clause; and whether he will take the necessary steps to see that in such prosecutions the penalties provided in the Acts are not exceeded by means of common law procedure?

Owing to the form in which the statistics are compiled, only approximate estimates are available. The total number of prosecutions in 1937 involving fraud was about 300, of which seven were charges on indictment at common law. In five of the latter cases, in all of which pleas of guilty were tendered, penalties in excess of the statutory maximum were imposed. Procedure by indictment at common law is only resorted to exceptionally in very serious cases where some specialty exists, e.g., where a long series of offences extends beyond the statutory time limits, or where the charge has to be combined with other common law charges.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what total amount of money has been voted by His Majesty's Government for land settlement in the five highland counties of Ross, Inverness, Argyle, Orkney and Zetland, and Sutherland and Caithness since 1935 to the nearest convenient date?

The total provision voted by Parliament for the financial years 1935 to 1938 inclusive for payment into the Agriculture (Scotland) Fund was £1,182,000, which includes a sum of £272,000 for recoupment of the fund in respect of borrowings under the Land Settlement (Scotland) Act, 1919. As regards actual expenditure on land settlement in the seven crofting counties, figures are not immediately available. I will, however, arrange for the information to be prepared and sent to the hon. Member.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he is aware of the difficulties experienced by the people of Alasdale, Isle of Barra, through the lack of a road from their houses to the neighbouring valley of arable and pasture land; and whether the Department of Agriculture will consider providing a road?

I have no representations on the subject. As the hon. Member is aware, the provision of roads is a matter for the consideration of the county council in the first place. If the council are satisfied as to the merits of any application made to them, it is open to them to apply to the appropriate Department for assistance towards the cost involved.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he is aware that in Scottish police administration in the event of the death of an officer on service the sole pension payable to his widow is £30 per annum; and is he prepared to take steps to have this payment increased or, alternatively, before taking such step to receive a deputation relative to this complaint?

The pension referred to is the minimum pension payable to a widow of a police officer and is in many cases supplemented by considerable amounts. The question of increasing this minimum is under consideration. Any alteration of rates of pensions would, however, require legislation.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will state the number of nursery or kindergarten schools established by 1935 in the Islands and Highlands of Scotland and how many since then; and if, in view of the long distances small children in these areas have to travel to some schools over bad or no roads, without means of transport and exposed to the weather, he will undertake a more vigorous policy and programme for establishing such schools in as many as possible of the remoter districts?

No nursery school has as yet been established by any education authority in the Islands and Highlands of Scotland. With regard to the last part of the question, I would remind the hon. Member that nursery schools are designed for children under five who are under no obligation to attend school. While the attention of education authorities has already been called to the desirability of establishing such schools where the conditions are suitable, I think the hon. Member will agreed that the need is more urgent in large towns and industrial areas than in sparsely populated rural districts.

asked the Secretary of State for War how many claims for compensation for loss of trade have been received owing to the presence of the anti-aircraft artillery camp at Stiffkey, Norfolk; how many of these claims have been met to date; how many remain to be settled; and what is the total sum involved?

Thirty-eight claims have been sent direct to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, and three have been received by the War Office and referred to the Ministry for investigation and advice as to the compensation to be paid. The total sum claimed is £1,074. No payments have yet been made.

asked the Secretary of State for War how many claims for compensation for loss of trade during the past summer have been received owing to the presence of the anti-aircraft artillery camp at Weybourne, Norfolk; how many of these claims have been met to date; how many remain to be settled; and what is the total sum involved?

Fourteen claims have been received to date and have been referred to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries for investigation and advice as to the compensation to be paid. Some of the claims are not for any specific amount. The total amount specifically claimed is £399. No payments have yet been made.