asked the Minister of Health what was the cause of the recent typhoid outbreak in Nottingham which has been the subject of investigation by his officers?

The investigations in connection with this outbreak were carried out by officials of the Town Council, though a Medical Officer of my Department visited Nottingham at the request of the Medical Officer of Health to confer with them in order to ensure that all practicable steps were being taken to cope with the outbreak. A statement was issued by the council in the local Press on the 23rd March, which indicated that the outbreak was due to the consumption of food which had a very limited distribution.

asked the Home Secretary whether he will relax the rule which prevents the issue of refugee visas to married women domestic servants, in the special case of the mother of Mrs. Alice Schmeterling for whom a post is available?

Inquiry is being made about this case and my right hon. Friend will inform the right hon. and gallant Gentleman of the result as soon as possible.

asked the Home Secretary what is the salary received by the chairman of the Racecourse Betting Control Board; whether the other members of the board receive salaries and, if so, what these are; and whether any fuller accounts of the salaries and wages of the headquarters' expenses of the board are available than those contained in the board's annual report?

The salary of the chairman of the board is by Section 2 (6) of the Racecourse Betting Act, 1928, wholly a matter for the board. The other members of the board do not receive salaries. The answer to the last part of the question is in the negative.

asked the Home Secretary what was the total number of accredited German correspondents of German newspapers in this country on 1st January, 1933, 1st January, 1938, 1st January, 1939, and 1st April, 1939?

I have been asked to reply. I regret that figures for 1933 are not readily available. On the other dates in question the approximate totals were 60, 80 and 83 respectively.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether, to ensure equality of treatment, he proposes to fix a date for the final acceptance of applications for Government grants for new ships?

Final applications for grants cannot be considered until the scheme, for which legislation is required, is in operation. The conditions on which applications can be accepted will then be laid down. Acceptance of preliminary notifications regarding shipbuilding orders which owners would propose to submit for grants under the scheme has been suspended by the Board of Trade, as regards tramps on the publication of an announcement to that effect in the morning Press of Friday, 28th April, and as regards cargo liners after Saturday, 29th April.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he can state, for the years 1907 and 1936, the figures disclosed by the Census of Production showing, for all firms and industries covered thereby, the size of firm as shown by the average number of persons employed; the number of returns; and the average total number of persons employed in each size category from 11 to 24 persons upwards to 1,000 and over?

The particulars desired are not available for the year 1907. A Census of Production was not taken for 1936. Particulars for 1935 are being shown for each industry in the Final Report on the Census for that year, but aggregates covering all industries to which the Census related cannot yet be furnished.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he can state the circumstances under which the steamship "Dunstaffnage" has been sold; also, whether he can give the names of the directors of the British company which sold the ship; and whether the ship was offered to the British Government prior to the transaction being completed?

The British register of the steamship "Dunstaffnage" was closed on 28th April on the sale of the ship to foreign buyers. The ship was owned by the Scottish Navigation Company, Limited, of Glasgow, the directors of the company being Mr. James Smith, Mr. William Fyfe, Mr. Nigel H. C. Macpherson, Mr. John C. Forgie and Mr. John M. Barras. The ship was not offered to the Board of Trade before the completion of the sale; but on the 18th of April, immediately after the issue of the circular mentioned in my reply to questions by the hon. Members for Jarrow (Miss Wilkinson) and Middleton and Prestwich (Sir N. Stewart Sandeman), on the 2nd of May, the managers notified my Department that the ship had been sold to foreign buyers a fortnight previously for delivery on completion of the voyage then current.

asked the Lord Privy Seal whether he is aware that boys between the ages of 14 and 18 are being asked to sign on for full-time service in the Auxiliary Fire Service; and whether he can undertake that they would receive payment in the event of their being called on to serve?

I am aware that youths under 18 years of age are being enrolled as messengers in the Auxiliary Fire Service. The question of the age-limits within which such recruitment may properly be effected and of the appropriate conditions of service, including payment for whole-time service, is now under review.

asked the Prime Minister whether it is proposed to include any or all of the three Baltic Republics of Lithuania, Latvia, or Estonia in any British guarantee or mutual aid pact; and are any negotiations on this subject now taking place or under contemplation?

His Majesty's Government do not at present contemplate any such arrangement with the three countries mentioned.

asked the Prime Minister whether he has any in- formation concerning recent German negotiations with Scandinavian countries, particularly as affecting the Aaland Islands?

I understand that the German Government have approached the Governments of certain Scandinavian and Baltic countries with a view to exchanging guarantees of non-aggression with, each of them, and that the matter is now under consideration by the Governments approached. I would refer the hon. and gallant Member to the reply given to-day to the hon. and learned Member for Kingswinford (Mr. A. Henderson) on the subject of the Aaland Islands.

asked the Prime Minister whether he will state the precise terms of the agreement of April, 1936, between the Egyptian Government and the Suez Canal Company and how it affects the financial interests of His Majesty's Government as the principal shareholder?

The agreement to which my hon. and gallant Friend refers never came into force, though it formed the basis of a subsequent agreement concluded in June, 1937. All the relevant texts were published in the Egyptian "Journal Officiel" of the 9th August, 1937, but I think the documents to which I refer below, and of which I am sending my hon. and gallant Friend copies, give the substance of the Agreement. The following are the documentsLetter from the President of the Egyptian Council of Ministers to the President of the Suez Canal Company, dated 4th May, 1936. Letter from the President of the Suez Canal Company to the Egyptian Minister of Finance, dated 24th May, 1937, together with Makram Ebeid Pasha's acknowledgment. Letter from the Agent Supçrieur in Egypt of the Suez Canal Company to the Minister for Finance, dated the nth June, 1937. The Agreement affects the financial interests of His Majesty's Government in the same way as those of other shareholders in the company.

asked the Prime Minister whether Great Britain has been invited to adhere to the Washington Treaty for the Protection of Artistic and Scientific Institutions and Historic Monuments, 1935, in respect of British territories on the American continent?

No, Sir.

asked the Prime Minister what was the total personnel of the German Embassy and German Consulates in Great Britain on 1st January, 1933, and the total on 1st April, 1939?

The approximate total of the diplomatic, clerical and menial staffs of the German Embassy on the dates in question was 41 and 88 respectively; for officially recognised German Consular Officers in the United Kingdom the respective figures were 34 and 32. Statistics are not available for the staffs of German Consulates.