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activities gained him a position as justice of the

peace on the Croydon Borough Bench. Here he

proved an acquisition, for he was regularly presentat the Wednesday morning courts and devoted muchtime and thought to the exercise of his duties. Hewas a trustee of the Stanley Technical Trade School,and held the position of chairman of the board forsixteen years until his death. This occurred sud-denly at his home at South Norwood Hill, from aheart attack, but he was carrying out his professionalduties to the end. He was 71 years of age.

JOSEPH CLOUGH, M.R.C.S. Eng.Dr. Joseph Clough, who died last week at Moor-

town, Leeds, had practised in the Hunslet districtfor over forty years. He was born at Cleckheaton

, and received his medical education at the LeedsMedical School. After a period of service at theBolton Infirmary, he became house physician at theLeeds General Infirmary, being later appointedanaesthetist and assistant pathologist. He was a

well-equipped physician, and contributed occasionallyto these columns.

FREDERIC WILSON STANSFIELD,M.D. Manch., D.P.H., F.L.S.

WE regret to record the death of Dr. FredericStansfield, for many years a leading practitioner inReading, where his death occurred on Feb. 28th.He was born at Todmorden, the son of AbrahamStansfield, a well-known botanist and nurseryman,and for a time was himself in business as a ferncultivator, but deciding on the medical profession heentered the medical school of Victoria University,Manchester, with an exhibition in physiology. He

graduated as M.B., Ch.B. in 1889, proceeding at theshortest interval to the M.D. degree, and in 1893he obtained the diploma of D.P.H. at Cambridge.In that year he went into practice at Reading andcame to hold a prominent position in the profession,being elected president of the Reading PathologicalSociety and of the Reading and Oxford branch ofthe B.M.A. He maintained his hereditary and early

interest in ferns, contributed papers on the filices tothe Proceedings of the Linnean Society, of which bodyhe was a fellow, and for a time edited the British FernGazette. He was in his 83rd year at the time of hisdeath, and had been a widower some years ; his son,Dr. T. Stansfield, practises in Reading.

RICHARD CRESSWELL, M.R.C.S. Eng., D.P.H.

Dr. Richard Cresswell, who died early this monthin a nursing-home at Bath, was a very seniormember of the medical profession, for he qualified70 years ago as M.R.C.S. Eng., being also one of theearliest to take the diploma of D.P.H. Lond. Heheld an appointment as a young man at the LondonLock Hospital and for a time was in the ColonialMedical Service, being stationed at St. Helena. Hethen went into practice at Cheltenham where he wasfor a period medical officer of health to the urbandistrict council. Later he practised in Portisheadfor some thirty years. He was 93 years old at thetime of his death.

CHARLES WILFRED COGHLAN, L.R.C.P.,L.R.C.S. Edin.

THE death occurred recently at Longton of Dr.Charles Coghlan, a member of a well-known Longtonfamily of doctors. He received his early educationat Ratcliffe College, Leicester, went for his professionaltraining to Edinburgh, and qualified in 1902 as

L.R.C.P., L.R.C.S. Edin. and L.R.F.P.S. Glasg. Hewent into medical practice in York but joined up at theoutbreak of war and saw much service in the NearEast as an officer in the R.A.M.C. Soldiering was notnew to him for he had served for three years in theRoyal Scots Volunteers. Unfortunately he con-

tracted malaria and after the cessation of hostilitieshe retired from practice for a time and travelledmuch abroad, but later on the death of his brotherhe returned to carry on the practice. But hewas practically an invalid for the rest of his life.He had an extraordinary medical pedigree, being oneof seven brothers, of whom one died in infancy, butthe other six all entered the medical profession.

PARLIAMENTARY INTELLIGENCE

CRITICISM OF PRISON CONDITIONS

IN the House of Lords on March 3rd the Earl ofKINNOULL drew the attention of the Governmentto the conditions obtaining in H.M. prisons and askedwhether the idea of imprisonment to-day was partlyone of revenge against the person who had brokenthe social code, or one of the reform of the prisoner.He had recently read a book called " Walls HaveMouths," by Mr. Macartney, who was an ex-convict.The author described his experiences in WandsworthPrison before he was sent to Parkhurst convictestablishment. While he was at Wandsworth a manwas hanged and Mr. Macartney said that one couldhear the noise of the drop all over the prison. Ifthat was so (said Lord Kinnoull) surely it was bar-barous. Mr. Macartney also said that at Parkhurstin the strong cells there were no windows or heatingand men occasionally put in a winter without ablanket, and mostly with only a shirt on. LordKinnoull did not think that in the winter one wouldtreat an animal in that way. Another thing thatstruck him in reading the book was the unnecessaryamount of duplication that went on as one passedfrom one prison to another. The prisoner came beforethe medical officer and had to give his whole medicalhistory over and over again, although it was allwritten down on a form in front of the medical officer.

He could well understand that the unnecessaryamount of nagging by warders drove a person nearlyinsane after any length of time in prison. Medicalmen said that monotony of diet over a long time wasdeleterious to health. In Macartney’s book it wasstated that the prison doctors at Parkhurst found itnecessary to put convicts in hospital for a fortnight-every two years, he thought-and give them hospitaldiet in order to get away from the routine whichthey underwent. He thought that the food mightbe varied a little. Apparently convicts were floggedwith a cat-o’-nine tails in all cases of an assault on awarder ; that seemed unnecessary brutality. When aman lost his reason for a moment no amount of fearof flogging would stop him. Macartney quoted casesof men who had been flogged several times, but thishad not deterred them, but had made them more likebrute beasts. He took the view that nearly allpeople who were convicts had a mental kink, and hethought that at any rate 90 per cent. of them wouldbe far better treated by psychologists than by prisontreatment. He found that where people had beensent in for observation because their behaviour wassomewhat peculiar they had been kept in the observa-tion landing for years until they had been let out,and when let out they had been promptly dischargedto the county asylum. It seemed to him utterlystupid, when quite clearly it must have been known

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over a number of years whether a person was mentallydeficient, to keep him under a sentence and thendischarge him to a mental asylum. There was surelya great need for reform there.

DENIAL OF ALLEGATIONS

The Marquess of DUFFERIN AND AvA said he hadnever heard a speech containing so many allegationsbased on one book by one person-and that an ex-convict-without any attempt whatever to produceevidence from outside sources. The assaults on theofficers at Parkhurst in 1928, 1929, and 1930 were con-fined to two, three, and nine cases respectively. He saidhe would take the responsibility of telling Lord Kinnoullthat the story of hearing the drop fall was purenonsense and complete imagination. It was notpossible to hear the drop fall at Wandsworth. In1910 the prison population of this country was justunder 21,000 ; at the present moment it was only10,000: Of all the persons recently received intoprison for the first time for serious offences duringthe years 1930-33 80’7 per cent., so far as was known,had not returned to prison a second time up to theend of 1935. Therefore it did seem that reforms hadbeen made, even if Lord Kinnoull thought that theyhad not gone far enough, in the direction of keepingpeople out of prison and preventing people who hadbeen in prison from being forced back into criminallife. Solitary confinement had been practicallydone away with. Every prisoner now, unless therewas some medical reason, worked from the verybeginning in association with other prisoners. Butcontamination might easily follow if all sorts ofprisoners were allowed to mix freely together. There-fore the object of their reforms had always been toclassify prisoners as clearly and as definitely as waswithin their power. The first and obvious classifica-tion had been the institution of Borstal, which hadat one stroke taken one-sixth of the prison populationand put them into places where they could not becontaminated by older and more vicious criminals.It was obviously very difficult to have a system ofclassification within the prison itself. It had beenthe policy of the Commissioners to reserve certainestablishments for certain classes of prisoners.Furthermore the Commissioners had developed thevery right policy of collecting as far as possible youngprisoners between 16 and 21 who were serving veryshort sentences. But however hard they tried theycould not in these collecting centres give the sametraining as they gave in a Borstal institution. TheCommissioners had frequently drawn attention to thefact that magistrates and others who had to administerthe law should think again and again before theysent young people to prison, particularly those whohad not previously been guilty of offences. In1935 of the boys sentenced to imprisonment, 38 percent. had not previously been convicted of an offenceand it was the firm conviction of the Commissionersand of the Government that in many of those casesprobation would have met the case far better, and thatin the remainder of the cases a longer term of Borstalimprisonment would have done the boy far moregood. The only consolation was that whereas in1932 a total of 2653 boys were sentenced to imprison-ment the number had fallen to 1608 in 1935. Itwas the firm policy of the Commissioners at themoment to reduce to a minimum the period duringwhich prisoners were locked in their cells. Since1934 it had been possible very greatly to increasethe staff of prison officers available to look after theprisoners. The spirit of prison reform was very muchalive at present. The Commissioners were doingeverything in their power to fit these people for thenew life they would have to take up when theycame out. The Commissioners were fully awareof the importance of the selection of suitable warders.The nagging which had been referred to no longerexisted and the present type of warder was quitedifferent from the type upon which Mr. Macartneydrew for his imaginary pictures. But he would notlike Lord Kinnoull to think that either the Govern-ment or the Commissioners were complacent. They

were fully aware that there was still much thatcould be done.-The Earl of KINNOULL said that hewas very pleased that some of the allegations ofMr. Macartney had now been denied, because theyhad never been officially denied before. He was verygratified to hear that reforms were taking place andthat more reforms were in contemplation.

NOTES ON CURRENT TOPICS

The Factories Bill in Committee

The Factories Bill was further considered by astanding committee of the House of Commons onMarch 2nd and 4th.

CUBIC SPACE AND OVERCROWDING

On Clause 2, Mr. ELLIS SMITH moved that theproviso in the Bill, that for five years the figureshould be 250 cubic feet and should afterwards con-tinue at the lower figure where a workroom hadeffective mechanical ventilation, should not applywhen overtime was being worked. He said thatmany of the factory inspectors had very large areasand it might be years before they got round toinspect all the premises in their area. Employersshould not be allowed to work people overtime incrowded conditions. The standards they were aimingat setting up under the Bill should be nationalstandards and young people should not be calledupon to work overtime in conditions which did notconform with those standards.-Sir J. SIMON saidthere was a practical difficulty in making one ruleregarding overcrowding in a workroom during theperiod before overtime began and a different rulewhen overtime began. He was not satisfied with theform of the proviso in the Bill, and it should bemodified (cheers). He did not like it in so far as itmade possible an indefinite prolongation of the lesssatisfactory standard of cubic space. They did notintend to allow the proviso to operate for ever.-Sir J. HASLAM agreed that they did not want slumfactories to be perpetuated for ever at a time whenthey were abolishing slum houses. They should bethoughtful and cautious, but bold in regard to factorylegislation.-The amendment was withdrawn.

Sir J. SIMON moved an amendment to restrict thereference to five years in the proviso to factorieswhich had been continuously in the same occupationsince the date of the passing of the Bill into law.-The amendment was agreed to.

Sir J. SIMON moved a further amendment to alterpart of the proviso and provide, among other things,that where effective and suitable mechanical ventila-tion was not provided the proviso should not con-tinue to apply, although the five years’ period hadnot expired.-The amendment was agreed to.

" REASONABLE TEMPERATURE

"

On Clause 3 (which provides that effective provisionshall be made for maintaining a reasonable temperaturein each workroom but there shall be no escape intothe air of fumes likely to be injurious or offensive)Mr. BUCHANAN moved an amendment to delete theword " reasonable " and insert a provision that thetemperature should be within the limits of 60°-65° F.He urged that the question of what was a reasonabletemperature in a workroom should not be left to theemployer.--Sir J. SIMON said that the amendmentwas not a practical proposal. They could not havea cast-iron rule to deal with the wide varieties ofwork carried on in different factories. The Secretaryof State was given power by a subclause to makeregulations with regard to temperature in any parti-cular class of work.-The amendment was withdrawn.

Miss HORSBRUGH moved an amendment to providethat the word reasonable " should be qualified bythe provision " having regard to the purposes forwhich the premises are used."-Sir J. SIMON saidthat in interpreting the word " reasonable " thequestion of the purposes for which premises wereused was a factor to be taken into consideration, butit was not the only one. The amendment would

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tend to exclude the consideration of whether thetemperature was reasonable for the workpeople.-The amendment was withdrawn.

Mr. GRAHAM WHITE moved an amendment toprovide that there should be no escape into the airof fumes likely to affect the purity of the air. It was,he said, important that the air in a workshop shouldnot be contaminated. There might be gases whichwere dangerous but not offensive.-Mr. LLOYD saidthat the amendment was very similar to an existingprovision in the law. The fdndamental questionwas not the purity of the air, but whether there wasanything in the air which was injurious or offensiveto an individual.-The amendment was withdrawn.

Mr. MANDER moved an amendment to delete thewords " is done sitting " in a subclause whichprovided that in workrooms in which a substantialproportion of the work was done sitting, and didnot involve serious physical effort, a temperature ofless than 60° F. should not be deemed, after the firsthour, to be a reasonable temperature. He said thatthe phrase " is done sitting " might be a tewptationto a few employers not to provide seats.-Mr. LLOYDsaid the amendment would make the scope of thesubsection vague and difficult to enforce. If a grosscase of an attempt to avoid the provisions of theBill came to the attention of the Home Office theywould consider prescribing a standard of temperaturein that particular class of work.-After furtherdebate, Sir J. SIMON said he would have the matterfurther considered, and the amendment was with-drawn.

"

ADEQUATE VENTILATION "On Clause 4 (which provides that there shall be

effective provisions for securing that a workroom isadequately ventilated and for rendering harmless, sofar as practicable, fumes, dust, and other impuritiesthat may be injurious generated in the course ofwork) Mr. BUCHANAN moved the deletion of the words" so far as practicable. "-Mr. LLOYD said it wouldnot be right to make an employer criminally liablewhen he had done all that was practicable in thecircumstances.-The amendment was withdrawn.

Mr. SiLVERMAN moved an amendment to add aprovision that no mechanical ventilation should bedeemed efficient which did not secure such frequencyof complete changes of air in a workroom as theHome Secretary might direct.-Sir J. SIMON saidthat the whole science of ventilation was developingrapidly. The most important inquiries of a practicaland scientific kind were going on. He thought itwas undesirable to put in a Statute, which mightlast for many years, what amounted to a limitingprovision.-Sir E. GRAHAM-LITTLE said he did notthink that attention had been sufficiently given tothe importance of changes of the air in the room.It was not a practical proposition to insist on somany changes an hour. There was a far bettersystem that could be adopted, and he regretted thathe had not been allowed to move his amendment toprovide for testing the ventilation and coolness ofthe air. He hoped that the Secretary of State wouldconsider the adoption of approved methods usedextensively in most progressive Government Depart-ments, including the Home Office and the IndiaOffice, to test the efficiency of the ventilation and thetemperature of the air. It was a simple scientificinstrument in the form of a thermometer, and itsvalue had been tested.-After further discussion theamendment was withdrawn.

" SUITABLE LIGHTINGOn Clause 5 (which provides that effective pro-

vision shall be made for maintaining suitable lighting,natural or artificial, in every part of a factory inwhich persons are working or passing), Mr. CARTLANDmoved an amendment to provide that the HomeSecretary might by special regulations direct thatany operation in a factory should be carried on,where sufficient natural lighting was available, duringthe day-time. He said it was desirable to deal withthose processes which it was undesirable to carry on

by artificial lighting. There were industrial processes,such as putting decorations on chocolates for example,which were done by hand and were of a very detailedcharacter. If people did work of that kind byartificial light it strained their eyesight to such anextent that they might be in danger of eventuallygoing blind.-Mr. HAMILTON KES,B,, who supportedthe amendment, said that the Institute of IndustrialPsychology had carried out exhaustive researchesinto the question of lighting in factories and theyhad amply proved the bad effect that poor lightinghad on the health and productive capacity ofworkers. The object of this amendment was toensure in factories that wherever possible naturallighting should be preferred even to the best artificiallighting.-Sir J. Si.,4oN said that he did not think itwas a practical matter to carry out this amendment.If it was generally understood that there would bebetter work, more production, and more accuratework in many trades when the work was done indaylight than would be the case if the employerwent to the expense of installing artificial lighting,then he thought they would encourage people to dothe work in daylight. But he would not envy theHome Secretary, whoever he might be, if he had todraw up regulations under this particular amendment.The Committee would appreciate that they weretaking a great step forward in Clause 5-the first realstep forward in this Bill. There was not in thefactory law at present any provision requiringadequate lighting, except in certain dangerous trades.They were doing a pretty big thing in Clause 5 andthey ought not to complicate it unnecessarily.-Theamendment was withdrawn.

Mr. RIDLEY moved an amendment to delete theproviso that nothing in the clause, or in any regula-tions made under it, should be construed as enablingdirections to be prescribed as to whether any artificiallighting is to be produced by electricity, gas, or anyother particular means. He said that he thoughtthe Home Secretary should be in a position toprescribe the precise form of lighting which seemed tobe desirable and imperative in order that a sufficientand suitable standard of lighting might be employed.--Sir J. SIMON said he did not wish to use the Fac-tories Bill as an occasion for an argument about theefficiency of different kinds of lighting. It was nopart of the business of the Home Office to say howthe lighting was to be produced. What they wereconcerned with was sufficient and suitable light, andnot with how the light was produced.-Mr. BROADsaid that for most industrial processes where finework and steadiness of hand were required gaslighting was obsolete. If it was necessary for thesafety of the worker to put in electric light theSecretary of State would not be able to prescribe it.The Bill prescribed cubic capacity. Electric lightwas the only light which would give the powerwithout combustion taking place at the point of illu-mination, and if they were to have gas light theyought to double the amount of cubic air space,because gas would consume more air than the workerswere breathing.—Sir J. SiMON suggested that theyshould leave out these two extremely provocativewords-electricity and gas-and that the wordsshould run " as to whether any artificial lighting isto be produced from any particular source of illu’mination."-Mr. Ridley’s amendment was withdrawnand the amendment suggested by the Home Secretarywas agreed to.

In the House of Commons on March 5th theProhibition of Vivisection on Dogs (Scotland) Billcame on for second reading one minute before4 o’clock, when the debate was automaticallyadjourned.

In the House of Lords on March 3rd ViscountGAGE presented a Bill to amend the law with respectto the discharge of trade effluents into public sewersof local authorities.The Bill was read a first time.

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QUESTION TIMEWEDNESDAY, MARCH 3RD

Humidity in Great BritainMr. MARKHAM asked the Undor-Secretary of State for

Air when it was hoped to have published maps showingrelative humidity in Great Britain; and whether it wasintended to accompany such maps with a new handbookof normals.-Sir P. SASSOON replied : It is estimated thatthe necessary computations will be completed in aboutnine months’ time and that the maps will be publishedwithin 12 months. The average values will be publishedin a book which will contain maps showing the geographical Idistribution of relative humidity for each month and forthe year as a whole.

THURSDAY, MARCH 4TH

Public Kitchens in Necessitous Areas

Mr. WILSON asked the Minister of Labour whether, inview of the popularity which had attended the establish-ment of milk bars, he would consider the possibility ofsetting up in some of the more necessitous areas publickitchens where, at a small cost, the more nutritious kindsof food could be supplied either for consumption on thepremises or otherwise.-Mr. ERNEST BROwN replied :The service which the hon. Member suggests should beestablished does not lie within my powers as Minister ofLabour.Viscountess AsTOR: With whom do the powers lie ?No further answer was given.

Meals at Juvenile Instruction Centres

Mr. GEORGE HALL asked the Minister of Labour whetherthe National Advisory Council for Juvenile Employmenthad made any recommendation with regard to the pro-vision of meals at juvenile instruction centres; andwhether, in view of the need for improving national

physique, the Minister proposed to take steps to providemeals for these juveniles.-Mr. ERNEST BROwN replied :I received a few days ago an interim report on this matterfrom the National Advisory Council for England andWales, and am expecting very shortly a report from theCouncil for Scotland. The recommendations made willbe considered at once and a decision taken as soon aspossible.Mr. HALL : Will the report be published ?Mr. BROWN : I hope to make it available as soon as I

have considered it.

Women and Young Persons in Textile Factories :the Two-shift System and Overtime

Mr. RiLEY asked the Home Secretary how many textilefactories, if any, in the West Riding of Yorkshire wereworking a two-shift system ; and how many women andyoung persons were employed on a two-shift system insuch factories.-Sir JOHN SIMON replied: The number oftextile factories in the West Riding in which women andyoung persons over 16 are employed on a two-shift systemis 19, and the number of women and young persons soemployed is rather over a thousand.

Mr. RILEY asked the Home Secretary in how manytextile factories in the West Riding of Yorkshire womenand young persons had been employed on overtimebeyond 48 hours in any one week; and the approximatenumber of overtime hours so worked per week for theyear ending Dec. 31st, 1936.-Sir JOHN SiMON replied :I regret that the statistics for which the hon. Memberasks are not available, but I am informed that a con-siderable amount of overtime beyond 48 hours was workedlast year by women and young persons in the textilefactories in the West Riding.

Government and Air-raid PrecautionsMr. JENKINS asked the Home Secretary whether, in

view of the differing opinions and the public concern asto the effectiveness of the air-raid precautions now incourse of preparation, he would undertake to submit allthe information to an impartial group of competentpersons for examination and report.-Mr. GEOFFREYLLOYD replied : In devising measures of air-raid pre-

cautions, the Government avails itself of the best adviceavailable ; and my right hon. friend sees no reason foran inquiry of the kind proposed by the hon. Member.

Mr. JENKINS: Is the hon. gentleman aware that ameeting was held in a committee room of this House atwhich a number of scientists from Cambridge Universitymet a large number of Members of all political parties, asa result of which grave suspicion has been created in theirminds that the Government’s provisions up to date arenot adequate ; and will he take steps to see that thepublic are given proper assurances that the provisionsare the best that can be obtained ?

Mr. LLOYD : Perhaps the hon. Member has not followedthe answers which I have given recently pointing outthat the experiments by these Cambridge scientists areopen to very grave objection and are not considered tobe of practical value.

Miss WILKINSON : If there is some dispute, and if theyquestion the Government’s tests and the Government

question their tests, why do the Government refuse tosend the matter to some impartial expert body ?Mr. LLOYD : These scientists can be said in general

not to have had great experience in this particular tech-nical work, while the Government are advised by manyof the principal professors amounting to nearly 100 ofvarious universities, as well as other experts, includingthose of the chemical industries who have had the greatestexperience in the country in this work.

Mr. JENEINS : Is the hon. gentleman aware that atthe meeting to which I have referred a letter was readfrom one of the most highly qualified and most experiencedscientists in this country expressing the view that theprovisions are totally inadequate and should be inquiredinto carefully ?

Mr. LLOYD : I should be very glad to have that letter.

Air- raid Wardens

Mr. BAXTER asked the Home Secretary if he was nowin a position to make any further statement regardingthe organisation of air-raid wardens.-Mr. GEOFFREYLLOYD replied: Yes, Sir. A memorandum is beingdispatched to-day to borough and district councils,recommending them to organise, in consultation with thepolice, a service of air-raid wardens, to supplement thenormal resources of the civil authorities for safeguardingthe general public in the event of air attack. It is pro-posed that fixed posts should be established from whichthe wardens should operate. Each post will be responsiblefor a particular area and it is recommended that thedivision of towns into suitable areas should be started atonce. In residential districts posts should be allottedapproximately on the basis of one post to every fivehundred inhabitants ; while in business areas the distri-bution of posts would be governed rather by distance-for instance, a post every quarter of a mile might befound suitable. The minimum number of wardensrequired would be two per post. It is intended that thewardens should be in a position to advise their fellowcitizens on the recommended precautions and should beavailable to give immediate assistance in dealing withair-raid damage. The wardens would probably also beused in connexion with the distribution of civilian respi-rators. These services would be performed in the neigh-bourhood of the warden’s home or place of business.Volunteers who undertake these responsibilities will begiven the training required, and will be supplied by theGovernment with such equipment as is considered neces-sary to enable them to carry out their duties effectively.This organisation will constitute an essential supplementto the local authorities’ air-raid precautions services,and the Government are confident that a sufficient numberof volunteers will be forthcoming for the effective per-formance of this very important part of the work of civildefence. The memorandum is being placed on sale, andcopies are being placed in the library of the House.

Compulsory Pasteurisation of MilkMr. ROBERT MORRISON asked the Minister of Health

whether, in view of the evidence contained in the annualreport of the chief medical officer of his department for1935 of serious outbreaks of scarlet fever solely due to

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the sale of raw milk, he intended to introduce legislationduring the present session providing for the compulsorypasteurisation of all milk.-Sir KINGSLEY WOOD replied :I am not in a position to add anything to the reply givento the hon. Member on Nov. 12th last.

Mr. MORRISON: Does the right hon. gentleman realisethe dangers of this situation, and does he contemplatelegislation ?

Sir K. WOOD : I cannot contemplate legislation at thepresent time.

Workers’ HoursMr. WILSON asked the Minister of Labour the numbers

of insured persons whose ordinary hours of work perweek were over 48, 44 to 48, 40 to 43, and under 40.-Mr. ERNEST BROWN replied: For certain groups ofindustries (textiles, clothing, treatment of non-metalli-ferous mine and quarry products, and the brick, pottery,glass, and chemical industries) statistics showing the pro-portions of workpeople, employed by firms who suppliedinformation in response to an inquiry made by my depart-ment, whose normal weekly hours, in October, 1935, wereless than 44, 44, 44t to 46, 47, 471 to 47, 48, and over 48respectively, are published on page 48 of the Ministryof Labour Gazette for February, 1937. Correspondingstatistics for other manufacturing industries, and forcertain non-manufacturing industries, are now in pre-paration and will be published in subsequent issues of theGazette. The particulars given relate to wage-earners;similar figures for insured salary earners are not available.

MONDAY, MARCH 8TH

Typhoid Outbreak in LiverpoolMr. GROVES asked the Minister of Health whether any

investigation had been made into the milk consumed bythe sufferers in the recent outbreak of typhoid at Liver-pool ; and whether the majority obtained their milk fromthe same source or from different sources.-Sir KINGSLEYWOOD replied : This outbreak has been investigated byofficers of the Liverpool City Council, and I am informedthat some 60 per cent. of the persons affected obtainedtheir milk-supply from the same retailer. But there is noreason to think that milk was the source of infection inthese cases.

Blind Persons and the Poor LawMiss WARD asked the Minister of Health whether be

could announce the introduction of the Bill to extendthe principle of removal of the blind from the adminis-tration of the poor law, as foreshadowed in his speech atWorcester last September.-Mr. HUDSON, ParliamentarySecretary to the Ministry of Health, replied: This Billis in course of preparation, but my right hon. friend isnot yet in a position to announce the date of its intro-duction.

M.P.’s and Facilities for Physical ExerciseSir REGINALD CLARRY asked the Parliamentary Secre-

tary to the Ministry of Health, as representing the FirstCommissioner of Works, whether he would consider thepossibility of setting aside a room and facilities in theHouse of Commons to enable Members during their hoursof attendance to take requisite exercise in conformitywith the general desire for a keep-fit campaign.-Mr.R. S. HUDSON replied : My noble friend has consideredthe matter in consultation with the authorities of thisHouse. He has much sympathy with the request of myhon. friend, but regrets that the demand on the accom-modation for the purposes of public business is so greatthat it is not possible to accede to it.

Ministry of Labour versus a Manchester HospitalMr. EcKERSLEY asked the Parliamentary Secretary to

the Ministry of Health, as representing the First Com-missioner of Works, whether, before the plans for thenew labour exchange in Manchester were approved, fullconsideration would be given to the value to the city ofthe Robey-street branch of the Manchester Royal Infirmaryand to the necessity for ensuring that the new exchangewould not interfere with its light or amenities.

Mr. CARY asked the Minister of Labour whether hisattention had been called to the fact that the new labour

exchange building which was being erected close to the

south wall of the Manchester Royal Infirmary would robof light and render useless the wards of this institution;and whether, in view of this fact and the fact that a largesum of money had recently been spent on the infirmary,he would give instructions that some other empty spaceor unused building in the district should be used for thispurpose.-Lieut.-Colonel MUIRHEAD replied: I am aware ofthe position regarding the erection of the new central employ-ment exchange for Manchester, and my right hon. friendand the First Commissioner for Works have discussed thematter with the chairman and other members of theboard of the Royal Infirmary. After very careful con-sideration my right hon. friend has decided that thebuilding of the exchange should proceed, and the con-tractors are now working on the site.

Demonstration of Anti-Gas Respirator atWestminster

Mr. AssHETON asked the Home Secretary if he wouldmake arrangements for the exhibition to Members insome convenient place of a respirator of the type designedto protect the civilian population.-Mr. GEOFFREY LLOYD,Under Secretary, Home Office, replied : Yes, Sir. I amarranging for a number of these respirators to be availablefor inspection by hon. Members in the room off theMembers’ cloak-room, during the hours while the Houseis sitting, on Monday, March 15th, and following days.An officer will be in attendance to assist hon. Memberswho may wish to try on the respirators and to answerany questions.

TUESDAY, MARCH 9TH

Pensions for Blind Persons

Mr. WESTwOOD asked the Secretary of State for Scot-land if a Bill was to be introduced to reduce from 50 to 40years the age at which pensions might be paid to blindpersons.-Mr. ELLIOT : The answer is in the affirmative.

Mental Hygiene Out-patient Clinics in ScotlandMr. LEONARD asked the Secretary of State for Scotland

the number of out-patient clinics functioning under theBoard of Control for the use of persons conscious ofincipient mental trouble ; and whether they were opencontinuously or at separate advertised periods.-Mr.ELLIOT replied : There are nine mental hygiene out-patientclinics in Scotland-four in Glasgow, three in Edinburgh,one in Paisley, and one in Perth. Seven are attached togeneral hospitals and all are. under the direction of

psychiatrists from mental hospitals. They are open atadvertised times.

MEDICAL MEMBERS OF THE L.C.C.

ALL ten medical members of the London CountyCouncil offered themselves for re-election on March4th when, outside the City of London, every seatwas contested. Two of the candidates were unsuc-cessful : Dr. Henry Robinson who was defeated inKensington (North) and Dr. S. McClements in Wool-wich (West). Dr. Doris Odlum contested Hammer-smith (North) without success. The eight medicalmen and women who will serve on the Council forthe next three years are :

Name RepresentingDr. C. W. Brook.. Southwark (North) .. Lab.Dr. S. Monckton Cope-man .... Hampstead .... M.R.

Dr. J. A. Gillison .. Bermondsey (Rotherhithe) Lab.Mr. Somerville Hast-

ings .... Stepney (Mile End) .. Lab.Dr. Bernard Homa .. Hackney (Central) .. Lab.Dr. S. W. Jeger .. Shoreditch .... Lab.Dr. F. Barrie Lambert Westminster (St. George’s) M.R.Miss E. Rickards .. Greenwich .... Lab.

Lab. = Labour. M. R. = Municipal Reform.

The new Council held its first meeting on

Wednesday, when Lord Snell was re-elected chairman.