§ 31. Mr. GEORGE HARDIEasked the Lord President of the Council whether, in regard to the extraction of oil from coal, the work proposed to be carried out is to be upon a laboratory or a commercial scale; and can he say what systems have been chosen?
§ The LORD PRESIDENT of the COUNCIL (Mr. Stanley Baldwin)I presume the hon. Member refers to the extension of work at the Fuel Research Station, East Greenwich, first announced in this House by the hon. Member for Linlithgow (Mr. Shinwell) on the 5th May last. As then stated the proposal is to develop laboratory scale experiments already made to "a small commercial scale to cover the hydrogenation, cracking and refining of tar oils." I would suggest that, as technical questions are involved which are not easily dealt with by way of question and answer, the hon. Member, or any other hon. Member wishing to have further information on this subject, should apply
| The following statement shows the number and net tonnage of Mercantile vessels launched in the United Kingdom during the year: | |||||||
| — | Sailing. | Steam. | Motor. | ||||
| Vessels. | Tons net. | Vessels. | Tons net. | Vessels. | Tons net. | ||
| Built for British owners | … | 232 | 18,685 | 285 | 314,065 | 259 | 212,261 |
| Built for Foreigners | … | 12 | 4,865 | 74 | 85,613 | 84 | 244,406 |
| Total | … | 244 | 23,550 | 359 | 399,678 | 343 | 456,667 |