§ Lieut. - Commander KENWORTHYasked the President of the Board of Trade if he will state the total tonnage of merchant shipping under construction during the first quarter of 1929 and 1931, respectively, in British shipyards and the shipyards of all other countries, taking the most suitable date in each quarter for purposes of comparison; and if he can state the reason or reasons for the apparent falling on from the 1927 figures in the tonnage laid down during the first quarter of 1931 in British shipyards in comparison to the smaller falling off in foreign shipyards?
§ Mr. W. GRAHAMAccording to returns published by Lloyd's Register of Shipping, the tonnage of merchant vessels of 100 tons gross and upwards under construction in Great Britain and Ireland on 31st March, 1929 and 1931, was 1,357,000 and 694,000 tons gross, respectively; for the rest of the world the corresponding figures are 1,480,000 and 1,306,000 tons gross, respectively. I am afraid that it would be impossible within the scope of this answer to deal at all adequately with the latter part of the question.