§ Major GLYNasked the President of the Board of Trade what percentage of British ships is now laid up and how many individuals normally employed as crews for these ships are now unemployed?
§ Mr. W. R. SMITHThe information available does not enable me to state what percentage of British ships is now laid up, but the following figures may assist the hon. and gallant Member in his inquiry. On 31st December, 1929, 18,062 vessels of 12,388,876 tons net were registered under Part I of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, at ports of the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and Channel Islands. On 1st January, 1930, according to information furnished by the Chamber of Shipping, 157 British vessels of 347,052 tons net were laid up in ports of the United Kingdom. It is understood that substantial additions to these totals have since been made, but definite figures for later dates are not available. No information is available as to the number of persons who would normally be employed on these particular vessels. On 24th February, the number of wholly unemployed seamen, aged 18 years or over, on the registers of Employment Exchanges in Great Britain was 21,143.
STATEMENT showing the numbers of animals used for experimental purposes at the Chemical Warfare Experimental Station, Porton, since 1921, and the number of such animals who were killed as a result of the experiments. Numbers used. Animals. 1921. 1922. 1923. 1924. 1925. 1926. 1927. 1928. 1929. 1930. Totals. Rabbits … 5 103 256 445 474 385 86 190 134 32 2,110 Rats … 1 173 85 166 11 — — — — — 436 Goats … — 41 24 3 38 3 2 5 40 6 162 Guinea … — 83 101 251 89 193 259 138 128 8 1,250 Cats … — 31 56 68 35 20 11 14 13 3 251 Monkeys … — 16 9 4 — — 1 — 1 — 31 Mice … — 118 106 64 36 31 26 123 29 — 533 Horses … — — — — 5 12 — — — — 17 Canaries … — — — — — — — 24 16 — 40 Pigeons … — — — — — — — 30 16 — 46 Fowls … — — — — — — — 30 — — 30 Sheep … — — — — — — — — 2 — 2