§ MR. BROADHURST,in rising to call attention to the constitution of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the condition of Trade and Industry, said, he wished only to make a few observations on the subject; and at the outset he might say that his complaint was not based upon political grounds. With the composition of the Commission, so far as it consisted of Tories, or Radicals, or the advocates of Free Trade or Fair Trade, he had nothing to do; but he thought he had great cause to complain, representing as he did the Trade Union Congress, of the almost entire exclusion 1915 of labour from the composition of the Commission. A subject which would inevitably come up for inquiry and consideration to a very great extent in a Commission of the kind was a question of restrictive laws on labour. The Employers' Liability Act, the Factories Act, the Factories Inspection Act, the Mines Regulation Act, and Education Act—all those questions must of necessity be inquired into for the purpose of comparison with the manufacturing nations of the Continent, such as France, Belgium, Switzerland, and Germany, in order to see how far labour and production were restricted by the operation of these laws in this country as against similar laws in the countries he had mentioned. Then would follow a comparison as to the working hours, the rate of wages, and, in all probability, the action of trade unions upon the productive freedom of the country. All these subjects formed questions of the deepest and most vital interest to the organized trades of the country; and 1916 he contended that in any Commission to inquire into the trade of the country labour ought to be adequately represented. He contended that the interests of labour were far more nearly concerned in an inquiry of this sort than the interests of capital, and that, if not on an equality, at least they should have been represented by far more than two Members. Lord Iddesleigh, however, by no means took that view. He had not a word to say against the nomination of Mr. Birtwhistle, though he was on the opposite side of politics to himself. He had, however, lately learned that the noble Lord had addressed a communication to Mr. Burnett, Secretary to the Amalgamated Society of Engineers.
§ Notice taken, that 40 Members were not present; House counted, and 40 Members not being present,
§ House adjourned at five minutes after Seven o'clock.