§ MR. W. CARTWRIGHTsaid, he wished to ask the Under Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether he has arrived at a decision as to the propriety of extending over Scotch Counties, the area of the inquiry at this time being prosecuted in English Counties, into the expediency of applying the principles of the Factory Act to the regulation of the employment of children, young persons, and women in agriculture, especially with a view to the better education of such children?
§ MR. KNATCHBULL-HUGESSENsaid, in reply, that when the Commission was appointed power was given to the Secretary of State for the Home Department to extend the inquiry to Scotland. At first it was confined to England, but as the inquiry advanced it was found that the circumstances under which women and children were employed in agriculture in Scotland differed greatly from the circumstances under which they were so employed in this country. It had consequently been determined to extend the inquiry to Scotland.