§ MR. CHARLEYasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether he has sent down Commissioners to Liverpool to inquire respecting the destruction of Infant Life resulting from the employment of pregnant women to spill off into rope yarn large bundles of hemp bound round their waists; and, if so, whether he will lay upon the Table of the House the Report of the Commissioners?
MR. BRUCE,in reply, said, he had received, about three weeks ago, a statement to the effect of the hon. and learned Member's Question, and directed an inquiry to be made, not by Commissioners, but by the Inspector of Factories. The Inspector had sent down a sub-Inspector, who saw the women at work and examined into the truth of the statement. His report was that there was no foundation whatever for the statement, and that the women, who earned good wages, were unusually healthy, and would compare very satisfactorily with the women employed in factories.