§ MR. W. H. JAMESasked the Secretary to the Treasury, If his attention has been called to the statement in the Report of the Registrar of Friendly Societies, in which he states, in reference to the quinquennial Returns of sickness and mortality, that,
If the present Returns supply adequate data, the Chief Registrar is advised by the Actuary to the office that the purpose for which the quinquennial Returns of sickness and mortality were devised, viz. the collection of statistics on which to base Tables for the use of Friendly Societies, will have been, in his judgment, fulfilled; that the obligation to furnish this information has been a heavy burden on Societies, the continuance of which can only be justified by its necessity;and, how soon the Registrar will be able to give the information with respect to these data mentioned in his Report, and what has been the approximate public cost involved in their preparation?
§ Lord FREDERICK CAVENDISHSir, I learn that it will not be possible to say whether the data supplied by the Returns of 1880 are or are not sufficient until they have been tabulated, which work will, I believe, occupy some time. When that has been done, the Chief Registrar proposes to report to the Treasury on the subject. As regards the cost, it is estimated that the collection of the data supplied by the present Return has cost the public about£50 up to the present, paid from the Vote for the Office. I cannot say how much it has cost the Societies.