§ MR. MACFARLANEasked the Chairman of the Metropolitan Board of Works, If he can state why the appointment of persons to inspect and report upon the means of exit from theatres and other places of public amusement, in ease of fire, was delayed from the 22nd July 1878, the date upon which the Act was passed, to the 13th January 1882?
§ SIR JAMES M'GAREL-HOGGSir, in answer to the hon. Member, I beg to state that in the first instance it was considered that the existing staff in the department of the Superintending Architect was sufficient for the gradual inspection of theatres and other places of public amusement; but experience has shown the pressure to be so heavy that it has been necessary to employ the additional assistance referred to in the Question, with a view to obtaining reports on structural defects, which, in the words of the Act, can be remedied at a moderate expense.