§ MR. RICHARD POWERI beg to ask the Prime Minister, Whether the Royal Commission which has been appointed to inquire into the housing of the poor will extend its inquiries to Ireland?
MR. GLADSTONEI wish my right hon. and learned Friend (Sir William Harcourt), who has more direct information on this subject than I have, were here to answer this Question, and probably he would be able to give a more complete answer on a future day. But I should rather think that the course which is believed to be the best is this. There is an ample field for inquiry in England; and I think it is deemed best to traverse that field and exhaust that portion of the inquiry in the first instance, and then in the course of that inquiry probably much information will be gained upon the question how far and when it is desirable that this inquiry should be extended to Scotland and to Ireland.