§ LORD ELCHO (Ipswich)asked the Secretary to the Board of Trade, Whether his attention has been called to the fact that in several of the larger towns of England labour bureaux have been successfully started; whether the Government of the day, some time ago, promised to institute a similar Government Office; whether anything came of this promise; and, if so, whether he will lay upon the Table of the House a Report of the proceedings and work done by the bureau; and, whether, in view of the present depression in trade, Her Majesty's Government can see the way to developing the idea, and to extending the sphere of its usefulness, and by collecting and disseminating information and statistics as to the condition of trade and the labour market, so as to enable capital seeking labour and labour seeking employment to meet?
§ THE SECRETARY (Baron HENRY DE WORMS) (Liverpool, East Toxteth)The Board of Trade have no official knowledge respecting the labour bureaux referred to by the noble Lord. As regards the second and third parts of the Question, I would refer the noble Lord to the Parliamentary Paper on Labour Statistics, which, was presented to the House of Commons on the 21st of September, and which contains full information as to the arrangements made by the Board of Trade for giving effect to the Resolution of the House on the 2nd of March last. In answer to the latter part of the Question, I can say that the first volume of the statistics is now in the hands of the printers, and that other volumes will, it is hoped, be published during the year.