§ MR. SALT (Stafford)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is able to produce any statistics, or to lay any Reports upon the Table of the House, that will give reliable information as to the effect of the erection of artisans' dwellings, and of street improvements, during recent years, upon the poorest and most crowded portions of the population, who cannot afford to pay more than 1s. or 1s. 6d. per week for house accommodation?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. MATTHEWS, Birmingham, E.)I have endeavoured to collect information on this subject, and have made inquiries in various quarters, but they do not enable me to produce statistics, or to lay a Report upon the Table of a complete or reliable nature. I have no better information than was elicited by the Royal Commission on the Housing of the Working Classes, by whom, as my hon. Friend is doubtless aware, the subject of street improvements 1319 is dealt with, and full use is made of previous inquiries by the Select Committee of this House in 1881–2.