§ MR. WATTI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attentien has been called to the refusal of the Certifying Surgeon of the Retford district of Nottingham to grant a certificate under the Factories Act, 1878, to John Rutherford, aged 15 years, of fitness to work in an iron foundry, upon grounds which another factory Inspector, as well as two other independent medical men, have stated are insufficient to preclude the lad obtaining a certificate; and whether, as it is a serious matter, preventing the lad from following his occupation, he will cause an inquiry to be made into the circumstances of the case?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. STUART WORTLEY,) Sheffield, HallamThe Chief Inspector has made inquiry and reports that the father wished his son, aged 14, to be apprenticed to him as an ironfounder. The Certifying Surgeon, not considering him fit for employment in an ironfoundry, declined to give him 335 a certificate. The father then had the boy examined by two surgeons, who saw no objection to his being employed. These opinions were placed in the hands of the Certifying Surgeon, who, however, still retained his opinion. There is no appeal from the decision of the Certifying Surgeon. The boy is, therefore, debarred from working in the ironfoundry, but a certificate of fitness would be given to him for other occupations.