§ MR. OLDROYD (Dewsbury)I beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board for what reason the Registrar General has forbidden the District Registrars to supply the local newspapers in their respective districts with the lists of deaths; whether, and for what reason, the same restriction has been put upon the supply of lists of marriages which take place in the offices of the Registrars or in Nonconformist places of worship; and whether the same restrictions are put upon clergymen of the Established Church in their capacity as Registrars?
§ * MR. RITCHIEAs I have stated previously in reply to similar questions, Registrars are, and always have been, forbidden to allow to be published any statement of facts respecting the registration of deaths. The reason given by the Registrar General for this rule is that, where a statutory duty is imposed on persons to furnish information for official purposes, they have ground for complaint if such information is communicated to the local Press. The same restriction is put upon Superintendent Registrars as regards the publication of marriages. Over clergymen of the Established Church the Registrar General has no authority. I may add that I entirely approve of the rule, and I find that where it has been violated complaints have been made on the subject by persons affected.