§ MR. HOWORTH (Salford, S.)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for India whether, inasmuch as the Indian Factory Act does not apply to the Native States, he will consider the advisability of urging upon their rulers the necessity of introducing legislation for the protection of women and children employed in the manufactories of those States, and who now work from dawn to sunset?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Sir J. GORST,) ChathamThe policy of the Indian Government is to interfere as little as possible in the internal affairs of Native States, so long as the rulers govern justly. But the Secretary of State will bring this question to the notice of the Government of India, with a view to their advising 679 Native States containing factories to follow the Factory Legislation of British India.