§ MR. HOWELLI beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether his attention has been called to some very remarkable statements made by Mr. J. Lawrence Hamilton, M.R.C.S., respecting the fish supply of the Metropolis; the deficiency of its markets; the enormous waste and the spoiling of fish, often delivered in a bad, and even putrid, stale under the present system; increased cost, amounting to hundreds per cent., paid by the consumer, chiefly owing to rings of market middlemen, who pay only a fractional part to the fishermen; and whether, in view of the facts stated and the general abuses in connection with the fish trade, he will advise Her Majesty to issue a Royal Commission to inquire into the matter, and report as to the best means for protecting the interests of the fishermen, for cheapening and increasing the fish supply, to improve its quality, and generally as to the advisability of further fish-market accommodation in the Metropolis.
§ *THE FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY (Mr. W. H. SMITH,) Strand, WestminsterI am informed that the statements of Mr. Hamilton as to the fish supply of the Metropolis are, to say the least, highly coloured. Many of the questions raised by Mr. Hamilton have been already inquired into; and it does not appear that any more light would be thrown on the subject by the appointment of a Royal Commission. With regard to the alleged deficiency of markets, it is to be observed that, although new fish markets have been started, they have failed to compote with Billingsgate; and as to the waste of fish, 957 though there must be waste in such a trade, the fish condemned in 1889 only amounted to one in 334.