§ MR. W. H. SMITHI stated yesterday that I hoped to be able to make a statement with regard to the proposed Royal Commission on Labour Questions; and, as I received last night the sanction of Her Majesty to the Royal Commission, I now propose to read to the House first the terms of Reference and then the names of the Royal Commissioners approved by Her Majesty—
To inquire into the questions affecting the relations between employer and employed, the combinations of employers and of employed, and the conditions of labour, which have been raised during the recent trade disputes in the United Kingdom; and to report whether legislation can with advantage be directed to the remedy of any evils that may be disclosed; and, if so, in what manner.The Marquess of Hartington, M.P., the Earl of Derby, K.G., Sir Michael Hicks Beach, M.P., Sir John Gorst, M.P., Mr. Mundella, M.P., Mr. L. Courtney, M.P., Mr. H. Fowler, M.P., Sir E. Harland, M.P. (Shipbuilder and Engineer), Mr. J. C. Bolton, M.P. (Chairman, Caledonian Railway), Mr. Gerald Balfour, M.P., Mr. Jesse Collings, M.P, Mr. T. Burt, M.P. (Secretary, Northumberland Miners' Association), Mr. W. Abraham, M.P. (South Wales Miners' Committee), Sir Frederick Pollock (Corpus Professor of Jurisprudence, Oxford), Professor Marshall (Professor of Political Economy, Cambridge), Sir W. Lewis (Manager of Bute Docks, Cardiff), Mr. T. H. Ismay Managing Director of White Star Steamship Company), Mr. David Dale (ironmaster), Mr. G. Livesey (Chairman of South Metropolitan Gas Company), Mr. 229 W. Tunstall (Cotton Manufacturer), Mr. J. Mawdsley (Amalgamated Association of Operative Cotton Spinners), Mr. Tom Mann (President of Dock Labourers' Union), Mr. Edward Trow (Secretary of Board of Conciliation of the Iron and Steel Trades), Mr. Henry Tait (Chairman of the United Trades Council, Glasgow), Mr. S. Plimsoll, Mr. Hewlett (Managing Director of Wigan Coal and Iron Company), and Mr. M. Austin (Secretary, Irish Democratic Labour Federation).