§ MR. P. S. STEVENSON (Suffolk, Eye)I beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board whether the instructions laid down by the Registrar General are intended to prevent Registrars from giving to newspapers the number of inhabitants in their districts; whether he is aware that in some cases Registrars are declining to give the information, on the ground that they are not certain whether it is allowable for them to do so; and whether, in view of the interest taken in the numbers, and considering that it is well understood that such numbers as the Registrars supply are subject to correction after final revision in the Census Department, he will make it clear that no such prohibition exists?
§ MR. RITCHIEI have communicated with the Registrar General, and I learn from him that the Census officers are forbidden to give any information concerning the unrevised results of the enumeration in anticipation of their official publication. The Registrar General considers that it would be unwise to withdraw the prohibition; and I agree with him that it would be inadvisable to give general permission to Registrars to furnish information to the local Press and others which may prove incorrect.