HC Deb 19 March 1894 vol 22 c564
MR. HOWELL (Bethnal Green, N.E.)

I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that the Report on Trade Unions for the year 1892 is not yet out; whether he is aware that the Unions are rapidly issuing and sending out the Reports for 1893 before the Official Report of the Board of Trade has been published; and will he explain the cause of the delay?

THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE (Mr. MUNDELLA,) Sheffield, Brightside

The Trade Union Report for 1892 is now partly in the Press, and will be ready shortly. It is impossible to avoid delay in the preparation of this Annual Report. The Returns on which it is based are not wholly received by the Registrar of Friendly Societies, who lends them to the Board of Trade until the Autumn of the year following that to which they refer.