§ SIR JOHN LENG (Dundee)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India, whether he is aware that in a number of Indian jute mills cleaning and repairs of machinery are carried on regularly on Sundays, but that in several mills the engines are stopped on Saturday afternoons for cleaning and repairs to be done, so that the gates are not opened on Sundays; and, whether, apart from any legal question under the Indian Factories Acts, he will recommend the Government of India to use its influence in favour of the entire stoppage of work in the mills on Sundays, except in the case of serious accidents or other emergencies?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Lord GEORGE HAMILTON,) Middlesex, BalingI have no information regarding the number of jute mills at which machinery is cleaned on Sundays. The Indian Factory Act specifically permits the examining and repairing of machinery on Sundays. Moreover, while the Act enforces one holiday a week, it permits the holiday to be, on some other day than Sunday; and, according to the 1218 table published in the last Moral and Material Progress Report, 81 of the inspected factories had their holiday on some other day of the week.