§ MR. C. E. SCHWANN (Manchester, N.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his attention has been called to the statements of various inspectors (in the recent Report of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Factories and Workshops) that proper precautions are still not taken in India-rubber works to protect the workers, often women and girls, from the pernicious effects of sulphurous fumes, which cause various illnesses, nausea, and even paralysis; and also to the statement in the same Report as to the absence in some manufactories of hats of suitable fans and other means of ventilation to prevent the entry into the lungs of the workers of particles of fur and dust given off in the fur-blowing processes; and, whether he has power, and will exercise it with renewed energy, to cause the proprietors in both industries to take every precaution to obviate the highly deleterious effects of these operations?
§ SIR MATTHEW WHITE RIDLEYYes, Sir; I have seen the statements of Her Majesty's Inspectors. Both points are now under the consideration of the Committees on Dangerous Trades, and when I receive their Reports I will consider what further precautions may be necessary.