§ MR. H. O. ARNOLD-FORSTER (Belfast, W.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether he can give an assurance that the rules contained in the Factory Act, by which the giving out of work in the shirt trade and similar industries is controlled, will not be relaxed; (2) whether he is aware that the relaxation would lead to the reintroduction of sweating in the trades referred to; and, (3) whether he will cause careful inquiry to be made into any petitions in favour of the relaxation of the rules which may have reached him, with a view to ascertaining how far they really represent the views of the actual workers in the trade?
§ SIR MATTHEW WHITE RIDLEYI am unable at present to say more in answer to the hon. Member's Question than that the whole subject is engaging my consideration and that the inquiries suggested in the last paragraph of the Question are being made.