§ MR. W. F. LAWRENCE (Liverpool, Abercromby)I beg to ask the First Commissioner of Works whether he is aware that recently, in the morning, in the Law Committee Room, the thermometer registered 74 degrees, and in the Library 68 degrees; and that in entering the House between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m., even on a fine morning, the atmosphere intimates an inadequate influx of fresh air; whether his attention has been called to the impossibility or inadequacy of opening windows, both in the lobbies and elsewhere; and whether he will consider the propriety of altering the windows generally so as to enable them to be opened during the summer months, especially at the top?
THE FIRST COMMISSIONER OF WORKS (Mr. A. AKERS DOUGLAS,) Kent, St. Augustine'sMy honourable Friend does not state on which day the temperature in the Law Committee Room was shown to be 74 degrees. The readings of the thermometer taken between 10 and 11 o'clock on the first three days this week do not show so high a figure, the temperature varying between 67 and 69 degrees, or within two degrees of the outside shade temperature. However, if by any alteration of the existing windows greater comfort can be secured for Members using this Committee Room, I will gladly give directions that the necessary work shall at once be carried out. The matters referred to in the second and third paragraphs of the Question are now under consideration.