§ MR. FAITHFULL BEGG (Glasgow, St. Rollox)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been drawn to the General Annual Reports of the Board of Trade, under section 29 of the Companies (Winding-up) Act, 1890, where under the heading "Amount of Company Insolvency there are given particulars of the number of cases in which winding-up proceedings were commenced during the year, and a comparison is instituted as to the proportion between new companies registered and the number of abortive or liquidating companies; whether he is aware that in the figures given of companies winding-up are included those of companies liquidated for the purposes of reconstructing or amalgamating prosperous business; and whether he will take steps to alter the form of the Return so that it may give a more accurate indication of the real facts of the case?
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE (Mr. C. T. RITCHIE,) CroydonThe particulars referred to relate both to new companies added to the Register, and 785 to old companies removed from it and include under both heads cases of reconstruction and amalgamation, where these involve the winding-up of an existing company and the formation of a new one. There are no means of distinguishing between prosperous and non-prosperous companies. But I am considering whether any steps can be taken for the purpose of obtaining fuller information regarding the actual amount of losses involved in liquidating companies.