§ CAPTAIN NORTONI beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that men with less than two years' service are now leaving the Metropolitan Police Force in larger numbers than at any previous period; and also that one of the chief causes of their action is the difficulty they experience in finding suitable house accommodation in the inner or town districts, unless at the sacrifice of such a proportion of their pay as leaves them scarcely a living wage, and places them at a disadvantage as compared with the better class workers from the ranks of 594 which they are mainly recruited; and whether he will cause inquiry to be made into all the circumstances of the case.
§ * THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Sir M. WHITE RIDLEY,) Lancashire, BlackpoolI am not aware that the facts are as stated in the first paragraph, or that the chief cause of removals from the Metropolitan Police Force is that suggested in the second paragraph. As about 85 per cent. of the men with less than two years' service are single, and are provided with lodgings in section houses, they are least affected by a difficulty which not only affects the police, but equally also all other classes of the community whose occupations compel them to live within the congested districts of inner London.