§ *SIR CHARLES DILKE () Gloucestershire, Forest of DeanI beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he can state at what date he will issue the reports of the inspectors of factories for 1899, promised by him last August for an early date in this session.
§ *THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Sir M. WHITE RIDLEY,) Lancashire, BlackpoolI have considered carefully, with the Chief Inspector of Factories, the question of the reports of the work of his Department. New arrangements hare been made for the preparation of the great mass of material with which his annual report has to deal; and he expects to have it ready for publication in May. With this object, it is necessary to omit the annual returns of persons employed which in recent years have been tabulated for the purposes of the report.