§ MR. LOYDI beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he can state, for the information of farmers, at what premium per £ 100 of wages they could protect themselves by insurance with responsible insurance com- 578 panies in the United Kingdom against the liability which would be imposed upon them in the event of the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1897, being extended to agricultural labourers; and can he state whether the premiums asked by insurance companies, before the operation of the Act had been tested by experience, have already been considerably reduced in respect of accidents in the dangerous occupations to which the Act is at present confined.
§ *SIR M. WHITE RIDLEYI have no information on the first point which is not available to anyone who asks insurance companies for estimates; but I believe that the premium quoted ranges between 2s. 6d. and 3s. per £ 100 of wages. The premium must, of course, depend on circumstances, and might be varied by experience if the Act were extended to agricultural labourers, just as it is, I think, a matter of common knowledge that the charges made by insurance companies with respect to trades within the Act are considerably lower, in many cases, now that the Act has been in operation some time, than the figures originally suggested.