§ * SIR CHARLES DILKE (Gloucestershire, Forest of Dean)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been called to a statement made on the 4th August, 1899 by his predecessor, to the effect that he thought that it would be possible to present early in the session the reports of the factory inspectors, and that he had obtained the consent of the Treasury to an increase of the staff of clerks in the Factory Department for 832 the purpose of bringing out the reports, and can he state when he expects the report, long in the printers' hands, to be circulated.
§ * MR. RITCHIEYes, Sir; I am aware of the statement referred to. Since that time both my predecessor and myself have considered how it could be arranged that the factory report should come out earlier in the session, and I had hopes that it might have been presented at any rate in June this year. But I have been disappointed, owing mainly, I think, to the fact that the printers have not co-operated effectively with the Factory Department. The matter is now entirely in the hands of the printers, and I am told that the report cannot be issued before the 26th of this month.