§ MR. DAVID THOMAS (Merthyr Tydvil)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he will state what are the qualifications required of candidates for the office of inspectorship of factories; what experience or expert knowledge of steam, hydraulic, or electric machinery is necessary in applicants for the position; and if he will state the previous business or avocation of the present inspectors of factories in Glamorganshire.
§ * THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. RITCHIE,) CroydonThe requirements are too numerous and too varied to be stated within the limits of an answer in the House. But I may 827 say generally that previous experience in factories and workshops is one of the considerations which carry great weight with the Secretary of State in selecting candidates in the first instance; and that a knowledge of mechanics and machinery is an important element in the test examination upon the results of which appointments are finally made. With regard to the gentlemen referred to in the second paragraph of the Question, I am not called upon to say more than that they duly satisfied the various tests applied to them.