HC Deb 27 November 1902 vol 115 cc621-3
MR. JOHN BURNS) (Battersea

I beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board whether, having regard to the scarcity of employment which now exists in many parts of the country, and the fact that the scarcity usually becomes more general during the winter months, he will consider the advisability of issuing a circular, similar in character to those issued in 1893 and 1895 by the Local Government Board, urging the local authorities to carry out such works of sanitation and local improvement as could be undertaken by those who are in need of employment.

THE PRESIDENT OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD (Mr. WALTER LONG,) Bristol, S.

The subject referred to in the Question is receiving my careful consideration, and I am taking steps to obtain the best information I can with regard to it. I am not in a position to say that it is expedient to issue at the present moment a circular of the kind suggested, but it I should hereafter find this course to be desirable, I shall not hesitate to adopt it.

MR. JAMES LOWTHER) (Kent, Thanet

May I ask whether the situation is not aggravated by the wholesale importation of pauper aliens.

MR. WALTHER LONG

No, sir, I cannot say I have reason to believe that.

MR. KEIR HARDIE (Merthyr Tydvil)

I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether, in view of the destitution due to scarcity of employment, the Government will introduce legislation on an early date to empower local authorities, acting either singly or in combination, to make provision for obviating the hardships entailed upon the working class during periods of bad trade.

THE PRIME MINISTER AND FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY (Mr. A. J. BALFOUR,) Manchester, E.

I may remind the hon. Member that a Committee was appointed in 1895 on this subject, and reported in 1896, and of that Committee the hon. Member was, I believe, a member for a part of the time. It did not find it practicable to make any recommendations for legislation to supply work. The Local Government Board have no evidence of seriously increased destitution or scarcity of employment, though the Board of Trade Gazette suggested some recent increase in the number of unemployed.

*MR. HERBERT SAMUEL) (Yorkshire, W. R. Cleveland

Will the right hon. Gentleman consent to the reappointment of a Committee or Royal Commission to consider what measured are practicable for dealing with this question?

MR. A. J. BALFOUR

I think the question is hardly ripe for a second Committee.