§ LORD GEORGE HAMILTON (Middlesex, Ealing)To ask the President of the Local Government Board if, with the object of testing the assertions recently made that employment, in the aggregate, has fallen off in the United Kingdom and Ireland, he would have a Return made from the census tables of 1881, 1891, and 1901, giving, under a few general heads, the total number employed, including all in Government or municipal service, together with the total population of each period, and the percentage the employed bear to the population of each period.
(Answered by Mr. Walter Long) The Census Returns do not give the numbers of the population that are employed or unemployed at the date of each census, but only show the occupation usually followed by each individual when employed. I regret, therefore, that it is not in my power to cause the Return desired by my noble friend to be compiled.