MR. CATHCART WASONI beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury if he will say whether, and, if so, when it is proposed to set up a Committee for the purpose of inquiring into and reporting on the best method of permitting persons who are necessarily absent from their homes between the nomination of candidates and the day of poll to record their votes.
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURI understand that in the course of the debate on Friday my right hon. friend the President of the Local Government Board expressed willingness to refer the subject alluded to in the Question to a Select Committee, and that the offer was not accepted. I do not know, therefore, why the hon. Member should press the matter further. However, I am of opinion that possibly some inquiry may be desirable, though the Government have not decided what form the inquiry should take as likely to lead to useful result, and I must defer answering the Question.