§ MR. GEORGE ROBERTS (Norwich)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if ho will explain why the assent of his Department has been withheld from the by-laws drafted by the Norwich Corporation under the Employment of Children Act, 1903.
§ MR. GLADSTONEI regret the delay which has taken place with regard to these by-laws, but I must point out that it has been partly due to the inaction of the Norwich Corporation, in not sending to the Home Office certain information which their representatives, at an interview with a member of the Department which took place in February, 1905, arranged to furnish. The Corporation assure me, however, that the by-laws were drafted after full inquiry and mature consideration of the needs of the locality, and I propose, subject to one or two necessary alterations, to give them my provisional approval.