§ MR. THORNEI beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board whether a circular has been sent round to 938 the various boards of guardians calling upon them to close the relief works and stoneyards which have been opened for the purpose of finding work for the unemployed; and, if so, whether the Board can suggest to the boards of guardians what kind of work should be undertaken to relieve the thousands of men who are out of employment in the various industrial centres.
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD (Mr. JOHN BURNS, Battersea)Labour yards are opened, not for the purpose of finding work for the unemployed, but of enabling the guardians to set able-bodied men to work as a condition of their receiving outdoor relief. The Local Government Board have not issued any circular to boards of guardians as to the closing of the labour yards, but in some instances the Board have, now that the winter is over, asked the guardians to consider the question of closing the labour yard. If the guardians, with their knowledge of the local circumstances, adopt this course, any destitute able-bodied male person applying for relief would be relieved in the workhouse, unless in a special case the guardians departed from the requirements of the regulations on the subject, and the Board assented to their doing so.
§ MR. THORNEput a supplementary Question which Mr. Burns declined to answer on the ground that it did not arise out of that on the Paper.