§ MR. FELL (Great Yarmouth)I beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board if his attention has been drawn to the statement that the unemployed at the farm colony at Hollesley Bay, to the number of over 300, were sent up to London to vote at the recent municipal elections; if so, by whose authority was this done, and wore the expenses of the trip paid out of the rates: of any of the municipalities, out of funds subscribed by the charitable, or out of the £200,000 to be provided by the Government; and if by none of these, by whom were they paid.
§ MR. JOHN BURNSI am informed that there were only 138 men at the farm colony on 1st November, and that of these fifty-two came up by special permission of the Working Colonies Committee for the purpose of voting at the borough council elections. I under-! stand that it is usual to give the men three clear days' leave once a month to enable them to look for work in London, and that the leave given on this occasion was in substitution for that to which the men would have been entitled not later than a fortnight from the date of the journey. The expenses will not be defrayed out of the rates, but out of the Voluntary Contributions Account, from which all railway fares in cases of leave are paid. No part of the Government j Grant will lie applicable for this purpose.