§ MR. CHIOZZA MONEY (Paddington, N.)I beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board if his attention has been directed to the tact that on 12th June an important census was taken in Germany which will throw important light upon the social condition and vocations of the German people, and which will show,. inter alia, the number of persons engaged in hand-work or machine-work, or both, and the extent to which home labour enters into manufacturing and trade; and whether in view of the fact that no census department exists in this country, he will forthwith sot up a Commission or Committee to take into consideration the British census of 1910, in order that some improvement may be effected upon the methods of the last census.
I beg also to ask the President of the Local Government Board if his attention has been directed to the fact that no complete uniform census of the United Kingdom exists, and that the only census information relating to the whole nation is presented in the form of a small section which appears almost at the end of the General Report of the census of England and Wales; and whether he will give consideration to the question of making the census of 1910 uniform for the whole country.
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD (Mr. John Burns, Battersea)I am aware of the occupation and industrial census which was taken in Germany on 12th June last. The census of the United Kingdom is taken in accordance with the Census Acts relating to Great Britain and Ireland, and Bills for the census of 1911 will be introduced in the session of 1910. It is the practice, in anticipation of each census, for the Registrar-General to confer with the Government Departments concerned, with the view of considering any improvements which may be thought desirable. It does not seem to me necessary, therefore, that a Commission or Committe of the kind suggested should be 1161 appointed. I will call the attention of the Registrar-General to the point raised by my hon. friend as to making the next census uniform for the whole country, but I fear that owing to the different conditions prevailing in the three Kingdoms, it may not be found practicable to bring them exactly into line in this matter.