HC Deb 15 July 1907 vol 178 cc335-6
Dr. RUTHERFORD (Middlesex, Brentford)

I beg to ask the President of the Board of Education whether His Majesty's Government will invite foreign Powers to send delegates to the International Congress on School Hygiene to be held in London next month.

The following Questions also appeared on the Paper: —

MR. ALDEN (Middlesex, Tottenham)

To ask the Secretary to the Board of Education whether he will consider the possibility of giving an official reception to the delegates of the Second International Congress on School Hygiene.

MR. J. RAMSAY MACDONALD

To ask the President of the Board of Education whether the Board is taking any official part in the International Congress on School Hygiene; whether the Board has approached the Foreign Office with a view of securing the official representation of foreign countries at the Congress; whether any communication between the two offices on this subject has taken place; and what steps his Department has taken to carry out the promise made by its representative at Nuremberg, as printed in the transactions of the Congress, that the Government would officially recognise the Congress and feel honoured by its presence in London.

The PRESIDENT of the BOARD of EDUCATION (Mr. McKenna, Monmouthshire, N.)

The Board of Education are greatly interested in the approaching Congress on School Hygiene, and have intimated their intention of sending three of their officers to attend it. I hope to derive much information from its proceedings, and I have done my best to facilitate its deliberations by arranging for special investigations and reports to be prepared in elucidation of some important matters which will come under discussion. The various foreign countries have already received invitations, which were forwarded to the respective Governments through the Foreign Office. A considerable number have signified their intention to send representatives. The University of London are finding rooms for the Congress, and I am also placing certain rooms at South Kensington at their disposal. I have thus been able to carry out to the fullest extent all that was promised by the Board's representative at the Nuremberg Conference.