§ Mr. BOTTOMLEYasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether 1432 his attention has been called to the proceedings at a recent inquest at Hammersmith upon the body of Edith May Clark, aged two years, who, being left outside a public-house whilst her mother went in to buy some supper beer, ran into the road and was knocked down by a motor omnibus; whether he has also had his attention drawn to the observations of the coroner, to the effect that an accident of this kind was one of the dangers of the public-house Clause in the Children Act, and was liable to frequently happen; and whether he has yet completed his promised inquiry into the working of the clause in question?
§ Mr. GLADSTONEI have seen a newspaper report of the inquest referred to. The point will receive attention when the observations upon the working of the Act, which are still in progress, are completed; but there is nothing in the Section mentioned to justify or excuse a mother who leaves infant children unattended in a crowded street.
§ Mr. BOTTOMLEYHas the right hon. Gentleman also received a report from the police officer, and has his attention been called to the fact that there has been an enormous increase in the number of lost children who have been brought to the police since this Clause has been passed?
§ Mr. GLADSTONEI have no information.