§ Mr. FLEMINGasked whether the right hon. Gentleman's attention has been called to the fact that the chief Radical registration agent for South Oxfordshire, Mr. A. E. Cornish, has been appointed, and is acting, as a Census enumerator for the borough of Henley-on-Thames, and may thus be afforded the opportunity to acquire, at the public expense, valuable official information which may be used for party purposes in connection with the registration of Parliamentary voters; and whether, under the circumstances, he will take steps to prohibit the use of information so acquired, at Henley or elsewhere, for any other purposes than those authorised by the Census Act?
§ Mr. BURNSUnder Section 12 (3) of the Census Act, 1910, it is provided that, if any person employed in taking the Census communicates, without lawful authority, any information acquired in the course of his employment he shall be guilty of a breach of official trust within the meaning of the Official Secrets Act, 1889. The attention of enumerators was specially drawn to this provision in the instructions which were issued to them before the taking of the Census.
An HON. MEMBERMay I ask whether the right hon. Gentleman thinks he is a proper person not to be exposed to these temptations?