§ Mr. T. GRIFFITHSasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if his attention has been drawn to the conditions under which the girl clerks sat for their examination at the Crystal Palace recently; whether he is aware that during the course of the examination Press photographs were taken of the girls at work; that the general public were moving about the galleries, and that bands were playing in the near vicinity; that several of the girls fainted owing to the amount of distraction that was going on around; and whether, in view of the conditions under which these girls had to carry out their work, he will consider the possibility of having this examination reheld at a more suitable place and under equal con- 864W ditions to those carried out in other parts of the country?
§ Mr. BALDWINThe Crystal Palace was the only building capable of accommodating the large numbers of candidates attending the recent examination for appointment to the Clerical Class (Women). No complaints on the grounds stated in the question were made to the Superintendents while the examination was in progress. Neither the band which on one day played in a distant part of the Palace for thirty-five minutes of the time when candidates were under examination, nor the movements of the public in other parts of the Palace, were sufficient to cause serious distraction to the candidates. The disturbance was probably less than that caused by the sounds of ordinary street traffic at other centres at which the examination was held.