§ 117. Mr. John Hallasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will intro duce legislation conferring power upon the Registrar of Friendly Societies to send for the books of societies registered with him.
Mr. AmoryThe Registrar of Friendly Societies has the power to demand access in certain cases to the books of those societies in which the public interest is most closely involved, the building societies. In his capacity of Industrial Assurance Commissioner he has a similar power with regard to collecting friendly societies. I do not think it is necessary to extend that power to books of other societies with which he is concerned; I think it is enough to rely on the publicity which his annual reports give to problems arising in this field.