asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Overseas Trade Department, as representing the Ministry of Health, if he can state the number of paupers at present in the workhouses of England and Wales; and what number could the workhouses contain at their full complement?

On the 17th February last the number of persons, excluding casuals, who were being relieved in institutions provided by Poor Law authorities was 204,000 and the number of beds in those institutions approximately 282,000.