Three days have been allotted to the Report Stage of
the Factories Bill. It is on occasions of this kind that the House of Commons most nearly resembles a Council of State. Speeches are short. Members contribute the result of their own experience or observation. On matters of detail the Government can make concessions without loss of prestige, while their supporters are less conscious of the obligation to play for their side. All of which was illus- trated by the new clause in which Sir Samuel Hoare propcsed to enforce the provision of washing facilities in certain classes of factories. Speakers from every party joined in the demand that such accommodation should be obligatory in all factories, reserving power to the Home Secretary to grant exemption in special circumstances. It is not often that we hear Miss Ellen Wilkinson echoing the sentiments of Mr. Herbert Williams. Arnold Bennett wrote of the Clayhanger home—" Godliness was child's play in that house, compared to cleanliness." Obviously several members could say the same of the factories in which they had once worked. Sir Samuel Hoare was wise to defer to the universal feeling and withdraw the clause with a promise to remodel it in the house of Lords. To describe this concession as " retreat " or " surrender," as some Opposition papers have done, is both petty and meaningless ; if a Minister is never to bow to the wishes of the House Parliamentary Government becomes a farce.
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