2 JANUARY 1915, Page 11

The first Report of Sir Ernest Hatch's Committee appointed in

October to investigate the problem of finding employment for Belgian refugees was issued last Saturday. Of the estimated million of Belgian refugees, over a hundred thousand have come to Britain. The Report surveys the historical conditions of the flight from Belgium—the Odyssey, as the writers call it, using a favourite word of French journalists— and the reception and distribution of the refugees in the United Kingdom. A classification of the refugees was drawn up by the Registrar-General, who by the end of November bad obtained information about a hundred thousand persons. About twenty-four tboueand could be classified by occupations.