§ MR. MACDONALDasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether it be true, as stated by Mr. G. W. Clark, the Chairman of the Merthyr Board of Guardians, at a recent meeting which was reported in the "Western Mail," that the Secretary of State had placed at the disposal of the Chairman of the said Board of Guardians a force of military and police; whether he was aware that Mr. G. W. Clark was one of those concerned in the lockout in South Wales; whether he can state to the House if Mr. G. W. Clark applied for the police and military force after he had consulted his brother magistrates of the district, or did it on his own responsibility; and, whether he will lay the Correspondence that took place between himself and Mr. G. W. Clark upon the Table of the House?
MR. ASSHETON CROSS, in reply, said, he was not aware till very lately that Mr. Clark was Chairman of the Board of Guardians, although he was aware he was one of the masters concerned in the lock-out in South Wales. As the hon. Member appeared to be under some misapprehension as to the facts of the case, he would briefly state them. The first intimation or request made to him about this matter was not by Mr. Clark alone, but by the stipendiary magistrate, who called upon him on the 25th of January, and requested him to send some of the metropolitan police into the district. He declined to accede to the request, and heard no more of the matter until the 23rd of February, when he received a letter from the stipendiary magistrate to the effect that he had received intelligence from the superintendent of the county police, who was of opinion that riots would probably occur, and that in the then existing state of the force under his control, without help, it would be impossible for him to preserve peace. He went on to say that if he could obtain 100 additional police, it would be sufficient to preserve the 139 peace. If it were impossible to obtain that number, he asked that a military force might be in readiness in case any disturbance should take place, adding that they would not be sent for unless their services were actually required. Those persons, he stated, who were best able to give an opinion on the subject seemed to think that special constables would be of no service in the present state of affairs, and the stipendiary added that what he had himself seen that morning on his way to the police court gave him strong reasons for believing that the opinion of the superintendent of police was well founded. That communication he (Mr. Cross) forwarded to the War Office, and orders were given in consequence of it alone. He received a similar communication from Mr. Clark, and this was the whole Correspondence on the subject.