§ MR. D. THOMAS(Merthyr Tydvil):I beg to ask the Vice President of the Committee of Council on Education whether it is competent for a Local Authority to set aside part of the Parlia- 1847 mentary grants in aid of technical and manual instruction for the purpose of encouraging, by means of prizes at public competitions, efficiency in timbering, rock-boring, wire-rope splicing, and other work requiring technical skill in connection with colliery operations?
§ THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL(Sir W. HART DYKE,) Kent, DartfordSuch subjects of instruction may very properly be included among those to which aid is given, but, as I have already stated in regard to agriculture, I think the special form in which it is proposed to distribute the grant may be open to exception as to its legality, although something might depend upon the method of its connection with some general scheme of instruction in mining.