HC Deb 18 June 1880 vol 253 cc295-6
MR. MACDONALD

asked Mr. Attorney General, If persons that are employed in the dockyard and other public works of the Government fall within the provisions of the Employers' Liability Bill; and, if they do not, if he would explain why are they excluded from the protection intended for other workmen?

THE ATTORNEY GENERAL (Sir HENRY JAMES)

, in reply, said, the workmen referred to did not come within the provisions of the Bill. It was not intended that they should be included in its provisions, for it was a well-known legal principle that the Crown could not be proceeded against by a subject in respect of any alleged wrong; so that if workmen in the Government Dockyards were brought within the scope of the Bill, they would be placed in a better position than the rest of the public.