§ MR. CUNINGHAME GRAHAM (Lanark, N.W.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been directed to the alleged extreme narrowness of the shaft in the Morfa Pit, as stated in the Daily Graphic recently; whether it is true that it would have been possible to rescue the horses now left to starve in No. 9 level of the said pit, had the shaft been of an ordinary width and the cage of sufficient size; and whether it would be possible to insert a special clause in the Mines Act rendering it illegal for horses to be used in pits wherein there are no means of saving them in cases of explosion?
§ *THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. MATTHEWS, Birmingham, E.)No, Sir. My attention has not been called to the structure of the Morfa Pit shaft. Until I receive the Report of the Inspector and of the legal representative of the Home Office at the inquest, I am not in a position to answer the question in the second paragraph. I will consider the suggestion in the last paragraph of the question.