§ MR. PICKARDI beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will lay upon the Table of the House a verbatim copy of the shorthand notes taken at the Coroner's inquest on the 176 bodies killed by the explosion at the Llanerch Colliery, Monmouth, on 6th February, 1890; whether he will give instructions to prosecute the manager and firemen for having violated General Rules 4, 8, and 12 of "The Mines Act, 1887"; and whether, having regard to the safety and well-being of our miners generally, and the Llanerch miners in particular, he will institute a special inquiry into the cause or causes of the explosion at this colliery, as provided in Section 45 of "The Mines Act, 1887"?
§ MR. MATTHEWSI have no reason to believe that there is any widespread demand for these notes, which are voluminous, and I am therefore unwilling to sanction the expense of laying them upon the Table, which would be considerable; but I shall be happy to show them to any hon. Member who is interested in the subject. Having regard to the opinion expressed in page 12 of the Report of the learned counsel, I do not propose to give instructions that a prosecution shall be instituted. I consider that the able and exhaustive Report already made has rendered unnecessary a special inquiry under Section 45, which would not, in my opinion, be likely to tend to any further elucidation of the facts, or throw more light on the actual causes of the explosion.
MR. FENWICKMay I ask whether the right hon. Gentleman, after reading the rules, admits that there was any violation of Rules 4, 8, and 12; and may I also ask whether the right hon. Gentleman will undertake to lay on the Table the Minutes of the evidence taken at the inquiry?
§ MR. MATTHEWSIf there is any general desire, I would have them printed. Generally speaking, there are not more than half a dozen Members who desire to see such Papers. On a former occasion I found extremely few copies were asked for. The able gentleman who conducted the inquiry was of opinion that there was not sufficient evidence to justify a prosecution.