§ MR. NUSSEY (Pontefract)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention 1291 has been directed to the verdict of the jury in the case of the inquest on the men killed at the riots at Featherstone, which took place on Thursday, 7th September; whether he is aware that the jury unanimously agreed that had the district not been deprived of police, who had been sent to Doncaster Races, there would have been no necessity for the presence of the military; whether he is aware that the jury, while Regretting that such extreme measures as firing on the crowd had been adopted by the authorities, refused to give a verdict in the case of James Gibbs as to whether it was justifiable homicide or not; and whether he will direct that a full inquiry shall be held as to the measures taken for the preservation of peace?
§ MR. ASQUITHI am aware that in the inquest to which my hon. Friend refers the jury expressed their opinion to the effect stated in the 2nd and 3rd paragraphs of the question. In the inquest in the case of James Duggan, the other of the two men who were killed, the jury returned a verdict of justifiable homicide. I have called for the depositions taken at both inquests and a full Report of all the proceedings. Until I have had an opportunity of reading and carefully considering the evidence, and obtaining such further information as then appears to me to bear upon the question, I must defer answering my hon. Friend's concluding inquiry.