§ MR. WILLIAM ABRAHAM (Glamorgan, Rhondda)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the Summaries of Statistics of Mines and Minerals for the year 1895 will be issued; and, whether besides issuing the Inspectors' Reports separately for each district, he will cause the whole of the Reports to be issued under one cover, as was the practice formerly?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Sir MATTHEW WHITE RIDLEY,) Lancashire, BlackpoolI am unable to say at present when the Summaries for 1895 will be issued. This is the first year in which Returns from Quarries under the Quarries' Act, 1894, have been included, and as there are more than 10,000 quarries that come within the provisions of the Act, the work of preparation has been exceedingly heavy. I do not propose to issue the Inspectors' Reports under one cover; the present practice was decided upon several years ago as being more convenient, economical, and in accordance with the practice of other Departments, and there is no difficulty, if any one wishes it, in obtaining all the separate Reports. I may also call the hon. Member's attention to the "Annual General Report of the Mining Industry" in one volume, which appeared a few months back, for the first time and which is based on the several Reports of the Inspectors and the mineral statistics.