§ MR. JOHN WILSON (Durham, Mid)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that at the Castle Eden Petty Sessions, Durham, held en 17th July, the check weighman at Smith Hetton Colliery was ordered by the magistrates to be removed from his position because it was alleged he had interfered with one of the workmen; and that the interference, as stated by the workman, consisted solely of answering a question which the said workman had put to the checkweighman; and whether he can cause an inquiry to he made into the facts with the view to getting the removal order cancelled.
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Sir MATTHEW WHITE RIDLEY, Lancashire, Blackpool)I have seen a report of the case referred to. The checkweighman had a conversation with four men who had been asked to work for a shift and a half on a piece of road that had become dangerous; and as a result of this conversation they stopped working at the end of a shift. The magistrates held that this was impeding the working of the mine within the meaning of the Act; and I have no power to interfere with their decision.