SIR F. CHANGING (Northamptonshire, E.)To ask the President of the Board of Trade what has been in each year, from the year 1896 to the year 1906, inclusive, the number of railway servants killed by accidents in which the movement of vehicles used exclusively on railways was concerned, the number of instances in which such fatal accidents to railway servants have been investigated by inspectors or sub-inspectors of the Board of Trade, the number of inquests held in respect of such fatal accidents to railway servants, and the number of instances in which the coroner at any such inquest has applied to the Board of Trade for an official assessor at
§ same level as in 1902. The following figures, extracted from the above-mentioned Report, show, for each division of the United Kingdom, the average weekly earnings of agricultural labourers (including all payments in cash and the value of allowances in kind) in 1902*—
§ the highest and lowest county averages in 1902.
§ such inquest, in pursuance of Section 8 of The Railways Regulation Act, 1871.
§ (Answered by Mr. Lloyd-George.) A statement is attached showing the number of railway servants killed during the period mentioned by my hon. friend by train accidents and other accidents arising from the movement of railway vehicles, the number killed in such accidents as were investigated by the inspecting staff of the Board of Trade, and the number killed in cases in which the coroners holding the inquests asked for the appointment of an assessor. I have no knowledge of the number of inquests held, but it may, I think, be safely 205 assumed that every fatal accident to a railway servant forms the subject of a
| Year. | Number of railway servants killed in the movement of railway vehicles. | Number killed in accidents into which inquiries were held. | Number killed in cases in which coroners applied for assessors. |
| 1896 | 447 | 76 | — |
| 1897 | 510 | 89 | 3 |
| 1898 | 504 | 104 | 1 |
| 1899 | 531 | 83 | 3 |
| 1900 | 583 | 109 | 3 |
| 1901 | 511 | 101 | 3 |
| 1902 | 447 | 123 | — |
| 1903 | 455 | 121 | 1 |
| 1904 | 416 | 155 | 4 |
| 1905 | 399 | 156 | 3 |
| 1906 | 438 | 157 | 6 |