§ SIR ALFRED THOMAS (Glamorganshire, E.)On behalf of the hon. Member for the Eifion division of Carnarvonshire, I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether any supervision is exercised by the Home Office with regard to the qualifications and appointment of quarry managers; and, if not, whether, in view of the fact that the percentage of fatalities among inside workers in slate quarries in 1905 was nearly double that in coal mines, and that there have been six lives lost in Carnarvonshire already this year, he will appoint a Committee of Inquiry, with a view to the Amendment of the Quarries Act.
§ MR. GLADSTONEThere are no statutory requirements at present as to the appointment or qualifications of quarry managers. This is a point which has already been noted for consideration when I can find an opportunity for amending the Quarry Act. Having regard to the complication of the existing legislation on the subject, I have-decided to consult the Chairman of the-Royal Commission on Mines, with a view to advising His Majesty to include the consideration of accidents in quarries in the reference to the Commission.