§ SIR F. BANBURY (City of London)To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been called to the resolution of the Association of Municipal Corporatior s passed at their annual meeting held at the Guildhall on 18th March last, to the effect that in the interests of public safety it was urgently necessary that the Explosives Act, 1875, should be amended, with a view to affording greater facilities to local authorities for exercising proper control; and whether he proposes taking any action in the matter, having regard to the rider attached to the verdict of the coroner's jury, to a similar effect, in the 1055 recent inquiry into the fatal explosion which occurred in the City of London on 1st January last.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Gladstone.) I have received a copy of the resolution referred to by the hon. Member. I hope as soon as the pressure of business admits of it, to appoint a small committee to consider the question of the suggested amendment of the Explosives Act, and other similar questions. The number of accidents is happily small.