§ 74. Mr. HURDasked the President of the Local Government Board what is the death rate for miners between the ages 2093 of twenty-five and fifty-five; and what is the average male death rate throughout England and Wales for the same age period?
§ Mr. PRATTThe hon. Member's question refers to "miners." I take it that "coal-miners" are intended. The death rate "varies for different age groups. The age group asked for is one of thirty years. Calculated on the three years 1910–12, the death rate per 1,000 for "all males" for the thirty years of age group 25–55 is 24.9; that for the age group 25–35 is only 14.4; for 35–45 it is 24.0; it rises in the 45–55 age group to 44.0. The corresponding rate for "all miners" for the 25–55 age group is 21.0 and for the three subdivisions of this age group 13.3, 20.4, 38.4. For "coal-miners" for the age group 25–55 the death rate is 20.7, and for the three sub-divisions 13.2, 20.1, and 38.0. These figures show that in the age group 25–55 years and for each sub-division of it the death rate for "coal miners" is lower than the corresponding rate for "all miners" and for "all miners" the death rates are lower than for "all males." The actual figures have been obtained from the Registrar-General's office and the calculations are based on his figures.
§ 75. Mr. HURDasked the President of the Local Government Board whether, as stated by Mr. Smillie at the Coal Commission, the infantile mortality of the United Kingdom generally is 5 per cent.—that is 50 per 1,000—while the infantile mortality in mining districts is 160 per 1,000, and what are the latest official figures under each head; and, if figures for the mining districts as a whole are not obtainable, what are the figures for some of the principal mining areas?
§ Mr. PRATTIt is customary to state the infantile mortality rate not as a percentage, but as deaths per 1,000 births. The Registrar-General reports that the infantile mortality rates, per 1,000 births for the United Kingdom and for England and Wales for the years 1915, 1916, and 1917 were as follows:
| Year. | United Kingdom. |
| 1915 | 110 per 1,000 births. |
| 1916 | 91 „ „ |
| 1917 | 97 „ „ |
§ In the following administrative counties—where over 10 per cent. of the total males 2094 are working as miners—the infantile mortality rates for the year 1915 were, as compared to 110 for the United Kingdom, as follows:
| Nottinghamshire | 102 per 1,000 births |
| Derbyshire | 98 per 1,000 births |
| Durham | 133 „ „ |
| Northumberland | 121 „ „ |
| Breconshire | 112 „ „ |
| Carmarthenshire | 102 „ „ |
| Denbighshire | 109 „ „ |
| Glamorganshire | 115 „ „ |
| Monmouthshire | 126 „ „ |
§ These figures may be taken as representative for other years.
§ Mr. HURDMay I ask the Leader of the House whether, in view of the substantial difference between these figures and those put before the Coal Commission, he would not think it desirable to let the official figures be submitted to Mr. Justice Sankey.
§ Mr. BONAR LAWI must confess I was not listening very attentively to the answer. I shall consider the question.