§ 40. Mr. R. RICHARDSONasked the Secretary for Mines if he is aware of cases of miners in a state of starvation; and, if so, what steps he proposes to take to prevent the recurrence of such cases among persons engaged in the mining industry?
§ The SECRETARY for MINES (Colonel Lane Fox)No, Sir; I am not aware of 1846 such cases. The relief of distress is not within the powers or duties of my Department.
§ Mr. RICHARDSONMay I ask the right hon. Gentleman if his attention was not called to a case in Nottingham where a man was summoned for poaching rabbits and fined 15s., and his defence was that he and his wife were sitting round the hearth without anything to eat? Is he not aware that there are hundreds of cases of this kind in my own county where, unfortunately, they cannot poach rabbits, under similar conditions?