MOTION FOR RETURNS. (Hansard, 8 June 1877)

§ EARL DE LA WARR

rose to move for a Return of persons killed or injured in industrial occupations in the years 1873, 1874, 1875, and 1876. There had been from time to time Reports of the Inspectors of Factories, of Mines, and Railways, laid upon the Table of that House, in which were recorded many of the accidents, of the loss of life, and injuries which were daily occurring among the thousands who were engaged in industrial occupations of a more or less dangerous kind: but although the fatal accidents were perhaps fully given, accidents which were not fatal, but many of which caused permanent disablement, were not always recorded—more especially in the Mining Reports. Consequently there was a very imperfect return of casualties. Added to that, owing to the variety in form and number in which those Reports were presented, there was considerable difficulty in arriving at accurate conclusions. He would not trouble their Lordships with the history of legislation on those subjects. With reference to factories, it extended over a period of about 40 years, and a large amount of good had resulted—especially in placing restrictions upon the employment of women and children; but for the preservation of life and the prevention of injuries there remained much which it would seem might yet be done. He might mention one instance of that out of many others, in the words of an Inspector of Factories in the year 1875, who said— I take this opportunity of expressing my regret that no clause has been enacted by the 1874 Act or any other Factory Acts forbidding children to clean machinery in motion. 1480 He went on to say— It is very sad to know the number of children who are annually maimed by the thoughtless, nay, heartless way in which they are early driven to clean portions of fast-running machinery which it is quite impossible to fence. It is preposterous to say that these accidents arise from the children's own carelessness; nevertheless, in two out of every three cases that is the excuse offered."—[Report 1875, p. 56.] He believed he was correct in saying that a prohibition of that kind was recommended by the Royal Commission on the Factory Acts, but had never been adopted. Then, as regarded mines. The legislation on that subject dated not so far back as that in regard to factories—he believed the Bill introduced by Mr. Bruce in the House of Commons in the year 1872 was the first of any importance. But, with reference to fatal accidents, what had been the result of that Act? Mr. Bruce stated, in introducing the Mines Regulation Bill—"In 1870 the number of deaths from all causes was 991;" and what had it been since? In 1873 there were in mines 1,069 fatal accidents; in 1874, 1,056; in 1875, 1,244; in 1876, 1,003. That did not show any great diminution in fatal accidents—allowing for some increase in the number of mines; and of other accidents there did not appear to be any complete return. There was, however, a carefully-prepared report in a paper recently read before the Society of Arts, which estimated the annual number of accidents not fatal in mines at about 15,000. He believed that was no exaggerated statement, as he held in his hand an extract from the Report of the Lancashire and Cheshire Miners Permanent Relief Fund, by which it appeared that during the year 1876 there were 3,913 cases of disablement among the members and 56 fatal accidents; the number of members being 22,977. The fatal accidents placed on the funds 31 widows and 68 children, and at the close of the year 88 widows and 205 children were receiving annuities from the Society. That, their Lordships would observe, was in one district only. But besides that large number of casualties there was another fatal cause at work, which in these days of scientific knowledge and practice ought to be more successfully dealt with. He meant that of bad air in mines. In the Report of Mines recently laid upon the Table of that House for 1876, Mr. Evans, the 1481 Inspector of Mines in Wales, said, in a circular issued by him— At present the contravention of the Act with respect to ventilation is so general, that I have deemed it advisable to bring the matter thus specially under the notice of the owners. And in the Report he added— It is a matter of regret to me to find that the agents of these mines are, with very few exceptions, ignorant of the principles of ventilation. It was further stated in the Mining Reports of 1875 that "such an atmosphere is slow poison." Yet in that deadly atmosphere 500,000 miners were daily at work in this country. No wonder that the average life of a miner had been put at not more than 30 years; while sickness was stated to be about 70 per cent above the average of the population generally. It might be said that this was attributable to other causes besides bad air and casualties. Perhaps to some extent it was so; but it would not account for all. No doubt miners had their faults, but they had also their virtues, of which they had recently had some heroic examples; and it could not be without painful reflections that that daily sacrifice of life and disablement was reported and laid, perhaps in silence, upon the Table of the House. He turned for one moment to railways. It was computed that the number of railway servants of every class amounted to about 285,000. It appeared from the Returns that in the year 1876 about 1 in 64 was either killed or injured; and by a further analysis it was found that out of every 15 goods' guards and shunters, which were among the most dangerous employments, one was either killed or injured every year; and in the Report of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Insurance Society, to which his attention had been called, it appeared that out of a working staff of railway men of 10,000 employed, he believed, on the Lancashire and Yorkshire line, 1,579 had been killed or injured in the year 1876. Now, if all those accidents were unavoidable it would be useless to ask their Lordships' attention to the subject. It was because he believed they were in a great measure preventable in mines, on railways, and in factories, that he desired to place before their Lordships a full Return of all accidents. When he said many of these accidents were pre- 1482 ventable he was not speaking his own opinion only. It was the opinion of Factory Inspectors, of Railway Inspectors, and of Mine Inspectors. In the Report of the Inspector of Factories in 1876, speaking of engine boilers, he said (p. 32)— Some time ago I directed attention to two disastrous boiler explosions which had occurred; by the former I think 13 persons were killed, and by the latter seven, besides, in both instances, a number of persons severely injured. Verdicts of accidental death were returned, one jury simply recommending that in future engine boilers should be placed under Government inspection. Here the matter has been allowed to rest, and other casualties of a similar character are of frequent occurrence without any means being adopted to prevent them. He went on to say (p. 87)— We fine a man heavily for employing females and children a few minutes over time, yet we allow him to blow up the same persons with impunity, as far as the law is concerned. He would only now add that the casualties in mines, in factories, those which were connected with railways, and by the bursting of boilers collected from different sources, were computed at not less than 100,000 in the last four years. For the reasons he had stated he asked their Lordships to grant this Return. He did not think it was sufficiently known how great the number was of those casualties, and how little was really done, beyond inspection, to enforce efficient remedies for existing evils.