§ Sir WILLIAM BULLasked the Lord Advocate whether he has any official information showing that the Scottish miners at four Lanarkshire pits have left work owing to the Poles, who claim to be in the majority, demanding that the British checkweighers should be displaced by Russians; if so, whether he will state what is the number of aliens employed at the pits referred to; and if he will give a guarantee that British checkweighers will not be displaced by aliens?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLI have made inquiries, and am informed that at one of the four pits referred to, the Poles, being dissatisfied with the checkweigher, have attempted to substitute another, who, however, is also a Scotchman. The matter has now been brought before the courts, and is still unsettled. I am not aware that the Scottish miners have left work. The number of Poles employed underground at the pit is ninety-one, the number of British, twenty-five; the total number of Poles at all four pits is 140, of British, 336. The right of appointment of checkweigher rests with the men, and the mode of appointment is regulated by the statutes; and I have no power to take any action in the matter.