§ Mr. PERKINSasked the Home Secretary if his attention has been directed to the alleged ill-treatment of pit ponies in the Maunders Main Colliery; and will he say if there has been any relaxation in the matter of periodical inspection and if reports of inspectors disclose a recrudescence of ill-treatment?
§ Mr. McKENNAThere is no colliery of this name on the Home Office list. If the reference is to Manvers Main Colliery, in Yorkshire, certain allegations of ill-treatment of animals at the mine were inquired into early last year and it was found that the conditions, though there was no evidence of actual cruelty, left a good deal to be desired. The animals at the mine have since that date been kept300W under observation by the inspectors, and the state of matters according to recent reports is now satisfactory.