§ Mr. BOTTOMLEYasked the Home Secretary whether he will institute inquiries with a view to ascertaining the practicability of dispensing with the use of pit ponies in coal mines?
§ Mr. SHORTTI do not think any inquiry is necessary as the advantage of mechanical traction is fully recognised by the colliery managements, and its use is encouraged by the Home Office Inspectors. In some mines the physical conditions render it wholly impracticable, but its more general adoption in others is hindered at the present time by the difficulty of obtaining delivery of plant and by the backward state of the roadways in the mines due to the War.