§ Mr. DUFFYasked the Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department if his attention has been called to the judgment delivered by Lord Shaw of Dunfermline in the case of Hewitson v. the St. Helens Colliery Company, Limited; and if, having regard to the very unsatisfactory way in which the judgment in that case affects a large body of workmen in regard to compensation for accidents, and the strong appeal made by Lord Shaw for legislative remedies, he will grant facilities for the passing of a short Act of Parliament that will ensure to the workers that measure of protection which they have hitherto possessed, and of which they are now deprived?
1056W
Mr. DAVIESI have seen a report of the judgments in the case referred to by my hon. Friend, and I agree that workmen who are employed under the special conditions which existed in that case are placed in a very unsatisfactory position. The matter will require careful inquiry and consideration before any conclusion is reached, and as it affects chiefly the mining industry, I think it will be best in the first instance to confer with representatives of that industry and with the Mines Department on the subject.