§ Mr. CHORLTONasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether, in view of the exclusion of the Dominions from the opportunity of tendering for contracts to be financed by loans from the Colonial Development Fund, he can explain how it is that a sub-contract has been approved entailing payment of about one-third of a contract valued at approximately £1,000,000, and financed by a loan from the Colonial Development Fund, which was recently placed by the Crown agents for the Colonies on behalf of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago to a firm registered in this country with a capital of only £2,000 of which £1,800 is held in Holland, although substantial British firms in the Dominions and Great Britain endeavoured to secure the subcontract in question?
§ Sir P. CUNLIFFE-LISTERThe contract referred to in my hon. Friend's question is one which has been awarded by the Crown Agents for the Colonies to Messrs. Edmund Nuttall, Sons and Company and John Mowlem and Company (Joint), Limited, of 91, Ebury Bridge Road, London, for harbour works at Port of Spain, Trinidad. For the necessary dredging work the sub-contract has been entered into by the main contractors with the Nash Dredging and Reclamation Company, Limited. The entire project, which will involve an expenditure of approximately £1,000,000 will be assisted by a free grant from the Colonial Development Fund of the net 1137W interest on constructional costs during the period of construction, and for one year thereafter. The Nash Company have undertaken to build or purchase in this country such plant as they may require, and the staff which will be employed is to be as far as possible British. I am informed that the company have placed an order with a Clyde firm for a new bucket dredger at a cost of over £31,000, and that they have also purchased from British firms a suction dredger, hopper barges and a tug. These are being reconditioned in British yards at Southampton and Cowes. In all, I understand, the orders they have placed or expect to place in the United Kingdom total some £90,000. The management of the company remains in this country, and the contract further provides that the company shall pay 'United Kingdom income tax on all profits made during its currency, wherever earned. Before the contract was awarded, the chairman of the Colonial Development
Accidents at Mines under the Goal Mines Act, 1911, in Great Britain. Year Number of Persons killed (below and above ground). Number of persons injured* (below and above ground). Average Number of shifts worked per man. Per 1,000 persons employed. Per 1,000,000 tons of mineral raised. Per 100,000 manshifts worked. Per 1,000 persons employed. Per 1,000,000 tons of mineral raised. Per 100,000 manshifts worked. 1913 1.55 5.81 Not available. 157.1 587 Not available 1923 1.06 4.57 0.41 173.9 747 66.8 266 1930 1.07 4.04 0.43 176.2 663 70.8 248 1931 0.98 3.82 0.41 161.3 629 66.9 241 1932 1.06 4.13 0.45 152.1 590 63.7 238 1933 1.03 3.87 0.43 153.5 578 63.7 241 1934 (provisional) 1.34 4.73 0.53 (Not yet available.) * Including persons disabled for more than 7 days in 1913 and 1923 and for more than 3 days in 1930 and subsequently.