The Sun.
London, England, 1870-02-22 00:00:00

THE WHITWORTH GUN.

Sir JOHN HAY asked the First Lord of the Admiralty,
if he would lay upon the table of the House a report of the
Chief Constructor of the Navy, recommending the adop-
tion of Whitworth guns for the armament of the navy, and
the remarks of General Lefroy thereon.
Mr. CHILDERS said the report alluded to was con-
fidential, and•therefore he could not produce it.
TURNPIKES.

Sir G. JENKINSON asked the Under Secretary of State
for the 'lmo department whether he intended to carry
out during the session, and if so when, the pledge he gave
on the 23d of July last, on his requesting the withdrawal
of the resolution respecting the hardship and injustice in;
flitted on the ratepayers of certain parishes by the present
system of the partial abolition of turnpikes ; on which oc-
casion the hon. gentleman appealed to him to withdraw his
resolution.
Mr. HUGESSEN said the Government had given
their attention to the subject, as promised, but the Irish
Land Bill, the Education Bill, and other matters at pre-
sent stood in the way of proceeding with such a measure.
LOCAL TAXATION.
- -

Sir MASSEY LOPES asked the President of the
Poor Law Board, when he proposed to introduce his
promised measure for extending the incidence of Local
Taxation.
Mr. GOSCHEN could not name a day, but no delay
should take place in the matter.
COURTS OF JUSTICE.
Mr. HEADLAM asked the First Commissioner of
Works whether he would undertake to lay before the
House the plan of the proposed courts of justice as soon
as the same is settled, and before any contract for exe-
cuting the work is made.
Mr. AYRTON said he should be happy to comply with
the request of the hon. member.
MINES REGULATION ANifINSPECTION BILL.
Mr. BRUCE moved the second reading of this bill.
In doing so, he mentioned that the loss of life was very
much less now in proportion to the quantity of coal raised
than it was years ago. Between 1850 and 1860 the loss of
life was one to 67,000 tons of coal raised. Between 1864
and 1868 the proportion was one to 93,000 tons of
coal, and during the year 1868 one to 103,494 tons. So that,
however lamentable was the loss of life at the present
time, it was not so great as in years past. There werb
altogether throughout the country 350,000 colliers. The
design of the bill was, as far as possible, to remove
the causes of danger to the persons who were engaged in tne
raising of coal. Any system that might be devised
would nat have the effect of wholly preventing accident.
But unquestionably' the danger might be very greatly
mitigated by proper regulations. The first provision of
all was the supply of schools, so as to increase the intelli-
gence of those engaged in work attended with such danger.
A great many accidents, he shewed from a report
of Mr. Dixon, were due to the ignorance of
colliery viewers and managers in discarding the rules
laid down for the proper ventilation of the mines, and
other regulations against accident. The present law with
regard to the education of those engaged in this under
ground work was that no child should be allowed to enter
a colliery unless he was 10 years of age, and not then,
unless he could produce a certificate that he could
read and write. In the event of his being unable to
produce such certificate, his parents had to give an under-
taking that for two days a week, and at least three hours
a day, he should attend school. That provision he Mr.
Bruce) considered altogether inadequate. (Hear, hear.)
He showed that it was inadequate by quoting statistics
having reference to Scotland, and he asked what must
be the state of things in England if such a state of
things was possible in Scotland where the veneration
for learning was so profound. The right hon. gentleman
then reviewed the history of the efforts made by hon.
members towards legislation on the question. Next, he
contrasted the education of collier children in England
with those of Germany, and in doing this he related that
Mr. Sandford, colliery inspector, when travelling through
Germany, had accosted a band of children, and
placed in their hands a volume of the German poet,
Schiller, Only one of them could not read the volume,
and defective eyesight was the cause of that one's inabi-
lity. He (Mr. Bruce) begged hon. members to reflect and
aak themselves if, out of a dozen English boys picked up
in the same casual manner, there would not be more thaa
one unable to read a volume of Shakspere. Ten years of age
he considered too young for a boy to be allowed
to go down the shaft of a pit for the puroase
of heaving coal. He had therefore fixed the age at 12,
and a provision was made that boys between the ages of
12 and 16 should not work more than twelve hours a day, one
hour and a half of this time being allowed for meals and rest.
There were other provisions, and one amongst them
was with respect to the weights and measures. It
was proposed that payment should be made
to the men according to weight, but it had been thought
that was not a matter to be dealt with by Par-
liament. The other part of the bill, although
there were many matters that would call for
discussion when they were considering the details of the
measure, contained a very important enactment, and that
related to the subject of ventilation. By the present law it
was laid down that all measures of ventilation should be
deamed to have been taken if it was shewn that
all precautions " under ordinary circumstances " had
been observed, but by the bill he had now the honour of
introducing it was proposed to leave out those words, and
to insert instead a provision which would set out that
all that was possible to be done bad been
done. with respect to ventilation, if it could be
shewn that " all reasonable precaution had been taken."
(Hear, hear.) This had been objected to, as throwing
additional responsibility on the masters, but he did not
see there was anything objectionable in the provision,
but he thought it a safe and wise provision to
embody in the MR Then, again, there was another matter
of importance, and that was the subject of arbitration ;
and an alteration had been made in the plan that had
been in practice in some places—namely, to appoint
five persons, to whom all questions in dispute should
be submitted, but the Government thought that the
present measure should revert to the old-fashioned mode
of proceeding, and that was that each party should
name its own arbitrators and own umpire,
whose decisions should be looked upon as binding.
Another recommendation of the committee was
that with respect to the inspection of the mines, it
was proposed that there should be a thorough inspection
every three months, but such a recommendation had not
been adopted because, whilst it would occasion the appoint.
ment of no less than 200 additional inspectors it would not
give any great additional security, because accidents in most
cases are occasioned through imperfect ventilation, and in
spite of all the precautions that would be laid down when such
inspections took place. The best thing the Government
thought it possible to provide against was divided
authority, and under these conditions the Govern-
ment had not embodied the recommendation of the com-
mittee to which he had just referred in the bill. He had
not the slightest objection to the appointment of addi-
tional inspectors, if it were shewn to be necessary ; but
what he desired most to do was to make it imperal
tive on the masters and owners to do all that
was in their power to secure the safety of
those engaged in working in their mines.
It there was any neglect on the part of an overman or a
viewer, he should be subjected to the same penalties as
the men. (Hear, hear.) While on this part of the sub-
ject, the right hon. gentleman mentioned an instance
where, through a viewer disregarding the warnings of the
men employed in a pit, an accident occurred, and over 100
persons were killed. Both master and man being placed
on the same footing, there would be a healthier feeling
between them. In conclusion. he hoped the bill would
be speedily passed, and that it would contribute to the
object they had all so much at heart. (Hear, hear.)
Dr. LYON PLAYFAIR said that although the acci-
dents in collieries did not involve a much greater loss of
life than what occurred in the streets of London, in conse-
quence of an over-crowded traffic, yet they excited a much
more active sympathy. He was glad to learn that the
inspectors were not to be matei ially increased, nor the
responsibility of colliery owners in any way diminished.
He explained, scientifically the causes of accidents, and
asked hon. members if they could be surprised
at the petition of miners throughout England,
that all overmen, agents, Scc., Ehould be subjected
to a scientific examination previous to being placed in
charge of the lives of hundreds of pit workers. The
whole of the Commissioners appointed by this House to
inquire into the subject had reported that it was useless to
expect any diminution in the number of pit accidents
unless recklessness and ignorance were made, on the part
of both superintendents. and men, to give way to
.--tre and intelligence. The bill was wisely drawn,
calculated to do much good. But while
xannortina the hill. he +b.f ;+