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PARLIAMENTARY INTELLIGENCE

NOTES ON CURRENT TOPICS.

ACCIDENTS IN MINES.

IN the House of Commons on Wednesday, Dec. drd;Mr. SUTTON moved :-That this House deplores the heavy loss of life and the

large number of non-fatal accidents in coal mines and urgesthe Government to take every possible measure for theprotection of those engaged in this dangerous industry.He said that the number of deaths and accidents

in the mines was increasing every year. H.M. Inspectorof Mines in his report for 1929 stated that 985 personsworking underground were killed, an increase of 100over the previous year. The number injured under-ground was 162,230, or an increase of 13,098 on theprevious year. The Secretary for Mines in reply toa question had stated that over 800 deaths hadoccurred in the mines during the ten months of 1930.A large number of committees had been inquiringinto this matter for some years past, but not muchprogress had been made ; in fact they seemed to begoing back. In the report of His Majesty’s Inspectorfor 1929 it was stated that there were 12,651 personsinjured on the surface, or an increase of 837 as com-pared with the previous year. There were in themines of this country 29,000 boys under 16 yearsof age working underground. Last year the numberof boys under 16, according to figures given by theChief Inspector of Mines, who were killed or injuredwas at the rate of 251 per 1000 boys employed. In ithe case of boys between 16 and 18 the rate was230 per 1000, and of those between 18 and 20 223 per1000. In the case of those aged 20 and over therate was 209 per 1000, while for all ages it was 212 per1000. He hoped the Secretary for Mines would makea note of these facts. During the past eight and ahalf years some 10,440 persons had been killed inthe mines of this country, or an average of well over1000 a year. In those eight and a half years 1,587,330persons were injured in the mines, apart from the10,440 who were killed. He earnestly appealed to theGovernment to investigate this matter very care-

fully, particularly as it affected the boys.Mr. TINKER, in seconding the resolution, said that

if the law was carried out with regard to ventilationin the mines many of the accidents would beprevented.

After further debate,ASCERTAINMENT OF CAUSES.

Mr. SHiNWELL (Secretary for Mines) said he wasas anxious as any miner or any Member of the Houseto promote the well-being of the mining industryand the safety of the miners, and he desired as aline of approach to a solution of the safety problemto secure the cooperation of both sides of the industry,and to focus the attention not only of mining officialsbut of miners themselves on the various aspects ofthis problem, more particularly in relation to theproper observance of the regulations laid down bythe Department. He did not question the figureswhich had been given in the debate. He was morethan familiar with statistics relating to the mortality-rate among miners, and the remarkably high accident- irate. He was deeply concerned about the matter, 4

particularly in view of the fact that in recent years years he detected not a diminution, but an increase in the 1rate. Although progress had undoubtedly been made 1in the direction of promoting safety they could not i

regard the existing condition with complacency. He 1was far from complaining about the orthodox methods i

employed by the industry and his Department in i

recent years. They had all tended to promote greater c ésafety, but relatively speaking they found in the I I

official figures a higher accident-rate and a higher I I;mortality-rate-much too high a rate in the circum- 1<

stances. If they were to approach this problem witha view to finding as complete a solution as possiblethey must first ascertain the cause of the accidents.Recently in his spare time he had analysed theprincipal types of accidents occurring in the mines.

, He found that the majority of accidents occurred asa result of the fall of roof or side. The second main

cause of accident, which applied also to the mortality-rate, was haulage. The third was due to explosions of coal dust or fire damp, and these were relatively

low.He was not concerned about defending what wasnow being done for the promotion of safety in themines except to say that he believed considerable

progress had been made, and that no complaintcould be laid at the door of the Inspectorate of theDepartment. To find a remedy the first thing requiredwas to secure the greatest measure of cooperation inthe industry, and in that he had succeeded in somemeasure. As far as the employers were concernedthere was every reason why they should cooperate.They paid in 1928 in compensation 23,026,678, andhe understood that that was almost 50 per cent. ofthe total amount paid in workman’s compensationin the seven great groups of industries in this countryfor which returns were obtained under the Act of1925. That meant something like fourpence or five-pence a ton on coal, and when they spoke of theburdens resting on the coal industry they mightconsider that particular burden. The Miners’ Federa-tion had agreed to set up a subcommittee to actwith officials of the Mines Department in the dis-cussion of the problem. That subcommittee hadalready dealt with a variety of subjects. The MiningAssociation had responded most readily that theyshould cooperate in the discussion of the problem.They had set up a subcommittee, but only onemeeting had been held to date. They had dealt withsilicosis and other important matters. This co&ouml;pera-tion between employers, the miners, and his Depart-ment would continue. He did not wish at this stage

to press either side unduly in a direction of reachingdecisions, although wherever the Department sawpoints of agreement they would utilise them.

ILLUMINATION AND NYSTAGMUS.

Sir HENRY BETTERTON: Are the non-ferrous mineslike tin and lead represented, or only coal mines ? P

Mr. SHINWELL said they were dealing with coalmines alone, but he would be very happy if theyrequested him to give consideration to the non-ferrous mines. He thought it was desirable to havemore education in relation to safety. There couldbe no doubt that one cause of accidents in mineswas the familiarity with conditions. It was essentialto promote greater care. It was impossible at thisstage to promote further mining legislation. Theyhad succeeded in taking a definite step in one- parti-cular direction-namely, the provision of more

efficient illumination in the pits. So far as researchhad gone, although there was a difference of opinion,it was generally agreed that nystagmus cases wereattributable to deficient lighting. It had been sug-gested that to some extent they might be due tothe stooping posture adopted by miners and the gasin the pits. That might be so, but the bulk of scientificopinion on this subject held the view that inefficientlighting was the primary cause. Therefore theywere devoting some attention to the question ofbetter illumination. A Draft Order was to be sub-mitted to the industry for their discussion, and hehoped their endorsement. These new proposals inrelation to mine lighting aimed at a general improve-ment in the standard of lighting in three principaldirections. First of all there was the raising of theninimum candle power standard of miners’ safetyamps, not only the flame lamp but the electricamp also. They proposed to provide a relaxation

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in the present drastic statutory restriction uponmethods of lighting other than safety lamps. Thatwas full of difficulties, because there was a disputeas to whether the use of electricity in the pits wasdesirable. They also proposed to secure, if theycould, definite provision for a reasonable standard ofsurface lighting which hitherto had not been regu-lated by law except for railway shunting operations.They also proposed to deal with the qualifications ofcolliery officials generally.Instead of appointing new inspectors at this stage

he thought it would be better to relieve the inspec-torate of much of their present work which had norelation to safety at all. If he had his way he wouldprohibit the employment of boys in mines, certainlyunder the age of 16, but there were economic causesoperating which could not be ignored. He hoped toconsider very shortly the possibility of establishingsome form of training for boys. In regard to research,last year there was spent out of the Miners’ WelfareFund by the Safety in Mines Research Board morethan 650,000 in research. If he found by practicaltests that the Ringrose, or any other gas detector,could be used to benefit the miners, and to securegreater safety in the mines of the country, either bya compulsory Order, or by inducing the owners toaccept it voluntarily, he would certainly take action.The resolution was agreed to without a division.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 3RD.

Tuberculosis in the Navy.Mr. MARKHAM asked the First Lord of the Admiralty

what number of engineer rating artificers and chief engineerrating artificers had been invalided out of the Serviceduring 1930 owing to tuberculosis ; and whether, seeingthat three of them in H.M.S. Rodney had been invalidedduring the months of August to October, 1930, he couldsay whether the conditions on board were a contributorycause.-Mr. ALEXANDER replied : Two chief engine-roomartificers, six engine-room artificers, and one apprenticeengine-room artificer were invalided from the Servicebetween Jan. 1st and Oct. 31st, 1930, on account of tuber-culosis. Of these one case was of non-pulmonary tuber-culosis. As regards the latter part of the question it isnot considered that the conditions on board are a contri-butory cause, as returns received from the ship to dateindicate that the general health of the ship’s company isvery good. Moreover, Rodney, one of our latest battleships,is constructed entirely in accordance with the most modernprinciples and ideas in regard to ventilation and hygiene.

THURSDAY, DEC. 4TH.

Training of Unemployed Women as Nurses.Sir NICHOLAS GRATTAN-DOYLE asked the Minister of

Labour how many women had availed themselves duringthe past 12 months of the special provision for the trainingof suitable unemployed women in domestic service, hospitaland child nursing, and similar useful occupations, and whathad been the result in terms of subsequent employment.--Miss BONDFIELD replied : The number of women and girlswho, during the year ended Nov. 24th, 1930, entered train-ing under schemes controlled by the Central Committee onWomen’s Training and Employment was 4501. During thesame period 3635 trainees entered domestic or other work.The number in training on Nov. 29th last was 1168.

Local Authorities and Hospital Accommodation.Mr. Japes GARDNER asked the Minister of Health if he

would furnish a return for the latest possible date of thenumbers and beds, on the lines of the return given in theHouse of Commons on Dec. l2th, 1929, for hospitals pro-vided by local authorities, with separate figures of insti-tutions formerly provided by the poor-law authorities,voluntary hospitals aided by local authorities, and unaidedvoluntary hospitals, giving, if possible, expenditure in eachclass.-Mr. GREENWOOD replied: The table shows theposition at March 31st, 1930, with the exception of hospitalsfor acute infectious diseases for which the latest availablefigures relate to Dec. 31st, 1929. So far as general hospitalsare concerned, the information in my Department is thatone large general hospital, with 875 beds, and three rela-tively small accident hospitals were provided by localauthorities at March 31st last. Since that date 17 hospitals,with approximately 12,500 beds, which were provided under

the Poor Law Acts, have been appropriated as generalhospitals under the Public Health Acts, but the expenditureon these hospitals for the year 1928-29 is included in Part cof the table below. There are also three poor-law insti-tutions or infirmaries of which parts only have been appro-priated as general hospitals. The number of beds in theappropriated parts is not known. Subscriptions or dona-tions made by local authorities in pursuance of Section 64of the Public Health Act, 1925, amounted in 1928-29 to230,000. Contributions made by boards of guardians topublic hospitals with the consent of the Minister of Health,in pursuance of Section 38 of the Poor Law Act, 1927,amounted in 1928-29 to .838,000.The information with regard to hospitals of the other

classes in England and Wales referred to in the question isas follows :-

(a) Hospitals provided by Local -Authorities.

* Including the expenditure in connexion with beds fortuberculosis mentioned in the following note. t At 44 of thesehospitals there are 2200 beds for the treatment of tuberculosis.The expenditure on these beds is excluded from item (2).t Expenditure (in round figures) of local authorities in 1928-29.&sect; Including expenditure in respect of maternity sections in generalhospitals, and payments to homes for unmarried mothers andtheir babies, which cannot be separated.

(b) Voluntary Hospitals aided by Local Authorities.

11 Available beds used as and when required. 1 Includingexpenditure of the Welsh National Memorial Association onsanatoria and hospitals.

Not av. = Not available.

The figures under the above headings as to numbers ofhospitals and beds are exclusive of accommodation in homesfor unmarried mothers and their babies, observation wardsin connexion with maternity and child welfare centres, andconvalescent homes. Those under b (2) (e) are exclusiveof accommodation used by local authorities in generalhospitals for special or complicated maternity cases, as

regards which figures are not available.

(c) Institutions formerly provided by Poor-law Authorities.

(a) Beds in infirm and sick wards.(b) Total expenditure on general institutions.

Cancer among Aniline Factory Workers.Mr. PHiup OLIVER asked the Home Secretary whether

he was now in a position to report on the investigationbeing carried out by the London Cancer Hospital, with theassistance of the medical inspectorate of the factory depart-ment, into the incidence of the disease of cancer of thebladder among workers in aniline factories.-Mr. SHORTreplied : This investigation has been continued, but I amunable to hazard any opinion as to when conclusive resultsmay be expected. The hon. Member will appreciate thatinvestigations into the causation of cancer in connexionwith particular occupations are always very difficult, andthat a special difficulty arises in the present investigationowing to the fact that the total number of fatalities fromcancer of the bladder among aniline workers is quite small,and the collection of data, therefore, very laborious.

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Manufacture of Dangerous Drugs.Lieut.-Colonel FREMANTLE asked the Home Secretar3

when the report of the preliminary conference on thtlimitation of manufacture of dangerous drugs, recently hel&egrave;in this country, would be available to Members of Parlia.ment.-Mr. SHORT replied : The report of this meeting 01Government representatives from the manufacturingcountries, which was one of the stages in the working outof the League scheme for the limitation of the manufactureof dangerous drugs, has been sent to the League, and, Iam informed, is now in course of being printed. I amafraid I cannot say how soon copies will be available.

Mentally Defective Children.Mr. DAY asked the President of the Board of Education

the number of children in England and Wales between theages of 5 and 16 who were ascertained by the educationauthorities to be mentally deficient ; the number of thesewho were ascertained to be educable ; the number whowere ascertained to be ineducable ; the number of suchchildren who were attending schools, institutions, andother centres ; and were there any statistics that wouldshow the number receiving home training.-Sir CHARLESTREVELYAN replied : According to the latest returns avail-able, 32,775 educable mentally defective children have beenascertained by local education authorities in England andWales ; of these, 28,598 were attending schools or otherinstitutions. I am afraid that I am unable to give figuresfor ineducable children on a comparable basis, but I aminformed that the names of 3274 children were notified tolocal authorities under the Mental Deficiency Acts duringthe year 1929, of whom 352 were sent to institutions.

Wrapping of Cheese in Tinfoil.Sir CHARLES CAYZER asked the Minister of Health whether

the warning conveyed in the annual report of the Ministryof Health as to the potential danger of the practice ofwrapping cheeses in tinfoil was based on a report of anofficial analyst of the Ministry ; and whether the samplesexamined were of British or of foreign origin.-Mr. GREEN-WOOD replied : The report quoted was that of a publicanalyst appointed by a local authority. The appointmentof such an officer is subject to the approval of my depart-ment, who require to be satisfied as to the competence ofthe person appointed. I understand that some of thesamples examined were British, and that some were imported.

Sir C. CAYZER : Does not the right hon. gentleman con-sider that a grave warning of this kind based on such slenderevidence is calculated to do a great deal of harm to animportant industry ?Mr. GREENWOOD : I do not accept the hon. Member’s

suggestion that there is slender evidence. A distinguishedpublic analyst has said that in certain cases food wascontaminated.

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Infant Mortality.Lieut.-Colonel FREMANTLE asked the Minister of Health

the main reason for the increase in infant mortality inEngland and Wales in the years 1924 and 1929 respectively.-Mr. GREENWOOD replied : I am advised that the increasein 1924 was mainly due to an epidemic of influenza, and in1929 to a similar epidemic coupled with an epidemic ofwhooping-cough.

TUESDAY, DEC. 9TH.

Education of Mental Defectives in Scotland.Mr. TRAIN asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how

many educable mental defectives in Scotland were receivingsuitable education ; what were the size and number of theclasses ; and what was the total expenditure.-Mr. JoHNSTON(Under-Secretary for Scotland) replied : The number ofeducable mentally defective children between 5 and 16 yearsof age receiving instruction in special schools, classes andresidential institutions in Scotland is 3938. I am unableto state the precise number of the classes, but the numberof children in a class is limited to 20. The statisticalinformation available does not enable me to separate theexpenditure on such instruction from the other expenditureof the education authorities. ;

X Ray Examination and Tuberculosis. Dr. HASTINGS asked the Minister of Health the proportion HASTINGS

of cases treated in dispensaries for the prevention of tuber- iculosis in which the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis fwas confirmed by X ray examination.-Mr. GREENWOOD Ireplied : The number of X ray examinations made in 1929 1for every 100 new cases and contacts who were examined e

in tuberculosis dispensaries in England and Wales wasslightly over 25. I have no information as to how many 1of these examinations resulted in the confirmation of a a

diagnosis. ]!

Dr. HASTINGS asked the Minister of Health to whatextent facilities for the X ray examination of the chest

7were at the service of medical officers in charge of dispen-saries for the prevention of tuberculosis.-Mr. GREENWOOD

I replied : Definite arrangements for X ray examination have. been made by 122 out of 140 tuberculosis authorities in: England and Wales, and by all the metropolitan borough councils. Other tuberculosis authorities have from time to

, time provided X ray examinations for particular cases.

l Relief of Sick Poor in Scotland.

Mr. ElBKWooD asked the Secretary for Scotland whether.in view of the hardship now existing among the unemployedand sick poor in the face of the cold weather and the costof fuel, he would circularise the local authorities, askingthem to increase the payments in respect of relief andparticularly to make an increase during the Christmas andNew Year weeks.-Mr. JoHNSTON replied : My right hon.friend is advised that any such recommendation as issuggested in the question is outside his statutory powers.Under the Scottish poor-law an authority is required togrant needful assistance for the maintenance of health.But subject to this statutory limitation the Department ofHealth have always agreed to a variation from the approveddietary in poor-houses at Christmas or the New Year.

Small-pox and Vaccination.Mr. GROVES asked the Minister of Health whether he

had any reason to believe that the mild form of small-poxwhich had been prevalent in certain districts of this countryduring the past eight years had shown any greater incidencein those counties in which vaccination had been largelyneglected as compared with those counties in which thepractice had been more largely observed ; and, if so, wouldhe supply statistical data in support of his view.-Mr.GREENWOOD replied : I have no specific evidence that theincidence in any area of the type of small-pox at presentprevalent in this country bears any close relation to thepercentage of infants vaccinated in that area. The inci-dence of the disease is, however, almost entirely limited tounvaccinated persons or persons who have not been success-fully vaccinated within recent years.

Post-vaccinal Encephalitis.Mr. GROVES asked the Minister of Health how many

cases of post-vaccinal encephalitis were brought to thenotice of his department during the 12 months Oct. 1st,1929, to Sept. 30th, 1930 ; how many proved fatal ; andwhich of the cases, if any, were vaccinated with Govern-ment lymph.-Mr. GREENWOOD replied : Fourteen cases inwhich symptoms suggestive of disease of the central nervoussystem following within a month of vaccination have beenbrought to the notice of my Department as having occurredduring the 12 months ended Sept. 30th, 1930. I am advisedthat eight of these cases, four of which proved fatal, maybe regarded as cases of post-vaccinal encephalitis. Of theseeight cases, seven were vaccinated with Government lymph,and in one case there is no information as to the lymphused.

The Schick Test.Mr. FREEMAN asked the Minister of Health whether he

had information regarding the towns in which Schicktesting and diphtheria immunisation were being practised ;and whether he could state the number of children in thosetowns that had been Schick tested and had received one,two, or three immunisation inoculations for each yearseparately.-Mr. GREENWOOD replied : I have sanctionedthe provision of facilities for Schick testing and immunisa-tion against diphtheria in 38 districts in England and twoin Wales, and I have information that these facilities arealso provided in other areas. The information asked forin the second part of the question is not available.

Chemical Warfare Research.Mr. R. S. YOUNG asked the Secretary for War if he could

give the total number of the staff of the chemical warfaredepartment, and give the figures for 1920, 1925, and 1929respectively.-Mr. T. SHAW replied : The total number ofstaff on the approved establishment of the chemical warfareresearch department on April 1st of the respective yearsLs given below : 1920, 410 ; 1925, 480 ; 1929, 535 ; 1930,553. The figures for 1920 exclude the staff of the ResearchEstablishment, Sutton Oak, as in 1920 that establishmentPvas under the Ministry of Munitions and figures are nottvailable.Mr. SiNKiNSON asked the Secretary for War how many

iorses had actually been killed by poison-gas experimentst Porton each year since the cessation of the great war.-tir. T. SHAW replied : None, Sir.