§ MR. PLIMSOLLasked the President of the Board of Trade, Why the draught of water of sea-going vessels at Bristol, Liverpool, London, and some other ports, is not obtained by the Board of Trade as at Shields, Sunderland, Cardiff, Swansea, seeing that shipowners at the latter places complained of partial reports; and, if he will cause reports to be obtained from all alike?
§ MR. CHICHESTER FORTESCUE,in reply, said, that under the Act of 1871, which gave authority to the Board of Trade to act in these matters a discretionary power had been clearly and expressly given to the Board as to the extent to which the system should be carried. The Customs had been unable to assist in carrying out the surveys, and therefore the Board of Trade were obliged to rely upon their own officers. If the Board were to undertake to survey every ship in every port in Great Britain a very much larger and more costly staff of officers would be required. The present system was experimental, and its results, as he had reason to believe, were useful. He would remind the hon. Member that in order to influence and check the action of shipowners in the matter, it was not necessary that every individual ship should be surveyed, because the knowledge that a ship might be surveyed at any time was sufficient to produce a very consi- 1062 derable effect; and even under the system of occasional survey a very gross case of overloading was not likely to be passed over by the surveyors. The system had not yet been applied to the port of London; but surveys were made at Liverpool and Bristol, and the Board was increasing its staff of officers at those ports.