§ MR. T. E. SMITHasked the President of the Board of Trade, Whether any officer of the Board of Trade at outports, without reference to grade, has power to stop a ship as overloaded; and, if not, how the captain of a ship can tell that an officer claiming such power is duly authorised; and, whether, considering that the salaries of these officers are paid out of the Mercantile Marine Fund, and that great loss and discredit falls upon a shipowner whose ship is unjustly detained, he cannot devise some system by which such powers should only be exercised by a class of officers superior to those at present employed, and who should show to the captain their general authority from the Board of Trade to act in such cases?
§ SIR CHARLES ADDERLEYSir, no officer of the Board of Trade at out-ports has, with or without authority from the Board in this case, power or means to stop a ship as overloaded. The Act only gives the Board of Trade power, on receiving information from their officers, to order officers of Customs, acting under their express directions, to stop ships duly reported to them, and notice of such directions is at the same time given to the master or owner of the ship. I am considering the question of appointing officers of a higher grade at certain ports, who might exercise a superintending power over the surveyors of a district. But I do not think that, without a further Act I could delegate to any local officer the power to stop a ship. As to the last part of the Question, I should be glad if Parliament would in any way mitigate the extreme difficulty of the task it imposes on the Board of Trade; and I am astonished at the few mistakes the Board has made; indeed, the hon. Member for Derby (Mr. Plimsoll) has often stated the fact that of all ships detained scarcely any have been proved seaworthy. This proves the care with which the guilty have been prosecuted, without harassing the well-conducted trade.
§ MR. T. E. SMITHexplained that the word he used was "detained," and the right hon. Gentleman spoke of ships being "stopped." As a matter of experience ships were detained while communications were made to the Board of Trade. He should repeat his Question another day.
§ SIR CHARLES ADDERLEYsaid, he had not misapprehended the hon. Member. Stopping and detaining were exactly the same, and there was no power given by any Act of Parliament to the Board of Trade to delegate the power of stopping or detaining any ship whatever.
§ MR. NORWOODasked the right hon. Gentleman to give some assurance that in future when superior officers boarded a ship to detain her, they should be required to produce an authority to the captain showing they were acting in proper form.
§ SIR CHARLES ADDERLEYsaid, he saw no objection whatever to the telegraphic or other order being shown to the master of the ship. It was usually done, he thought; and, if not, it ought to be.