§ MR. PULESTONasked the President of the Board of Trade, Whether his attention has been given to the circumstances under which two Cardiff pilots were and are still suspended; whether the explanations which have been offered by the Cardiff Pilotage Board, in reply to a Memorial to the Board of Trade by the general body of Cardiff pilots against this suspension, are deemed to be satisfactory; if it be a fact that since these pilots were suspended several serious casualties have occurred to vessels while leaving the port of Cardiff; and, whether he is informed of the circumstances under which pilots were induced to take these vessels out?
§ VISCOUNT SANDONSir, my attention has been called to the circumstances to which my hon. Friend refers. The explanations which have been offered by the Cardiff Pilotage Board are not complete, and I have asked for further information from them. There is no record whatever in the Department of any serious casualties, other than collisions to vessels entering or leaving Cardiff, since the first pilot was suspended. The Receiver of Wreck for the district reports that "there have been some groundings where the damage has not been material," and none of these groundings have been of such a character as to necessitate their being reported as "casualties." Neither the Board of Trade nor their officer on the spot know anything of the circumstances in which pilots have been induced to take the vessels out.