§ MR. MACIVERasked the President of the Board of Trade, Out of what funds the Department will provide the £1,600 damages required to be paid to Mr. 1004 Kain, owner of the barque "Dora," under a recent decision of the Court of Common Pleas, and confirmed on Appeal; what is the amount of legal expenses incurred by the Board of Trade in the matter, and which they will have to pay in addition to the damages and Mr. Kain's costs; and, whether the experience of working the Survey Clauses of the Act of 1876 has not been such as to show that they require amendment?
§ VISCOUNT SANDONProvision is annually made for law charges in the Board of Trade Vote, and out of this Vote the damages in the case of "Kain v. Farmer" will, I believe, be paid. The costs have not yet been made out, so I cannot give the information desired on this point. As to the third part of the Question, I would remind my hon. Friend that the case of the Dora, about which the trial was held, arose under the Act of 1873, and not under that of 1876, under which the Board of Trade at present takes its proceedings. I cannot say that my experience of the Board of Trade, which, of course, has not been a long one, has at all made me feel that the Survey Clauses of the Merchant Shipping Act of 1876, which were adopted by Parliament after long and full consideration, ought at present to be altered.