ADMIRAL EGERTONasked the President of the Board of Trade, Whether it is intended to institute any inquiry into the circumstances attending the disaster which recently occurred to the Royal Mail Steamer "Para," and the manner in which her passengers' safety was or was not provided for on her voyage home from the Azores, whence it is stated that she was towed in a disabled state?
§ MR. CHAMBERLAINSir, the breakdown of the machinery of the Para is, as I am informed, not in itself a subject which demands official inquiry by order of the Board of Trade. The case will be reported in due course by the Engineering Staff of the Department. As regards her passage home from the Azores in tow of a steamtug, she arrived safely; and the Board of Trade have no power to order inquiry into the means adopted by the Company for bringing home the ship or the passengers. I am bound, however, to say the Company do not appear to have shown as much consideration as usual for the comfort and the safety of their passengers.