§ SIR HARRY VERNEYasked the President of the Board of Trade, Whether the Government would carry out the recommendation of the Harbours of Refuge Commission of 1859, by establishing a harbour of refuge at Filey, on the coast of Yorkshire?
§ MR. CHAMBERLAINI would, in the first place, direct the attention of the hon. Baronet to the answer which I gave in this House on the 24th of April last to Questions which were asked by the hon. and gallant Member for East Aberdeenshire (Sir Alexander Gordon) and the hon. Member for East Kent (Mr. Pemberton). I then stated that the Government were not prepared to recommend Parliament to embark in any considerable scheme of harbour provision. All I can add, Sir, to the answer above referred to, is that at the present time a Departmental Committee is sitting to consider the best means of employing convict labour, and that I am aware that Filey has been suggested as a place at which such labour might be usefully directed to the formation of a harbour of refuge. But many other places have also been mentioned as suitable for this purpose, and although the question is under consideration, no decision has yet been arrived at.