MR. MAC IVERasked the President of the Board of Trade, Whether any inquiry was held with regard to the loss of the steamer Inchclutha, and with what result; whether there was any suggestion, either then or since, that the vessel was overladen or undermanned; and, whether he referred to the vessel on Tuesday without giving the owners any notice of the statement which he intended to make, and therefore without affording the opportunity of making a reply?
§ MR. CHAMBERLAINIf the hon. Member will refer to the report of my speech in The Times he will find that I said—
I am going to ask the House to consider the case of two vessels, both belonging to owners of whose honour, integrity, and high character there cannot be the slightest doubt;and that, after giving certain details connected with the two vessels, I added, as regards the Inchclutha—There was an inquiry into this case, and the Court found that the lost vessel was seaworthy and not overladen.In these circumstances, I do not see that there was any reason for communicating with the owners before stating the facts.
MR. MAC IVERsaid, that in consequence of the reply of the right hon. Gentleman, he gave Notice of a further Question—"Whether the Inchclutha and the Ajax, which the right hon. Gentleman mentioned in his speech as having sailed on the same voyage from the same port on the same day, were not, as a matter of fact, engaged in entirely different sailings; whether the one was homeward bound from Calcutta, and the other outward bound from Liverpool to China with passengers and cargo; whether, in comparing the crews of the two vessels with a view to sustain his allegations as to the one, he overstated the number of effective hands on board the other by including the doctor, the stewardess, and the cabin servants; whether he was in a position to give the name of any cargo steamer which carried a crew numerically as strong as a passenger steamer; whether it was not the fact that the insured value of the Inchclutha was less than the cost of replacing her, and that the vessel at the time she was lost was 1004 chartered in advance for nine months; and, whether the right hon. Gentleman notwithstanding the result of the inquiry, still wished the House to understand that this vessel was overladen, and undermanned, and over-insured; or whether he withdrew unreservedly all imputations against Messrs. Hamilton, Fraser, and Co., or would endeavour to substantiate his allegations by taking steps of such a character as would enable the gentlemen whom he had traduced to be heard in reply?
§ MR. CHAMBERLAINsaid, he would give an answer to the Question of the hon. Gentleman if he would put it in proper language on the day he proposed to ask it. In the meantime, he would say that the hon. Member had misquoted the statement he made. He did not say these vessels started from the same port on the same day on the same voyage. Neither had he alleged that the Inchclutha was overladen. On the contrary, he distinctly stated that the Court of Inquiry found that she was not overladen. Neither did he allege that she was undermanned, although he showed that the proportion of the crew was smaller than in the case of the Ajax. He brought no allegations of the kind suggested by the hon. Member.
MR. MAC IVERsaid, he quoted from the speech of the right hon. Gentleman as reported in the newspapers, and as sent to him by the owners.
§ MR. O'DONNELLMay I ask the right hon. Gentleman, in consequence of a letter which has appeared impugning the accuracy of the reports, whether we are to understand that the mis-statements in his speech, of which he complains, are attributed by him to the reporters or to any other cause?
§ [No reply.]