MR. MACDONALD CAMERON (&c.) Wick,asked the President of the Board of Trade, If his attention has been called to the danger to the commercial interests of this Country from the growing exclusion of English seamen from the Merchant Service; and, whether it is in contemplation of the Government to take any action in the matter?
§ THE PRESIDENT (Mr. MUNDELLA) (Sheffield, Brightside)My attention has been called to the increasing number of foreign seamen employed in British merchant shipping. Inquiry is now going on as to the cause and extent of this employment, and a Report on the subject will shortly be submitted to this House and to the Royal Commission on Loss of Life at Sea. I have no power 752 to interfere with such employment, however much I may regret it. The foreign seamen are mainly from Sweden, Denmark, and Norway; and I understand that the Mercantile Marine of those countries is at present greatly depressed.