§ MR. MACFARLANE (Argyll)asked the President of the Board of Trade, If his attention has been called to an order, issued on the 29th January, forbidding reading, writing, or handicraft work during their watches, to all lighthouse keepers, and whether such a rigid rule is necessary; and, whether it would be possible to relax the regulation?
THE SECRETARY (Mr. C. T. D. ACLAND)(who replied) (Cornwall, Launceston)said: The Board of Trade never interfere in matters of discipline with the Lighthouse Authorities; our control is only financial. But if we are asked to give an opinion, we should say that it is of the utmost importance that lighthouse keepers should, during their night watches, give their undivided attention to the light which has been confided to their charge, and on which life and property depends. The lighthouses in Scotland are under the management of the Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses, who make such regulations as they deem necessary for public safety.