§ MR. R. W. DUFF (Banffshire)asked the President of the Board of Trade, If his attention has been called to the case of the British Ship Vancouver, which sailed from St. John's, N.B., on March 18; when three days at sea the crew considered the ship unseaworthy, and insisted on her being put back to port; whether he is aware that on being surveyed at St. John's the Vancouver was declared seaworthy; the crew were imprisoned for eight days, and were only released on undertaking again to go to sea in her; and that on the subsequent voyage from St. John's to Belfast the Vancouver sprung a leak, the cargo had to be thrown overboard to save the ship, which only reached Belfast in a perilous condition; and, whether he will cause an inquiry into the nature of the survey held at St. John's, and also into the treatment of the crew?
§ THE PRESIDENT (Sir MICHAEL HICKS-BEACH) (Bristol, W.)Until the hon. Member put his Notice of the Question on the Paper the attention of the Board of Trade had not been called to the case of the survey of the Vancouver in St. John's, New Brunswick. A letter has been addressed to the Secretary of State for the Colonies with a view to obtaining such information as can be procured respecting the case, including the nature of the survey held at St. John's.