§ MR. BROAD (Derbyshire, S.)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade, taking into consideration the number of lives lost annually around our coasts through shipwreck and the necessity of establishing communication between stranded ships and the shore or a boat, will the Government make it compulsory on shipowners to carry line-throwing apparatus on shipboard, for the safety of the crews and passengers who trust their lives in the care of the owners of merchant vessels?
§ MR. MUNDELLAThere is no statutory power to enable the Board of Trade to compel shipowners to carry line-throwing apparatus on shipboard, and I am advised that there are serious practical difficulties in the way of establishing a regulation to that effect.