§ MR. E. H. BAYLEYI beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he has seen the allegations appearing in an article in The Daily Chronicle of 27th instant, entitled Our Lifeboat System, some Abuses and Excuses; whether it is within his power to order any investigation as to the truth of the statement therein contained; if the inquiry into the alleged mismanagement and negligence of the Mablethorpe lifeboat crew, owing to which six lives were lost during the recent gale, will be held in public; and whether he will cause an inquiry to be made into the capsizing of the lifeboat at Dungeness on Monday last, in view of the fact that this was the second occasion on which this lifeboat capsized?
§ MR. MUNDELLAI have seen the article referred to. The National Life Boat Institution being neither a Government Department nor in receipt of public money, I have no power to order an investigation into its management. With regard to the conduct of the Mablethorpe lifeboat crew, I have ordered an inquiry into the loss of the Olive Branch, in the course of which the behaviour of the crew of the lifeboat will come under consideration. This inquiry will be open to the public. The capsizing of the lifeboat at Dungeness has formed the subject of careful inquiry by the Institution. A copy of the Report has now reached me, and will receive my careful attention.