MR. GIBSON BOWLES (Lynn Regis)I beg to ask the Civil Lord of the Admiralty whether he will inquire into the accuracy of the statement that, 1445 of the sum of £44 16s. paid by the underwriters for the services rendered by the Coastguard of the Stornoway station in protecting the cargo of the wreck of the Inflexible, £24 16s., paid for subsistence and travelling expenses, was equally divided among the four men employed on the duty, while the remaining £20, granted as an honorarium, was divided among the officer and crew of the station; and whether the four boatmen employed on the duty, instead of receiving the whole of the £24 16s., in addition to a, share of the £20, did, in fact, only receive £19 8s. altogether; if not, whether he can state the actual sum received by the four boatmen in respect of subsistence money and of the houorarium paid over by the underwriters?
§ THE CIVIL LORD OF THE ADMIRALTY (Mr. E. ROBERTSON,) DundeeI regret that I was misinformed as to the distribution of the money in question, and consequently my reply to the hon. Gentleman on the 21st December was not correct. The facts are correctly stated in the hon. Gentleman's question, but the Admiralty will reconsider the distribution of the £24 16s. granted for travelling and subsistence expenses.
MR. GIBSON BOWLESWho was responsible for this very serious blunder? Will official notice be taken of it?
§ MR. E. ROBERTSONI shall certainly take notice of the negligence involved in giving the wrong information.