§ SIR GEORGE BADEN-POWELL (Liverpool, Kirkdale)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that Table 61 of the Tables relating to Sea Casualties does not give the ascertained causes, but only the numbers of collisions which took place in thick and foggy weather, and that, in the minutes of evidence given before the Rule of the Road at Sea Committee (page 27), Admiral Sir George Nares 1141 states that he is not aware that any concise statement has been drawn up on the ascertained causes of collisions in fogs; and whether, with a view to accelerating the decision of the Committee promised for next Session, there could be prepared during the Recess a concise statement, over a period of years, of the ascertained causes of collisions which took place in fogs?
§ MR. RITCHIEThe table in the Wreck Register to which my hon. Friend refers gives not only the total number of collisions, but also the causes as far as reported. During the Recess, however, a statement shall be prepared for the information of the Rule of the Road Committee, giving in a more concise and detailed form the ascertained causes of collisions which have taken place in thick and foggy weather. The work will be one of considerable labour and expense, and I, therefore, hope that a Return extending over two years will be sufficient for the purposes of my hon. Friend.