§ SIR SEYMOUR KINGI beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been called to the fact that, although by the Merchant Shipping (Tonnage) Act, 1889, it is provided that, in the case of a ship constructed with a double bottom for water ballast, if the space between the inner and outer plating thereof is certified by a surveyor appointed by the Board of Trade to be not available for the carriage of cargo, stores, or fuel, then the depth required by Section 21, paragraph (2), of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1854, shall be taken to be the upper side of the inner plating of the double bottom, and that upper side shall, for the purposes of measurement, be deemed to represent the floor timber referred to in that section, it has been held by the Board of Trade that when 7,000 cubic feet had been taken off the hold space to form the double bottom for water ballast, that part of the space used solely and wholly for the purpose of water ballast cannot be allowed off the tonnage; and whether, if this is a casus omissus in the Act, he will take steps to remedy the default by legislation?
§ MR. BRYCEThe practice of the Board of Trade Surveyors with regard to the point raised in the hon. Member's question is to act strictly in accordance with the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, Sec. 81, and in the 198 case of a ship constructed with a double bottom for water ballast to measure to the upper side of the inner plating of the double bottom. The Act provides no limit to the amount of space to be allowed as double bottom, and no case has come to the knowledge of the Department in which the space has been limited to 7,000 cubic feet. If the hon. Member thinks that hardship or injustice has arisen in any case, and will furnish me with particulars, the matter shall receive consideration.