§ SIR DONALD H. MACFARLANE (Argyll)I beg to ask the Lord Advocate if his attention has been called to the drowning of a young man named George Brodie Macinnes on the 26th of November last, while engaged in work upon a stage suspended over the stern of the steamship Avon, in Glasgow Harbour; and whether he will cause inquiry to be made into all the circumstances, and ascertain why no investigation took place into this case, in which the fatal result is attributed to gross carelessness?
§ THE LORD ADVOCATE (Mr. J. B. BALFOUR,) Clackmannan, &c.In this case inquiry was made in the usual way, immediately after the death, by the Procurator Fiscal. He reported to the Crown Office on the 7th December that the death appeared to have been accidental, and that it seemed to him there was no blame attaching to anyone. Mr. Macinnes, the young man's father made no complaint to the Fiscal, but he complained to an official of the Board of Trade that sufficient means of saving life were not provided in the harbour. He afterwards departed from this ground of complaint, and by his legal advisers urged that the inquiry by the Procurator Fiscal should be re-opened upon another ground—namely, that the stage upon which the young man was working had been wrongly constructed, and that this had been wilfully concealed by the ship's people from the Authorities. A second inquiry was held, and it was shown that there was no foundation for this charge. In the meantime the original complaint to the Board of Trade had been forwarded to me, and by my directions the Procurator Fiscal pressed Mr. Macinnes to name anyone who could speak to his complaint that adequate means of saving life were not provided. He selected the Harbour Master of Glasgow, who completely negatived his allegation. I think that, as the result of the three inquiries, it has been clearly shown that there was no negligence in connection with this unfortunate accident, and that the whole arrangements were usual and proper.
§ SIR D. H. MACFARLANEI should like to ask if the fellow-workman on the same stage was examined as a witness?
§ MR. J. B. BALFOURI have not a note of the evidence of the witnesses, but I happen to remember that persons working on the adjoining stage were examined.