§ MR. T. GIBSON BOWLES (Lynn Regis)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he can state if any request has been made by the London and Channel Pilots to the Board of Trade, asking for an alteration in the constitution, of the pilotage authority by giving to the pilots direct representation thereon; and whether any grievance has been alleged, either by pilots or by others, as to the action or working of the Pilotage Authority for London and the Channel, as now existing; and, if not, whether he will reconsider the propriety of proceeding with the Pilotage Provisional Order Bill (248), which alters the constitution of the pilotage authority?
§ MR. BRYCEThe application for the Pilotage Provisional Order of the present Session has come, not from the London and Channel Pilots, but from the General Shipowners Society who desire an alteration in the constitution of the Pilotage Committee of the Pilotage Authority; and the desired alteration cannot be effected without giving to the pilots representation on the Pilotage Committee. The shipowners have alleged grievances, and I think the proper course to adopt is to lot the confirming Bill go, after the Second Reading, to a Committee upstairs, when the matter can be thoroughly examined and decided.