§ MR. SPICER (Monmouth Boroughs)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he has been able to carry out all the recommendations of the Committee appointed to consider the question of the engagement and discharge of British seamen at Continental Ports within the Home trade limits?
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE (Mr. RITCHIE,) CroydonI have been in communication with the Foreign Office and the Treasury, and I am pleased to be able to inform the hon. Member that arrangements have been made for giving effect to the greater part of the recommendations of the Committee appointed to consider the question of the engagement and discharge of British seamen at Continental Ports. The office accommodation and staff at the Consulates are to be increased where necessary, and I trust that this, in conjunction with the revised instructions to our Consular Officers, will serve to protect our seamen from the extortion to which in many cases they have been hitherto subjected.