§ MR. M'GHEE (Louth, S.)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether reports have reached him as to the practice of crimping which is alleged to be largely carried on in the shipping office of the British Consul in New York during the engaging and discharging of seamen; and, if so, what steps, if any, he proposes to take to have crimps and boarding-house keepers excluded from the shipping office while the operation of engaging and discharging of seamen is going on?
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADEMy attention has been called to the alleged prevalence of crimping both inside and outside the Consular Office at New York, and I am in communication with the Consul General on the subject.