§ MR. HAVELOCK WILSON (Middles-borough)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade, whether his attention has been called to the inquiry held into the loss of the Newcastle steamship "Cardinal" in the North Atlantic on 12th February, whilst on a voyage from Pensacola to Antwerp: whether he is aware that the Court found that the height of the deck cargo of timber was six to seven feet in the well of the vessel and about four feet on the awning deck, and three and a-half to five feet on the after-deck; whether he is aware the Court found that the vessel, as loaded, was not in a good and seaworthy condition when she left Pensacola on her winter voyage across the Atlantic; whether he is aware that the Merchant Shipping Act prohibits the carrying of such deck cargoes during winter to ports in the United Kingdom, but does not prohibit the carrying of such deck cargoes to Continental ports; whether he intends to introduce legislation at an early date to prohibit British vessels carrying excessive deck-loads of timber to Continental ports during the winter months; what proceedings, if any, does he intend to take against the owners of the "Cardinal" for allowing this vessel to proceed to sea in an unseaworthy condition; and, whether he is aware the 642 owner, Mr. Avory, declined to disclose to the Court the amount of insurance effected on this vessel?
§ The following Question was also on the paper:
§ MR. HAVELOCK WILSONTo ask the President of the Board of Trade, whether he can state the number of Lascars employed on board the British India Steam Navigation Company's steamship "Goorkha," as able seamen, firemen, trimmers, cooks, and stewards; whether he can state how many cubic feet and how many superficial feet are provided for each Lascar on board this vessel; and, whether the crew spaces are kept entirely free for use of crew, as provided by section 210, sub-section 2, of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894.
THE PRESIDENT OF THIS BOARD OF TRADEThese questions only appeared on the paper this morning, and it has been utterly impossible for me to make the necessary inquiries to enable me to answer the honourable Gentleman.
§ MR. HAVELOCK WILSONI will put them down for the first day after the Recess.