MR. GIBSON BOWLES (Lynn Regis)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade, if he is aware that in 1887 the Secretary of the Mercantile Marine Service Association was informed by Mr. Thomas Gray, then Secretary to the Board of Trade, that the Board had recently made a new departure with regard to the course to be adopted in dealing with certificates on conviction for an offence; and that they had, in cases where the offence was of a professional nature, determined to invite the holder of the certificate to offer any explanation of his conduct before exercising their power of cancellation or suspension; whether this new departure has been adhered to during the twelve years since it was first announced; and, whether he is prepared to consider the advisability of extending to cases in which the offence was otherwise than of a professional character the new departure of hearing the officer before inflicting the second additional punishment of suspending or cancelling his certificate.
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE (Mr. C. T. RITCHIE,) CroydonYes, Sir, I have seen the 331 letter to which my honourable friend refers. The case then under consideration was one in which the master of a vessel was convicted of an offence of a professional nature, viz., that of negligently running foul of a lightship; and the rule was then laid down, and has been adhered to since, that, in analagous cases, the Board would ask for an explanation before exercising their power of cancelling or suspending the certificate of the offender. Cases of a more or less criminal nature are on a different footing, and I am not prepared to adopt a similar course with regard to them, though I shall (as far as I can) have regard to the nature of the offence for which an officer has been convicted before deciding whether to cancel his certificate, or to suspend it for a longer or shorter period.
MR. GIBSON BOWLESCan the right honourable Gentleman say in how many cases since 1882 an officer has been heard in his own defence?
§ MR. RITCHIEI cannot now, but if the honourable Gentleman will put the question down, I will get him the information.