§ *MR. HAVELOCK WILSON () MiddlesbroughI beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he can state the number of Asiatic or other native able seamen, and the number of Asiatics or natives engaged in the stokehold and engineroom of Peninsular and Oriental steamships "Arcadia," "Carthage," and "China," respectively; also the number of places provided for the accommodation and appropriated for the use of such persons; and the cubical space and the number of superficial feet measured on the deck or floor provided for each person in each of these ships.
§ MR. RITCHIEThe number of Asiatics engaged on deck and in the stokehold of the "Arcadia" is 123, the number of spaces allotted to their use is four and the aggregate superficial area works out to nine and a half square feet per man, while the cubic capacity is seventy-six cubic feet per man. The men, however, are so distributed throughout the spaces as in some cases to give them less and in others more than the space required by the Act. In the case of the "China"' there are 129 Asiatics with two spaces allotted to them, in each of which rather over the floor area per man required by the Imperial Act is provided, and the cubic capacity per man is ninety-two and ninety-four feet per man, as against the seventy-two feet provided by the statute. The "Carthage" is abroad, and I am not in possession of the particulars asked for in the question.