§ MR. JOYCE (Limerick)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware of the fact that soldiers and sailors, when qualifying for the rating as signalmen in either Service, have to undergo a course of tuition extending from six to eight weeks to enable them to become proficient in the Morse system of night signalling; and, seeing that such training is considered essential to success in warfare, will he consider the desirability, in the interests of the safety of the lives of those engaged at sea in trade, of offering the same facilities and conditions as to pay and maintenance to those officers and men of the mercantile marine who are desirous of obtaining the knowledge of using the Morse system of night signalling, in view of the fact that not one per cent. of those of that serivce will know any- 589 thing about it when it becomes obligatory upon them to use such system at sea by night on and after the 1st January next.
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURYes, Sir, I am aware of the fact that signalmen in the Army and Navy are specially trained in the use of the Morse system of signalling, but I have no power—even if I thought it desirable—to require (or assist) the officers and men of the mercantile marine to make themselves acquainted with that system, the use of which is optional, and will not become obligatory upon them after the 1st January next, as stated in the question.