§ MR. JOYCE (Limerick)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade, whether his attention has been directed to a complaint from one of the crew of the s.s. "Orona," who alleges that this vessel signed on eight able seamen, which provides an effective crew of four men for each watch, but that the captain of this vessel has by the system he has adopted reduced the number of men in each watch to two, namely, one man on the look-out and one man at the wheel, which is in contravention of the Board of Trade manning scale, which provides that there shall be three effective hands in each watch; whether, seeing that this may endanger the lives of the crew of this vessel, he will call the attention of the owners to the captain's conduct 63 and request that they will give instructions to stop this reduction of the effective number of hands in each watch; and whether he can state if this steamship has been engaged by the Admiralty for the conveyance of stores to His Majesty's troops in South Africa.
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE (Mr. GERALD BALFOUR,) Leeds, CentralYes, Sir; my attention has been called to the complaint referred to in the question, and I have been in communication with the owners of the "Orona." I find that the vessel carried eight A.B.'s, besides a boatswain, a carpenter, and four deck officers. This was in excess of the requirements of the Board of Trade, and I am advised that the vessel was certainly not undermanned. The Department has no power to interfere, with the disposition of the hands by the master when at sea. I am informed that the "Orona" was engaged by the Admiralty, as stated in the question.