§ * SIR CHARLES DILKE (Gloucestershire, Forest of Dean)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether sufficient time has now elapsed since the, 27th July, 1898, for him to give an estimate of the total number of boys who will be carried under the Reduced Lights Dues Clause of the Merchant Shipping (Mercantile Marine Fund) Act of 1898 as compared with the estimated number of 16,150; and whether he can make a statement to enable Parliament to judge if the operation of the clause is likely to be sufficient to prevent the continued decline in the number of British sailors, especially among the younger men.
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE (Mr. GERALD BALFOUR, Leeds, Central)16,150 Was mentioned in the course of the debate on the Merchant Shipping (Mercantile Marine Fund) Bill by my right hon. friend the Home Secretary, who was then President of the Board of Trade, as being the maximum number of boys which would be carried if advantage to the full were taken of the proposal contained in Section 6 of the Bill. Since the scheme came into force 1,523 boys have been enrolled, and the numbers show a steady tendency to increase. It is impossible for me to give an estimate of what number of boy sailors will be enrolled up to March, 1905, when under Section 6 of the Merchant Shipping (Mercantile Marine Fund) Act the scheme will cease to be in force, unless otherwise enacted by Parliament; and it is consequently also-impossible for me to state how far the operation of the scheme will have an effect on the number of British seamen in the Mercantile Marine.