§ COLONEL SADLER (Middlesbrough)To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will consider the advisability of amending the Merchant Shipping Act to enable a colonial seaman to recover in a summary manner the cost of his journey home if he is discharged in Great Britain, in the same way as is provided by Section 186 of the Act for British seamen when they are discharged abroad.
(Answered by Mr. Gerald Balfour.) No Amendment of the Merchant Shipping Act in the direction suggested by my 917 hon and gallant friend would appear to be necessary, as the position of a colonial seaman whose service terminates at a port in His Majesty's Dominions is the same as that of a seaman belonging to the United Kingdom who is discharged in similar circumstances. Section 186 of the Act only applies to seamen discharged at ports outside His Majesty's dominions.