HC Deb 14 March 1904 vol 131 cc956-7
MR CROOKS (Woolwich)

To ask the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been called to the fact that, in the shipping office, Cardiff, on 2nd and 3rd March, a notice was displayed to the effect that a steamer wanted sixteen firemen and ten sailors, wages £3 10s., which was £1 below the current rate of the port she belonged to, and that only Naval Reserve men need apply; and, seeing that Naval Reserve men are informed that the fact of their being BO enables them to command better pay, will he arrange that in future no such notice shall be allowed at shipping offices under his Department.

(Answered by Mr. Gerald Balfour.) The notice to which the hon. Member refers was issued for the purpose of informing Royal Naval Reserve men that a crew would be signed on for a certain vessel at a certain time, and at a stated rate of wages, and that the master was willing to engage Reserve men. Neither the Board of Trade nor its officers have power to interfere with the rate of wages paid at any port nor, so far as I am aware, has any authority informed Royal Naval Reserve men that they can command better pay than others. I am informed that, as a matter of fact, £3 15s. a month was actually agreed upon in the case referred to in the Question, and that of the men engaged five belonged to the Reserve. The notices exhibited at the Mercantile Marine Offices announcing what ships are in need of crews are found to be useful to seamen seeking employment, and I am not prepared to direct that they should be discontinued.

Christmas, 1902. Christmas, 1903.
First Class. Second Class. Total. First Class. Second Class. Total.
Men 521 933 1,451 550 1,016 1,506
Women 1,577 2,959 4,536 1,904 3,432 5,336
Total 2,098 3,892 5,987 2,454 4,448 6,902

It must be remembered that the numbers for 1903 include a considerable number of persons who passed in the first or second class in 1902, but who entered again in order to secure a higher place. There are also a certain number who are unable to pass the medical examination which is required before admission to a college. In October, 1903, 3,439 students were admitted to training colleges. 1,186 men were admitted, of whom 1,001 had passed the King's Scholarship, and 156