§ MR. CHARLES McARTHUR (Liverpool, Exchange)To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, in making rules and orders in pursuance 929 of the Aliens Bill, he will consider whether the responsibility for the embarkation, landing, custody, and making of returns as to aliens, and for the deportation of expelled aliens, properly devolves upon the shipmaster or upon some other person, with the object of limiting, where practicable, the personal responsibility of the master to matters falling within his observation and control.
(Answered by MR. Secretary Akers-Douqlas.) The wishes of my hon. friend shall be borne in mind, but I must say that the questions raised by him seem to me to be already settled by the various provisions of the Bill, and not to remain to be dealt with by rules and orders. I am, moreover, of opinion that these provisions, which follow precedents in the Merchant Shipping Acts, will in practice be found to meet the requirements of the case, and not to be unduly burdensome to the masters of ships. The liability of the master of a ship is in effect, by virtue of Section 693 of the Merchant Shipping Act, which is incorporated with the Bill by Clause 7 (1), the liability of the owner of a ship, between whom and the master it will be a matter of arrangement as under that Act.