§ MR. NANNETTITo ask the Secretary to the Board of Trade whether he is aware that a crew of sailors and firemen were brought from the port of Antwerp to the West India Dock, London, to join the British steamship "Oakwood," and that these men had to pay to a shipping master at Antwerp six francs each for a berth; and whether, in view of the number of sailors and firemen unemployed in London at the present moment, he will cause inquiries to be made as to the circumstances under which this crew was brought to London.
(Answered by Mr. Bonar Law.) The Board of Trade have made inquiries and the facts are, I believe, as stated in the Question. The Board of Trade have no power to interfere in the matter, but I may say that the present current rate of wages is higher in London than at Antwerp.