§ MR. HAVELOCK WILSON (Middlesbrough)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that a boarding-house keeper was convicted by the deputy stipendiary magistrate at Cardiff on 20th November for having illegally supplied a crew of coloured men on 16th August last, when the British steamer "Cereda" was at the port of Swansea; whether he is aware that the boarding-house keeper, named Spooner, was engaged by the master or over-looker of the "Cereda" to supply the crew; whether he is aware that under Section 111, subsection (2), of the Merchant Shipping Act a person who employs an unlicensed person to engage or supply a crew is liable to a penalty of £20 for each seaman supplied in contravention of the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act; and whether, in view of the continued conviction of boarding-house keepers for illegal supply, he will say if it is the intention of the Board of Trade to take any proceedings against the persons who employ boarding-house keepers to contravene the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act.
§ The following Questions also appeared on the Paper—
MR. HAVELOCK-WILSONTo ask the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been called to the manning of the British steamer "Ashburton" of 4,445 tons gross; whether he is aware that the men constituting the deck hands were one Frenchman, two Norwegians, one Russian Finn, two Swedes, and two Danes, all of those men being engaged at the Port of Antwerp; whether he is aware that the stokehold hands were Chinamen, seventeen in number, twelve of these Chinese firemen producing no discharges and stating at the time of the engagement that they had previously served on German vessels; and whether he can state if the Board of Trade surveyor's attention was called to the manning of this ship prior to leaving a port in the United Kingdom; and what steps, if any, the Board of Trade intend to take to compel 1456 Chinese seamen to produce certificates of discharge at the time of their engagement in the same manner as British seamen are compelled to produce certificates of discharge before engagement.
§ MR. HAVELOCK WILSONTo ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that the British steamer "Lord Derby," of 2,401 net registered tonnage and 3,757 tons gross, only carries six able seamen and one ordinary seamen; whether he is aware that when this vessel is at sea two of the able seamen and the one ordinary seaman are employed on day work, i.e., to work on deck during the day and to be off duty the whole of the night, thereby reducing the effective deck watch during the night to one man steering, one man on the look-out for four hours each, and the officer in charge of the bridge, contrary to the regulations of the Board of Trade of 1897, which provide that in vessels of 800 tons gross there must be six effective deck hands; whether he is aware that the Advisory Committee of the Board of Trade on 13th October last recommended that vessels of 1,500 tons net should carry at least eight deck hands; and whether it is the intention of the Board of Trade to take any proceedings against the master of the "Lord Derby" for failing to maintain, when at sea, a proper and effective watch during the night.
§ MR. HAVELOCK WILSONTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he can explain the cause in the delay in issuing the recommendations of the Advisory Committee of the Board of Trade with regard to the scheme of manning put forward by the Advisory Committee with reference to the number of men engaged in the deck department of British steamers, and also with reference to the efficiency of the deck hands; whether he is aware that in ports of Cardiff, Newport, and Barry qualified seamen are finding it difficult to obtain employment, whilst unqualified men are being engaged on board of British vessels; and whether, seeing the length of time which has elapsed since this question has had the attention of the Advisory Committee, he will take steps 1457 to see that the matter is dealt with by the Board of Trade at once.
§ MR. HAVELOCK WILSONTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he can state what further inquiries have been held with regard to the deaths of five Asiatic seamen on board the British steamer "Strombus"; if he can state the reason why, when inquiry is alleged to have been held at Rotterdam with regard to the deaths of the men, the other members of the crew, apart from the officers, were not called upon to make statements as to the cause of the deaths of the Asiatics in question; and whether the Board of Trade are at present retaining the seamen who made serious allegations against the officers of this ship with regard to the alleged ill-treatment of the Asiatics.
§ MR. CHURCHILLInquiry is being made into the matters referred to in this and subsequent questions which stand in the name of my hon. friend on to-day's Paper, and I shall be happy to communicate the result to him in due course.
§ MR. HAVELOCK WILSONMay we expect a reply at a very early date?
§ MR. CHURCHILLI do not quite know how long it will take to make the inquiries, but I will do my best to accelerate the collection of the information, and will have it circulated with the votes if the hon. Member so desires.