§ MR. HAVELOCK WILSON (Middlesbrough)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he can state if the figures given at pages 2–3, Table 2, of the Return of the number, ages, ratings, and nationalities of seamen recently issued by his Department are correct, in so far as they affect firemen and trimmers employed on all steam vessels in the home and foreign trade; and whether he is aware that the table referred to gives the total number of men employed, including lascars, as firemen and trimmers on those vessels as 46,767.
§ MR. LLOYD-GEORGEI have no reason to doubt the correctness of the figures referred to by my hon. friend. I would point out that the total of 46,767 merely shows the number of men employed on a given day—4th April, 1906 —and, further, that it includes firemen and trimmers in the coasting and fishing trades, as well as in the home and foreign trades. The total includes lascars.