§ MR. HAVELOCK WILSON (Middlesbrough)To ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he can state how many seamen failed to join the vessels on which they were engaged at ports in the United Kingdom from 1st July, 1906, to 31st December, 1906, and
§ declarations which these Ministers made before being awarded the pensions.
§ (Answered by Mr. Hobhouse.) These pensions are granted in accordance with provisions of The Political Offices Pension Act, 1869 (32 and 33 Vict., c. 60), to which I beg to refer my hon. friend. From this he will see that Cabinet rank is not a necessary qualification for a pension. A declaration is required stating that the applicant's total income is inadequate to maintain his station in life as required by the Act 4 and 5, Will. 4, c. 24, s. 6, re-enacted by the Act already referred to. The further particulars asked for by my hon. friend are shown below—
§ also from 1st July, 1907, to 31st December, 1907; and whether he can state the number of continuous discharge books withheld from seamen during the latter period who had failed to join their vessels, and distinguish in each case the port of failures to join.
§ (Answered by Mr. Churchill.) No figures are available showing the number of seamen who failed to join the vessels for which they were engaged at ports 733 in the United Kingdom for the periods specified in the Question, but the table appended shows the figures at certain ports for the years ended 31st December, 1906, and 31st December, 1907. It also shows the number of cases in which the Board of Trade withheld discharge
| Port. | Number of failures to join 1st January to 31st December. | Number of oases in which the Board of Trade took action under Section 65 (2) of The Merchant Shipping Act, 1906. | |
| 1906. | 1907. | 1st July to 31st December, 1907. | |
| Cardiff and Barry | 1,718 | 1,512 | 12 |
| Glasgow | 1,936 | 1,941 | 15 |
| Hull | 411 | 310 | 9 |
| Liverpool | 5,720 | 6,799 | 9 |
| London | 1,472 | 1,436 | 26 |
| Newport | 305 | 211 | 11 |
| Shields, N. | 349 | 315 | 3 |
| Shields, S. | 476 | 433 | — |
| Southampton | 177 | 673 | — |
| Sunderland | 147 | 167 | 1 |
| Swansea | 116 | 142 | 9 |
| Other ports | — | — | 23 |
| Total | 12,827 | 13,939 | 118 |