§ Question proposed, "That the Clause stand part of the Bill."
§ Mr. HOLTI should be very glad if the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade will explain exactly what are the changes in the law proposed to be enacted in the Bill. I understand it is confined to an alteration of the law as to the apportionment of damages in cases of collisions, and that where both vessels are to blame the damages are to be apportioned in proportion to the amount of blame, and not in the old rough and ready method of half and half. If that is so, I heartily approve of the change. I understand that the Bill is the result of an international conference. I hope that the hon. Gentleman will tell me what foreign countries have agreed to make this change in the law, and to what extent it represents a real international agreement; how far the various associations of shipowners in the country have been consulted, and whether I am right in understanding that they are practically unanimous.
§ The PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY to the BOARD of TRADE (Mr. J. M. Robertson)I am glad to be able to assure 2663 my hon. Friend that the associations of shipowners in the country are practically unanimous; indeed, I believe absolutely unanimous in support of the measure. This Bill gives effect to two Conventions, which took place at Brussels last year, dealing with the law of collisions at sea and of salvage, the object being to secure unification of the laws of the various maritime nations of the world in this respect. These Conventions were the outcome of a movement which began more than a quarter of a century ago. Although a long period followed the initiation of the movement in this country, initiation on the part of the shipowners and others, the conferences on the subject, I am glad to say, have been unanimous in a very high degree. They represent, on the whole, a rally of the other maritime nations to the maritime law of this country. There are just one or two points in which alteration has to be made. One of these my hon. Friend has mentioned. There is a rectification of the distinctly rough and ready procedure under which, when two ships which have been damaged in collision, they aggregate the loss and divide it equally between them, no matter what might have been the degree in which the ships singly contributed to the accident. It is universally admitted that this is very rough justice indeed. On this point our law is being usefully modified. There is one other point, the abolition of the statutory fault, which again makes a new change in the English law. As the law stands at present the principle of presumption of fault may bring it about that if a ship has committed any breach whatever of the laws of navigation and runs into collision, she is held to be seriously liable, although the error of navigation may not really have contributed to the accident at all. These are the only two important points on which the law is altered, and there is universal agreement among shipowners and jurists in favour of these alterations. Other modifications, such as the limitation of the time for proceedings, are also, I think, agreeable to the good sense of the whole commercial community. On the particular ground raised by the hon. Member (Mr. Holt) all the important maritime nations of the world have consented, and we have confident expectation that our own Colonies will be included.
§ Question, "That the Clause stand part of the Bill," put, and agreed to.