§ Mr. HOUSTONasked whether British seamen employed aboard British vessels have to carry and produce a continuous certificate of discharge; whether in the case of British vessels carrying British crews all desertions from or changes in these crews have to be entered on Form Eng. 2 and handed to the superintendent of a mercantile marine office to be forwarded to the Registrar-General of Shipping and Seamen; whether in the case of British ships carrying Chinese crews the Chinese seamen have also to carry and produce a continuous certificate of discharge, and, if not, will the hon. Gentleman say why this is not required; whether in the case of British ships in British ports carrying Chinese as members of their crews desertions from or changes in these crews have to be entered on Form Eng. 2 and handed to the superintendent of a mercantile marine office to be forwarded to the Registrar-General of Shipping and Seamen, and, if not, will he say why this is not done; and whether, seeing that the continuous certificate of discharge has proved beneficial in helping to prevent an inferior class of men shipping on board British vessels he will introduce legislation requiring Chinese to carry continuous certificates of discharge in the same manner as British seamen, if the present Merchant Shipping Act is not sufficient for this purpose?
§ Mr. TENNANTThe hon. Gentleman is under a misapprehension. Seamen of whatever nationality serving on British ships are not required by law to carry or produce any certificate of discharge. By Section 117 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, the master of every foreign-going ship whose crew has been engaged before a superintendent shall, before finally leaving the United Kingdom, sign and send to the nearest superintendent a full and accurate statement of every change which takes place in his crew before finally leaving the United Kingdom. This statement is rendered on the Form Eng. 2 to which the hon. Member refers, and the nationality of the crew does not affect the master's liability under the Act.
§ Mr. HOUSTONWill the hon. Gentleman introduce the system of continuous certificate discharge books?
§ Mr. TENNANTSome seamen carry the discharge.
§ Mr. HOUSTONMay I ask whether the hon. Gentleman is aware that to European eyes one Chinaman resembles another, much as one sheep resembles another, and that it would require the discriminating genius of the Chancellor's protégé—the famous Dartmoor shepherd—to distinguish one Chinaman from another; and under such conditions does he not see the necessity of the continuous discharge book for Chinese as well as British seamen?