§ 51. Mr. WINGasked the President of the Board of Trade if his attention has been called to the annual report of the acting medical officer to the Newport (Mon.) port sanitary authority to the effect that the proportion of vessels visiting Newport having sanitary defects during 1914 was higher than in any previous year; that forecastles in new ships are curtailed in size in order to provide extra large hatches for loading and unloading; and that, as the forecastles are too small for all the sailors and firemen, the forepeaks have been used for crew spaces, although the lighting and ventilation of these do not conform with Board of Trade requirements; and will he state what he proposes to do to carry out the rules and regulations of the Department in the cases complained of?
Mr. RUNCIMANThe Board of Trade have not yet received a copy of this report, but when a copy reaches the Department the statements made in the report will be carefully examined. I may, however, point out that the Board of Trade requirements for the crew spaces of vessels were revised and made more stringent in February, 1914, and I feel confident that the Board of Trade surveyors have not passed the crew spaces of any ships unless they have complied with those requirements and the statutory regulations.