§ 55. Mr. HOUSTONasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware of the difficulty of obtaining duly qualified certificated officers and engineers for our merchant steamers; that many of our merchant steamers, owing to the impossibility of obtaining a sufficient number of qualified officers and engineers, are running with less than the normal number; whether this shortage is due to the presence of so many of these maritime officers in the Army; whether these men would be serving their country more efficiently on board ship; and, if so, whether he will make representations to this effect to the proper authority with a view to release from military service a sufficient number of these officers and engineers to properly and efficiently man our merchant steamers?
Mr. ROBERTSSo far as I am aware there is not a very serious shortage of certificated officers and engineers for the mercantile marine, and such shortage as exists, at any rate so far as deck officers are concerned, is due more to the require- 1299 ments of the Navy than to the number of certificated officers in the Army. I am aware that a good many marine engineers are employed in important work on shore The Board of Trade have the matter under observation and are prepared to take appropriate action when necessary.
§ Mr. HOUSTONAs the hon. Gentle man's information appears to be defective, will he make further inquiries when he will find that the statement in the question is correct?