74. Mr. SANDEMAN ALLENasked the President of the Board of Trade whether inquiries have been made respecting the manner in which the barque "Birkdale," which has now arrived in Hull, has been officered and manned on her passage to Hull; what flag she has been flying and what has been her port of registry; whether on arrival at Hull she was flying the British flag; if so, whether, should she retain this flag, the provisions of Section 5 of the Aliens Restriction (Amendment) Act, 1919, will be enforced prior to sailing, in order that the master and chief officer shall be British subjects?
§ Sir P. CUNLIFFE-LISTERInquiries have been made regarding the manning of the barque "Birkdale" on her passage from Callao to Hull, and I find that the nationalities of the officers were as stated in an answer given to my hon. Friend on the 7th December. At ports which the vessel entered since leaving Callao certain changes were made in the remainder of the crew, which on arrival at Hull consisted of one British, one Argentine, two Finns, seven Germans, one Italian, one Norwegian, one Peruvian, one Swede and one Swiss. The vessel has been and is still registered at Liverpool, and is consequently entitled to fly the British flag. So long as she remains registered in the United Kingdom she will be subject to Section 5 of the Aliens Restriction (Amendment) Act, 1919, and the provisions of that Section will have to be complied with.
§ Lieut.-Commander KENWORTHYIs it not the fact that provided this ship carries a British captain and first officer the rest of the crew may come from Chile or Switzerland or anywhere else, and that the right hon. Gentleman's Department refuses to do anything to prevent this scandal?
§ Sir P. CUNLIFFE-LISTERThe hon. and gallant Gentleman is quite wrong. 600 This ship set out from Callao at a time when there were no British there to go on board, and as long as this ship is in British territory, my Department will carry out to the full the powers which Parliament have given us.
§ Lieut.-Commander KENWORTHYAre not the only powers those which require that the captain and chief officer should be British, and that the others may be of any nationality?
§ Sir P. CUNLIFFE-LISTERThe hon. and gallant Gentleman is as well aware as I am, of what are the powers of my Department, and those powers shall be exercised.
§ Mr. HAYESIs it the fact that this ship of many colours was paying wages to its crew which are not less than the wages which would have been paid to British seamen?
§ Mr. SPEAKERWe cannot now deal with that question.