§ 77. Mr. W. J. BROWNasked the President of the Board of Trade whether, having regard to the number of lives and ships lost during the recent winter gale, he still proposes to summon an international conference that will have as its basis the Report of the Committee on Load Lines of Merchant Ships, in view of the fact that this Report proposes the substantial reduction of the freeboard in the case of tankers and timber-laden ships and the removal of all restrictions now placed on the carriage of timber deck cargoes in winter?
§ Mr. W. R. SMITHThe experiences of the recent gale are being carefully studied with a view to ascertaining the causes of the losses of ships and of life, but none of the ships which were lost or from which men were lost were, so far as my present information goes, either tankers or timber-laden ships, and nothing has occurred to affect the decision to hold the conference referred to by my hon. Friend.
§ Mr. BROWNDoes my hon. Friend realise that the Report of this Committee makes a bigger hole in the Plimsoll load line than the alterations made by the right hon. Gentleman the Member for Carnarvon Boroughs (Mr. Lloyd George) some years ago?
§ Mr. SMITHAll I can say is that, taken as a whole, the effect is sometimes in one direction and sometimes in the other.
§ Mr. A. M. SAMUELWhen this matter was looked into, was the question considered of the disuse of wooden hatches and tarpaulins, and the use of steel hatches instead?