§ 52. Lieut.-Colonel MOOREasked the President of the Board of Trade whether the Tramp Shipping Committee responsible for the distribution of subsidies will have instructions only to give subsidies in respect of those ships on which wages are paid in accordance with the standard of the National Maritime Board and where a reasonable proportion of British officers and men are borne?
§ The PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY to the BOARD of TRADE (Dr. Burgin)The duties of the Tramp Shipping Subsidy Committee are defined in the British Shipping (Assistance) Act, 1935. The position as regards the specific matters to which my hon. and gallant Friend refers was fully explained during the debates on the Bill.
Mr. WESTDoes not the hon. Gentleman realise that there are scores of shipowners who, under this Clause, will be given a subsidy although they are employing 20 per cent. and more of cheap coloured sailors?
§ Commander MARSDENIs it not a fact that, in the ships which are particularly interested in this subsidy, the percentage of British officers and men is very high indeed; and would the Parliamentary Secretary now give the figures for the benefit of the House?
§ Dr. BURGINThe percentage of British officers and men is certainly very high, but what is much more important than that is that the Chairman of the British Tramp Shipping Subsidy Committee, in the circular of the 31st January, 1935, issued to shipowners in respect of this very matter, has called attention to the fact that a recommendation for the grant of a subsidy would not be forthcoming in the case of an owner who did not pay the National Maritime Board wages where applicable. The actual sentence is that the President of the Board 1299 of Trade had intimated that he had been assured, from such consultations as he had had in conference, that a subsidy would not be granted in those circumstances. The matter has been fully ventilated, and the Tramp Shipping Subsidy Committee know their duty.
§ Dr. ADDISONIs it not a fact that the scales of the National Maritime Board are not applicable when the seamen employed are not British seamen?
§ Dr. BURGINThat, really, is quite another point.
§ Dr. ADDISONNo. The hon. Gentleman's answer just now contained the words "where applicable," and I ask him, in respect of those words, whether it is not a fact that the findings of the National Maritime Board are not applicable to the employment of seamen who are not British subjects?
§ Dr. BURGINIt is quite clear that the National Maritime Board regulations do not apply to crews signed on outside this country.