HL Deb 11 March 1937 vol 104 cc649-53

Order of the Day for the House to be put into Committee read.

Moved, That the House do now resolve itself into Committee.—(The Earl of Plymouth.)

On Question, Motion agreed to.

House in Committee accordingly:

[The EARL OF ONSLOW in the Chair.]

Clause 1:

Provision as to observing officers.

(3) When any ship to which the Act of 1936 applies leaves a port or place in Spanish territory bound to any port or place not in Spanish territory she shall proceed to the prescribed place, taking the shortest available route thereto unless otherwise agreed between the master or owner of the ship and the administrator who deputed the observing officers on board the ship, and shall there disembark the said officers:

Provided that the said administrator may substitute another place for the prescribed place, so, however, that, without the consent of the master or owner of the ship, no such substitution shall be made which would increase the length of the ship's intended voyage by more than fifty sea miles.

(5) The Board of Trade may on the application of the owner and with the consent of the authority, by licence exempt any ship, being a ship which is shown to the satisfaction of the Board of Trade to be regularly engaged in carrying goods or passengers to or from Spanish territory, from the foregoing pro- visions of this section on the following conditions, namely:—

(a) that the ship does not proceed to sea from any port or place without having on board such observing officers as may be deputed from time to time in that behalf by the chief administrator, and

(7) Every ship to which the Act of 1936 applies having observing officers on board in pursuance of this Act, or being engaged on a voyage on which she is exempt from the provisions of subsection (1) of this section under the proviso thereto, shall, while in waters adjacent to Spanish territory, display the prescribed signals; and if in those waters any such ship, having any such officers on board or being so engaged, fails to display the prescribed signals or, having no such officers on board and not being so engaged, displays the prescribed signals, the master of the ship shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds.

THE PARLIAMENTARY UNDERSECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (THE EARL OF PLYMOUTH): moved, in subsection (3), after "applies," to insert "having observing officers on board in pursuance of this Act." The noble Earl said: Under proviso (c) to subsection (1) a ship bound to a Spanish port may be exempted from embarking observing officers. In such a case it is obvious that the ship, having no observing officers on board, ought not to be required to proceed to the place prescribed for disembarking observing officers. As subsection (3) stands at present, it is not clear that a ship would not be bound to comply with subsection (3), although she had no observing officers on board. The object of this Amendment is to remove any doubt about this.

Amendment moved— Page 3, line 1, at end insert ("having observing officers on board in pursuance of this Act.")—(The Earl of Plymouth.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

THE EARL OF PLYMOUTH moved, in paragraph (a) in subsection (5), after "not", to insert "except with the consent of the chief administrator". The noble Earl said: As subsection (5) stands at present, a ship exempted by licence of the Board of Trade cannot proceed to sea from any port without having on board the proper observing officers; and if she does, the Master is liable to a very heavy penalty. Cases may, however, arise where one of the observing officers (or the sole observing officer in the case of small ships) allotted to a ship is suddenly taken ill in a port outside Spain or for some reason of his own fails to embark at the proper time. In such cases it would be very unreasonable to require the ship to wait at the port until the observing officer was ready to embark. The object of this Amendment is to obviate any such result, as the Master will be able to telegraph to the chief administrator explaining the position, and seeking instructions. It may be that the ship is at or near a port where another observing officer can be obtained, in which case the situation can be met without much difficulty. Alternatively, it might be impossible, or very difficult, for the ship, in view of her position and commitments, to proceed to one of the observation ports in order to embark an observing officer, and the chief administrator would have power in such a case to allow the ship to proceed without one. Cases of the kind contemplated by the Amendment, are perhaps, not very likely to arise, but they are clearly possible, and provision for them should therefore be made. I beg to move.

Amendment moved— Page 3, line 28, after ("not") insert ("except with the consent of the chief administrator.").—(The Earl of Plymouth.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

THE EARL OF PLYMOUTH moved, in subsection (7), to leave out "is exempt" and insert "has been exempted by an administrator." The noble Earl said: The object of this Amendment is to make it plain that a ship is only required to display the prescribed signals when she has been exempted from embarking observing officers under proviso (c) to subsection (1); and that she is not required to display the signals in a case where proviso (a) to that subsection applies—namely, a case where she has been forced to enter Spanish waters in order to reach the prescribed place or by stress of weather or force majeure. It is just possible to construe the existing words "is exempt" as referring to proviso (a) as well as to proviso (c), and it is advisable to remove any doubt about the matter.

Amendment moved— Page 5, line 16, leave out ("is exempt") and insert ("has been exempted by an administrator").—(The Earl of Plymouth.)

On Question Amendment agreed to.

Clause 1, as amended, agreed to.

Clause 2 and 3 agreed to.

Clause 4 [Short title, construction, interpretation, extent, commencement and duration]:

THE EARL OF PLYMOUTH moved, in subsection (5), to leave out "days" and insert "dates." The noble Earl said: This Amendment is purely drafting.

Amendment moved— Page 9, line 6, leave out ("days") and insert ("dates").—(The Earl of Plymouth.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

On Question, Whether the clause, as amended, shall stand part of the Bill?

LORD NEWTON

I have one observation to make on this clause. I wish to emphasise what fell from my noble friend Lord Crawford yesterday. Do not let a there be any mistake or misconception about it, this blockade is going to be a very serious, a very disagreeable, and a very dangerous matter. What I feel is almost certain to happen is that one or perhaps more of the Powers who are taking part in it will either want to withdraw or make some kind of exchange which will affect us. I do not know whether my noble friend will be able to give me any assurance upon the point—I do not suppose he will—but I wish he would tell us quite plainly that if any application is made to us to extend our sphere of operations and undertake greater responsibilities we shall definitely refuse. We have the power to do so in a subsection in this clause, and I invite his special attention to it. If he does not think it impolitic, I wish he would give me some assurance on the point. What I am asking is that we shall not indefinitely extend our responsibilities under this Bill.

THE EARL OF PLYMOUTH

The considerations to which the noble Lord has drawn attention are, I need hardly say, present in the minds of the Government. Clearly it would be impossible for me to give an undertaking here that we shall not be prepared in certain circumstances to extend to some limited extent our undertakings.

Clause 4, as amended, agreed to.

Then, Standing Order No. XXXIX having been dispensed with, Amendments reported: Bill read 3a, and passed, and sent to the Commons.