§ Mr. GOULDasked the Minister of Labour if his attention has been called to the practice of many officers and men of the mercantile marine after completing long voyages, during which time the major portion of their wages have been accumulating, when finally signed off with large sums of money, sometimes amounting to hundreds of pounds, to immediately apply for unemployment benefit; if he is aware that these men are not now placed by circumstances in any different position than is customary and that most of them would refuse to go to sea immediately following their discharge; and whether, seeing that this practice is a violation of the intention of the Act, he will take steps before granting out-of-work relief to such 2981W people to ascertain when they were discharged from their vessels and to produce their paying-off slips, so as to prevent genuinely unemployed seamen being unfairly treated?
§ Sir M. BARLOWA seaman claiming benefit must thereby be taken to represent that he is ready to go to sea immediately, and if he declined to do so without sufficient reason benefit would not be paid. In the present state of unemployment it, is not easy to test such cases by the offer of employment, but I have rip definite evidence that unemployment benefit is in fact being abused. Suggestions have, however, been made to me chat special rules should be applied to seamen claiming benefit between voyages, and I am looking into the matter.