§ Sir B. PETOasked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been drawn to the finding and order of a naval Court held at Marseilles, on the 23rd and 24th February last, which investigated the circumstances attending the stranding and subsequent loss of the British steamship "Dalton," of the port of Newcastle-on-Tyne, a vessel of 1,275 tons gross, where the Court found that her loss was caused by the wrongful act or default of the master, Panagiotis Dedes, who appeared to have navigated his vessel in an unseamanlike manner, whilst the Court also blamed the second mate, Antonios Logothetis; and whether he proposes to take any steps in respect to the statement of the Court that they would like to draw attention to the misgivings which must inevitably arise in a case like the one under consideration where a heavily laden British ship can be manned and taken to sea by a foreign crew, none of whom have British certificates, or are amenable to any of the sanctions provided under Section 483 of The Merchant Shipping Act, 1894?
§ Sir P. CUNLIFFE-LISTERI would refer my hon. Friend to the answer given1536W by the Parliamentary Secretary on the 25th April to the hon. Member for Finchley (Mr. Cadogan), a copy of which I am sending him.