§ Mr. HAVELOCK WILSONasked the President of the Board of Trade if he could state how many seamen failed to join British foreign-going ships in the United Kingdom from 1st January to 31st March, 1909, inclusive, and how many continuous discharge books were suspended during that period, distinguishing the port of failure to join?
Mr. TENNANTThe number of seamen who failed to join British foreign-going ships in the United Kingdom during the three months from 1st January to 31st974W March last was 1,840, and the number of continuous discharge books suspended for failure to join under section 65 (2) of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1906, was 84. It is gratifying to note that the figures of failure to join show a marked improvement on the returns for the three months ended 30th September last, asked for in my hon. Friend's question of the 10th December last, in which the number of seamen failing to join was shown as 2,969.