§ Mr. STEADMANasked the President of the Board of Trade if his attention has been called to the fact that at midnight on Sunday, 3rd October, a call was made at the West India Dock gates to discharge a steamer which had arrived; that a considerable 809W number of men without tickets assembled, blocking the way of the men who had been ordered to work with tickets; that the dock police opened a small wicket gate, which was quite inadequate to admit the number of men having to go in; and that several wild rushes were made, when a large gate was opened and the men without tickets were allowed to enter the docks, with the result that on the quay fighting took place, one man having his jaw broken; is he aware that the men were compelled to work from 12 midnight till seven in the morning without a break; and that one night in the London Docks, 1 to 4 Depot, they were compelled to work from 10 p.m. till seven a.m. the next morning without a break; and will he make inquiries into these things with a view of preventing such scenes occurring again and such a system of sweating?
Mr. TENNANTI have been in communication with the Port of London Authority in regard to this question, and have received the following reply from them: "It appears that about 350 of the regular men were warned to attend for the purpose of discharging the steamship 'Inkosi,' and additional police were on duty to keep order. After about 270 men had been admitted by the wicket gate, the foreman, noticing that altogether there were not many men present in excess of the requirements, requested the police to open the large gate, and let all those waiting on to the quay. Some 30 to 50 more men than were required were thus admitted, none of the latter however being amongst those warned to attend. These went away when they found they were not wanted, the quay being clear by about 12.30 a.m. There was no wild rushing as described in the question, but only some slight crowding in the endeavour of some of the men to get in front of the others. The only disorder that occurred was occasioned by a blow given by one man to another, which appeared to arise out of a personal quarrel. No such injury as is alleged was sustained by anyone. In regard to men working through the night without a break, the Authority have issued instructions for all men employed by them to have a break when such night-work cannot be avoided. I may mention that the general rule of the Port, as accepted by employers and workmen, in regard to discharging a ship when night-work is unavoidable, is from 12 midnight to 6 a.m. without a break, which, in exceptional cases, is extended to 7 a.m., where another810W hour's work would clear a ship or save a tide. Overtime and night-work are not favourably regarded by the Authority, and every endeavour is made to restrict such working as much as possible."