§ Mr. WATTasked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been called to the case of the s.s. "Rutherglen," of Glasgow, which arrived at Leith on 1st April last; whether he is aware that complaints were then lodged by the seamen as to the overtime worked on board and as to the insanitary condition of their quarters causing them to sleep in the open on deck; that the superintendent of the Board of Trade at Leith took up the position from the first that he did not believe the men and did not make the necessary investigation which he is paid to make; and that the men were thereafter and on account of these complaints presented with bad discharges, although some of them were Royal Navy Reserve men with good records from the Navy, and were persuaded by the officials in Glasgow of his Department to accept these bad discharges although they still sought for an investigation; and whether, in view of the fact that some of these men are still unemployed, he will cause his officials to thoroughly investigate the whole matter?
Mr. BUXTONNo complaints of any kind appear to have been made to officers of the Board of Trade when the crew of the "Rutherglen" were discharged at Leith. Complaints were made to the superintendent of the Mercantile Marine Office at Glasgow by several members of the crew who had received a "good" character for conduct instead of the character "very good." The master, with whom the responsibility of giving these reports rests, stated that he based the report on the men's general behaviour throughout the voyage. In the circumstances, I fear that I cannot usefully make any investigations into the matter, especially in view of the time which has elapsed since the discharge of the crew.