§ Mr. PETOalso asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware of the recent appeal cases in the High Court relating to the steamships "Bengore Head" and "Bellona," which resulted in 749W the reversal of the decisions of the Canadian marine inquiries suspending the certificates of the captains of each of these steamers for a period of three months; whether he is aware that, although the decisions were given in their favour, the appellants were granted no costs; whether, in view of this, he will, as in the case of the "Grecian," use his influence in getting the Government of Canada to defray, ex gratia, the legal costs to which both appellants have been subjected; and whether he will take such steps as will ensure that in future appeal cases of a similar kind the successful appellants shall be provided with some satisfactory means whereby, in securing justice for themselves, they shall not be saddled with a serious financial burden in the way of legal costs?
Mr. BUXTONI have received the reports of the High Court in the cases referred to, and the facts are as stated. As regards the question of the costs of the successful appellants, as I indicated in my reply to the hon. Member on the 9th June, I fear that I cannot hold out hope that the Board of Trade will be able to secure that officers shall be relieved of these expenses in cases such as these.