§ Mr. W. BAKERasked the President of the Board of Trade whether ships are being permitted to proceed to sea without wireless operators, indiscriminately; whether he will take steps to ensure that each case is subjected to the closest scrutiny and examination in order that the strictest impartiality may be observed; and whether he will give an assurance that only ships trading in goods coming within the category of immediate national necessity, such as food ships, will be exempted from the wireless regulations?
§ Sir P. CUNLIFFE-LISTEREach case is considered separately, and where compliance with the law is rendered impossible by operators declining to sail owing to a strike, and by this alone, the ship is not detained. It would be impracticable to distinguish between different classes of ships and different classes of cargo.