§ Mr. Benjamin Smithasked the President of the Board of Trade what steps have been taken to give effect to Part VIII of the Draft Agreement as to British Commonwealth Merchant Shipping adopted by the Imperial Conference in 1930, and providing for the relief and repatriation of seamen belonging to any part of the Commonwealth who may be found in distress, or left behind in any other part or in places abroad, and for defraying the expenses; for payment of the expenses of medical attendance, maintenance, burial, and repatriation in case of injury or illness of seamen; for dealing with the effects and wages of seamen who are left behind or die in a port outside the part of the Commonwealth to which they belong; and for the recovery from the owner of the ship in proper cases, of any expenses incurred by the administration of any part of the Commonwealth in the matters referred to?
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§ Mr. CrossThe position of our seamen is covered for all practical purposes by the existing arrangements. A new scheme would require legislation here and in the Dominions and would entail a great deal of labour. In the absence of immediate need for change in the present arrangements, work on this subject has been deferred.