Loss of Steamship Titanic
LOSS OF STEAMSHIP "TITANIC." GOVERNMENT INQUIRY. Mr. BOTTOMLEY asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that many passenger ships are provided with lifeboat accommodation sufficient only for the conveyance of but a small portion of the passengers and crew; that in many cases lifeboat drill is carried out at very rare intervals and in a very perfunctory manner; that upon emergency it has been found that, owing to long disuse, the lifeboat gear has so deteriorated as to prevent the proper launching of the boats; and whether he can see his way to introduce legislation to ensure that passenger ships carry a sufficient number of lifeboats to convey all the passengers and crew; that the crew are adequately drilled in their launching and manning; and that all tackle is kept in perfect condition? Colonel IVOR PHILIPPS asked the President of the Board of Trade what number of boats and of what capacity the steamship "Titanic" was supposed to carry; what number of passengers and crew she was licensed to carry; what number of boats and their capacity she actually carried, and what number of passengers and crew when she left Southampton on Wednesday, 10th inst,; and whether the Board of Trade have power to compel the carrying of sufficient boats to hold all the passengers and crew conveyed by a vessel; and, if not, whether he will immediately introduce legislation to give the Board of Trade such power or give facilities for such a measure to be passed into law if introduced by a Private Member? Mr. JOHN WARD asked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been called to the alleged absence of proper and sufficient life-boat accommodation on board British passenger ships; and whether his Department are now in a position to take action in accordance with his statement on the 11th December last? Mr. FRANCE asked the President of the Board of Trade (1) what number of lifeboats was carried by the "Titanic"; and what are the requirements of the Board of Trade with regard to lifeboats for ships of this size; (2) if he is prepared to hold an immediate inquiry into the necessity and practicability of large passenger steamers carrying and using at night powerful search lights? Mr. J. WARD asked the correct number of passengers, men, women, and children, carried by the "Titanic," first, second, and third class, separately; the number of each class saved from the wreck, separately; and the proportion of passengers saved in each class to the total in each class? Mr. JOWETT asked what percentage of first, second, and third-class passengers, respectively, compared with the number of passengers carried, were saved from the recent wreck of the ss. "Titanic," the percentage of women passengers of each class who were saved, and also the percentage of men who were saved in like comparison? Mr. DOUGLAS HALL asked the names of the members of the Merchant Shipping Advisory Committee that reported to the Board of Trade on the proposed alterations of the regulations relating to saving life at sea, and by whom they were appointed and the interests that they represented? Sir C. KINLOCH-COOKE asked the President of the Board of Trade, whether, in view of recent events, he will consider the advisability of making such regulations as will ensure that, on all vessels equipped with the Marconi system of telegraphy, a sufficient number of operators are on board to secure constant attendance at the instrument by night and day? Mr. DOUGLAS HALL asked the Prime Minister whether the Government are prepared, in view of the grave loss of life which attended the wreck of the "Titanic," to appoint a Committee to inquire into the question of the precautions taken on board vessels of the mercantile marine to prevent disaster at sea, and in particular the supply of searchlights, boats, and life-saving devices generally, as well as the efficacy of the existing Board of Trade regulations, with a view to the adoption of more effective means in the future? Mr. BUXTON: Many of the particulars asked for were given by me to the House in my statement on Thursday last. I do not propose to repeat those particulars, but I am sending a copy of the statement containing them to the hon. Members who have asked for the same details. The number of passengers on board the "Titanic" when she left Southampton was 922, and the crew numbered 892. Additional passengers were taken on board at Cherbourg and Queenstown, making the total persons on board, according to the Board of Trade information, 2,208, as stated by me on Thursday. As regards the percentage of passengers classified according to sex and class whose lives were saved, I regret that my information does not yet enable me to give a complete and accurate reply. As soon as the particulars are available, I will circulate them with the Votes. As regards the performance of boat drill, the Merchant Shipping Act requires that boats and other live-saving appliances on board any ship shall be kept so as to be at all times fit and ready for use, and if any case comes to the knowledge of the Board of Trade in which this requirement is not complied with, the case is investigated and proceedings are instituted if necessary. I am having printed with the Votes copy of a notice to owners and masters issued at the end of 1908, calling their special attention to this matter. Further, the boats of all passenger steamers are inspected by the Board's surveyors at least once a year, and the boats of emigrant ships are inspected before each voyage, special attention being paid to the arrangements for launching the boats. The Board of Trade have full power under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, to make and enforce rules prescribing the number and description of the boats and other life-saving appliances to be carried by British ships. The rules must be laid before Parliament for forty days before coming into operation, but no legislation is required to make them effective. Should, however, the course of the inquiry about to be held indicate that the powers of the Board of Trade require to be supplemented in any manner, I shall not hesitate to ask Parliament at once to enact the necessary legislation. I have already informed the House that the whole of the questions of safety raised by the disaster will be submitted to searching examination. Steps are being taken at once to constitute the strongest possible Court of Inquiry to investigate the circumstances of the loss of the "Titanic," and in consequence of the exceptional gravity of the case I am in communication with the Lord Chancellor with a view, if possible, to the special appointment of a person recognised as of high judicial authority as a Wreck Commissioner, under Section 477 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894. The Commissioner so appointed would form an independent Court, sitting with assessors, for the purpose of this Inquiry. Meanwhile the Merchant Shipping Advisory Committee is meeting at once to consider not only the matters previously referred back to them by the Board of Trade in accordance with the statement made by me on Thursday last, but also the new situation which has now arisen, and its bearing on the question not only of boat accommodation, but on a number of matters affecting the question of safety at sea which have been raised in a more or less new form by the present disaster. Some of these questions cannot probably be cleared up finally until the Court of Inquiry has completed its investigation, but some of them - e.g., the routes for passenger ships across the Atlantic, the speed of such ships under certain conditions, the use of searchlights, the operation of wireless telegraphy, etc. - can be examined, at all events, in a preliminary manner without awaiting the verdict of the Court, and I am extremely anxious that there should be no avoidable delay. I am having the names and other particulars, of the members of the Merchant Shippping Advisory Committee printed with the Votes. When I have received Reports both of the Court of Inquiry and of the Merchant Shipping Advisory Committee, I shall be in a position to advise the House whether further investigation is reqiured by a Committee or Commission of Inquiry, either of a national or of an international character. The House may also like to know that the Board of Trade have convened a meeting of representatives of the principal British shipping companies which own great passenger ships for the purpose of an immediate exchange of views as to the measures contemplated by the companies themselves, pending the revision of the statutory rules. Mr. BONAR LAW: May I ask the right hon. Gentleman if, in the case of any inquiry he makes or any Regulations he enforces, he will consider the advisability of making them apply not only to British ships, but all foreign ships that take British passengers at our ports? Mr. BUXTON: I will certainly consider the point. Sir GILBERT PARKER: May I repeat the question I asked the other day, Have the Board of Trade power to make Regulations to compel the practice of manning and lowering boats on board ship, and for the captain to make a report at the close of a voyage concerning such practice; and do any such Regulations exist as well as the power to make them? Mr. BUXTON: Does the hon. Member mean that at the end of the voyage the captain of a particular ship shall report in regard to the method in which the boat drill has been carried out? We have powers, as I have already stated, when a ship is leaving port - and we always carry those powers out - to see that there is a proper complement of boats under the Regulations, and that proper arrangements are made for launching them. Sir G. PARKER: Have the Board of Trade made Regulations which compel that boat practice - manning and lowering boats - during the voyage? Mr. CROOKS: Is a log kept, and is such log ever submitted to the Board of Trade? Mr. BUXTON: I should like notice of both those questions. Sir FORTESCUE FLANNERY: May I ask the right hon. Gentleman if the Government will consider the subject of approaching other Governments whose ships navigate the Atlantic with passengers - Russia, Germany, France, Italy, Norway, and Sweden - with a view to having an international convention by which fresh legislation for the safety of passengers may be uniform for all vessels carrying passengers of whatever nationality? Mr. BUXTON: That is a matter to which we shall give very careful attention, in the light of the evidence which will be given before the Commission, and of other inquires we are making. It is a matter we have very much in our minds. Sir F. FLANNERY: Having regard to the delay which must necessarily arise in connection with these inquiries, will the Government consider the suggestion of approaching other Governments through the proper channel, in the meantime, in a preliminary way? Mr. BUXTON: That is under consideration. Major ARCHER-SHEE: Will there be an opportunity of discussing the salary of the right hon. Gentleman at an early date with reference to the responsibility of the Board of Trade in regard to the provision of boats? Mr. MITCHELL-THOMSON: May I ask whether, under the existing Acts, the right hon. Gentleman has power to make Regulations with regard to the provision of a relief Marconi operator on board ship, and if not, will he consider the advisability of obtaining such power? Mr. BUXTON: I have no such power. I think I said in my answer that the question of the condition of the wireless installation on board these ships, and the question of the operators, are matters to which we shall give particular attention. Sir HENRY DALZIEL: What is the nature, scope, and power of the Board of Inquiry to which the right hon. Gentleman has referred? Is it a Board of Trade inquiry, a special Commission, or a Parliamentary inquiry, or what is the intention? Further, what steps has he taken up to the present time to secure that the evidence of the passengers and crew of the "Titanic" on board the "Lapland" will be available for the inquiry? Mr. BUXTON: I think I have given sufficient indication already. It will be an inquiry into the circumstances of the wreck of the "Titanic," and I hope the Court will be one that will give the public confidence. Undoubtedly they will have power to go into all those points, and take evidence not only with regard to the "Titanic," but other ships, as they think advisable, in the interests of the inquiry. Sir H. DALZIEL: How is the Court to be appointed? Is it to be a Board of Trade inquiry or a Parliamentary inquiry, and what steps has the right hon. Gentleman taken to secure that the evidence of the passengers and crew now coming to this country will be available? Mr. BUXTON: In the ordinary way courts of inquiry are appointed by the Board of Trade, but in this particular case, which is one of such moment, we are extremely anxious that there should be no question of want of public confidence in the competence of the tribunal. As I have said, I have been in communication with the Lord Chancellor with a view to having a special Wreck Commissioner, a man of high judicial authority, to sit with assessors who represent the varied knowledge which is necessary for the Commission. They will undoubtedly have full power to make the fullest inquiry from anyone affected, or anyone whom they like to call. Sir H. DALZIEL: Is it to be a special Commission, and what about the passengers? Mr. BUXTON: Undoubtedly. Sir H. DALZIEL: Is the right hon. Gentleman taking any steps to ensure that all the crew and passengers will not be scattered all over the country - I will not suggest anything further - before their evidence is taken fresh on their arrival in this country? Mr. BUXTON: I have no power to subpoena the passengers and the crew, but we are taking steps as rapidly as we can to appoint this Court, and as soon as they are constituted they will have the full powers which my hon. friend desires. Mr. CROOKS: Have we not the same power to compel the attendance of witnesses as the American Senate? Surely we have as much right, nay, more right than they have? Mr. BUXTON: We have no such power. Mr. CROOKS : Then ask the House to give it to you. Mr. BUXTON: I do not think the House need anticipate any difficulty in regard to this matter. I hope to-morrow, or as rapidly as possible, to be able to announce the names of the Court, and when constituted they will have full powers. Sir H. DALZIEL: Will the right hon. Gentleman request the White Star Company that the members of the crew of the "Titanic" now on their way to this country be kept here in order to see whether their evidence is required by the Commission? Mr. BUXTON: Undoubtedly that is necessary. The Court, as constituted, will have full power to enforce the attendance of those persons whose evidence they require. Sir H. DALZIEL: The crew may be scattered to all parts of the world. Lord CHARLES BERESFORD: Will the right hon. Gentleman be very careful that every passenger, officer, or man, who can give evidence on the case of the "Titanic," is detained in this country, and will he be very careful to prevent what occurred in the case of the "Oceana," in which officers who manned the boats, and were only able to pull oars, were allowed to leave this country before they gave their evidence? Mr. BUXTON: I have no power to detain anyone, either passengers or crew. Mr. CROOKS: Then get power. Mr. BUXTON: As I have already stated, the Commission will have full powers to secure the evidence they require. I desire to have this a strong and independent Court, and I think the House will agree that the less I interfere with the proceedings the better. They will have full responsibility and power, as soon as they are constituted, of dealing with the whole matter. Sir C. KINLOCH-COOKE rose- Mr. SPEAKER: We must proceed with the other questions. WITNESSES. Mr. WHITEHOUSE: I desire to ask the President of the Board of Trade a question of which I have given private notice, namely, whether he will state to the House the steps he proposes to take in order to keep all the members of the "Titanic" crew in this country on their arrival, and to ensure that the evidence of the whole of them will be available? Mr.BUXTON: I thought I had already explained to the House that I should use such powers as I have to ensure the necessary attendance of both passengers and crew, and that, as soon as the Court to which I have referred is constituted, their attendance will be required by the Court. Sir H. DALZIEL: Will the right hon. Gentleman address a letter to the White Star Line direct asking for an assurance that every member of the crew will be kept available till such time as he informs them he does not require their attendance. Sir FORTESCUE FLANNERY: Will the right hon. Gentleman communicate to all the shipping companies throughout the country the names of the crew of the "Titanic," and instruct the shipmasters not to ship these men for fresh voyages until after the inquiry? Mr. BUXTON: I venture to say that in one way it would not be necessary for me to communicate with the White Star Company in regard to this matter, because, I feel sure, from the communications I have already had with them, that they court the fullest inquiry. At the same time I had intended to communicate with them officially from the Board of Trade with regard to this very matter. Sir H. DALZIEL: Will the right hon. Gentleman do it? That is what I have asked. Mr. BUXTON: Yes. I have said so. Sir H. DALZIEL: You did not say so. MOTION FOR ADJOURNMENT. Mr. CROOKS: In view of the unsatisfactory replies - we have no confidence in them at all - I ask leave to Move the Adjournment of the House in order to call attention to a definite matter of urgent public importance, namely, the necessity of the Board of Trade taking immediate steps to secure that the officers, crew, and passengers of the "Titanic," now on their way to this country, may be available as witnesses for any official inquiry that may be held. The pleasure of the House not having been signified, Mr. Speaker called on those Members who supported the Motion to rise in their places, and not less than forty Members having accordingly risen, the Motion stood over, under Standing Order No. 10, until a quarter-past eight this evening. Mr. DENMAN: Has the Board of Trade any power to do this? Mr. SPEAKER: The hon. Member is too late to put that question. I do not know whether the Board of Trade have any power to do what hon. Members wish them to do. The Board of Trade will have an opportunity of pointing that out this evening. I am not sufficiently well acquainted with the law to be able to pronounce straight away a judgment concerning the matter. FOREIGN MESSAGES OF SYMPATHY. Mr. SPEAKER: I beg to inform the House that I have received the following telegrams:- "St. Petersburg, "April 20th. "The President and the Members of the Bureau of the Imperial Duma beg you to convey to the House of Commons the sentiments of their mournful sympathy on the occasion of the tragic loss of the "Titanic," and their sincere condolences with the countless victims of this terrible catastrophe. "The President of the Imperial Duma, MICHAEL DE RODZIANKO." "To the House of Commons, "London. "The Senate of the Republic of Cuba in Session held yesterday resolved unanimously to express its condolences through the Honourable House of Commons to the English nation for the loss of life in the terrible disaster of the s.s 'Titanic.'" "DR. ANTONIO GONZALO PEREZ, "President of the Senate." The House no doubt will desire me to send suitable replies.Close