Page 105 - British Inquiry into Loss of RMS Titanic Day 19 - 22

application.) MR. C. ROBERTSON DUNLOP watched the proceedings on behalf of the owners and officers of the s.s. “Californian” (Leyland Line). (Admitted on application.) Mr. H. E. DUKE, K. C., M.P., and MR. VAUGHAN WILLIAMS (instruced by Messrs. A. F. and R. W. Tweedie) appeared as Counsel on behalf of Sir Cosmo and Lady Duff Gordon. (Admitted on application.) MR. F. LAING, K. C., and MR. ALFRED BUCKNILL appeared on behalf of Messrs. Harland and Wolff. (Admitted on application.) Mr. Harbinson: My Lord, there is at this stage a subject I should like to mention to the Court, which I conceive it my duty to bring forward. Up to the present representatives of the owners, the officers and crew of the “Titanic” have been called and have been allowed to present that aspect of the case, and I think this would not be an inopportune time when some indication might be given by those who represent the Board of Trade as to what time we might expect the representatives of the passengers, and especially the passengers in whom I am more deeply interested, to be called. I think it is only fair as one side of the case has been presented, in the interests of justice and public confidence, that the other side of the story should also be presented. The Attorney-General: I find some difficulty in understanding what it is my friend wants. The Commissioner: What is it you do want? Mr. Harbinson: I want some indication from the representatives of the Board of Trade as to when representatives of the different classes of passengers will be called. The Commissioner: You cannot have untimely intimations of that kind. They will conduct their case as they think right. That is all. The Attorney-General: I should like to say this, so that at any rate, if my friend has any witnesses whom he likes to call, he should not let them go under any misapprehension. So far as I am aware and from the material before us, there is no useful light which can be shed upon the facts into which we are enquiring by any passengers whose evidence is available to us. The Commissioner: Can you suggest any passenger, Mr. Harbinson? Mr. Harbinson: I daresay, my Lord, that my solicitor may be able to. The Commissioner: Do not say your solicitor. Can you suggest any person who can help in this Enquiry that you know of? Mr. Harbinson: Yes, my Lord, I have the names of several survivors in America who, I think, would shed a useful light upon the subject. The Commissioner: Survivors are not necessarily of the least value. Mr. Harbinson: I submit to your Lordship that under the circumstances it would be desirable that the evidence of survivors should be produced in order that we may know exactly what took place at the time of the collision, and more especially to throw some light on the great disparity that exists in the number of deaths in the different classes of passengers. The Commissioner: Have you any proofs from anybody? Mr. Harbinson: It is because I have not proofs that I - The Commissioner: Do answer my question. Have you any proofs from anybody? Mr. Harbinson: I have not. The Commissioner: Then I cannot form any opinion. If you have any proofs of witnesses that you desire to call, you may let me see them. Mr. Harbinson: Statements have been made in the public Press, and it is because that has been done - The Commissioner: What public press? Mr. Harbinson: In the papers. The Commissioner: Will you tell me the name? Mr. Harbinson: The “Freeman’s Journal,” of Dublin, and the “Irish Independent,” of Dublin.