Page 198 - British Inquiry into Loss of RMS Titanic Day 19 - 22

22511. Will you just look at this? (A document was handed to the Witness.) You have a copy of the minute in front of you? - I have. 22512. I see there is a draft there of Mr. Baker’s? - A minute of a draft. 22513. A minute of a draft. What is the date of that? - 1st February. 22514. You have the document in front of you. Then there is a note, is there not, of Captain Young - a memorandum? - It is referred to Captain Young before it comes to me. 22515. Let us just understand the steps. On that minute there is first of all the minute of a draft by Mr. Baker? - Quite. 22516. That is the 1st of February? - The 1st of February. 22517. Then after that what happened? - That is referred to Captain Young and to me. 22518. But first of all referred to Captain Young? - First of all, referred to Captain Young. 22519. Then what does Captain Young do on that? - He proceeds to consider it, and on the 30th March he says, “Please see my remarks herewith.” 22520. Are those remarks there and are they dated the 28th of March? - The 28th of December. 22521. No, no - look - The 28th of March, I beg your pardon. 22522. Then that comes before you with his minute and the remarks attached? - Quite. 22523. You go through it? - Yes. 22524. And then you agree with it? - Yes. 22525. In the note which I have it is “I agree to the action proposed” - It came on to him on the 30th March, and on the 4th April I put, “I agree to the action proposed.” 22526. Then the letter which is sent is in accordance with the draft, and the note by Captain Young? - Precisely. The Commissioner: To sum it all up, the letter of the 16th April is based upon data collected before the “Titanic” sank. 22527. (The Attorney-General.) Quite, and made with the aid and written in pursuance of directions given by Sir Walter on the 4th April. (To the Witness.) That is how it stands? - That is exactly how it stands. The Attorney-General: Then the subsequent correspondence I have read to your Lordship - you see how it stands - when attention is called to the loss of the “Titanic” by the letter of the 20th. The Commissioner: The letter of the 20th is not of much significance. The Attorney-General: No, my Lord. The Commissioner: It was the letter of the 16th. I wanted the suspicion, if there were any, cleared away that that letter was written in consequence of the loss of the “Titanic.” If this Witness is right, it is obvious that it was not. The Attorney-General: The only importance of the letter of the 20th, if it is of importance, is that that first takes up the point of the loss of the “Titanic.” I think it right to state, my Lord, with reference to the point we were discussing before with regard to German requirements - that they should be gone into more carefully and agreed between us, so that your Lordship might have the exact calculation according to the German requirements of the boats that the “Titanic” would have had to provide - that so far as I can follow from the “President Grant” and “President Lincoln,” and the boats which were provided by the “President Grant” and the “President Lincoln,” in fact, the boating accommodation was not up to the scale which is required by the German Rules. I do not know what the reason may be. Whether they have any power to deal with it, I cannot tell. It is important to bear that in mind, and that is why I drew the distinction between the facts stated and the requirements according to the scale. Sir Robert Finlay: With reference to what the Attorney-General has just said, the difference between my friend Mr. Maurice Hill’s calculation and the note as to the requirements - your Lordship pointed out how different the percentage would be - would be explained if the boating accommodation which in fact was required for the “President Lincoln” and the “President Grant”