Page 201 - British Inquiry into Loss of RMS Titanic Day 19 - 22

of the Board of Trade credited his Department with having, the manning scale is defective. For instance, if the “Titanic” had been allowed to go to sea with what the Board of Trade Department looks upon as the adequate, the maximum requirements which they had designated for any ship up to the present, she would have had not half of the crew which she carried. Then another point which I think it is worthwhile to raise, and which I intend to put to Sir Walter Howell, is this: In a Commission appointed by the Government for the Board of Trade in 1896 the question of manning and deficiency of the crew was specially considered, and one of the recommendations of that Commission in regard to the engine department or for firemen is that: “A candidate for the rating of fireman should be 18 years of age or over and have had six months’ service as trimmer in a steamer,” and this recommendation of their own Committee has been ignored. The Commissioner: What sort of a Committee was that - A Departmental Committee? Mr. Scanlan: This, my Lord, I understand, is Sir Edward Reed’s Committee. It is the Committee appointed by the Board of Trade to enquire into the Manning of British Merchant Ships. The names of the Commissioners are: The Right. Hon. Mr. Mundella, Sir E. J. Reed, the Right Hon. A.B. Forward, Sir Francis Evans, Mr. Havelock Wilson - The Commissioner: That is sufficient. The Committee obviously comprised people who were not officially connected with the Board of Trade at all. Mr. Scanlan: That is so, my Lord. The Commissioner: You appear to me to be a little inconsistent. You began by making a charge against the Board of Trade, as I understand, of this kind, that they called in aid Advisory Committees, whereas they ought to act upon their own judgment. Mr. Scanlan: Of course, I say that, and I think it is a tenable, general proposition. The Commissioner: And then you go on to say - it may be logical or reconcilable - that you complain that they did not act upon the advice of the Advisory Committees. Mr. Scanlan: Well, my Lord - The Commissioner: You first of all say that they ought not to have any Advisory Committees at all, and secondly, you complain that they do not act upon the advice of the Advisory Committees. Mr. Scanlan: With respect, my Lord, I have said that the Board of Trade, as a Board - I do not know what it is - The Commissioner: There is an old joke about that, but you must not trot it out! Mr. Scanlan: It is not that, my Lord, but I think if the Regulations are in question it is important that we should know something of the personality of the Board of Trade. The Commissioner: You have given me enough information now. Now let me hear your questions. Mr. Scanlan: There is another point that I should like to mention to your Lordship, if I may. I do not know whether your Lordship will allow questions to be put on it, but it is right that I should mention it - it was touched on by the learned Attorney - and that is in reference to the alteration of the loadline. The Commissioner: I did not hear him touch upon it with Sir Walter Howell. The Attorney-General: I mentioned it, and I said that I did not think, as far as I could see, that it affected this case, and therefore I was not going into it. The Commissioner: Nor has he touched on the question with Sir Walter Howell about the Rules and Regulations as to the manning. Mr. Scanlan: Yes, my Lord. The Commissioner: There is no reason why you should not. Mr. Scanlan: Certainly, my Lord.