Page 58 - British Inquiry into Loss of RMS Titanic Day 23 - 26

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 (instructed 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.) The Commissioner: I am very anxious, Mr. Attorney, to bring this Enquiry to an end as soon as we can. I was thinking of sitting tomorrow. The Attorney-General: Very well, my Lord, I do not mind. If your Lordship thinks so, certainly. The one difficulty which strikes me about the evidence - we have been considering it this morning and that is why I asked your Lordship to give us a few minutes - is that the Captain of the “Carpathia,” whom we intended to call, cannot possibly be here until the week after next. The Commissioner: So I understand. The Attorney-General: I was going to suggest that we should go on, finish the evidence, and begin speeches, deal with the speeches notwithstanding that the Captain of the “Carpathia” has not been called. It would save a lot of time. The Commissioner: Yes, certainly. The Attorney-General: And then, my Lord, a further point that has occurred to me is, I would like to know, and I am sure your Lordship would like to know, what evidence is to be called, if any, by any of my friends. I have called everybody. The Commissioner: I am afraid of asking those questions, for I shall be told to wait and see. The Attorney-General: By this time, at any rate, I think your Lordship has waited and perhaps we might now see. The Commissioner: I have waited, but I have not seen. The Attorney-General: I wanted to know. I am not asking so as to bind anybody, but I think it would be of assistance. I am prepared to call anybody who can throw any light on the Enquiry for any of my friends, but I cannot call anybody merely at the request of either of my friends or any of them without knowing what it is the Witnesses are to say, because that would be useless. The Commissioner: Now, if you will sit down, I will wait and see if anyone rises. Mr. Scanlan: Speaking for myself and my clients, I do not purpose calling any Witness. I did make a suggestion to the learned Attorney-General with reference to one Witness whose proof I had sent to me yesterday. I leave it entirely in his discretion whether he calls that Witness. The Commissioner: I have no doubt, unless he thinks there is some very good reason for not calling him, he will call him. The Attorney-General: I intend to call him. Mr. Scanlan: That disposes of me. The Commissioner: You are my difficulty, Mr. Edwards. Mr. Edwards: I am sorry, my Lord, to act purely as a bogey-man to your Lordship. The Commissioner: I do not feel in the least resentful. Mr. Edwards: I do not know quite what I said that should lead your Lordship to that conclusion. The Commissioner: We will not argue that question. I want to know whether you want to call any Witnesses. Mr. Edwards: I wish to ask your Lordship’s guidance; I am not certain whether from the point of view of the Enquiry somebody ought not to be called from one or other of the registration societies like Lloyd’s. If your Lordship thinks not, then I have no desire to call evidence. The Commissioner: I think that we can get all the information we want. We shall find it all in