Page 101 - British Inquiry into Loss of RMS Titanic Day 32 - 36

The Attorney-General: Before we proceed I understand that your Lordship proposes to sit on Monday in another place? The Commissioner: Well, I believe so; I am told this hall is not available on Monday. If it is, so much the better. I would rather go on and finish here. The Attorney-General: Then, my Lord, today, I think, subject to your Lordship’s view, it would be sufficient if we sat till half-past one, and then if I resume on Monday I have very little doubt I should conclude. The Commissioner: If I do that, what I shall do on Monday is to sit until we have finished. You cannot come on Tuesday? The Attorney-General: No, I think there is no doubt we can finish on Monday. The utmost that might happen might be that I should have to conclude on Wednesday; I could not come on Tuesday. The Commissioner: Are you sure you could come on Wednesday? The Attorney-General: I understand so from the House of Lords. The Commissioner: Because I do not want the thing to stand over? The Attorney-General: Neither do I; I want to get rid of it. It is quite safe for Wednesday, but I do not anticipate really going into Wednesday. The Commissioner: Rather than risk it I would rather sit later today unless you have some engagement, which I daresay you have? The Attorney-General: It was because I thought we should finish on Monday that I suggested we should rise early today. The Commissioner: I only want to do what is convenient to all. The Attorney-General: I thought by taking this course we should finish quite well on Monday. It will not be necessary for me to refer so much in detail to the evidence. There is one further point I wish to direct attention to so that your Lordship may have the figures before you. If you come to answer the question with regard to the number of passengers and classes of passengers saved by reference to the Table which was put in at page 479a there would be a difficulty, because the figures have been a little altered. What I wish to direct attention to is that we have now an agreed statement which I am going to hand in, which is not printed, which will give your Lordship all the information that you would require to answer to the question as to the number of persons saved and the classification of those persons. It might be quite convenient to print the two Tables I am going to hand in at the end of today’s Note, so that your Lordship will have them before you. The Commissioner: Yes. The Attorney-General: We may treat this Table which was put in at page 479a as cancelled - 703 was the number taken as saved originally; it has now turned out that it is 711, and of course that necessitates some alteration. (The Table was handed in. See Appendix.) Now before I proceed to address your Lordship in detail upon this case I desire to express my thanks to the White Star Line, and in particular to Mr. Wilding, for the assistance which they have given us during the Enquiry. I think it is only right to say that, although to some extent their conduct is under review and criticism by the Court, every possible assistance has been given by them, and also by my friend Mr. Laing’s clients, Messrs. Harland and Wolff, so that all available material has been placed before your Lordship and the Court. In discussing the evidence and putting before your Lordship certain conclusions which I will ask you to consider, I do not propose to travel in great detail through the evidence upon which comment has already been made at considerable length by my friends who have already