THE BOARD OF TRADE

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 258, 1 May 1912, Page 5

THE BOARD OF TRADE

WHERE IT HAS FAILED JDS' I#| DUTT. | J ADDRESS BY MR. J. H. WILSON. | Auckland, April 20. An address on "The Titanic Die&sttin and its Consequent Lessons" was givoi last evening by Mr. Havelock Wilsan| general president of the National Britiejjjf Seamen's and Firemen's Union. Th* lecturer stated that he had been a memSt ber of Parliament and had lost his seat; because at the time of the general tion he was in America engaged upon] an important mission. He was a member! of the advisory committee of the Board! [ of Trade, which was supposed to be re-.] ponsible to the Government for all Acti| and regulations with reference to British J shipping. 'j For the past twenty years he had beeßj striving to find out what and where Board of Trade was. He was aware !fcl had a president, a secretary, and four,'! assistant secretaries; but he had beea| unable to discover the Board of Traded itself, although he had heard all eorfafl of extraordinary stories about it.- Ifcl had been stated that the last president! of the Board of Trade was the Speaker'') »f the Irish House of Commons, whiciM had been non-existent for more than onei hundred years. (Laughter.) He had| had a good deal to do with this ilhM sionary body during the last years, and its whole business was run by'J permanent officials. 'jj Some six years aero Mr. Lloyd GeowJ introduced a Merchant Shipping and one of its conditions was that there,'! should be an advisory committee e&tab~i] listed. The speaker was appointed as a ] committeeman, and had been one evW'ii since. It was soon apparent that the;] honr? f>Ynrp*r-i committee to agreeij to «rnpoe:ilK without deirur: but NTsmvillv was "of built thnt way, andts he was prepared to fight for the mittee'e rights to reject, alter or modify?] the hoard's proposals. 1 Only twelve months njro. Mr. Wilson! said, the ouestion of boat accommodation' on the Titanic was considered by thai committee, and it was held that thorftf was room in the boats for only half the s : persons on the liner. The board tooft no action, but Mr. Wilson Raid it watthen—and right un to the accident—thegeneral opinion that this ship wag uur' sinkable. He believed that if the Titanfci had struck bow on her bulkheads wouli* have kept her afloat for a' long and probably would have saved W; but he thought she glanced along the ice an 4 tore her side out. While substantial bulkheads as numerous as possible should be built hittf every vessel, another protection might; be taken with advantage. Iron steamer# nowadays had water ballast tanks run* ning all the way fore and aft, and casef had been known when vessels had tora their outer .skins and yet steamed thotisands of miles on only the ballast tang deck. At all events in passenger shipj these outer skins should he Increased iij number and carried throughout the length and breadth of the vessel abovii the water line. Then safety would h#' secured, even if the outer skin were com* pletely torn away. He hoped if a cntqi mission was appointed to inquire Into this matter the mistake would not bfl made of providing plenty of boats and disregarding the important matter of keeping the vessel herself afloat. (App ause.) In these matters he did no! blame the shipowners at all; but he dflj blame the permanent owners of thi Board of Trade, who had allowed th« existing state of things to go on for «ji long despite the suggestions of its advi* ory committee. - Mr. Wilson said he had noticed wirf deep regret that Several sinister refer* ences had been made to Mr. Ismay. Personally, he was delighted to learn thai that gentleman was among the saved.' because he would now realise to the full? est extent the terrible position of people upon a lost steamer. Such a lesson would never be forgotten, and it would of IWK cessity make a dpep impression upon (thi minds of his Hlow shipowners. At thi ■same time, if ho thought there was AM blame attachable to 'Mr. Ismay or hij colleagues he would denounce him &n4j them from every platform he had tb* opportunity of speaking on. (HearJ bear.) But he did not believe that either blaiue or responsibility lay at theui doors. The name of the Ismays in the shipping trade stood very high, for 14 was held that no more conscientious mas were engaged in it. Mr. Wilson maintained that on all pa* senger ships there should be a sufficieai number -of lifeboats, and that flag] should have a crew of at least three coni petent seamen under a petty officer. Bt ventured to say, although he had a< facts before him, that the Titanic hai not in all her crew fifty competent MS men apart from the officers. The iiutaj lation of wireless telegraphy should U made compulsory on all ships, and all foreign ships trading to British portj should lie compelled to comply with then regulations. In conclusion, Mr. "Wilson paid a Wgjj tribute to the conduct of the officers Mid crew of the ill-fated steamer who shout' "Women and children first!" and then perished, like heroes, (Long applause.) He, added that he had cabled to eeamegj the world over, asking every man to dtt vote two days' pay to the relief fun (Cheers.) •« A resolution embodying the eugget< tions made by the lecturer waa carried.^