Sessional_Paper_1914 — Page 58

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My Committee suggest that this clause should be remodelled to read :--

"If deck cargo is to be carried other than cargo from Europe and America shipped "on through Bills of Lading and import and export cargo shipped by "European firms known to the River Company under English Bills of Lading, and livestock, live fish, fresh vegetables and fruits it shall be secured in such manner as to be inaccessible to any passenger throughout "the voyage without the authority of the master."

If the Government insists on partitions being constructed to make cargo inaccessible to deck passengers, such partitions are likely to cause serious loss of life in case of collision as passengers will be prevented from leaving the ship.

In the case of the fire on the Tai On if such regulations had been in force, probably no lives would have been saved.

The result of this legislation if passed without the above alterations will be to divert the entire native passenger trade from the river steamers to the railway instead of making the steamers more secure against piracy.

4. In view of the above expression of carefully considered opinion, my Committee believe that the Government will be unable to apply the same Regulations to Ocean Going Craft as to River Steamers.

I am to request you to be good enough to convey to His Excellency the Governor the thanks and appreciation of my Committee for his courtesy in referring this 'most import- ant matter to this Chamber for consideration.

The Honourable,

The Colonial Secretary.

I have, &c.,

E. A. M. WILLIAMS,

Secretary.

Enclosure.

Prevention of Piracy Regulations.

Consideration of the proposed regulations, in our judgment, shows that they are not well designed to cover the varied conditions under which vessels with or without passengers make the voyages specified in the Bill without undue, and in such cases unwelcomed, application, and we take the opportunity of making the following comments on them:-

Coasters.

(a.) We find the application of Article 3 of the Bill so sweeping that it covers ships which we cannot think it was intended to cover. The expense of the guards and of the changes and fittings required is considerable, and the existence of many of them will be a serious interference with the freedom of movement and with the handling of cargo on board for long periods when they are not serving the purpose intended. The article refers to voyages ranging from Amoy to Haiphong, and in doing so includes vessels which have some of these routes as only part of their voyages. One of the principal effects on Coasters of these regulations will be to cause the erection of dodgers, grilles, barbed-wire protections and other structural alterations, also changes in connection with passengers, their luggage and cargo, so inconvenient as to be almost impracticable, on the regular steamers running between Tientsin, Tsingtau and Shanghai to Canton via Hongkong. These boats make a round voyage in, say, three weeks, and would be hampered by these regulations all that time because they are for two periods of eight hours each between Hongkong and Canton. These vessels engage no passengers at either of these two ports for the other, though they have passengers for the longer voyages. It will be a simple matter, therefore, to keep people off