The laws then passed have, unquestionably, been of great service, not merely to the nation, but to Shipowners themselves. Having completed all that was considered necessary, Government directed its attention to the amendment, as cases for its necessity arose, and to the consolidation of existing laws; and I can, of my own knowledge, state that Mr. Farrer has, since then, opposed all further legislation which had for its object the interference with the details of a Shipowner's duty. But the House of Commons would not allow Government to rest with its good work. "Independent members" of that House, actuated by various motives, some of them not very clearly defined, commenced to "amend" (?) in their own way, these laws (see Hansard's 'Reports of Parliamentary Proceedings'), by proposing numerous fresh clauses and fresh Bills which, if Government had not resisted, would most likely have doubled the existing number of the mercantile marine statutes. They next commenced to introduce Bills of their own, to teach Shipowners how to construct and equip their vessels. Among the first of these measures was the Act to test chains and anchors, introduced by Sir J. D. H. Elphinstone and the late Mr. John Laird. So far from that Bill receiving the approval of Government, when I moved its rejection,[1] was strongly supported by Mr. Milner Gibson, the then President of the Board of Trade. We were, however, defeated, and the Bill passed and became law.
Encouraged by this success, other independent members followed, and, since then, most of the measures connected with the mercantile marine of
- ↑ See ante, p. 318, note, and p. 480.
