Lord Salisbury added to his usual attack on the Egyptian
and Irish policy of the Government a fierce onslaught on the Merchant Shipping Bill. " The shipping interest," said Lord Salisbury, "has been attacked on grounds which seem to me not only fantastic, but horrible. It is suggested that among our own countrymen there are men who have carried the com- mercial and industrial greatness of England to its present height, but who, for the mere purposes of gain, and in order to obtain larger insurances upon their vessels, are in the habit of sending out their fellow-men to a fearful and almost certain death, by causing them to go to sea in vessels which are unsea- worthy. Let us look at the result of the legislation which is proposed by the Government with regard to shipping It has thrown into a state of panic and confusion one of the greatest and most important industries of the country To large capitalists, his will not matter so much. They have a great number of ships afloat, and, according to the ordinary phrase, they insure themselves A small capitalist, who has only one or two ships, will not be able to insure them, if the proposed legislation of the Government is carried into effect, and therefore risk of ruin stares them in the face." Such is Lord Salisbury's contention.
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