The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1884-03-18 00:00:00

Bared e
nuntii expreoc

DORCHESTER. MARCH 18th, 1884.

THE biERCHANT SHIPPING BILL.

The Merchant Shipping Hill, although • direct
effoet of the G ,verntainet, lags upoa the stags, and
fails to find the favour it deserves. The prevailing
opposition shows how di jilt ills for st stenos° even
with the purest motive. to check abases which have
received thee ii Jur of vest‘d rights. It would be the
height of absurdity to assert that if. Chamberlain I.
eat • practical man. Yet he hal allowed himself to
be drawn into • poaition which implies that before
taking the bull by the horns he flailed to estimate the
extreme difficulty of the task. To attack vested
rights Is ardnotie enough, but to mu a tilt against an
obstacle with which are associated a-ausations of in-
humanity is to shoot at • church tower with a bow
and arrow. Directly you say profit is the result of
cruelty you p it those who are engaged In the traffic
on their mettle. The present crusade against the Wan-
time of shipping is almost analagons to the anti-
slavery egitatioa In both Jame feelings of humanity
we
a prominent factor, though we are not sure with
regard to abused that the task of improvieg the
shipping system is not the greater difficulty of the
two. It was comparatively easy to attsck a practice
which had bees acknowledged almost by tilos, who
took part in It to be inhurnao. It is rather • different
thing to interfere with an interest which concern' the
management of Englishmen by Englishmen, and to
attack • service in which employment his been free
and unfettered. The difficulty, we C 011,111,11, is
greatest in the one ci.. than in the other, and with the
national prejudice in favour of the liberty of the
subject it would seem ti be beyond reach of rem mil.
And yet there should be no difference between
Shipping sad Factories with regard to the proteotioe
el bursae life, and It is fair to presume
that If the mists of prejadise could be dis-
persed, similarity would be at ono. admitted.
It ,is an undeniable feat that there is great loss of
Mat sea. Equally true is it that much of the low of
life le preventible. In the letter written by the
Secretery of the Board of Trade to the eminent ship-
reser, Me. Hoary Green, there is the following
alarmiag statement: " Supposing the *verve of •
man's employment at sea to be twenty-four years, one
eat of every three may expect to have his life
eitostened by • violent death." Liter such an ewer-
Moe the interested attempts to minimise the number
of death. by drowning we puny indeed. Those who
sande= the mese system are quite aware of the
varying nature of mediae casualties. They knew
before shipowners pointed out the fact that duriag
eons years the number of IMMO IS IMO than is others.
Thee there is no disputing the assertion that one
sailor in lifty-six was drowned in 1101 t, and that in
UM:lth* sewage dropped, or we may say Improved,
to am in 83. The proper way is to to take sin sewage
of till years, which would reveal • state of things
he the highest degree appalling. Mr. nasal was
deemed an enthosiset ; he was, in fact, almost 1 .ughied
at, for the exertions be mad* • tow yews since. It
now appears that be was a prophet and • true one.
Most, if not all, of the evils be pointed out are
acknowledged to exist,— that Is to say. by all save
these who are personally interested. It is quits
possible Mr. Chamberlain may be campsite' in some
degree to modify his proposals. All true reformer",
however, will give him credit for exhibiting the
courage of his opinions, and will uphold him as far as
possible in the laudable endeavour to check the abuses
which have given an ill fame to the marine profession,
and cast discredit on the nation at large.