The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-12-06 00:00:00

Lje c,-,toittbrib'ge 1J) bserher4

'6tl-17,

HARBOURS OF REFUGE.

THE most casual reader of the daily or
weekly press cannot but often be struck with
some reference to remind him that the Eng,-
lisu are a seafaring .people. Even in the
days when the vast majority of those who
were born in the midland counties never
had the opportunity "of gazing upon the
ocean- the national love of the sea was ever
regarded as sufficiently strong to be Con-
sidered an English c,haracteristic. It is,
therefore, but natural that in these times
of easy communication, wren railway corn;
' pany vies with railway company in en-
deavours to tempt the masses of our country-
men to the side of the sea, if only for a week
or *even a day, that the national affection for
the ocean should be more pronounced than
ever. The recent discussion upon the state ,
of the navy, whatever may be the merits or
demerits of the important questions raised,
i was proof in itself, by the zeal with which
it was entered upon, of the -immense import-
ance attached by the English people to sea-
' faring questions Similarly; and again
without entering into the details of a ranch:
debated matter, the excitement aroused by
Mr. Plimsoll a few years since in his agita-
tion concerning the condition of our mer-
chant seamen was a very strong instance in
point; and a farther example may be found
in the announcement which has just been
made that it is proposed to ask the Queen
to receive a deputation of pilots' wives and
fishermen to plead in person the cause of
national harbours of refuge. Those who
"live at home at ease"—to use the Words of
the fine old sea-song—can scarcely conceive
the depth
,of interest which has been aroused
in towns and villages all around our coast
by the question thus proposed to be brought
under the notice of the Queen. The large
number of petitions already presented to her
Majesty and to Parliament dealing with this
matter affords only one evidence of the depth
of the feeling. The landsman, whose only
risk in time of storm is from a falling chim-
ney or an insecure wall, and whose- only
knowledge of the disastrous effects of a severe
gale is gained from a perusal of the accounts
in his newspaper, cannot be expected to fully
realise all that is meant by the demands now
put forward. It is only those who have
husband or brother, father or son, upon the
deep who can truly judge of the need for an
additional number of harbours of .1 efuge.
To the majority of Us their establishment
would simply mean an increase of taxation,
but, however laudable the object of that in 7
crease might be, the higher tax would very
likely be objected to by not a few. But in
matters such as this, thought has to be taken
not so much for the immediate cost as for
the ultimate gain. It is, therefore, a ques-
tion very much for experts to decide. If it
can be shown that at present there is great
loss, not only of property, but of life, because
of the inadequate provision of harbours of
refuge, and if it can furthe: be shown that
there are certain spots upon Our coast which
could easily and conveniently be formed
into such harbours, then the problem might
be regarded as much nearer its solution.
The English are, above allthings, a practical
people; if they are asked to lay out their
money they require, and are entitled to re-
quire, to know what object will be served
by the outlay. If that object be a good one,
then they will be satisfied with less proof of
its immediate monetary return than they
would otherwise require; and it should be
the aim of those who wish for the establish
ment of a national system of harbours of re-
fuge to immediately bring forward their
proofs upon this point.