The Sun.
London, England, 1839-02-25 00:00:00

ENROLLED

Coasting Trade 920.000
Steam
Coast Fisheries

Total

2,000,000

The American merchant vessels are generally sailed
with fewer men than the British. We calculate five
men to one hundred tons, which I believe to be about
the truth. Mr. Carey, in his work, estimates the pro-
portion of seamen in American vessels to be 4 L 3 to every
100 tons, and I shall assume his calculation as correct.
The number of men employed in the American mercan-
tile navy will then be as follows :

Men.
Foreign trade
Whale fishery
Coasting trade
Steam
Coast fisheries

85,799
And I will now submit, from the examinations I have
made, the proportions of American and British seamen
which are contained in this aggregate of 85,799 men.
In the foreign trade, we have to deduct the Masters
of the ships ; the mates, and the boys who are appren-
ticed to learn their duty and rise to mates, and their
masters, not to serve before the mast. These I esti-

mate at—
Masters
Mates
Apprentices 1,500
Ditto, coloured men, as cooks,stewards, &c. 2,000

8,000
Which, deducted from 30,333, will leave 22,333 seamen
in the foreign trade, who, with a slight intermixture of
Swedes, Danes, and more rarely Americans, may all be
asserted to be British seamen.

Tne next item is that of the men employed in the
whale fishery, and, as near as I can ascertain the fact,
the proportions are two-thirds Americans to one-third
English. The total is 5,633, out of which • 3,756 are
Americans, and 1,877 British seamen.
The coasting trade employs 39,000 men ; but a small
proportion of them can be considered as seamen, as it
embraces all the internal river navigation.
The steam navigation employs 6,500 men, of whom,
of course, not one in ten is a seaman. I shall refer to
them hereafter.

'The fisheries for cod and herring employ about 4,333
men ! they are a mixture of Americans, Nova Scotians,
and British, but the proportions cannot be ascertained ;
it is supposed that about one-half are British subjects,
e. 2,166.
As my subsequent remarks will prove, I do not think
that I am at all over-rating when I estimate that the
Americans employ at least thirty thousand of our seamen
in their service. The questions which are now to be
considered are the nature of the various branches in

which the seamen employed in the American marine are
engaged, how far they will be available to America in
case of a war. The coasting trade is chiefly composed
of sloops manned by two or three men and boys.
The captain is invariably part, if not whole owner of
the vessel, and those employed are generally his sons,

who work for their father, or some Cmigrani Irishmen,
who, after a few months are fully equal to this sort of
fresh water sailing. From the coasting trade, therefore,
America would gain no assistance. Indeed, the ma•
jority of the coasting trade is so confined to the interior
that it would not receive much check from a war with a
foreign country.
The coast fisheries might afford a few seamen, but
very few, certainly not the men required to man her
ships of war. As in the coating trade, they are mostly
owners, or partners. In the whale fishery much the
same system prevails, it is a speculation, and the men
embark stipulating for such a proportion of the fish
caught as their share of the profits. They are generally
well to do, connected together, and are the least likely
of all to volunteer on board of the American Navy.
They would speculate in privateers if they did anything.
From steam navigation of course no seamen can be
obtained.

Now, as all service is voluntary, it is evident that the
only chance that America has of manning her navy is
from the 30,000 British seamen in her employ, the other
branches of navigation either not producing seamen, or
those employedin them being too independent in situation
to serve as foremast men. When I was at the different
seaports I made repeated inquiries as to the faCt if ever
a lad was sent to sea as a foremast man, and I never
could ascertain that it ever was the case. Those who
are sent as apprentices are learning their duty to receive
the rating of mates, and ultimately fulfil the office of
captains ; and it may be here remarked, that many
Americans, after serving as captain for a few
years, return on shore and become opulent merchants
—the knowledge which they have gained during
their maritime career proving of the greatest ad-
vantage to them. There are a number of free black
and coloured lads, who arc sent to sea, and who
eventually serve as stewards and cooks ; but it will he
are not people who
hes-mit to the rigorous
and the cooks and
observed,(wiiislcli
epniitneer otbhfeata.ot
before
eotsvheeermnmmaassettenrtasn:(mei
sssauet l ,
stewards arc not seamen ; so that the whole dependence
of the American navy, in case of war, is upon the
British seaman who are employed in her foreign trade
and whale fisheries, and in her men-of-war in commis-
sion during the peace.
If America brings up none of her people to a sea-
faring life before the mast, now that her population is
rlileasts vessels
ewne were
e chieflyw r broke
seamtehee
upwards of 13,000,000, still. less likely was she to have
done it when her population was less, and the openings
minassiontielddeei
their
?yeioßau
nroittfri British
l seamen.
to wealth by other. channels. was even greater, from
whence it may be fairly inferred—
That
twou
would
coun-
tries, That during our continued. struggle with France,
when America had the carrying trade in her ha-ads, that
tries, the same British seamen rrho were in her employ
. Some might ;
mannedlt may her e shipssura oofsewda riai
that
td privateers.
British
her,
principle as
that of the British sailor and soldier.. In Dibdin's songs,
we certainly have another version: " True to his coun-
try and King," &c., but I am afraid that they do not de-
serve it—soldiers and sailors are mercenaries ; they risk
their lives for money—it is their trade, and if they
re-
fuse
to
there ies
"'Li oyed
characteragia
can get higher wages they never consider the jus-
tice of the cause, or whom they fight for. Now
America is a country peculiarly favourable for those
who have little conscience or reflection ; they speak the
same language, the wages are much higher, spirits are
much cheaper, and the fear of detection or punishment
is trifling ; „ay, there is none, for in five mihutes a Bri-
tish seaman may be made a bona fide American citizen,
and, of course, an American seaman, and it is not sur-
prising, after sailing for years out of the American
ports in American vessels that the men, in case of war,
should take the oath and serve. It is necessary for any
one wanting to
.become anAmerican citizen, that he
should give notice of his intention ; this notice gives
him, as soon as he has signed, all the rights of an Ame-
ricen citizen, excepting that of voting at elections, which
requires a longer time, as specified in each State. The
deg laration is as follows :
That it is his bona fide intention to become a
citizen of the United States, and to renounce for ever
all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign power, poten-
tate, state, or sovereignty whatever, and particularly to
Victoria, the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great
B. itain and Ireland, to whom i.e is now a subject."