The Sun.
London, England, 1865-03-15 00:00:00

the property of others rather than the enlargement

of their own.

During the eventful months of the

past year the National Lifeboat Institution has

kept on its course unflinchingly, and now in its

annual report points with natural gratification to

the practical results of its efforts. It is satisfactory

to find that so excellent an association continues to

receive a fair measure of public support, and that
it has been enabled through the liberality of several
individual donors to increase considerablyits store of
lifeboats. English generosity is favourably exem-
plified in the list of subscriptions published in the
Report. Besides the remarkable gift of £5,000
from an anonymous lady, we have a " Lady" de-
fraying the cost of a lifeboat at Poole, £5OO ;
another " Lady" giving a boat to Valentia on the
coast of Ireland, £5OB ; " A Friend" presenting a
boat to Ardmore at a cost of £3OO ; and several
similar sums or gifts of boats from donors who
merely append their initials, "W. B " y• S. D.,"
&c. It is not surprising to find the name of
Miss BLTRDETT COUTTS in the list as the giver
of two lifeboats to Cumberland and Plymouth,
while another lady, Mrs. WOOD, has defrayed the
cost of two more for Hornsea, Yorkshire, and
Skerries Co., Dublin. Ladies seem to be very
favourably inclined to the institution, probably
because deeds of heroism and self-sacrifice have
always an especial fascination for them, and also
because they often have to suffer anxiety on behalf
of relatives who are exposed to " the perils of the
seas" while they are powerless to assist them.
Among the special gifts for the purchase of lifeboats
for particular localities are the donations of
/720 from " A Friend" for three lifeboats
for the three kingdoms, and the munificent
sum of £2,000 from Messrs. CUNARD and Co.
for the permanent maintenance of a lifeboat
station at Palling, Norfolk. Not the least inte-
resting feature in this list is the number of memorial
offerings, which in this practical form serve to per-
petuate the memory of some departed relative or
friend. This is, surely, a more worthy tribute than
a costly monument, for the affection felt for the
dead becomes a source of blessing to thousands, and
the revered name, instead of being idly gazed at
by a few passers-by, becomes a watchword of hope
and comfort in many a wide-spread home.
Not less gratifying in another way are the tokens
of the deep sense of the benefits conferred by the
Institution, which are furnished by humbler sub-
scribers. Thus four domestic servants combine to
send 15s. 6d., probably out of gratitude for some
especial rescue. Two little sisters send a trifle, while
150 of the employees in the West India Docks have
made up £5 is. in sums varying from threepence to
five shillings. Such gifts afford the strongest pos-
sible evidence of the utility of an Institution, and
show that its services are not merely theoretical
and visionary, but one of the kind which is

brought home to the minds and hearts of men,
made evident to the humblest capacity, and im-
pressed upon the little ones by the fireside.
o r
After thus examining the particulars
sub-
scriptions it is worth while to turn to th of the a
the proceedings of the institution itself. During
e ofthe course of the last year it has been instrumental
in saving 698 lives, 432 by the immediate agency of
their own boats, under circumstances when no other
sort of boat could have been safely employed, and
for the rescue of the remaining 266 it has granted
rewards to the crews of those boats and others.
They have also been the means of extricating from
danger, or of conveying into ports of safety, 17
vessels, while on 51 other occasions the lifeboats have
been launched, and have gone to the assistance of
vessels that were endangered, but which contrived
to escape without help. During the year nine
silver medals, thirteen votes of thanks, and £1,539
have been granted for services rendered ; and as
each individual case is carefully examined and in-
quired into by competent authorities, not only is
there no risk of the rewards being ill bestowed, but
our sailors and fishermen all round the coasts know
that no exertion on their part will pass unnoticed if
it deserves success. It is no more than might have
been anticipated that the committee should speak
in high terms of the intrepidity of the crews " who
are ever ready, day or night, to man the lifeboats
during the fiercest storms." Such daring has always
been a characteristic of Englishmen when life was
to be saved or any great end accomplished, but
it sometimes unfortunately happens that these
brave men pay for their courage with their
lives. During the last year three of the crews be-
longing to the lifeboats perished, two of them from
the Tynenaouth boat at the wreck of the steamer
Stanley, and the other from the Holyhead boat
on a similar occasion. While deploring the loss of
these brave men, however, the committee remind us
that they cannot hope to engage in so arduous a
service without an occasional accident, and that
they have good reason to be thankful that while
twelve thousand persons have been afloat in the
lifeboats of the institution in the course of the last
two years, only three lives should have been lost in
that time. In the same manner we cannot hope or
expect, notwithstanding the best efforts on our
part, that shipwreck and loss of life can
ever be entirely prevented. It is enough
to know, as we now know from this
and similar 'reports, that few lives are lost on
our weather-beaten coasts that could possibly be
saved by any efforts from the shore. The average
annual number of shipwrecks on the. coasts of the
British Isles is no less than 2,000, and the lives thus
jeopardised amount to 5,000 or 6,000, but the actual
loss of life in 1864, thanks to the unremitting
exertions of the Society, did not exceed 450.
So widely has the fame of the English lifeboat sys-
tem spread that naval officers from France, Russia,
and Sweden have been deputed by the Governments
of those countries to visit England for the purpose
of examining it. The completeness and efficiency of
the establishments excited the warmest admiration
of these gentlemen, and an additional proof
of the favour which these lifeboats have
found abroad is shown in the fact that several boats
have been ordered for French stations. We hope,
indeed, to see the sphere of the Committee's action
still further extended, and the benefits of the Asso-
ciation carried to other shores than our own. In
the House of Commons last evening Mr. BENTINCK
asked whether it would not be possible to include
the casualties which occurred in other parts of her
MAJESTY'S dominions in the annual wreck register,
which is at present confined to the United King-
, dom, and from Mr. GIBSON'S answer there is reason
to hope that We matter will bo brought under con-
sideration by the proper authorities.
A sum total of 14,266 lives saved, £120,000
spent on lifeboat establishments, and nearly
£20,000 in rewards for rescuing life, forms no
insignificant result even of the unremitting labours
of 40 years. During that time the once insignifi-
cant association has become world-famous, and is
now looked up to as an unquestionable authority on
all matters connected with the saving of life at sea.
The Government have sought its aid in equipping
their men-of-war, and the favour of Royalty is
unmistakeably shown in the steady patronage of
the QUEEN and her family. All these ends have
not, however, been attained without great exertion ;
and, while the members of the committee gratui-
tously devote so much thought, time, and labour to
the cause, and the brave men employed so fearlessly
hazard their lives, it is not too much to expect the
general public to fulfil their easier, but not less
necessary, part of contributing liberally to its means.

It is always to be regretted when prejudice carries
the day in anything, but more especially, when it is
a matter that concerns the interest of the public.
In this respect we must therefore deplore the deci-
sion of the House last night in respect to the Lan-
cashire and Yorkshire and Great Eastern Junction
Railway Bill. The objections that were made to
the second reading were of the most frivolous de-
scription in point of argument, but, as too often
occurs in such cases, the partial views prevailed to
the rejection of a measure that was calculated to be
of great benefit to the community. It is no reason
if the principle of the measure be good that it
should be •put on one side, because the
committee that last year investigated the
subject decided against it. In Viscount GALWAY'S
speech we find that this notion of a previous settle-
ment prevails. The noble lord observed that " he
thought that whenever two railway companies had
had a fair stand-up fight, it was most unfair and
unjust for the beaten company to bring forward
an almost identical scheme next session." Can
anything be more preposterous than this view of the
measure
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a very dangerous precedent to establish that the
House must abide by the decisions of the commit-
tees, even if it should be shown that mistakes or
misapprehensions have been made. It was not so
much the chief subject for notice, whether the bill
suited the interests of its proposers, or interfered
with the profits of its opponents, as whether, by
agreeing to its passing, some substantial benefits
might not accrue to the public. The reduction in
the price of coals would be a blessing to the com-
munity ; and, when it has been fairly shown that
such would be the consequence of this measure, it
prevail,
to
and the
prejudices of interested personssentiments
suffered
monopo-
lise a traffic that cannot be too widely extended, or
too much unfettered by restrictions. Competi-
tion is always in the
an important auxiliary
matter of dealings with the public, and
the passing of this bill would have
introduced this desirable element into the enormous
coal business of the metropolis, and certainly have
lowered the price of coals, which need not be said
would have been a great desideratum. Yet the op-
ponents of this scheme persist in their purpose,
totally regardless of all these considerations, and
appear to think they have performed their task and
lexecuted their duty when they defend the interests
of the rival companies,
the public will not ratify
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the 'course which the legislature has thought fit to
pus ue in this instance. Whenever a decision is to
be made that influences to a considerable degree,
the" welfare of the community, a great respon-
ibility rests with those who have to make it,
nd it cannot be said that the vote of the majority
last night at all realises one's conception of the
rights and claims of the public to grave and care-
ful consideration. It is the bounden duty of the
House to approve of such schemes as are likely to
conduce: to the welfare of the community, and not
to take into account whether or not, in their prose-
cution of this duty, they will interfere with class
interests, or cause loss and annoyance to individual
claimants. This principle is invariably carried out
in the management of railway schemes, and in the
construction of public buildings, as well as in the
adoption of those inventions which, while they bene-
fit the public generally, invariably sacrifice the pro-
fits of some at the period of their introduction.
In the course of the discussion of last night many
arguments were urged that ought to have been in-
fluential in actuating those who had to decide upon
the subject ; but if the efforts of those who sup-
ported the measure were powerless to gain for it
the success that it deserved, at least they now serve
more fully to expose' the fallacies of its opponents,
and to demonstrate the claims which the scheme
possesses to consideration whenever upon a future
occasion it may be brought forward again. Mr.
CHEETHAM very fully explained the purport of the
proposal, and appropriately observed that the
Great Northern Railway—which now opposed this
scheme—was at one time opposed by other lines, and
when he was last in Parliament he promoted the bill
which gave the Great Northern an access into Lan-
cashire. The notions that had prevailed respecting
the injury that this would occasion to other lines,
had proved to be erroneous. " The Great
Northern had been a public benefit to the people of
Lancashire, and the present bill would equally be-
nefit the public without injury to any existing lines:,
Viscount BURY also mentioned that the Eastern
Counties would derive considerable advantages

from this scheme, for at present the coals consumed
there were carried round by Peterborough and Ely.
If this line had been carried out, the inhabitants of

those parts would have been able to obtain their
coals two or three shillings a ton cheaper, and this
fact, among other things, tends to show the desira-
bility of the plan that was so unhappily rejected.
Perhaps Captain JERVIS gave the most correct de-
finition of the affair when he said that there were
not nine men out of ten in the House who knew
anything about the bill ; and, to judge from the
majority against it, it certainly seems that he was
correct. It does not follow at all that had a com-
mittee been appointed a similar decision would have
been arrived at to that of last year, and at any rate
there could have been no harm in making the expe-
riment. As the case now stands, a fair prospect of
advantage to the community has been wilfully
thrown away, and the public can see that their in-
terests have been sacrificed to the views of preju-
diced parties. Besides, it may be added that in the
eager desire of many to foster the claims of one
line they have not rendered justice to the other, and
that they were bound to make a trial of a scheme
which had been so indisputably shown to possess
sterling advantages, and to offer substantial claims
to consideration. The decision of last night in re-
spect to this measure is not at all in accordance
with the spirit which generally characterises public
matters of this kind, and must be consequently
regretted.