The Sun.
London, England, 1856-01-11 00:00:00

"OPINION.

"1. We aro of opinion that them is au implied condition
on the part of the shipowner that the ship shall be sea-
worthy.
"2. Ind that if the ship is not seaworthy, and the sea-
man refuses to go to sea in her on that ground, ho cannot
be treated as a deserter, or punished under the enactment
referred to. But the burden of proof will lie on the sea-
man; he must establish the unseaworthiness of the vessel.
"3. If the seaman apprehended for desertion alleges the
unseaworthiness of the ship in his defence, it will be the
duty of the court which hears the case to examine into the
question, as it would so on any other disputed question of
fact that might arise before it; and it must dispose of the
question ou such evidence as may be laid before it, bearing in
mind, as we have before said, that the burden of proof is
on the seaman.
"I. We think that the seaman is justified in refusing to
go to sea in tke ship on the ground of her unseaworthiness,
Isuid may maintain an action to recover his effects if de-
tained.

"5. On the authority of the case ' Priestly v. Fowles'
(3 AL and \V., p. 1), we are of opinion that a seaman pro-
ceeding to sea in an unseaworthy ship, and sustaining in-
jury in consequence, could not maintain an action, and
would be without a remedy against the owner.
" 6. We are of opinion that there is an implied condi-
tion on the part of the owner that the ship shall be manned
by a crew sufficient to navigate hor with reasonable safety,
and that if she be not so manned the consequences will
be the same as though the ship was unseaworthy.
" J. D. HARDING.
" A. E. COCKBURN.
"RICHARD BETHELL."
" THE MEMORIAL OF THE SEAMEN OF GREAT Bt.ITAIN TO

HER MAJESTY. _
" To HER MOST GRACIOUS MAJESTY QUERN.
"May it please your Majesty to receive the humble com-
plaints of as loyal a body of subjects as there is to be found
within your realms, and to listen to the prayer of the sea-
men of Great Britain.

" Your memorialists have to complain, that of late years
the course of legislation has been the indirect means of les-
sening security of life at sea. 1. By the excessive compe-
tition of British with foreign shipping. 2. By compelling
owners of ships to employ masters or mates, in whom—
although they may have certificates of competency—they
have no faith as good seamen. 3. By destroying the
nationality of a ship's crew, and thus permitting an unli.
mited employment of enfeebled Lascars and foreigners euti.r
the British flag, speaking various languages, and rendering
discipline not easy of accomplishment, and the word of
command more difficult to be understood. Your memo-
rialists, in part confirmation of what is here advanced,
would direct your Majesty's attention to the Register of
Wrecks' published by the Lords Commissioners of the Ad-
miralty, by which it will be seen that the wrecks and
casualties on the shores of the United Kingdom were, in
Wrecks. Loss of Life.
1853
1851
, showing an increase in the loss of ships, 153; and in the
sacrifice of life, of 832 persons.
" Youronemorialists, from the dangers always attending
the navigation of the seas, from tempests and those unfore-
seen calamities over which man has no control, do not ex-
pect from the hands of legislators any impossibilities ; they
pursue a dangerous calling, and bow with submission to
the acts of God, but they humbly ask the intercession of
your Majesty against their being compelled to sail in an
nnse morally vessel. The law holds them to their agree-
ment after having signed articles to serve in a ship, and in
several recent instances crews of ships have been taken
before a magistrate for refusing to go to sea in vessels in
an unfit state to encounter the perils of the ocean, and sent
to prison for periods from a month to three months, with
hard labour, under the plea of disobedience of orders or
desertion. The attempt to lay their grievances before ono
of your Majesty's justice 3 of peace has been construed into
desertion; and several of the class to which your memo-
rialists belong have, as we conceive, been most unjustly
punished.
" Your memorialists, therefore, humbly pray that your
most gracious Majesty will use your high prerogative, and
shield them from the maladministration of the law. That
prove by many reports of trials ; but they will
the law is unjust or corruptly administered your memori-
one. In the latter end of April the brig Rachel
oa ilsyt s
taen
was loaded for sea in the River Tyne. The vessel was
leaky, and, according to ther judgment of the crew, unfit to
I
proceed on her voyage. nc crew protested against going
to sea in the vessel ; but, under threat of 12 weeks' impri-
sonment, they consented to leave port. Four days after the
said brig foundered at sea from leakage, and the crew were
saved with difficulty, having lost all their clothes and
bedding. They applied to the Lords Committee of PI ivy
Council for Trade, to ascertain whether the Merchant Sea-
men's Act gave them any remedy for the loss of their pro-
perty. My lords referred them to a court of common law.
They carried their case to the Newcastle Assizes, and were
non_ 'tett on the 3d of August, thus establishing the foot
that British seamen are compelled to sail in an unsea-
worthy
vessel
; and they have no redress at common law
for they may in consequence sustain.
anyty-
injury
" Your memorialists would further direct your Ma-
jesty's attention to a comparison of the law in England
and the United States. William Robertson, a seaman,
summoned the master of the brig Active before the ma-
gistrates at Hartlepool on the 18th of July. The master
knocked the said seaman down several times, shook him
then kicked him down the hatch, and it was only from the
evriyoleonf
dashedtly,
nrder, h
' and hdtehad interferenceerepeatedlyagainst the windlass,
of the mate that in
all probability his life was saved. After this brutal treat-
ment, Robertson was landed at Christiansand for medical
advice. Under bodily fear of the master he was frightened
( to make a complaint, lest he should be sent on board the
vessel
again r'sJ
o theci Conversation
u estions lvere
put to him by the Bri-
tish Consul, r:between the master and
the consul was carried on in the Norwegian langnage, not
understood by the seaman. The wages due up to the period
of discharge were paid, and the seaman left to find his way
to England at his own expense. This case was dismissed
by the justice of the peace, J. P. Denton, Esq. (a ship.
owner), after consultation with the clerk of the court, also
a shipowner. Had this case happened on board a vessel
of the United States, the following consular laws would
have been enforced :

" Section 15. And be it further enacted, that no consul
or commercial agent of the United States shall discharge any
the
Payment of the two months'
is entitled under the provisions
of
mariner, being a citizen of the United States, in a foreign
requiring
marinerlgBo3
unless upon due investigation
into
ma-
riner have jointly applied for such discharge, and on a
pwoartgthe
the
h withouttaeoc circumstances
whichof Feb.r ee
ag
under which the master and i
private examination of such mariner by the consul or com-
mercial agent, separate and apart from all officers of the
vessel, the consul or commercial agent shall be satisfied
that it is for the interest and welfare of such mariner to be
so discharged ; nor shall any consul or commercial agent
discharge any mariner as aforesaid without requiring the
fall amount of three months' wages, as previded by the
above/named act, unless under such circumstances as will,
in his judgment, secure the United States from all liability
to expense ou account of such mariner.
" ' Section 18. And in any action brought by a mariner
to recover the extra wages to which he is entitled under
the act of February 28, 1803,the defence that the payment
of such a ages was duly remitted shall not be sustained
without the production of the certificate in such case re-
quired by this act, or, when its non-production is accounted
for, by the production of a certified copy thereof, and the
truth of the facts certified to, and the propriety of the re-
mission shall be still open to investigation.'
" Considering that the vessels of the United States are
gradually appropriating to their flag the trade between
England and America, and have monopolised the South
Sea whale fishery, and that there is a large exodus of sea-
men from this country to the United States, your memo-
rialists cannot believe that it is to the interest of the na-
tion that British seamen should be so oppressed by class
legislation, and treated better under the United States
flag than on board British vessels.
" Your memorialists have seen the want of prescience
exhibited by, your advisers in the, conduct of the war, and
pray that more fatal experience may not be demonstrated
from other quarters, Those proud armaments, now so

"The frequent occurrence of commitments under the Mer-
chant Seamen's Act in this and other seaport towns has led
me to bring the subject under the notice of the Secretary of
State in a special report, from a feeling that the adminis•
tration of the law affecting merchant seamen is attended
with an amount of hardship to that class of persons not
contemplated by the Legislature.
" A very large number of merchant seamen are com-
mitted summarily to the prisons of seaport towns for re-
fusing to proceed to sea after having signed articles of
agreement., the ground. of their refusal being, as stated
above, the alleged unseaworthiness of their ships, or the
insufficient complement of ' able seamen' among their
crew. The first of these objections is in many cases noto-
riously well founded, more especially at the present time,
when the great and sudden increase of trade to the Aus-
tralian colonies and elsewhere has led to many ships being
taken up for services, to the requirements of which they
are quite unequal. With reference to the last ground of
complaint on the part of the seamen, I am credibly in-
formed that such is now the facility of finding persons
anxious to work their passage to the several colonies that
a much greater proportion of these inexperienced persons
than formerly are infused into the crews of most of the
merchant ships, and that much danger is thereby incurred
to the ships, and much increase of labour to the able sea-
men results, especially in the first weeks of the voyage,
from the total inexperience of their shipmates. Whether
the circumstances here alluded to may throw any light
upon any of the numerous mischances that have occurred
of late to merchant ships I am not qualified to judge ; but
I have the hest reason to know that the prisons of several
seaport towns in my district are continually supplied with
seamen committed under the circumstances referred to ;
the good character of many of whom, obtained both in
the navy and merchant service, leads to the strongest pre-
sumptions in their favour. Persons well acquainted with
the character and habits of sailors find it difficult to be-
lieve that men who have served many years with credit in
the navy and elsewhere would be likely to sacrifice all the
good opinion they have gained by inventing stories of inse-
curity of ships which, being in harbour at the time, might
easily be inspected by a surveyor on the part of the owner or
agents, to the immediate confusion of such tales. Another
circumstance which strongly contradicts the presumption of
an evil design on the part of the sailorsis, that they generally
leave behind them property fa.r.exceedino•. in value the ad-
vance of wages which have been made to them ; and one
case has lately come to my knowledge where a carpenter
has preferred the loss of it chest of tools, of the value of
301., to the risk of losing his life by sailing a second time
in a ship which had put into port on account of its un-
seaworthiness.

" The above remarks apply to all prisons with which I
am acquainted in seaport towns; but in the c%so of that
which forms the subject of this report a peculiar hardship
is inflicted on the prisoners by the closeness of confine-
ment and the very defective accommodations."