The Sun.
London, England, 1869-02-19 00:00:00

LaNDO2,I, FRID-11; FEB. 19, 1869.

We are very glad to find that so important a ques-
tion as the reform of our mercantile marine is not
to be altogether overlooked this year. Even at this
early stage of the session a notice has been put upon
the books of the House of Commons, by Mr. CAN-
DLISH, of an inquiry to be put to the President of the
Board of Trade respecting the revision and consoli-
dation of the laws which affect our merchant ship-
ping. On Monday next, therefore, we may hope to
learn something of the Ministerial intentions on this
subject; but in any case we hope it will not be for-
gotten. If the pressure of the other measures to
which the Cabinet stands pledged should prevent

Mr. BRIGHT from undertaking an additional re-

form, the task is one which is fully within the scop e
of private members. There are not wanting
men of sound practical knowledge and extended
experience in the House who are well qualified to
deal with the question, and it must not be forgotten
that the delay of its settlement will not only occasion
expense and inconvenience, but will actuAlly cost
many lives.
The details of the casualties which yearly occur to
our shipping supply us with startling intelligence. A
large proportion of those disasters, which fill many
hoarts with mourning, and swell our list of wrecks and
disasters at aea to such a fearful extent, are plainly
and undoubtedlypreventible. The sea is stronger than
man, and in its wayward moods defies his ekill and
strength ; but we can no longer say with the poet that
"the wrecks are all its deed," for the painful truth is

that man has a large share in them. What with unsea-
worthy and insufficiently equipped vessels, with over-
loading, with neglect of a proper supply of nautical
instruments, with incompetent and careless com-
manders, and equally incompetent and insufficient
crews, the real history of many a maritime tragedy
might be summed up in a verdict of " wilful murder
against some persons unknown."

The culprits of course have no thought of whole-
sale destruction of human life. They are simply in-
different and careless, thinking only of how to make
money in the fastest and easiest way possible. Accord.
ingly they send out ships in the condition we have
referred to, and the result is shown in the startling
fact that in the year 1867 (the last for which we
have the full record) the number of shipwrecks on
our coasts was 2,090, or an average of nearly six for
every day in the year. The noticeable thing
about these figures is that the increase

in the number of casualties is out of all
prorortion to the increase of our shipping. When
the figures are corrected, according to tlii3 increase,
there remains a surplus of 600 casualtio. It is, there-

fore, quite time that the appalling loss of life thus
represented should attract the careful consileration
of Parliament. When we turn to the TVreck Regis-
ter we find that the 2,090 casualties of 1837 occa-
sioned no less than 1,333 deaths, as wel as a loss of
property estimated at about three millions sterling.

Nrbat we know of the disasters of 186 S gives us

little reason to hope that its history will be a different
one, while 1869 has already been conspicuous for its

frequent and boisterous gales.
An ex-President of the Liverpool Chamber of
Commerce has addressed a letter to the limes on this
subject, suggesting various plans for the mitigation of
an acknowledged evil. For reform of the bad
condition of the ships, and the lack of
proper instrumvats, he looks to the Legislature. If
the clause of the Merchant Shipping Act of 1854,
which provides that no steamer carrying pas-iengers
shall proceed to sea without official survey, and cer-
tificate, were extended to all British vessels, much
would be gained, and the principal causes of the
wholesale destruction of our coasting vessels would
be altogether removed. The insurance of unsea-
worthy ships is another fruitful source of evil. Ships

that are lost in ordinary rough weather, almost im-
mediately after leaving harbour, have manifestly been
insured under false pretences, and it is no great
wonder that the underwriters, suffering from such
repeated losses, are constantly raising their rates of
premium. It is to the interest of all shipowners,
who send their ships to sea in the bona fide
expectation of reaching port, to see that
others less scrupulous should no longer be able to
risk men's lives and merchant's property with abso-
lute and unquestioned impunity.
The correspondent, whose letter we have referred
to, enters at some length upon the question of
securing a regular and sufficient supply of candi-
dates to recruit the officers and seamen of the mer-
cantile marine. Unfortunately, for one reason or
another, the once popular profession of seamanship is
going out of fashion. While in the seven years from
1858 to 1865 the increase in the tonnage of the mer-
chant service was 25 per cent., the increase in the
number of seamen was only 11 per cent. The appren-
tices and boys had decreased 18 per cent. The num-
ber of foreigners serving on board British ships bad
'n the same period increased at the rate of 76 per
It is also stated that our British
seamen have deteriorated in every respect,
and that many shipowners now think foreign sailors
to be the more able an I efficient. There is a want
of sympathy between the men and their employers,
and the comfort and health of the crews are very

cent.

little considered. The Merchant Shipping Act pro-
vides for proper accommodation, but Dr. LETHEBY
has deliberately affirmed that the great prevalence of
fever, scurvy, and epidemic diseases in vessels trading
with the port of London is directly referable to defec-
tive sanitary arrangements. Dr. WARD, a physician of

the floating hospital, gives similar evidence, and it is
not therefore to be wondered that the men suffering
from this cruel indifference to their well-being grow
dissatisfied with their occupation.

The system of training boys for sea iosrae
1 N
largely l
errye;
excel-
lent one, and it is a pity it is not m
ex-
tended. The member of the Liverpool Cham-
ber, though highly approving of the employ-
ment of training ships as reformatory agents,
and as means of employment for the destitute, re-
minds us that it will not do to depend exclusively on
such a source of supply. All boys are not fitted, either
morally or physically, for a seafaring life, and, as in
such institutions there is no power of selection, all
thus trained may not prove efficient recruits. Such