The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-04-14 00:00:00

CORRESPONDENCE.

THE SHIPOWNERS' AND SHIPMASTERS'
ASSOCIATION.
PROPOSED SHIP-BUILDING SOCIETY.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

Stu,—ln two recent numbers of your paper I observed two
letters ; the first from a correspondent, signed " Nauticus,"
and the other from " A Friend to Humanity," recommend-
ing a Shipowners' and Shipmasters' Association, for the
purpose of procuring the appointment of a surveyor by the
government, for the inspection of vessels, so that no unsea-
worthy ships should be permitted to sail from this port;
for the general protection and encouragement of the mercan-
tile shipping interests, and for other objects protective of,
and beneficial to, that useful and respectable class of men,
the commanders and officers of ships in particular. It must
be gratifying to you and your correspondents td reflect that
these suggestions have already been warmly, and, 1 may add,
almost enthusiastically responded to by a number of highly
respectable owners and captains, who met on Saturday fort-
night, at the Clarendon Rooms, and laid the foundation of
an association having the objects alluded to in view, as well
as others therewith connected, the primary step to attain
them being the establishment of a Captains' Reading and
Coffee-room, where they might combine the acquirement of
useful information with amusement at leisure hours ; be en •
abled to transact business with shipowners and merchants
with greater facility than at present ; and also reform or su-
persede the present pernicious system too generally pursued
by the shipping offices.
Permit me to suggest, through your columns, to that As-
sociation that, in addition to a general News Room, the
building they purpose to erect should also contain a library,
chiefly of nautical or other scientific works relating to naval
tactics, improvements in the construction of vessels and rig-
ging, and of marine engines, as well as a chart and model
room, for the reception of models, drawings, corrected charts,
&c., either purchased or collected by donations, which latter
would doubtless be numerous, and of each of which an ac-
knowledgement should be made in a book kept for that pur-
pose—the contents to be published with the annual report.
A book should also be kept, in which captains might enter,
on their return from sea, anything worthy of record from
their log-books, any discoveries they may have made of
hitherto unknown shoals or rocks, or other " experiences,"
whether in ocean steam or sailing navigation, for the ge-
neral benefit of the whole. A registry might also he
kept of the proved correctness or inaccuracy of chronometers,
with a view to the encouragement of the best makers, and
the consequent safety of vessels and crews on distant voy-
ages. The propriety of this proposition is confirmed in my
mind by the recent intelligence of the loss of an East India-
man through the inaccuracy of her chronometers, on which
too much reliance, had been placed, and which were found to
be wrong by about 70 miles.

I would also suggest that the building should contain an
apartment to be appropriated as a museum of curiosities, the
collection of which would, in all probability, soon be great,
through the facilities enjoyed by captains of vessels in pro-
curing interesting specimens natural and artificial. "W hen
this was once stocked, a fund of no inconsiderable amount
might be raised for the benefit of the association, b admit-
ting the public at a small price.
My principal object, however, in addressing you at present
is to propose the formation of a society, either in conjunction
with the above, or apart from it, to be called the Liverpool
Ship-building Society. The beneficial operation of house-
building societies has long been acknowledged. Through
them, parties who had never, before entering them, saved
anything against a rainy day, have by regular small payments,
been enabled to rise in the scale of society by becoming pos-
sessors of houses; and why might not ship captains and
mates follow the example, and by saving a small sum monthly
from their wages, become proprietors of shares in vessels, or
whole ships, as means of present improvement in their
condition, and as a provision for them and their families,
when from age or infirmity they are, like the " battered old
hulk" of the old Com modore, become "never more fit for sea."
There are few captains who could not spare 10s. a month for
such a purpose, and if a society were formed consisting of
1000 captains, and as many landsmen, each paying entrance
money, (for I would admit of any respectable parties), ves-
sels might from time to time be built or purchased by the
disposal of shares put up to the highest bidder, in the man-
ner of the several building societies, proper securities being
taken for the redemption money bybottomry bonds, the de-
positing of the policy of insurance, or otherwise. I shall
not, however, enter into the details, which others are more
competent to point out than myself; but I throw out the
suggestion, as one which I feel assured would be practicable
and beneficial, in the hope that it may be taken up by par-
ties capable of carrying it out.
Hoping you will excuse the length of this communication,
I am, Sir, yours, &c.,
Liverpool, April 13th, 1840. W.