The Arkansas advocate., 1834-01-31

men proper apparatus to saew,at ailiimes,
 the level of the water, and also the in,en-
 ny or height Of the steam, and this appa-
 arranged its tut ;;.,
 from .s. ,,.is;s':., c:.sstss,:: c:.sstss,::e- ,,ts ,,ts ] preventative remedies to which tile attea- ion of the Cegnmitfee will probably be
 called.
 ia iile lsfst place, ;;ii1it.lxS flhe b9as itself
 should be made subieetto forfeiture, Nhen-
 eyer lives are lost through the negligence loi those conduetipg it. There Is nothing l 4unreasonable in this; analogous provisions
 exist n other cases. The master of n ] merchant ship, for instance, nay forfeit the siiip by violation of' iiaW, however ilillo-
 cent tise owners may be; even though that
 iaN De only a common regulation of trade and customs. There Is, at least, quite as m4chreasoa for saying tlsat whoever builds or buys steamboat, and proposes to car ry passengers therein for hiFe, shall ho au- sBefahle to the amount of tAe value of tAe boat fer ttle sobriet9, diligence, and atah- ton of those whom he appoints lis agents to naYi@ate f. as th0ro s.if revenue cases. | to impose such liability fr snanpeiin9, or Illegal landing of goods. To eDterce ttis liability, should preposa, Chat whenever an explosion takes place, causing the loss i of lives of passengers, the boat should De immediately seized y se ise ( t f tl
 District, and tie persons navigating Ter de tained for examieations I trial should be had, and, unless it shouldappear, on such trial, that ali legal requirements had been previously compiled win, and were eb- eergedat the tiine, and, lirther, that the ac- eadeat vas enc, silaiell D degree c. aftep- tor could have foFeseel or prevented, the boat should be forfeited and the persons haying charge nj the tine. should be pun ished. ttis TO unreasspable hardship, in such eases, te throw tie burden of proof on those who afe entrusted wit it:l ' ,'s lai.-- ten aiid iflanaaeEaisfst q tic heat I flcY should be ahie tomake out q clear case o9. actual attention, sbill and gigilanee, CT else 1 forfeiture ought to follow. It k i xerg hiah trust, io have ohafge of that which isso potent to destroy life, 5ad which, when ne- diligently treated, is SO likely io destroy it. 0f coufse, all nnnecessafy delay, expense or trouble should be avoided. The pro- lPerty seized might be restored, on bonds, l as lns other eagcss ai @soiznfe. pending prep aFation and trial; and every indulgence al- lowed, in the forms and nodes Of pr0ceed- iae, compatible with the great end of an immediate investigation, and q prompt de- l eision.
 Asto steali1-hoat raeiag,it is an onornds ty that demands no tolerance. E9oubfiesa, the Gon1aiittee Niil see the rropfiety of providing fiaaf aI such racing, on any na- ger, or for any stakes, whether it be be- tween boat and boat, botil, CT either, hav- ing passeneefs on board, os whet!lorth the wager be on any boat with passengers on board, ronaiag against iisne, shall be pun ished, with forfeiture of the boat ard se- were personal penalties on those concerned whether any accident happen from such ra- cing or not.
 Mir. BENTON tilen rose asa ssili, that lle entirely agreed in the justice of the views which had been thrown out by the Senator from Massachusetts. lie was fully aware of the injury winch had resulted to toe com munity from the accidents which ha,! occur rcd in the Steamboat navigation, eStilna;,ss eff the Reporter heard corfec!ly,) the nula- Der of persons injured by these accidents, at or 5000. lie stated that he was in. New Orleans tt tiie time of the explosion of the steamboat on Red River, which had caused the loss of anhonorabie member ef that body; and he had been assured that there was quantity of gun-powtler aiHona the cargo on board. Il had been stated to him, as q practice, that powder was ffe- quentiy taken on board these boats, put up and marked -as coiiec; and he adyerted to an instance, i1 which some hogshead which had beens shipped, under a diAerem designa- ton, had been discovered al the end of the voyage, 10 contain kegs of gunpowder.-- But there was another class oi onances perpetrated on board the steanboat5 ia tAe Western waters, to which he desired to call the attention of the Senate, namely, the as- sallits, batteries and homieides which had become of such frequent oecurrence.- Crimes oi tiigis ciiafst.itei were committed, the boat passed rapidly on from the point; a man perhaps was killed, ass.5 nothing more was heard of it.
 He ilai not rl.n to throw any .1ss.la,e- ton n the Wy of tIis Fesolu ..al. or a0aiast 3 terence of 1t to some committee, be- cause tho resoaition had his most hearty ! cnlll.l1r ll,4 ha hal tl,nilrrht tltat l.n