New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1850-03-04
49, -
NauaI REFORM.

Naval Reform.
nes.ing i. called To assemble in the Tsbe'-
uscle 10 morrow evening 70 consider the subject Of
Plugging in the Navy, with view 10 urging upon
Congress the asrogstion Of the legal sanction nov
gwen 70 that inhunan and brutalizIng practice.
We consider the common sailors the most abused
and wronged class Of men the face q the earth.
Enlisted often while stUpehed by strong drink
in utter ignorance Of the character Of those who are
10 exercise despotc power over them, burned Of
70 sea at q word, and herewith 10 law, no court,
no jury, no justice but such as despots caprice
may afford them-they are bound 70 obey the light
&c, word or gesture Il tie commander thoogh 81
the imminent peril of their limbs or lives And the
moment the voyage IS over. each is turned on into
the streets -or rather, 70 the groggenes' the 10"
brothels and other deDs Of gambling and rsyery
of sin and crime which ever yawn 70 receive him.
and where he is welcome so long hs hls money
lasts-exactly. That gone, he is taken IN state
of alcoholic s,upefsction 10 another shipper, cor
trscted away, a large sire distracted from his
future earnings 10 pay the exorbitant demands Ct
the harpies who have plundered and brutiiied him
and 50 sent oil 10 sea again.
Such is the internal system under which sesmei
have lived and died through oges. Individuals,
both masters and men, have been better than this
but tho system has tended to tbs and this alone
With no interest in his vessel or the fortunes Of the
voyage no permanent relation b. chip or shore. the
sailor knows 10 better solace for months Of hard
fare, exposure to storms, night-watching snd
slavery, than days of rotoUs license and e~d de-
pravity.
There IL no other slavery so reckless as the
sailors a STAKEHOLDER has often grown up with
his slaves-;hey were his nurse, his plsyInates his
latterers-s sometimes hls kinsmen. II be IS ~
usually cruel hs neighbors mock and shun him hs
is rarely beyond the reach Of public opinion an
any injury done to his slave is damage TO his
property. But the sea captain, on commencing n
new voyage, finds lot Of men before the mast, of
whom he probably never saw two before whom he
dh not select and with whom he has not aud never
expects 10 have either association or sympathy
They are his temporary conyenlences like the hos
or the sheep he takes aboard 50 rs to have some
fresh meat in the course Of the voyage.
We have thus Ear spoken Of things as they have
been there has been some improvement wi,bn
the last dozen years The minstrailons Of Chris
tan Philanthropy have reached even the long ne
elected sailor, aud secured him some chance Of de
cent lodgings on shore aud decent treatment on
ship board He is not yet generally treated as
man, but as beast not utterly untamRblc. Ever!
where il obvious improvement, moderation pro
gress-every where but in the Navy There the
rust Of antquated preiudices Is but goIed over 10y
the slime Of modern corruption; there the aristo-
cratic distinctions of caste are rigidy preserved
and insisted on there the faithful and capable sea
man of twenty years is still sert Mt ten dollars per
month, whom the beardCss boy, pitched aboard
yesterday with warrant by his influential rela
tives because he can't be endured on shore. is au
thcized b order strung up and lashed ON tho bare
back till bis blood reddens the deck, on charge OF
insolence, thats. looking the upstGri in the face
disobeying orders by walking too heavily, or
not folding his hammock neatly. or not cooking
the officers dinner To please HIM. In short, while
the world forward. the Navy stubbornly re
fuses to bulge and to this day Grog is is che, IN
element and the Cat its reliance for discipline. j
the Navy is to DO kept in existence, tins should at
once be reformed
The principal mover in the matter of Navai
Reform is Mr. Watson Il. Haynes common sail
or who has for more than n year devoted himself
to the work Of arousing public attention to the
abuses that flourish in the rank soil of the Navy
He makes no pretonsous to anything but thor
ough knowledge Of the wrongs endured by sea
men in our Navy and an anxious desire for then
correction, he is not a Chesterfield nor a Cicero,
but his heart ia In his work. aud, since no Other
man viii doit we rejoice that he does. There are
many gross abuses that Keep their ground for
years simply because no one is melted to devote
himself to their extirpstion
We trust there will be noble gathering OF the
adveraries of og.brutfying and Lssh-exooris.
ting at the Tabernacle tomorrow night