The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1856-01-23
REPORT OF COMMITTEE
J. ON THE PILOT Laws. ~
Asepeud by the Rjrhnoed Beard II TRADE,
Ianparv 2ref. 1855.

- ON THE PILOT LAVE. ~
Aaspesd By ths RIcknoed Board q Trsde,
Jansary 2Isa, 1855.
Ia compliance with = recent resolution OF your
Board the undersigned committee nave e.Annneo
the Pilot Lava Of this State their opsssaon sno
hrnrnd In the report which they now oner. have
ionf "a entirely 70 considerations Of general con-
earn asd connected with the public good
s A. nearly as can be ascertaned, the number Of
Z prsnch Pilots actually engaged In their calling,
dass not exceed fifty though II Is difficult to de-
terriue their number accurately owing to the fact
that many who leave the business still retain their
branches These men are engaged In a pursuit
which requires a. long apprenticeship. at times In
wolves toll and responsibility, and occasionally
attended with hardships and perils and after the
faithful performance Of their duty are entitled 20
fhe fun benefit of the maxim, that the laooreris
worthy of hire Their proper sphere Is IN or near
she ocean The peculiar beneht tney Ienaer 70
commerce II In bringing vessels from sea 70 SAFE
hxrbor, or in conducting them outward oes ond the
dangers of the coast While engaged In such ser
vice. they should be paid for 1t beyond the awards
of ordinary labor Hence, so far as the rates of
Pnotage now fixed by law apply to Plotting vessels
from sea 10 Hampton Roads, or from Hampton
Roads 10 sea- your committee do not regard them
AZ beyond far compensation for the services re-
20 ouired ,sraea those services actually rendered
On the contrary, they might perhaps, be judicious
iy advanced, provided our commerce were atthe
same tino relieved from more onerous burdens
+ imposed upon Il by these laws. sr.5 -Ft-z... =.
As to the charges for River Pilotage, we do not
hesitate TO represent that they greatly exceed a
fair equivalent for the labors Of the Pilot; indeed
they operate in most cases, gratuitous bounty
10 hun, and as needless burden upon the trade OF
the river The necessities which gave rise to the
establishment of Pilots as an order, and the en-
forceent of certain fees to them by law, all cease
when the dangers of navigation cease, and such is
the condition of things at this day, OH this river,
that there Is little occasion for the encour-
agement of branch pilotage there than there is ON
the James River and Kanawha Canal Ii the RISKS
he may be called upon to encounter form the basis
of extraordinary demands the part of the Pilot,
that basis does not exist here. If the public need,
that cannot be invoked here. If the necessity OF
supporting useful class of men be the argument,
that should be accomplished by making their fees
adequate in that sphere to which their usefulness
pertains. to be paid by those who reap the benefit
Of it There was time perhaps when this idea OF
extreme necessity appealed with some approach to
reason TO the public sense; but that day has long
gone past and many spirits, kindred with the spr-
it Vt these Laws have departed with it. In this age
of Steamboats, Railroads, and Clipper-Ships, speed
well as safety has become Indispensable to sue
cess. To ensure reasonable certainty as to time,
Is all important in mercantile enterprises. He ice.
especially our an tortuous river every vessel of
any considerable size, with cargo OF any consi-
derable value is forced to take steam inward and
outward or be bafiied for days. it may be weeks,
by the wind and tides. The Steam Tow-boat is the
great desideratum here and not the Pilot and If le
gal bounties are to be bestowed ON the score of
general benefit they belong on the river, rather to
the former than the latter Yet under the construc
ton of the present law, we are advised that when
vessel takes steam tow boat. 1t is claimed that
this amounts to taking Pilot.~the law providing
that potage on the river shall not be compulsory,
but if any pilot at all be employed, it must be a
branch Pilot; and in large proportion OF cases the
result is that the double burden of both towage and
pIotage has to be borne-the one imposed by sta
ute the other the no less peremptory laws OF tra
nc Under this practice, the palpabe fact is, that
plotage on the river is largely rewarded, when the
Pilot actually encounters nerisk no hardships, no
responsibility, renders no aid, aud is of no use.
The life OF one whole his skill to the protec.
ton of shipping off and near the coast, and of one
who floats up and down on quiet stream, are
altogether different things The former is the pro-
Iector of the property of the State its crops its
sources from the avais of which the State is to be
enriched and 1t behooyes the State to honor and
reward him. The latter affords no such protec-
Mon and is entitled to no higher wages than any
landsman enjoys. who is engaged in any other hon
est pursuit for liv elihood. +a
The whole system of river piotage we look upon
as impolitic; first, because it imposes tax upon
that branch of our commerce useless and without
equivalent; second, because its tempts the pilot
from his proper post, where his presence and aid
> cannot De dispensed with; and third because it
tends to degenerate the hardy pilot into the mac
/, tive boatman by transferring him to sphere he
does not belong to. h -
So much your committee offer as their unbiased
opinion of the justice and policy of the rates of
pilotage now established by law. t+
But the great evil of the whole system, and one
which dem ands every effort to it, remains to
be mentioned. Every vessel foreign or coasting,
above the capacity of seventy tons, is obliged TO
pay pilotage, although when hailed by the pilot
they refuse his offices and he does not set his foot
on board. This feature in these laws is without
any parallel on the statute book and not sin
guisr than It Is unwise and unjust. 1t is difficult
account for provision anomalous so directly
In conflict with every sense of right; by which
NJ n nu1n
the privileges of the few. 1t is not only greyous
burden upon any people, but is grieYous individ
nai wrong to compel payment anywhere for the
mere offer of services, which are unsought and
yaiueiess; and to grant such power to levy such
tribute, to any class of any community is only to
legalize the most odious compound of monopoly and
sineeure
law of this sort applied to any other pursuit
J, would be universally denounced for its bare inius-
tics BY the same code of ethics the doctor should
be entitled to his fee for exhibiting his lancet and
proposing to bleed the lawyer to his for the mere
tender OF advice. The shoemaker should be al
lowed to plead that his is indispensable trade at
which he has served a long apprenticeship and ap-
peal to legislation for redress against those who
make their shoes at home or ON their own planta-
lions unless he is also paid when he offers to supply
. them with his own manufacture Indeed sinecures
OF like character may be multiplied indefinitely
The only show OF apology for this provision is in
the assumption that the general good imperativeIy
demands IT. that Pilots must be had and yet cannot
ate it is, and entirely beyond the range of all obli
cations of contract. If this assumption be true il
were better that any Industrial pursuit should cease
80 exist than be supported by such means But it
cannot be true. For if any pursuit be of great
utility to any community, that part of the commu.
nifty 10 which 1t ministers will unuuestiopably sus
tain it. SO far frem being true in this case. the
general good requires that the channels of pnbIic
commercial intercourse should be cleared of every
possible obstruction and expense Instead of cali
ing for such bounties TO few it demands that the
route by which the products of the general ;nans
try are conveyed to their legitimate markets
shonld be made easy and cheap in every attainahIs
degree. -
This is especially true in respect to this river
Every effort, with large expenditure has been nut
forth by the State TO bring its agricultural and
mineral wealth to tde.water, as well as to omen
sucb passage through her own borders as shall
attract the productions of the Western States To
the same point. Far the greater portion of this
immense trade must find a foreign market ulti
rateiy. Thus James river has become the main
stem OF al the lines ofintenal Improvement con.
sergins to Richmond and Petersburg and other tide
water ports. What is the policy pursued on all
these interior routesf To combine cheanpess az
transportation with as great a rate of speed as Is
compatible with safety Whyi Because this mol
Icy yields the greatest amount of value to the pr
dueer. Yet in tho face of the political wisdom
which has laid down this universal rule for the
government OF public improvements when this