New-York daily tribune., 1857-04-23


a seaman named Jones, who after being fired H.
knocked down his pursuer with handsPlke'
police officer was then summoned on board. ana
the crew were given into custody upon charge oil
mutiny. Furber died Of his injuries, but the man
Chg site recovered. Peter Campbell, the second
mate, was tried, as we have stated, and being
found guilty " "of'intending grievous bodily harm
to tho wounded sailor, was sentenced to transpor
taton for life. With this verdict Of the Jury and
with this sentence of the Judge We have no fault
to find if the reports Of the case are to be cred
tied. Knowing. do, the crimping and kidnsp-
ping practices which disgrace this port and the
abOminabe swindles, the drugglng and the NO
lence which arr rrsorted to here for the sake Of
procuring men, we find no difficulty in believing
that similar means to secure q similsr end are EN-
ployed in Liverpool. Unfortunately. there is moth
ing at all improbable in the assertion Of Wander
pcle and Chrystie that they had been taken
to the wrong ship. Hundreds of drunken, senseess
and stupefed unfortnnstes, who for days have been
absolutely incapable of making the simplest legal
contract, are smuggled on board our ships, and
frequently do not wake to reason and to wretched-
ness until long after the vessel has started upon her
voyage. If Vanderpole and Chrystie had been thus
abused they net only did perfectly right in refusing
to do duty, but they would have kept within the
limits of the law if they had resorted to violence to
obtain release On the other hand, admitting their
story to have been fabrication, there is not the
shadow of an excuse for the reckless violence of the
officers Because n man has refused to do duty, 1t
does not BY any means follow that he is legally liable
TO death, nor Was there in this case any emergency
which might palliate resort TO such extraordinary
discipline The ship was not at sea- the service
required could not have been necessary TO the
safety of the crew. the cargo the craft while the
facts show that the officers Of the law could have
been speedily and without the slightest difficulty
summoned Under such circumstances the conduct
of the mates in blazing away to the right and to the
left and in firing deliberately into a group of
seventeen sailors huddled together upon the fore.
castle, was morally murderous, and if the act had
resulted in death, the Law would have made 1t
murder and the guilty survivor would have been
sent to the scafold.
We believe that We fully appreciate the difficult
ties which officers encounter in governing crews as
at present constituted. At least, if they be greater
thsn We suppose, they must be great indeed But
admitting every thing said i'll extenuaion OF sever
ity-admittine the stupidity, the stclidty and the
malignty Of the sailor-we assert that it Is incon-
sistent with the first principles OF discipline for
those in authority to give loose reins to passion.
Penalties administered by madmsn are not likely
1 "a 4 iu1i aft,s
Under such circumstances, in nine cases out OF
ten the wrong punishment will be inflicted, aud
not seldom upon the wrong man. The officer who
flies into frenzy and rushes to his pstol-case
every time Jack growls at the meat or finds fault
with the water soon loses the respect OF bis men.
1t is the pistol that governs the ships and the crew,
being fully aware Of this, find Oat IL time that III
physical force they are vastly superior 70 lhoSe III
authority, and a case of bandspikes and she8Ih'
knives against reyovers soon follows. We do not
believe that there il the least need of this. No
matter how bad the men may be- We do not believe
that bad treatment will mako them better. We
recognize the necessity Of firmness on tho part of
the MASTER and Of submission on the part of the
sailor; but We think that to secure the last kind
words, digri6ed demeanOr, and a Christian care
for the wants Of an injured and oppressed class,
will be found far more eilectual than hasty blows
torture worthy of Boniba, or oahs worthy Of Trun
nion We are not writing upon mere surmise.
We have known captain, with crew not higher
than the average character, who completed long
voyage without striking blow; and we have
known another who, starting with an excellent
crew, managed before the close of his voyage to
demoralize the whole ships company We have
tried the cat the ropes send, the handspke and the
revolver; we have tried hard words, mean fare
and psrsmonius wages Let us now SEQ what yr-
tue there may be in good pay kind treatment and
the introduction on shipboard OF the commonest
amenities Of society.