New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1859-08-19


arises from the impessibility of mskitg general
laws TO meet particular cases. suppose that IN
10 instance Of effort and Of honorable, learned. hu-
NAME and enlightened effort to protect authority
in its necessary power aod those under authority
in their general rights, has there been such gen.
era confusion and inconsistency But it must be ad'
rtted that this arises to certain extent from the
impossibility Of inmediste adjudicaton-from the
long habits Of subsection upon the part OF crews
and generally from the inherent difficulties OF
the subject There are. undoubtedly some cases
on board ship 10 which the master, by acting
promptly. and even with energy, which may bear
tie resemblance of cruelty, exhibits the highest
humanity. There may BE- cases in which mad,
desperate, perhaps drunken captain aided, abetsed,
aud stimulated BY chief officer no less mad and
desperate may run mu * up and down tbs deck,
revolver tn hand, grog in bis stomach, aud msnia-s
potu in bis brains-may csuselessy murder, cruelty
mAltrest and despcably and mesnly insult-msy
cheat the sailor of his little comforts Of his bread
and bis beef Of his immupties on board and of his
iberties on shore. There are cases like this I'M
doubtedly, ard whenever they occur they are In
fnitey TO the discredit OF the owners at home and
of officers on the sea- The great question Is:
Upon whom or upon what, must the responsibilities
of this ~ stematized wrong restl Upon the own
ers upon the officers upon the system' Are
those who send to the sea ships-and to do so,
SEE ms to be in itself avocaton exceedoRlyiy hon
orabe and quite in consOnsnce with the pest spirit
of the see-sre such so active in pursuit Of results
pecuniary, and 90 blinded, we will not Say to the
duties but to the dienes of their vocation that they
will permit upon ships, for which they are just as
much responsible as for their own dear dom'cies,
acts for which they would hardly escape arrest az
bone. No gentleman doing prosperous shipping
business upon South street-no peer OF the plers'
would probably break his cooks head Of morning
BE- .use his coffee was muddy, or his egg ill-bOlled
When be came down 10 his hOu.e of accompt, he
would not think it necessary, in the first place, TO
kick his porter for not sweeping the sidewalk, IN
the second place, to cuff his offceboy for not post
ing last nights mail and in the third place. to pull
the noee Of bis book keeper for an error in the
hesterpa cash account We do not see any res
reason why the courtesy Of the ship-Owner to his
captain should not sometimes be initiated by
the courtesy of the captain to his crew. We
will suppose marine gentleman-the highest per-
haps in the command of ships-has made soms
dreadful mistake in bis reckoning; has sailed to
Terra del Fuego when be should have sailed to
Sierra Leone, and bavirg been about year msk-
Jog the mistuke, aud another year making up for
the mistake, continues to spoil the whole, and so
far TO battle the calculations Of bis owner as to
insure a total loss of the whole investment Upon
entering his masters countng-room with marine
seryitor bearing the documents in bis train, pre-
pared TO make the best report which under the cir
cumstsDces may be possible or prudent hei recev-
ed by hospitable application of msrline-spike to
his ses-worn and frosty pow, and after being
kicked about to the satisfaction of the outraged
capitalist, is finally projected from the premises by
the united efforts of the first clerk the porter and
the errand-boy of the establishment How would
this sore tar.in.chef, as he hobbed his way to the
St Nicholas or the MetropolItsn-if his owner had
paid him money enough to enable him to console
himself in either Of those luxurious establish
meDts-relish this treatment He would probably
20 down and shoot his owner the very next morn
ing; and would not content himself with the vica-
rious kicking of some poor foremost hand, when
ever he happened to be again in possession of ship
The whole subject is environed by embarrass.
ments; but We do not think that The London
Times exhibits fairness when, in commenting upon
Mr. Mines proposal made in Parliament, that
"Her Msjesty's Government should enter into
" communication with that Of the United States
" of America" upon this subject, the newspaper to
which We have alluded assumes that any cOmmuni'
cation upon the subject would be frutleSs, because
"public opinion in America looks with singular
" indifference upon deeds of violence" This may
be true of certain sections of the country but it is
not true Of that from which many or most ships
sail; and at least not true Of the West, which may
be tender of rows by land, but naturally is not
tender Of rows BY sea, partly because it does
not own any ships. We have no! done
any thing like what We should for the aneiO-
ration of the condition of the seaman. But we
have done something At any rate, the friends Of
the sailor and servce-aDd in this behalf our
efforts have not been wantng-have established
thorough interest in this subject, which has pro-
voked efforts for reform, the failure of which, if
they may not have great results, cannot be laid at
the door of the most honest, intelligent, and we'll
meaning men in the United States. An examina-
ton of English judicial records viii show that all
the cruelty is not on board american ships, and
that it is sometimes more easy to pass laws than to
enforce them.
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