The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1870-09-29
THE :RILoTAGE QUESTION.
An Appeal in Behalf Of Northern Ship
owners and Underwriters.

To HIS ErceuencyR R. K. Scott, Governor of the
State of South Carolina:
sIR-Occupying, as you do, the office OF
Chief Magistrate Of the State Of South Carroll
ma, clothed with supreme powers scarcely less
than autocratlc, invested with very extensive
official patronage, far beyond anything con-
ferred on your predecessors, your acts in the
administration Of the government entrusted to
your charge cannot fail to have most impor-
tant influence for good or evil, for veal or for
woe, on the welfare of the inhabitants of the
Commonwealth which you govern Nor ls it
confined to them only, but In some cases the
interests of your fellow-cltizens of other
States, who trade with the people ofSouth Car
olina, may be seriously affected BY the manner
in which you administer that government.
Trusting that your Excellency will not deny
that the possession Of such vast and extensive
powers carries with it a degree of RESPONSE
bility commensurate Herewith, and that you
will not hold yourself above such responsibility,
we venture to approach you with a simple
and respectful statement of grievance now
existing under your authority, by which our
interests are exposed to great and unneces-
sary peril.
Among the many offices in the State which
your Excellency has the sole right of filling by
appointment, and changing that appointment
at your pleasure, is that Of the board OF COM
mlssloners of pilotage. 1t is the duty of this
board to examine applicants for the position
of pilots for the bars and harbors on the coast
of South Carolina-say Georgetown, Charles
ton, St. Helena and Port Royal. This board
determine, without appeal, who shall and who
shall not be pilots on your coast. The trust
committed to this board, is Of very great i'm
portance to the commerce of the country.
Masters of vessels arriving off your coast,
with the intention of entering one of your
ports, must, according to your law, take the
first pilot who speaks them. The vessel, with
her cargo, worth, It may be, hundreds of thou
sands of dollars, must be put in charge OF such
pilot. who has to perform the difficult and
sometimes dangerous task OF plotting her (by
his knowledge Of the channels, lights, beacons
and landmarks, and of the influence of the
winds and tides,) safely into port If the pilot
is nnskilful in his calling, the danger of loss or
disaster to which the vessel is exposed, be-
comes very great. Owners of vessels would be
very unwilling to allow them to trade with
ger of having to commit them TO the care OF
Ignorant and unskilful pilots. Nor would un-
derwrIters be willing to insure either vessels
or cargoes bound to such ports. The trade Of
such port would suffer great dimlnution. 1t
follows, therefore, that it is of the utmost i'm
portance In this connection that there should
Je no room for doubt as to the skill and intel
lig-nce Of your pilots.
In order to have proper end skllful pilots. 1t
is necessary that the members Of the board OF
commissioners who examine applicants, and
have the power of making and unmaking pi-
lots, should be not only experts themselves in
the business. but possessed likewise Of sutf-
cient degree Of education and ger raj intelll-
gence to enable them to conduct their e1ami-
nations properly, and arrive at Just and reliable
conclusions on the cases submitted to their
Judgment. But we are credibly informed
thar. of the commissioners Of pilotage now
acting under appointment by your Excellency
three in number, two colored aud one white
not one of them can read or write. We have
been told that the white man, who was
watchman on one Of the wharves in Charles
ton, on receiving the commission sent him
BY your Excellency, being unable to
decipher the document, was compel
led to get some one to read 1t for him.
These commissioners are of course unable to
fill up any OF the documents required in the
discharge of the duties of their office, or to
Judge of their accuracy after they are filed up
BY others. Neither are they able to subscribe
their names to such documents to give them
official efficacy, but must, like the rude and
untutored savage. make their mark. 1t must
be manifest to all that board of commission
ers constituted of men so utterly deficient In
the first rudiments of education, must be ex-
ceedingly liable to make the most serious mis-
takes. affecting greatly the interest Of those
whose property must by law be committed to
the appontees of such ignorant men. When
the appointing power is incompetent TO Judge,
there is reason TO apprehend that the number
of unskful appointees will not be lew.
The appropriateness Of these remarks will,
We think, be acknowledged by every candid
and unprecedented mind. in view OF a crcum-
stance which happened on the coast of South
Carolina q short time ago. where vessel and
cargo valued at sl6,O seeking to enter the
port OF Charleston in charge OF one OF your
pilots. suffered considerable damage and came
very near being totally lost by the ignorance
of the pilot. in being unable to distinguish be-
tween st. Helena bar and Charleston bar
The circumstances alluded to may be briefly
stated thus: The schooner W. L. Springs,
Captain JONES' from Northern port arrived,
in the latter part OF August, off the coast of
South Carolina, bound for Charleston. At day.
break on the morning Of Monday, the 22d,
when about 80 miles n. E. Of Charleston, she
was boarded by George B. Wilson, colored,
full branch pilot, who took charge and run
down along the coast, having a fine breeze
from N. E., a fair wind, and the weather being
hazy. After running down along the coast for
about twelve hours, at o'clock in the after
noon they made buoy. Soon after the
vessel struck and kept humping for half