New-York tribune., 1873-04-16
THE CAUSE.


THE CAUSE.
The investigation at Halifax has adjourned
until Friday next, and the official judgment aS
to tho cause of the disaster to the steamship
Atlantic which lately Mortified the world VIII
not be pronounced until after mature dehDcr-
alton. But in the light of the facts brought
out by this searching inquiry 1T VIII not oc
difficult to anticipate the verdict. There no"
appears hardly doubt that the disaster mast
be attributed to bad navigation. Pollcy, OF
pity for him to be affected by its verdict, may
lead the Court to disguise its final Judgment
in indefinite conclusions, and to divide tne
responsibilities between captain and crew anu
company; but the one to suffer most in puDnc
estimation must be Capt. Williams. To the
other weighty burdens and sorrows which he
is compelled to bear, and which are so over
wbelming as to excite for his unhappy condition
pity where at first only anger ragged, Capt
Williams must submit to the additional aiilc-
ton of an official condemnation for having Dy
bad seamanship caused this frghtful sacrlnce
of life and treasure. When we recall the men-
tai fortunes and remorse which the man must
have endured and must always endure from
self-conyiction of his carelessness, ana then
remember that such o verdict as we now anticl-
pate not only condemns him to the loss OF
public confidence but cuts short at the very
moment when success seemed assured, ca
reer TO which. with honorable ambition, he
had devoted lifetime, thus leaving him, as IL
were with life not only disgraced but Wasted,
the verdict will appear harsh one; for 1t VIII
take from him the opportunity for retrlevai'
This seems cruel, but mems lives and properly
cannot be risked to give new opportunities.
Grave responsibilities were placed upon capt
Williams and the circumstances under which
he turned from his course added to these.
Under these circumstances increased effort and
greater vigilance were demanded of him. Short
of coal because of an inferiOrity of quality,
discovered days before the disaster, and warned
by falling barometer of approaching storms,
he turned from his course and attempted TO
make harbOr with which it now appears ne
was unfamiliar. And yet under what strange
circumstances was this done He seems to
have run for fourteen hours without correct
knowledge of his speed, being ont at least one
knot in his calculation. He intrusted his log
TO a ouartermaster who could not cipher lie
had to cross the southwark currents con-
tiguous to the Gulf Stream without apparently
knowing what to allow for their force,
although the coast pilots declare these add
half o knot to vessels speed, and require an
allowance of 70 or 50 easterly deviation in
steering the vessel. The captain now attrib-
utes the speed attained to these currents, but
in his testimony we search in vain for any
calculation based upon them before the disas-
ter. He was ignorantly drifted southward and
westward. All this Indicates both negligence
and incompetency, and both, in the cap
tain of a ship bearing thousand
lives, arc criminal. That a captain igno-
rant of the harbor and coast, and unfamiliar
with these coast currents, should have laid
down to sleep when approaching port is simply
incredible. The coast it may be said, Is
treacherous one, the lights which are supposed
to be visible twenty miles at sea being often
obscured by fogs when the land itself is visi-
BILE. But this does not relieve the captain
from his obligations; rather it doubles them.
Good seamanship would have known all these
things of which Capt. Williams appears to
have been in ignorance, and proper vigilance
would have been more active and awake be-
cause of the increased dangers and doubts.
Haste has been made on all sides to con-
demn the company, and as it could have far
better borne the responsibility than the cap
tain, it is o matter of regret that the blame
could not be fairly placed there. But the facts
as now developed are greatly in the cOmpany's
favor, and will renew confidence in the line,
whose rapid rise to popularity was in some
measure against it. The ship was fine one
of its peculiar model the crew was rough,
but efficient and if in the hour of supreme
peril the men behaved like selfish brutes, it
may be claimed also that the passengers
were not more self-sacrifcing and heroic.
There is now no doubt that the
ship was plentifully provisioned, save
possibly that the proportions of such food as
is most consumed during Lent were made
quate owing to loss of supplies swept away in
a gale. The Government Inspector at Liver
pool had certified TO thirty three days pro-
visions. The Goals ran short owing less to
the quantity than the quality. A short supply
could have been remedied; bad quality could
not have been detected until the steamer was
at sea using it. Primarily it would, therefore,
seem that the crminality was with the coal
contractor at Liverpool; but not even this
will excuse the captain for the confessed neg
ligence with which he approached the danger
Gus Nova Scotia coast. His unhappy fate leads
us to Judge him more in sorrow than anger !;
nevertheless he must be judged.
WOMENS RIGHTS AND STATE RIGHTS.
By the decision In the Myra Bradwell case