National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1873-08-23
THE wAwAsEr INQUIRY.


amount Of miscellaneous matter.
THE wAwAsET INQUIRY.
An Official inquiry into the cause Of the
loss Of the steamer Wawasct and hccatomb
Of lives was necessary and proper. 1t has
been had, and the tc.timony--fully printed
In the REPUDLIcAS-was closed yesterday.
Il may not have shed much additional light
upon the matter beyond what had already
been cast upon 1t through the efforts of the
daily press. From the evidence 1t appears
that the boat was well differed and manned,
and fully supplied with life-preseryers and
life-boats. The difficulty seems to have boon
that from the time Of the discovery of the
smoke not more than twenty-five to thirty
minutes elapsed before the Wawasct was
sunkcn wreck; that this time was occupied
BY the officers In the endeavor to beach the
boat after an unsuccessful effort TO attach
the hose and operate the fre-onginc. The
rapidly with which the boat passed through
the air famed the blaze aft toward the
majority of the passengers, and at
once paralyzcd them with fright. They
saw nothing but death by burning on the one
hand or by drowning on the other. They
titutt uiu nut VI hlt-llCStiNtib vi Nlu
not know where to get them or how to put
them on after they had obtained them. The
officers and crew seem to have been nearly all
forward and separated from the helpless pas
scngers, the women and children, by the fire,
The boats were aft and no one there to launch
them who was familiar with the process. The
panic increased, and the boats were disabled
aud rendered worse than useless by being
Allied with crazy and helpless people, who were
plunged hcadlong into the water by a final
attempt TO lower the boats. Oncc overheard,
these victims knew not which way 10 turn for
preservation. In fact there seems TO have
been no preservation there.
All these facts seem to argue that there was
one great fault somewhere. Say what we
will, that officers and men were away from
their posts, that this or that ono was lacking
10 vigilance. the one stubborn fact remains
that the fire was possible; that there was
something combustiblc either In the freehold,
the hrcman's room, or the boiler-room, where
all should be indcs;ructible, tirc-proof. Whose
fault this was we will not say. But II Is not
too much to say that an experience Of Aft.
years Of steamboating In this country should
have developed the means to render these OK
posed parts Of a steamer impervious to fire.
Il ID not important TO know whether she cX-
ceeded her legal complement of passenger
on this particular trip, when 1t Is perfectly
well kno wn that she frequently carried safely
on excursions hundreds more.
What Is necessary aud what Is possible, and
what the public and the people should de-
masd, Is the adoption Of such measures as
will prevent the possibility of recurrence of
like disasters.
THE LABOR PROSPECT IN THE SOUTH
The Rochester Democrat in an article dis
cussing the labor problem in the South, says
"The backward condition Of the South Is no
entirely due to the ravages of war. There !
one source Of wealth and prosperity which
even In Its palmicst days, that section Of til,
Union never enjoyed, namely, emigration
Tho movement of population within thu
country has been westward, and the direction
In which the foreign population flowed wa,
also toward the setting sun. The maps o.
the last census Indicate how little Of the emf
grafton Of the county found Its way south
ward. II followed enterprise, activity ant
capital. II was customary to explain thu
fact that emigration Stunned the South b.,
saying the working men of the North had nj
desire to be brought into competition will
slave labor and yet since slavery has beer
abolished, and the necessity Of emigration Ii
proclaimed In all quarters, there Is no change
In the course which the current Of population
takes. 1t seems To be in vain that the people
Of the South, once 30 exclusive, are now anx
i0usly deyising means to attract capital and
labor to home among them"
This labor problem Is enc of the creates
and most important which the Southern
States have to solve, and yet so far as W,
have been able to see not single practical
step has yet been taken In this direction. To
be sure one or two of the more thoughtful
newspapers have discussed the subject in q
desultSly sort Of way, charging upon tho
advantages and resources Of particular sec
lions one or two of the State Legislature
have, We believe, ordered pamphlets TO b.
printed on the subject but that is all. Tn
causes which retard emigration southwark
and which are SO powerful In building up tn
West, arc the growth of decades of years
Previous to the abolition OF slavery 1t wa
class privilege. The South was an arts
tocratic country. 1t prldcd itself upon 1t
blood" The planters were all gentle
men," the descendants OF "thc Englisl
cavaliers" They scorncd labor. 1t wa
their pride and ambition TO live like 81
many barons upon their Plantations witt
q train OF seris, IN the shape of slaves
In the South we had the two extremes o
civilization and baTbarism - Of imnIens
wealth and excessive poverty. 1t was n
place for u poor white man, and as cOnse
auence the poor white man from Europ
Stunned II,
On the other hand, the great West opcnc
to him her arms. She asked not whence b
came or who he was, provided only he wa
honest and wanted TO work. Manhood wa
the only patent Of nobility that she required
It Is no wonder MAT between two sections
cue of which offered him a condition It'll
better than surfdOu, and the other, while
offered him hOnOrs and wealth, provided h
was only willing to struggle for both, h
should have chosen the latter. The Id
which set In twenty-five or thirty years ag
has never been turned backward or diverted
and hence the West has become the gardcl
Of the continent, great In enterprise, bound
lcss In resources aud possibilities, the con
trolling power in our politics and our econ
omy. Turning from the richer and NOR
productive South, the citizens Of the Easter
States and the cmgrant from Germany an
ireland sought home In the more sever
and less generous wilderness, prefcrrlng
face tho scGlplng knife of the Indian rattle
than meet tho social ostraclsm OF tho VII
ginlas and the Carollnas.
Tho conditions nI Snutleru hurlptV lU-lu