The sun., 1873-04-05

In England II popular agitation has been
set on foot in regard to the criminal ncgl-
gcnce of shipowucrs in sending to sea over
loaded and unsafe vessels which promises
to lead To u practical reform. Public at-
trntiou has been drawn to this subject
mainly through the efforts of Mr.. PLIM-
SOIL II member of Parliament. who cvi-
IDENTITY means trouble for the scoundrcls
who send crews la sea in floating coftins,
and look upon the bottom of the ocean rs
the most desirable destination for their
oycl-iusurcd old hulks. Indeed. Mr. PLIM-
SOIL declares that his object in getting
into Parliament was TO obtain an Official
inquiry into the practices connected with
the commercial marine of the United King
dom, and he gave notice that If defeated i'm
this eudcaNor he should resign his seat and
90 from town 10 town To tell the story of
the sailors wrongs. Mr. PIGMsoI.L got the
royal commission he asked for.
Mr. PLiMsoIL has not only luborcd in
Parliament for the reform he advocates,
hut he has issued an appeal to the people
in the shape of n volume filed with facts
of so startling n nature that they Mt once
commanded the attention of thinking men
throughout Great Britain, while their pub
lication created the greatest excitement
and no little nutteriug among interested
parties in the commercial ports He has
also addressed large audiences i'm various
parts Of Great Britain and succeeded in
thoroughly exciting public opinion by his
rectals Of sailors sufferings and the inhu-
manity of n certain class of shipowners.
In his appeal he made use of names with a
disregard Uf consequences which is quite
refreshing, and as n consequence he is
threatened with libel suits by several
wealthy men. If these suits come to trial
they will only increase the popular feeling
through the testimony produced.
Mr. PfIMsoLL maintains that five or six
hundred lives are annually lost, and al
most as many families brought to misery
or ruin, through the avnrice OF shipown-
eTs who send crews to sea in unsafe vessels.
In recent speech in Leeds he said that
almost every hour OF every day brought 10
his knowledge onscs of heartrrnding
character. few days previously he had
received ~ letter from IA seaport town in
the north of Scotland, in which il was
stated that an old ship had been sailing
from that port longer than anybody that
lived there could tell, aud that she ought
to have been broken up for firewood any
time during the last twenty year,. She was
go nOtorously unseaworthy that at last
the owners could not get any man to 90
abouri of her. The captain himself stuck
10 her because he was an old man and had
u large family, and the choice for him was
that or destitution. lie had sailed so many
years in her and had always escaped, thnt
he thought he would Isk il. The captain
and owners put their heads tOgether, and
what did they do2 After they found they
could not get men 20 sal in her they ac-
tunlly sent the ship to sea with crew of
young boys, the eldest of whom was not
more than seventeen, and she went 10 the
bottom and drowned them all. This he
did not he'i 10 designate rs murder,
At the same meeting Mr.. PLIMsoLL re-
lated a story which exhibited in n striking
light the unjust operation of the laws
defining the relations between sailors and
their employers. A ship sailing from n
British port was so ovcrladcn that the sea-
men shortly afterward put into port and
refused to work her. They were taken
before the magistrates, who sentenced each
of them to six weeks imprisonment.
Another crew was obtained, put on board
the ship, and she went to sea the day
afterward. On the following day she put
| into Falmouth when the second crew
refused "a F.'oceed on the voyage, and they
were sent to prison. one nnd all, for three
months. Then II third Grew vas mustered,
the ship again put TO sea, aut while tho
first and second crews were still in Jail the
ship went down and the third crew was
drowned. While he was speaking the men
OF these crews were serving out their sen
tenoe under British laws in jail for refusing
to commit suicide for the benefit of their
avario ous employers.
! What Mr.. PIInsoII nropOses 10 do is 70