The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1875-08-11
Ph,n.on-Br,.,.h House Of Com.

&mAmSOlA-hf1t1sm House OF Com.
The following which We clip from
the Indianapolis Journal, is brief
synopsis of the reasons why PHINsoLL
denounced the British Ministry for
abandoning the bill for the protection
of seamen. No wonder he was ex-
cited-there was truth as well as
method in his denunciation:
England has nearly eight millions
OF tons Of shipping, coast and foreign.
and it is not too much to say that half
of it would not be rated "seaworthy"
by competent and candid judges. Yet
this myriad of vessels is more or less
constantly at sea in all sorts Of wealth
er and all forms of danger, often de-
pendent on the soun1ness of a plank
or the strength of rope for the lives
of the crews, and fitted out with as
little care as cat-6sher puts on his
skiff. 1t is much the same in this
country. Some years ago a carefully
prepared article in Harper's Magazine
exposed some of the worst evils of
our commercial marine, and it placed
the murderous neglect or stinginess
or eupidity of owners first of all.
Eager to hurry cargo to favorable
market on the receipt of satisfactory
news, they took little pains to assure
themselves that their vessels were
sound, tight, well rugged, and well
found. They wanted speed, not safety,
and the lives of the men they hired
were less to them than a few days
detention in dock. They could cover
a loss of the vessel and her load by
insurance, and what went with the
crew was none of their concern. They
loaded deeply to get az large stock
as possible on the market, and that
impaired the handling of the vessel.
endangered her by straining in heavy
seas, and affected the service of the
standing rigging" and cables, which
had to bear more than they were
adapted to or made for. And these
dangerous burdens, even to sound,
well found ships, were put into such
as an experienced officer often dread
ed to take out of the harbor. Some
were SO old that half the timbers
would crash on reef or rock like an
earthenware jug. Others bad never
been properly repaired after injury.
Some were fitted with old rigging
bought at bargain, and needing all
sorts of patching to be made service
able at all, and never saved from
treacherous breakaRe by any amount |
of patchwork. Others were over
loaded with masts and spars intended |
for larger vessels, and endangered by
the mistit. Old cables, or cheap ones, |
were sent out to hold a ship on lee |
shore, when the only hope Of safety
for score of lives lay in strand or
two of hemp, and old anchors, fawed
in making, or injured in some way,
were sent to help out the service of
these unserviceable cables in rotten
or misrigged vessels, overloaded and
badly repaired. Surely this is an ugly
catalogue of shortcomings in ship
owners. and needs thorough reform
Added to these evils of carelessness
or meanness was the provision of
crews made up of dock loafers and
drunken shore hands, furnished, on
contract, by ''crimps" and lodging
house scoundrels. No wonder that
wrecks were and are SO frequent, and
no wonder Mr. Plinsoll raved little
when a measure of reform was coOlly
abandoned by the ministry. There
has been some Improvement In this
country, and England, too, in the past
ten years, but there is plenty of room
for more; and the conduct of the
Commons shows that the need is fully
appreciated over the water whatever
it may be in our Congress.