New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1884-09-23
rrNNIHfiiSu oY IRifL

! Captain DudlcN oi the yacht NIenou,iic has
! hrcu arrested and Is lo be- tried on charge of
muidcr IN England. under yciy interesting cii-
! runi-ilnrrs. llrr Yacht Uus disabled IA ~ gale
! nsI lult while between Nadcirn and lhc Cape.
! The rrv. three mrn uud bot, ippl iu the
| boat lhrt presently rueIll % futile, 0n vhir1
lir, subsslnl ln srtrul dlte. inc passed
nul ihrii sml slorh ul lupi rlm. lp nn end
! hrn rri dria ihrt ailitud a. lnsi the rnuibin
ututusnd ilhi ilrb should pne, mis Nhirh 81
ll,m should iir W. hrri ihr pih'l alive His
proposition Vta ui.Hud Whom, however
lhri had been hIiuru liNs without iuulI Hitri
mtlhu drmlr, II wa, agreed ihai lAr hul
Parker, who wa, already Nrn Vrih and plainly
sinking last ahould die, and the captain after
D.. king pardon of God lor what he Was going Ia
do, Killed the lad. For three days the survivors
-ub-lstcd on the flesh OF the victim, and chen
they were picked up by passing vessel and
taken into Falmouth. There Captain Dudley
made report OF the facts, con,ealiug nothing,
and evidently not thinking that he had incurred
any responsibility The magistrates of Fal-
mouth thought differently. and on the strength
of hi, own signed aud sworn deposition he WAS
arrested.
Thi, case has necessarily forced into promi-
mcncc the question of the pcrmisSibhty under
any law, human OF divine, OF what Is
of course enormously called cannlb1Ilsm at
sea Such charge. as have been made against
the Greedy party must, however be kept dis
tinct from the class of eases of which the pres
cnt forms conspicuous example. At Cape Sa-
biuc there was no question of the taking of
human life for the purpose referred to- and
that is Of course the central point in the
sin, \,tV mn. I'm,
the present time it is to be remarked that public
opinion both here and in Europe has been mani
festy indulgent in regard to all such occur
rcnccs and we do not thnl another instance
ran be found in which an attempt has been
made to hold the survivors ansWerdble before
the law. Of course this tendency Of public
opinion does not prove anything with regard to
the legal or moral aspect of the question. 1t
only shows that men are disposed to recognize
the mastery, in times of desperate physical dis
trcS,, Of the instinct of preservation, and
that they do not think II necessary to apply to
these very exceptional and rare instances lc Sal
per alticS the fear of which could certainly not
operate dcterrcnty upon starving men in an
open boat at sea. The crew of the NJ gnoncttc
appear to have been all respectable scamcn.
The captain Is said TO bear the reputation of
Sod fearing man. He and they recognized tho
fact that their killing of the boy would offend
the Almighty. But though they knew that in
few hours or days they might b, called to ac-
count at His bar, their iltccu-day fast over
powered their religious scruplcs. and the decd
WAS done.
II is not likely that many men in their con-
dilon would or could have held ont much
longer. But if no fear of punishment can pre-
vent canniballsm under such circumstances
if at such times the bodys fierce cravings "a a
rule prove too strong for the mind to resist to
what useful end can such acts be treated as
criminal If these three men had not done as
they did it seems certain that both they and the
boy would have persisted. Probably the boy
would have died IN II few hours in any case
Of course all cannibalism is wrong in the abb
stract. But when men are dying Of hunger
they cannot be expected to reason dclicatcly
and keenly. Instinct at such times usurps the
place of reason in fact This consideration
might, and quite probably will, cause the ac-
quittal of Captain Dudley on the ground of in
sanity for a man who has been without food
for fifteen days and exposed to the weather be-
sides, may well be thought something short of
sanity But such Il conclusion to the matter
would after all be only roundabout indOrse
ment by the law of the unformulated view
which mankind have always taken of these
cases. They are shocking deporablc, pitiable.
But it must be believed that no legal penalty
can equal as a punishment the hideOus con-
ditions which compel civilized beings TO such
recourse, and that consequently the appeal to
the law subsequently is alike superiluous and
unreasonable.