The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1898-10-30
PINKHAM & WILLIS co.

| to be double riveted, which were cut
/ in two and heightened with the same
| scantling and in which big beams had
been cut away to make room for tanks,
steam engines and threshing machines
and other big cargo He thought ''peo-
pie who We're content to make money
like that-well, they used to hang peo-
pie for less, and they had hanged a
| great many people who were better
than some ship owners. .
Some member interrupted Mr.. Plim-
soil and described his speech as sen
sational. Plimsoll retorted:
Il have no doubt it is sensational, but
1t is a very sensational thing, too,
when coffin ship goes down at sea-
Finding that the opposition was get
ting too strong for him, and that the
administration was conniving at the
postponement of hrs BILL Plimsoll
broke out into one of the most
solemn denunciations that were ever
heard in the house of commons:
In the name of God, of all justice
and of all mercy, l protest against any
further delay. l demand that the mer-
chant shipping bill be proceeded with
from this hour de die in diem until
through committee, and falling this. |
lay upon the head of the prime minis
ter and his fellows the blood of all the
men who shall perish next winter from
preventable causes, and 1 denounee
against him and against them the
wrath of that God who hath said, 'Ye
shall not affiict any widow or fatherless
child. If thou affiict them in any wise,
and they cry at all unto me- / will
surely hear their cry, and my wrath
shall wax hot, and | will kill you with
the sword, and your wives shall be
widows and your children fatherless.' :"
Plimsoll did not end his speech. He
suddenly dropped into his seat and.
burying his face in his hands, he sobbed
aloud, while the house grew as still as
churchyard. The tension was re-
lieved by Mr.. A. M. Sullivan, who sat
near Mr.. Plimsoll placing his arm
around him and leading him from the
chamber.
The recital of that scene in the press,
next day, stirred the country from end
to end Meetings were held in all the
large provincial cities, and Plimsoll was
invited to state his case before the peo-
pie. 1t was a sorry tale he had to tell
a shameful recital Of mans inhumanity
to man. Indeed, so narrowing were
some of the stories of the barbarous
treatment of their sailors by the more
avaricious ship owners and their SER
vile officers that a speaker who had
not the social and political standing of
Mr.. Plimsoll would have had a deaf ear
turned to him by an incredulous public
But the sailors champion was too ear
nest. his case was too strong, his every
statement was too well supported by
personal testimony and sworn affidavit
to admit of any doubt as to the justice
Of his cause, and the movement kept
daily pressing forward to the forefront
Of practical politics.
1t is interesting to state here that in
all his speeches Plimsoll never failed
to draw a comparison between the
British and the American chipping
laws, and always to the advantage OF
the latter He pointed out, for in
stance, how the name of an American
ship could not be changed at the
owners will the consent of congress
had to be obtained after a ship was
once registered. English sailors
could be discharged ut will in q for
eign port. while an American crew
could not be so dealt with unless there
were three months extra wages paid
over to the American consul for the
mems use, and to prevent them be-
coming a public charge.
PlinnSoll won his great battle in the
end. He had the satisfaction of see
ing every reform he 1ontended fol find
its way to the statute book, and most
of them adopted, not only by his own
government, but by the governments
of foreign countries as we'll. Perhaps
the most valuable of them all, and the
one most familiar to the general pub
lie, was the compulsory painting on
both sides of every ship, steam or sail,
of q white disc about one foot in diam
eter with white horizontal line cross