The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1904-07-14
THE BARGE EVIL.

|
manity and common justice. AS with
partially checked, by legislation, the
barge evil has been fostered and devel-
oped by those dollar-hunting interests
to whom the word claw signifies mere
ly governmental obstruction of legit-
innate business. This seems pessimis-
tic comment upon human nature; but
it has been said by some one that we
are all children of larger growth, and
it is well known that, in most instances,
children won't ''be good unless in
some way compelled to be.
The barge evil is, in the main, the
outgrowth of what may be called the
''seven masted schooner evil" Time
was on the Atlantic Coast, within the
memory of numerous living sailormen,
when a three masted schooner OF four
hundred and odd tons was regarded as
an object of curiosity by the inhabitants
OF Eastern seaportS, when, With their
families, they were wont to stroll along
the wharves on Sunday afternoon to
view the shipping. All the water trans
| portation of ordinary imperishable
| freight in those days was carried on in
| the coastwise trade, by two and three
masted schooners of small tonnage.
There were no offshore barges-that
is, barges being towed up and down the
Coast. The nearest approach to that
kind of craft was then, and still is, the
canal beats and fat scows which nav
lgated the inland waters of the county.
By and by, the transcontinental rail
roads were completed. This tended
greatly to open up the interior of the
country to prospective settlers. The
immigration and naturalization laws
were largely relaxed to further such
settlements, with the result that our
population has nearly doubled in the
last thirty years. Naturally, the press
ure on the coastwise commerce lncreas
ed out of all proportions to the condi-
lions obtaining in normally settled
country. The little schooners plying
along the Coast were the principle gain
ers by that pressure, carrying coal from
Philadelphia to Boston for IS a ton.
The big six and seven masters of today
count themselves lucky if they can
sign a yearly contract to carry coal
over that at so cents ton. More often
than not they carry it for So and go cents
ton.
Merciless competition has driven the
coastwise shipoWners to build their YES
sells larger and larger each year, and, in
order to decrease expenditures, to I'M
derman them each trip. This is why
the annual report of the Commissioner
of Navigation shows such an encourag-
ing increase in the tonnage of our mer-
chant marine, and such relatively dis
couraging decrease in the number of
our merchant seamen.
With the advent on the Allan tic
CnaCt nf tho fpnr fiuo civ and CoVQn
masted schooners came the towing
barges. The question of superiority
between the two methods of transport
alton hinged entirely on the item of
cheapness. The larger the schooners
the larger the barges, and the greater
the number of them in a tow. There
| never has been any law forbidding a
shipowner from making up tow of
barges extending from Cape Hatteras
to Sandy Hook, if he so chooses. All
that ever deferred him, all that deters
him now, from going to extremes in
the matter are the elements of nature.
AS for the element of safety, the law
of chances, as elaborated by great fl
nanclers and insurance men, is invaria-
bly, taken into account by up-tO-date
business firms. We all know that there
is no sentiment in business. Dollars
are dollars, and human beings are HUI
man beings, and each is classified ac-
cording to its estimated worth.
a great number of the barges being
towed on the Atlantic Coast to-day are
old hulkS OF square-rigged ships which
in the past traded around the Horn
and the Cape Of Good Hope. After
their usefulness in that line came to an
end they were dismantled and cut down
to barges, just as in his old age blood
ed racehorse is auclioned off to the
livery stables. 1t goes without saying
that these old hulks were driven for all
they were worth before they were con-
verified into barges. Consequently,
when they are caught out in any kind
Of a sea, they chew all the oakum out
of their seams and butts, aud no steam
donkey in the world could keep them
atloat very long if they happened to
break adrift from tow in a gale of
wind. That is one of tie reasons why
so many tow-bargeS are annually lost
with all hands.
Another fruitful source of danger to
life and commerce is the system of
overlooking and undermining, which
is carried to almost incredible extremes
on the tow-barges. Both of these evils
are due to cupidity running amuck be-
cause there is no law to curb it. Barges
and other vessels are overloaded for
the sake of extra profit in freight. In
fortunately, we have in this country no
laws or regulations whatever to pre-
vent the overlooking of vessels Such
laws and regulations would, no doubt,
be regarded by interested parties as an
unwarranted interference by the Gov
eminent with the inalienable right of
every citizen to run his own business to
suit himself.
The bafges are undermined because,
as a general rule, the masters are paid
a lump sum per month to feed and pay
the crew. Not being restricted by law,
they naturally enough try to run their
vessels as cheaply as possible, both as
regards the number Of men engaged,
and the wages paid them. The result
may be imagined by any one who knows
how tempting it is to the average man
to save little money by running
chances, even although the chances
may be shared by others who do not
share in the savings.
But the greatest danger in the barge
evil is found in the tremendous length
of the lows, some of which extend for
mile or more. Take, for instance, an
ordinary tow made up of the towboat
and four barges. Each barge is, on an
average, $50 feet long. Between each
of the barges there is 25O-fathom