The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1911-04-19
Gar OF HIS SHIP
The Captain of an Ocean Liner
Is a Real Autocrat.
HIS WORD IS ABSOLUTE LAW.

circuit court or county sheriff or n
town marshal Of village of $500 pop.
uiation stepping out into the street
and on general and self imposed au
thority picking up q citizen, ordering
MIN to cell and clapping irons Oh
him for safe keeping!
wouldn't the bird Of American lib
erty set up a scream? Wouldn't the
old and badly cracked Liberty bell
resonate In discord?
After one Of the great transatlantic
passenger steamships leaves the three
mile limit Of New York the passenger
Is In foreign territory on the high seas
English, French. German-whatever
the dag at the masthead-the ship is a
section OF its fatherland, floating In the
nigh seas. where only maritime laws
regarding Its transit In times of peace
may hold check upon the czardom of
the ships commander. on or or the
bridge.
No car has more power within his
territory than has the captain of the
great Atlantic liner on the high seas
He is on an island of his country's
ownership-a floating island. having a
population Of 800 employees and look.
Ing after the welfare and safety of per.
haps 5000 passengers. He Is prac.
ideally the administrative, executive
and judicial single individual, such as
exists rarely on the map Of present
day civilization. Aside from his au-
thority over mankind. he may have
100000 of vessel under him. to say
nothing Of the International mails and
millions iD gold In transshipment
There's the captain" Is a whispered
bit Of comment made a million times
year In the beginning Of the pas.
sages Of great ocean steamships. And
generally the captain looks the part
IL Is not so much his uniform either.
Ordinarily the captain is not young.
There Is gray In his hair. mustaehe
or beard That young man In his
twenties. no matter what his school.
Ing for beginning the work. isn't called
at a moments notice to the captains
bridge. he must have his maximum
OF training for six or seven numbers
below before he Ii called to the foot
Of the ladder.
On the British passenger vessels
most OF the beginners at navigating
an ocean vessel of the first class will
have had q lieutenant's commission
from the navy. 1t Is from the royal
navy reserves that the lowest officers
vacancy Is filled. Filling 1t. he has his
chance to rise to the position Of cap
tain.
Az to the captains authority: One
midnight. when In fog the White
Star Baltic struck the German oil
steamship Standard. the Baltic needed
Its captain. and he was there. His
snip carpenters were rushed to the
bow OF the vessel and began the work
of patching up the hole in the Baltic's
steel sheathing.
suppose that In a stampede Of the
Balttc's crew its employees had rushed
mp TO fll Its boats? 1t was within the
captains power to have shot down the
ieader-to have brought about war to
the knife. revolver and rife In the In
terests OF his vessel and Its passen
gers. Or had some passenger or pas
sengers become panic stricken and
against orders menaced the welfare of
the majority on the ship death would
have been dealt with the same rigid
discipline which requires Of the cap
tnin that ne be the autocrat at his
post.
There are no forms of writs or war
rants necessary. There Is no court at
which the passenger or the seaman
may give bond. In that instant of
sudden great emergency which arises
the captains word Is more than writ.
ten law: II Is the unwritten common
law OF the high seas. In the spirit OF
which the vigilance committee of the
wild west Of the United States rose.
lawlessly lawful
Today the captain Of the great liner
may step into the palatial cabin and
command order. He may go into the
smoking cabin and stop the game OF
cards at which the sharper Ia playing
for his stakes. In case Of refusal that
ancient land right of mo deprivation
OF liberty without due process Of law"
becomes farce. The cell room or
even the iron manacles Of the cap.
tain's authority may be used upon the
individual who has paid $500 or 81. 900
for his suit of rooms and his passage
On the high seas the captains ship
becomes an autocratic democracy. The
individual In the first cabin and at the
captains table must share with the
Immigrant far below those equities
that are granted to each I'm his place.
Don't buck the captain" said az
official In the offices OF great steam.
ship line. He IL all there IL OF author
ity. lie Ia the supreme entity Of his
ship. He Is dressed for II; but, NOR
than that. he is trained TO 1t. He i
empowered 10 take life II he must. auc
on land this Is the most serious OF a,