New-York tribune., 1912-04-22
uearinu on the Titanic Disaster
Embassies the Failure of
Present Statutes to
Protect Lives.
AMERICAN RULES THE BEST
or, Even These Do Not Require
the Larger Steamships to
Carry Enough Lifeboats
for All Persons on
Board.
rrrom The Tribune Bureau.l J

fT-rom The Tribune Bureau.l
washington. April 21.--The terrible in
..oracy of the law regarding safety
s.oyisIcns on oceangoing ships, the hap
lard method by which wireless ap-
-.+,,s f. installed and the service con-
o,sd on board ship, the deplorable
80, of boat drill on merchant ships and,
s..d,v IN a less extent, the lack Of efficient
s.o anparatus and fire drills-these are
.,,ong the points which have impressed
.h.r,selyes on the members OF the sub
.,,,r,ittee of the Senate Committee on
commerce, which began in New York it's
,,yestigation Of the sinking Of the Ii
..ric and will continue it here to-mor-
row
Tho nurpose Of this investigation Is
,rofold. First. the fixing of the blame
Or the terrible loss Of life in the Ii
,,r,c disaster. and secondly, the deter
ro,pation Of the defects of the existing
laws and regulations. for IT Is all 100
onnarent that. despite the fact that the
laws Of the United States are far strict
or than those of foreign nations, they
are still far from adequate TO safeguard
human life properly.
For instance, under the American rule
the Titanic would have been required
10 carry 23.47O cubic feet of boatage,
which, on the basis Of ten cubic feet
,erson. would have accommodated 2,347
nersons more than the Titanic's entire
human complement. Under the laws OF
the British Board Of Trade the Titanic
was required to carry only $3.50 cubic
feet of boatage, and as the Titanic had
II 600 feet. she was. to employ the nau-
,Ical expression, overloaded by nearly
2OOO feet
This does not mean, however, that
ships Of American registry are required
10 provide sufficient bOatage for their en-
tire human complement. The required
boatage is based on tonnage, although
if has long been obvious to American au-
thorities that the basis should be the
human carrying capacity as stipulated
in the ships license. Undoubtedly an
effort will be made. now that the disas-
Ter 10 the Titanic has occurred, To 40
iust the requirements for American ships
to the dictates of safety although 1t is
realized that any such change will meet
with determined opposition from the
ship owners. Incidentally, it may be
remarked that the American require
ments now compel the larger ships, nota-
bly, the st. Paul and the st. Louis, to
carry only sufficient boatage for about
two-thirds of their human complement.
American Laws Superior.
Another point in which the American
laws are superior to those Of foreign
countries. as was partly brought out
by the testimony Of the second officer
Of the Titanic, is that our laws require
that such tackle shall be provided as
will permit Of loading the boats to their
full capacity while they are suspended
in the air evidently not requirement
Of the English law. Second Ofhcer
Lghttoller testified that the Titanic had
been most carefully inspected and passed
BY one Of the strictest representatives
Of the British Board Of Trade, but that
he GghttoHer was afI iid to load the
boats 10 their fun capacity while they
were suspended from the davits. In fact
he believed it unsafe 10 put more than
twenty-five adults in boats which were
capable or carrying forty or forty five
persons once they were i'm the water
There has appeared much criticism Of
the officers Of the Titanic for their fall
ure To load the boats to their full ca
pacty, but when Lighttoller was eX-
smined on this point ne reiterated his
conviction that 10 have loaded the boats
more heavily would certainly have
meant to run grave danger OF breaking
tackle, which would have thrown all in
the boat into the sea. seventy feet below,
before the ship began TO settle
II was also developed that it was the
design Of the owners of the Titanic to
have the boats partially loaded as they
hung I'm the davits, and when afioat to
add sufficient persons TO make their
full complement. There had been. how
ever, no adequate boat drill. and this
plan does not appear in a single in
stance to have been carried out. al
though the second officer sent some Of
his men below to open side matches for
that purpose 1t is, in the opinion Of
@e authorities. questionable whether
mis- plan would ever work successfully
under the strain and excitement which
must Inevitably attend the necessity Of
taking to the lifeboats.
Another obvious defect IN the system
on the Titanic. due partially ~ doubt
10 lack Of boat drill. but .iurG~... fr~-
hans IN irodoou,a,,y ,f ,.,,.,, ,t.. In