The Mathews journal. (Mathews C.H. [Court House]) 1903-1937, 1912-06-06
BLAMES CAPTAIN FOR ~
WRECK OF TITANIC
Says World Owes Debt of Graft
tude to Chief of Carpathia,
Who Set an Example
of Courage and
Forethought.

WASHINGTON, d. c. Special
Responsibility Tor the Titanic disas-
ter and the loss of over 1000 lives
was placed upon the British Board of
Trade by Senator William AL
| zen smith, of AiICnlgan. chairman of
| the committee which investigated the
| worlds greatest marine disaster. In
! the most striking speech heard on
/ the floor of the Senate in decade
| he scored the 'laXity of regulation
and hasty inspection" of the British
| Board of Trade. The senator gave as
causes contributing to the disaster:
| 1. The indifference to danger main
| tanned by Captain Smith, who lost his
| life in the disaster.
,. The increase Of speed, despite
warning signals and messages of dam
ger.
! Though pointing out the rashness
| Of Captain Smiths actions, the sena-
tor praised him as a dauntless hero
of the sea, whose Willingness to die
was the exploiting evidence of his fit
| ness to live"
In opening, Senator Smith men
| toned the purposes for which the
! Titanic investigating committee had
been appointed and reviewed the
scope of its work.
| Describing the construction Of the
| giant Atlantic liner. he declared that
so confident were both owner and
| builder that the ship represented the
last word in shipbuilding that they
were eager to go upon her maiden
trip.
Continuing he said:
mo sufficient tests were made
| of boilers OF bulkheads or gear
| ing or equipment and no lifc-Sav-
| ing nor signal devices were re-
viewed; officers and crew were
| strangers TO one another and
passengers to both; neither was
familiar with the vessel or its i'm
| PIGMENTS or tools; no drill or sta
| ton practice or helpful discipline
y disturbed the tranquility of that
| voyage, and when the crisis
| came n state OF absolute unpre-
| paredneSs Stupefied both paSSen-
| gers and crew, and in their de-
SPAR the ship went down, carry
| ing as needless a sacrifice of no.
BILE women and brave men as ever
| clustered about the Judgment
seat I'm any single moment of
passing time.
I'VE shall leave 10 the honest
| judgment of England its pains
taking chastisement of the Brit
iSh Board of Trade, to whose
| laXity of regulation and haSty in
spection the world is largely in
| debted for this awful fatality. OF
contributing causes there were
very many. In the face of warn
| ing signals speed was increased
and messages of danger seemed
TO stimulate her to action rather
Il than to persuade her TO fear
In discussing Captain Smith, the
Michigan senator mingled tribute to
his knowledge and bravery with crit
icism for his indifference to the warn
ings which had been given him of
the presence of ice.
Pure of character, dauntless as a
sailor should be-" said the senator,
he walked the deck of this majestic
structure as master or the Titanic.
and though it was his indifference to
danger that was one of the direct
and contributing cases of this unne-
cessary tragedy, his own willingness
to die was the eXpiating evidence of
his fitness to live.
"ThOse of us who knew Cap
tain Smith will not in anger, but
I'm sorrow, file one specific
charge against him, that of over
confidence and neglect to heed
the oft-repeated warnings of his
, friends; but, in his horrible dis
may, when his brain was afire
with honest retributiOn. we can
still see, in his manly bearing
and his tender SOlicitude for the
safety of women and little chill
dren, some traces of his lofty
spirit, when dark clouds lowered
all about him and angry elements
stripped him of his command.
THE mystery of his indifference tC
danger, when other and less preten-
l
stopped their engines, finds no reason
able hypothesis in conjecture or specu-
lation."
Drove Ship on Ice.
Vividly describing the disaster as il
, was pictured by the survivors Senator
Smith pointed out that at the instant
of contact with the iceberg the naVi-
? gator turned the nose of the shiI
aside to avoid a collision, with the
, result that the blow was struck at a
point less capable of resisting the i'm
pact than the PROV of the vessel would
have been.
Telling of the scene which follow
ed, the senator said:
Life belts were finally adjusted tC
all, and the lifeboats were cleared
away, and, although strangely insult
ficient in number, were only partially
loaded, and in all instances unpro-
vided with compasses and only three
of them had lamps. They were
manned so badly that, in the absence
of prompt relief, they would have
: fallen easy victims to the advancing
Ice foe, nearly thirty miles in width
) and rising sixteen feet above the sur
! face of the water.
Their danger would have been as
great as IL they had remained on the
: deck OF the broken hull, and, II the
! sea had risen, these toy targets. with
over 100 exhausted people would
J have been helplessly tossed about upon
} the waves without food or water
'sThe lifeboate wero filed so I'm.
differently and lowered 80 quickly