The Bee-Hive. — 1875-04-10 (London, England)

THE SHIPOWNERS ALARMED.  Nothing that we know of tends more forcibly to illustrate the unscrupulous shifts men—even of what is called the respectable kind—will resort to for the purpose of defending a profitable iniquity, than the conduct of the shipowners in their opposition to the efforts of Mr. Plimsoll. It would be difficult to imagine anything more pitiable than the position of these men. They must have known from the first how bad their case was, and yet, instead of honestly acknowledging the evils that existed, and seeking to correct them, they simply declared that everything said was calumnious, untrue, and sensational. They have been  brought to their knees by the perseverance of Mr. Plimsoll, and they are now openly acknowledging what they at first denied, and praying for mercy in the new measure prepared by the Government. They declared the Bill of Mr. Plimsoll 'absurd and impracticable„ and begged the Government to take the matter out of his hands. The Government has taken them at their word, and now they vehemently cry out against the Government, and in their new terror would willingly fly into the arms of the member for Derby as moro reasonable and merciful than the Board of Trade. Mr. Plimsoll is cruel; Mr. Adderley is mercilessly savage. They declared, in reply to the first-named gentleman, that a load line was impossible.; they now, as a protest against tho other, cry out energetically for a load line.  They are willing to do almost anything, but if their case is not mercifully considered they will, they say, register their vessels under foreign flags; and, for anything we know to the contrary, they may even renounce their allegiance to the British Crown. There is no ,occasion for their wild apprehensions of wrong to be suffered. We hiinply sayland the working men of England have said it most emphatically, that they ishall not drown our sailors through negligence or selfishness. They shall not by any device carry on a trade that in any way bases itself on murder. The expression is a harsh one, but it is true. We wish it were not so, but we are forced to believe, by the evidence furnished, that it is. Mr. Plimsoll never could have entertained any desire to indulge in gratuitous slander of a large body of Englishmen who, for the most part, are no doubt honourable men; but they insisted on forcing themselves on iho attention of the public in connection with the charges made, and as these charges have been proved to be true, they have in this way brought disgrace on themselves. One thing is quite clear, and that is, that a remedy, conze from where it may, must be applied, and that remedy must be full and complete. It is all very well to blame the sailors, but hero again the shipowners have brought what they complain of upon themselves. How can they expect, with such dog's ,treatment as they have been giving to those in their employment, that decent men would enter into the service, or, having done so, would remain there if they could possibly leave it? The Exeter Hall meeting of Tuesday night last removed all ambiguity of intention so far as the masses of the people are concerned. Every speaker furnished proof that whilst no injury to the trade of the country was contemplated, and no injury to private interests intended, oven in the most remote way, still justice must be done to sailors—in fact, to all who entrust their lives and properties into the hands of our shipowners. What some of them have been doing is a damning stain on the reputation of the nation, and,:so far as that can be removed—where it for no other reason than to remove injurious misapprehensions—it ought to be wiped out at once.