UNSEAWORTHY SHIPS.

To the Editor of the Life-Boat Journal.

SIR, As the saving of life from shipwreck must always be a subject of great interest to the public of this country, by whatever means it may be effected, i beg leave -to offer a few observations upon it, which I trust you may deem worthy of a place in your interesting Journal, and thereby facilitate the spread of those ideas which I would fain hope may yet be taken up by those who shall have the power to act upon them for the benefit of their fellow-men.

On looking at the Wreck Statistics, it ap- pears that, with the increase of shipping, that of wrecks steadily advances; although from the great exertions of your Institution, and others of a similar philanthropic nature, the loss of lives has not progressed in the same ratio! Now a very natural question arises from this, viz., What is the cause of so much property in shipping, and so many lives, being sacrificed annually ? I answer in a few words, It is the grossly defective state of nearly the whole merchant-service! or, as it may be called, the unseaworthiness of ships! and although this feet is well known to the whole of the mercantile and naval community, yet no further steps seem likely to be taken to check it from any quarter.

The reason is obvious, viz., it would affect the pockets of too many least it is thought so, although I deny the premises.

It is well known that seaworthiness does not merely consist in a vessel being " stout, stanch, and strong," she must also be pro- perly found in men, spats, rigging, sails, anchors, and cables, and she must not be overloaded! to say nothing of an efficient master and mates.

Now, with the exception of the ships be- longing to some of the large steam-compa- nies, and to a few of the large shipowners of London,! doubt if there are twenty merchant- ships sailing under the English flag which possess all the above requisites! The want of men, both in quantity and quality, is most notorious, and calls loudest for a change; that of anchors and cables comes next, few if any vessels under 600 or 700 tons having more than two bower-anchors and chains, many of the 'latter being only 70 fathoms in length; indeed, numberless vessels are not built with more than two hawseholes! Next comes the overloading, which, with the exception of some light cargoes, such as cotton and wool, is universal, and not only endangers lives '(by washing overboard), but also tears a vessel herself to pieces, and causes a greatly-increased length of voyage and bad steerage. The sails are also but "few and far be- tween" and many a ship I have seen broach- to in entering a harbour, from her sails being blown away, and her steerage-way thus lost.

The rigging and spars have no fair chance in a constantly-overloaded ship even when good, which is the exception, and hence much loss in that way, and consequent wreck, &c.

The Insurance Companies are now so numerous, that competition obliges them to take little or no notice of all these tilings ; and the self-insuring clubs add still more to the continued inefficiency and unseaworthi- ness of ships; in fact, marine insurance, it must be said, acts as a bar to all improve- ment in such matters.

With such a host of defects and draw- backs, the wonder is that a ship can possibly escape being wrecked within a very short period. That it does not happen to hun- dreds more, is from the mercy of God alone, and not from the means used by man. But if men will do nothing to assist themselves, being so blind that they cannot see it for their benefit, yet it does not follow that they should be allowed to endanger the lives of their fellow-creatures by parsimony and bad management. We have Acts of Parliament affording some protection to the lives of passengers on board of ships in certain cases ; may it not be reasonably hoped that the lives of sailors may yet be deemed by our legislature equally valuable to their country ? Reflecting on the facts above stated, I would beg leave to draw the attention of the Com- mittee of the National Life-Soot Institution and other public bodies to the importance of impressing upon the Government the great necessity for some stringent measures being enforced regarding the seaworthiness of ships in general, without which we can only look for a continued steady increase of wrecks along with that of shipping, as already proved by statistics.

To effect such a desirable end, I would propose that there should be inspaptors at all the ports of any note in this country, who should have the power to grant certificates to all ships of seaworthiness, according to certain rules to be laid down, and the cus- toms to clear ships only on production of such.

Insurance also to be invalid without it, and all masters liable to fine who shall be found minus this document.

Of course the old cry of interference with the rights of the subject would be seat forth ; but if the lives of the seamen of the merchant- navy of England are ever to be placed in a proper and reasonable state of safety, it must be by Government interference. It may be that the expense of keeping a ship in a truly seaworthy state would be more than it is according to the present wretched system; yet, as it would be incurred by all the ship- owners of this country, freights would neces- sarily rise in proportion : and the consumer, or the people generally, would pay for the additional safety of the lives of seamen, and property.

It may be said, however, that " foreigners will step in at a lower rate and take away our freights;" to "which I with confidence reply, that no ship of any country will ever be preferred to an English one which is t'n every respect seaworthy, well commanded, and wll managed:—" she will beat the world!" In the above remarks I have not deemed it necessary to expatiate on the greater safety arising from seaworthiness, as it must be self-*vident to all nautical men and those connected with shipping; I shall merely add, that it is my firm, belief if ships were always in such a state of efficiency as to keep at sea, there would be little need for harbours of refuge on the coasts, of which we hear so much at present, as the winds—seldom blow- ing dead home on the shores of Great Britain —would in most cases allow of a vessel fetching off on one tack or other.

Allow me again to recommend to the Committee of the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE- BOAT INSTITUTION the consideration of this important subject, and the propriety of some proposal being made to Government in due time, for I am convinced that, without the interference of the Legislature, lives in great numbers will continue to be lost on our coasts, from the general unseaworthiness of the merchant shipping of this country.

I am, Sir, Your obedient Servant, ALIQUIS.