SALVAGE PAYMENTS TO LIFEBOATS' CREWS.

As it often happens that the life-boats of the NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION are the means of saving vessels and their cargoes from destruction, or of materially contributing thereto, and as the owners of such property have not unfrequently objected to paying the life-boat men for their services (believing that they are only performing their duty by rendering them aid), we think it desirable that the owners of ships and merchandize, as well as the general public, should be made acquainted with the principles by which the Institution is actuated in the matter of saving wrecked property, and the terms on which it allows its boats to be used in saving it.

In the first place then, it cannot be too plainly stated or too generally known, that the NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION is a Society established for the saving of human lives, and that only. It appeals to the British public to support it for that object, and that object alone. It has, therefore, no right to devote any funds so raised to providing means for saving property, or for any other object than the philanthropic one which is its especial function.

Accordingly it is a misapprehension on the part of the owners of property at sea to suppose that it is the duty of the men f who work the Institution's life-boats on the coast, to give their services gratuitously to effect its preservation. The Institution pays them for devoting their time and labour, and for risking their lives, to save the lives of others, and it has no claim on them to do more.

On the other hand, however, it is felt that, in the interest of humanity, valuable property which has been produced by the " sweat of man's brow " should not be allowed to perish beneath the waves, if it can be saved. The Institution, therefore, authorizes the crews of its life-boats to assist in saving vessels stranded, or leaky, or otherwise in distress, under special circumstances and on certain terms. In permitting those services, and in arranging those terms, a general principle had to be decided on, and such service being altogether distinct from the function of the Institution, it was considered expedient to separate it, as far as possible, from the more legitimate employment of its boats; to effect which it was arranged that, on all occasions of using the Institution's life-boats to save property, they were to be considered as lent to their crews for that purpose, and that the latter should look to the owners of the property to remunerate them in. accordance with, the, provisions of the " Merchant Shipping Act of 1854," and not to the Institution.

The conditions on which the life-boats are lent to their crews for such service are as follows:— 1st.—-That they are on no account to be used in the salvage of property so as to interfere with private enterprise, when any other boats are available, and can be safely •employed.

2nd.—That they are never to be launched and taken afloat expressly to perform such service, when lives are not endangered, without the sanction of the local Honorary '.Secretary, or other representative of the local Committee of Management.

3rd —That the greatest care is to be taken j of them, and that they are never, on such occasions, to be unnecessarily exposed to serious risk of damage or destruction.

4th.—That their crews are not to make j exorbitant demands for payment from the owners of the property saved in proportion to the service rendered.

5th.—That to cover risk of damage to the ! boats, two shares of all salvage payments received, i. e., an equivalent to the shares of two of the crew, shall be paid to the Institution. The utility of the first three of the above j conditions will be obvious, and need not be j further commented on; the two last call for some observations :— ' With regard to the fourth, it is hardly possible that any rule which could be devised would altogether prevent disputes arising between the crews of life-boats and the owners of property saved by them, since different elements have to be considered in determining the amount of the payment to which the salvors of property are fairly entitled; viz., 1. The value of the property saved. 2. The certainty of its loss or the degree of risk of loss to which it would have been exposed, but for the salvor's aid.

3. The amount of time and labour expended, and the difficulty, exposure to wet and cold, or risk of life incurred by the salvors. It is evident, therefore, that the character and value of such services must be of the most varied character ; and that the owners of property saved, and the salvors, whose interests lie in opposite directions, will be likely to form very different estimates of their value. The legislature, sensible of | the difficulties surrounding such cases, has, by the "Merchant Shipping Act of 1854," only stated that the salvors of property from ; loss at sea shall be entitled to " reasonable ' compensation," but it has made ample provision for settling all points in dispute, 1. By empowering the "receivers of wreck" to arbitrate between the salvors and owners of property, with the mutual consent of each party. 2. By authorizing any two magistrates of the locality to fix the amount of payment in cases under 200?., where the parties cannot come to a mutual agreement.

3. By admitting appeal to the " High Court of Admiralty," in cases above 200£. in amount of demand ; and in all cases, when the contending parties or either of them are not satisfied with the decision of the local magistrates. And, 4. By ultimate appeal to the Privy Council.

All, therefore, that the Institution can do in the interest of the shipowner or owner of cargo, in such cases, in addition to allowing the use of its boats, is to urge its crews not to make " exorbitant demands" on owners for payment, it having no power to remove such cases from the legal jurisdiction of the country.' It should also be remembered that the crews of the Institution's life-boats are not a body of enrolled men, retained by permanent wages, but that they are formed from volunteers of the local fishermen or other boatmen, and in some instances of Coastguard men, who are only employed for the occasion, and paid " for saving or endeavouring to save human life," and for that only.

The 5th condition, viz., the payment of two shares of all salvage receipts to the Institution, calls for some explanation, as it is liable to be misunderstood. It may then be distinctly stated that it is not imposed as a source of profit to the Institution; the first intention, as already implied, being to cover risk of damage, since without such equivalent it is not considered that the Institution would be justified in allowing its boats to be put to a use so distinct from that for which its supporters have provided them; whilst a second desirable effect of this condition is, that the boatmen are thereby induced to use their own boats in preference to the life-boats for the salvage of property, whenever it is practicable to do so, since they have then no deduction made from the salvage awards which they may earn.

A case in illustration will still more clearly show the principle and the effects of its working:— Some time since, a large Spanish ship grounded on the Blackwater Bank, on the south-east coast of Ireland. The captain and his crew of 30 men, with the exception of one of the .latter who was inadvertently left on board, escaped to the shore, some 8 or 9 miles distant. The wind was blowing a gale at the time, but moderating shortly afterwards, and shifting its direction, the ship slipped off the bank into deep water, and drifted to the northward. Being seen from the shore, the Institution's Cahore life-boat was launched, and, after a long and arduous row against wind and sea, succeeded in boarding her; some of the sails were shaking, some aback, the ship with six or seven feet water in the hold, and the one unfortunate seaman on board half frightened to death.

Now the coxswain and crew of the lifeboat would have done their duty to the Institution which employed them, and to the supporters of the Institution from whose contributions the boat was provided, had they at once returned to the shore with the poor Spanish sailor thus rescued from a watery grave, leaving the ship and cargo, worth 20,0001., to their fate ; and, were they unable to look for a " reasonable compensation " from the owners, they had no interest in acting otherwise. The fisherman-coxswain of the boat, and the chief boatman of Coast-guard, who was also with some of his men in her, however, at once decided to do their best to save the ship. They accordingly put her head to the north, trimmed her sails, and set to work at the purnps, with a view to get her safely to Kingstown if possible, and intending to send the life-boat back to her station with a portion of her crew as soon as they could feel assured that their efforts at the pumps were successful. They soon, however, found that the water in the hold was gaining on them, and that they could only save the ship and cargo by running for the shore; this they did on the beacli near Arklow, 15 miles from Cahore. Here she was handed over to an agent for the owners, and the life-boat, which could not be got back to her station until the termination of the gale, was hauled up, her crew returning to their homes by land.

The local Committee of the Cahore Branch of the Institution then met to receive the report of the coxswain ; and having satisfied themselves of the value and legitimacy of the service, they deputed the coxswain and the chief boatman of the Coast-guard to I proceed to Dublin, and put in their claim for compensation for saving the ship and cargo from total destruction, which they had undoubted! v clone. The result was, that the Receiver of Wreck at Dublin proposed 500/. as an equitable settlement of the claims of the salvors, which proposition was acceded to by them and by the agent for the owners.

The Institution in this case paid the crew of the life-boat the usual sum of 10s.

each for saving the life of the one seaman left on board the ship, and also the expense of the requisite help to launch the boat; but all the expenses contingent on the saving of the ship and cargo, such as the hire of conveyances to take the crews to their homes, and their subsequent return to fetch their boat, and also the expenses incurred by the coxswain and the chief boatman of Coast-guard, by going to Dublin, were paid out of the 500?. before its subdivision. When subdivided, it gave about 34Z. to each of the crew of the life-boat, and 681. was paid to the Institution to cover risk of damage.

Now we cannot but think that such an arrangement was beneficial to all parties :— the owners or insurers of a valuable ship and cargo were fortunate in having their property saved at a very small per centage, the crew of the life-boat, for the most part poor fishermen, received a handsome payment, which was calculated to increase their attachment to the life-boat service—whilst the Institution obtained a sufficient sum to cover all risk of damage to its boat.

The above case is sufficient to illustrate the practice of the Institution on all occasions when its boats are employed to save property. It has hitherto been found to work well, and we see every reason to believe that it will continue to do so.