"THE British seaman, though, he might be better, has not grown worse, and is plentiful enough for the requirements of trade." "No case is made out for the inter- ference of Government to increase the number, or improve the quality of seamen serving on board British merchant ships." The above two paragraphs are extracts from an official report presented to the BOARD OF TRADE in December 1872, by two experienced public servants, specially instructed to make inquiries, and having all the disposable Governmental machinery to aid their researches.

"The disreputable condition of our mercantile marine is calculated to excite the gravest considerations in the minds of those -who look beyond the present." "'Poor Jack" of to-day has become utterly demoralised, one of the most de- graded of human beings, a liar, a swindler, and a thief, a, disgrace to the empire and to mankind." These latter two paragraphs are extracts from an article in the May number of " Eraser's Magazine," written, as we are informed, by a gentleman of high standing in the merchant service, and holding one of the most important commands. The paragraphs in the official report may be token, as we conceive, to represent not inaccurately the position taken by the BOARD OF TRADE ; while the remarks of the writer in "Phaser's Magazine" un- doubtedly represent, notwithstanding the warmth of the language, the opinion of a wry considerable and growing majority of the unofficial public.

At first sight it would seem that the statements in the BOARD OF TRADE Report are in absolute contradiction to those made in the article in " Fraser's "; but, on closer examination, it will, we think, be observed that there is throughout the offi- cial report a certain " and if" which leaves room for a possible doubt as to whether there may not in the opinion of the framers be something a little wrong after all—only it is not a case for " Government interference." "The British seaman is plentiful enough; and if he is not as plen- tiful as he might be—" " And if it were an evil from the same point of view that' foreigners serve OH board British ships." Such sentences as these in the same re- port somewhat weaken the effect of those decisive ones we have placed at the head of this article. Also it will be observed that the writer in " Fraser's " nowhere dis- tinctly states that there is a dearth of men to man out ships, only that the men are bad. Yet it mast be admitted that the key-note of his complaint is " dearth of seamen." Bad men are employed with wages of good ones, because the market does not produce good men in sufficient numbers.

Now the article in " Eraser's Magazine," being unofficial, and the name of its writer not being given, is by no means to be held as entitled to the same weight and consideration as the official report; but, rightly or wrongly, it has attracted con- siderable public attention; and if it is untrue, or grossly exaggerated, it should, in the interests of the seaman, and for the national honour, be speedily shown that it is so. Bat if, on the other hand, it is to be accepted as the absolute truth, surely the time has come when so great a national misfortune and disgrace as its pages give witness to should be wiped out.

It must be remembered also that the magazine article above referred to does not stand alone in the general tone of its remarks. The semi-official letter of Sir EDMUND HORNBY, the Chief Judge of the Supreme Court in China and Japan, and the report of the Consul-General at Con- stantinople contain some painful disclo- sures, and such startling statements as are little behind those quoted from " Eraser's." The preliminary report of the Royal Commission on " Unseaworthy Ships," and other matters connected with the Mercan- tile Marine, exhibit in the most forcible manner the extreme difficulty which some of the best-informed and most able of our public men experienced in coming to any practical conclusions as to how to meet acknowledged evils, and even as to whe- ther certain defects and abuses, popularly supposed to be existing, have any founda- tion in fact. Yet from these perplexities and contradictions, it may be hoped, we may ultimately arrive at the truth, and so guide the affairs of our merchant sea- man as eventually to place Mm in his proper position—at the head of the mer- cantile sailors of the world—a place which it is universally acknowledged he is very far from occupying at the present time.

"We may state at the outset of the few remarks we propose to offer on the subject of the reform of the men of our mercantile marine, that we cannot admit the state- ment of one of the authorities we have alluded to, Sir EDMUND HORNBY, as to the " real sailor being almost a thing of the past." Our opinion is, that in the majority of the men of the Royal Naval Reserve, and in thousands of British seamen not enrolled in it, the nation possesses sailors as " real " as those who carried our commerce across the Atlantic in the days of ELIZABETH, or who have been pushing it into all corners of the earth during the last three hundred years. We are inclined to go farther, and say that there are thousands of British seamen who, besides possessing all the va- luable qualities found in old days in the " real seaman," have added thereto a certain propriety of conduct, a self-command, and a just apprehension of the real sources of success and happiness, which we look for in vain in the annals of the past.

Is it anything to the discredit of the British merchant seamen of to-day that in the year 1873 they should have depo- sited in the seamen's savings banks nearly 44,0002., while the accumulated balance of their moneys in the hands of the Board of Trade at the same period amounted to 78,8282., besides having transmitted to their relations during the past 18 years, on an average, about 247,5402. a year? We think not; though really it -would seem to be the opinion of the majority of the writers on this subject, that, in pro- portion to Jack's social improvement, it is a necessity he should decline injaseful- ness; and we find it gravely included in the list of Jack's delinquencies given by a high official, that he is perfectly capable of looking after his own interests! Viewed in that light, doubtless the " noble British Tar M a thing of the past." The many generations of fine sailors who squandered their lives in producing wealth, of which, they never reaped the harvest, find no successors in these times; and those of our " real sailors " who are worthy of the name have a wholesome sense of their own value. We fail to see that this is to be regretted, though it is not difficult to conceive that a great array of interested persons think differently.

The truth is, not that the best seamen of to-day are inferior to the best of the past, but that the number of the bad has increased disproportionately to the in- crease of the whole number; and the enormous development of our commerce, combined with a neglect to take special means for supply, has created such a de- mand for seamen, that a flood of most incompetent persons has rushed in to fill the place of better men. And again, the presence of these inferior and unfit persons has rendered crime so common, and dis- cipline so bad, that the whole character of the merchant service has deteriorated to an appalling and nationally disgraceful extent.

There are, we believe, two great aims to be kept in view whilst endeavouring to bring about a better state of things.

The first and most -important is, the speedy introduction of a just but severe discipline. The second, the creation by (shall we say) artificial means, of such a supply of trained young sailors, that the one hundred thousand "half-marrows/' " land-lubbers," and other objectionable persons shall find their services no longer required—at least in our merchant navy.

There is abundance of evidence, official and otherwise, to show that the difficulties of the Master in dealing with bad cha- racters are very great.

There is also evidence to show that a large number of the masters of merchant ships are by no means the persons to in- trust with irresponsible power. Is it a thing to be ' despaired of that we should have a code of laws so adjusted that they should punish severely the bad, and yet protect the guiltless from oppression ? In every part of the world we have ships of war and consuls. In many of the great commercial ports, governors, gaols, police, and every facility, as it -would seem, for enabling the Master to deal' with the refractory. He does not, as a rule, do so, for two reasons. The first is, the trouble, labour, and expense of proving a crime; and, on conviction, the ludicrously inade- quate punishment of the law.

The second reason is, that desertion is certain to follow, not only on the part of the culprit, but probably also on the part of his shipmates.

There is, in reality, only one recog- nised ordinary and practical mode of pun- ishment, and- that is by the fist, the nailed boot, and the " belaying pin." Then fol- lows the action for assault, the news- paper articles on the "brutality of the merchant service officer," and the per- petual weakening of the ever-relaxing bonds of discipline.

A cgde of law enabling commanding officers of men-of-war to deal summarily with petty delinquencies; enabling con- suls or commanding officers to punish by other than the far-off and unfelt means of inflicting very small fines, to be deducted from pay, is greatly needed.

Earnest effort on the part of tb.e Government to put down desertion is, be- fore all things, to be desired. It is per- fectly feasible, and greatly to be •wished, that the crime of desertion from a mer- chant vessel should be as sure of punish- ment, and as rare of occurrence, as in our ships of war. As things are to-day, the merchant seaman deserts when he pleases, where he pleases, and how he pleases; .certain to lose nothing; certain of asylum and food, and high pay from any one of the ships at anchor round Mm. There is, in the majority of cases, neither punish- ment nor attempt at punishment.

Yet, with our dominion stretching from pole to pole, and our chain of law, of arms, and of commerce round the world, there is no portion of the globe ordinarily acces- sible to the sailor, where the arm of the mother-country could not be made to reach him.

One of the most effectual of prelimi- nary steps would be so to arrange the system of registration, that every seaman serving under the British flag should re- ceive an. official number, which number should remain, his throughout his sea service. No ship, for instance, would leave the United Kingdom with a seaman not holding a number. A man holding no number would be numbered before leaving, and a man entered abroad would receive a number either before discharge or on convenient opportunity of communica- ting with the BOARD OP TRADE. And in. a few years, especially as the supply of sea- men became more abundant, a man with- out a number would be looked upon with suspicion by shippers as probably not intending fair work; while examination of ships' lists of crews, and compari- son of them with the duplicate register numbers possessed by the BOARD OF TRADE, which examination would have to be made by officials before discharge or sailing, would insure detection of false numbers, and also help to find deserters.

Some such system, well carried out, would also offer a certain check to a master withholding unjustly a certificate of good conduct, for a good man would always have means of official identification and of appealing to his character in former years. Certainly men worth having would gladly avail themselves of this " number " even now, and in a few years fictitious numbers would be exceptional.

" You would drive the men from under our flag!—Where to?" We absolutely command the largest carrying trade in the vrorld; and the British seaman who can find no asylum in a British ship has fallen so low that his employment in those of other nations is a practical impossibility.

The truth is, that such a step would be approved by the good men, and have a most salutary effect on the habitual deserter and professional scoundrel.

We consider this checking of desertion, ML 2 .1,1874 and enforcement of a proper discipline, the two most important points for the attention of those who should legislate for, or be intrusted with the carrying into execution laws relating to the merchant navy as it is. Then comes the crippling, by every means, of the professional crimps, whose iniquitous trade it is quite possible to abolish altogether. Next there is " en- forced medical examination" of seamen before entry. There are innumerable points of detail which are, and have been, occupying the BOARD OF TBA»E, which we need not dilate on here; we simply desire to point out that there are certain uni- versally acknowledged evils which sooner or later must be grappled with ; and what- ever steps are taken to increase the number of good seamen, it will be to little purpose to make the attempt, unless at the same time we make radical alterations in the condition of things as they exist at present in our merchant navy. If we were able to-morrow to transform every seaport in these islands into a nursery for young seamen; and if we were able, a few years later, to take these healthy and active young seamen to fill the places of that awful "array of "rotten men, and de- bauched landsmen and swindlers," which, as we are told by the writer in " Fraser " and others, fill so large a place in the entire muster-roll, it would be a labour to little purpose, until the whole system of dealing with the merchant seaman is re- modelled.

It may be—doubtless is—right to af- ford the sailor every possible protection against extortion; to insure bis being provided with proper food, medicines, and sleeping accommodation; and to prevent his being sent to sea, either ighorantly or unwillingly, in unseaworthy ships; but the time has come when, in the national interests, it is necessary to demand in re- turn sobriety, honesty, and fair labour for fair wages.

It cannot be denied that, if we are dis- contented with the quality of the sailor, morally and physically, we must by some means supply the market with a better article. The owner must go into the market, and compete with, others for the best class of men which his wages will procure. At present he is obliged .to put up with a most inferior descrip- tion ; the reason being that of late years, while the enormous development of trade has increased the numbers of men serv- ing under our flag, we have ceased to provide for the supply of young seamen at all. This supply was at one time insured by each ship carrying as part of her complement a number of appren- tices. From a variety of causes this cus- tom has fallen into abeyance, and we are told by official and non-official persons who are well qualified to judge—that a return to that system is both impracticable and undesirable. The point remains, What are we to do ? How are we to man our merchant ships with good sailors ? With our great cities swarming with their "young Arab" populations; with emigration ceaselessly carrying forth to distant lands multitudes of our healthiest and most active young men; with a reve- nue perpetually showing an annual in- crease, and with an incalculable amount of private charity ever ready to flow forth on just occasion, this ought not, surely, to be a problem impossible of solution by the first maritime nation in the world! Twenty years ago this question was being asked with regard to the Royal Navy; it has been well answered since that day. And now the Government can point triumphantly to the best-manned war fleet in the world. Moreover, the country has only to decide upon an in- crease in the number of men it wishes to be permanently enrolled, and in a given time, and at a given expense, that increase can certainly be made.

And it is especially to be noted that, while recent wars have shown the sailor of the Royal Navy to be no whit inferior to his great predecessors of the time of ELIZABETH, of the Commonwealth, or of NELSON, in point of valour, he is vastly superior in point of sobriety, and conduct afloat and ashore, to all who have gone before him. The naval problem has been solved by educating from boyhood the sailors required for the national service at the national expense; and the mer- chant service problem can only be solved by a corresponding process.

Those few training-ships which do exist, unsupported though the best of them are by State aid, exhibit in an un- mistakable manner the possibility of a great success in this direction.

Remembering also how largely we must trust in time of war to the sailor of the merchant service, and how impossible it •would be to maintain our supremacy at sea against a maritime power without the employment of a great number of them, this question possesses a deep and na- tional importance, apart from its bearing on commerce in time of peace. Such an experiment can only be undertaken by the Crown; and, even were it practicable to do so, it would be manifestly unjust to tax only the shipowners in order to bring about a reformation which every man, woman, and child in these islands has a direct interest in. As a people, we should in a short time literally starve without a sufficient number of sailors to bring us food from other lands; and the decay of our commerce must eventually follow the decay in physique and maritime spirit of our seamen.

Nor let it be supposed that national expenditure on such a scheme would not be in accordance with sound economic principles. An outlay which took a portion of what may be termed the superabundant population, and, before it had time to deteriorate into food for the reformatory, the gaol, and the hospital, turned it into healthy, honest, and active seamen; and by so doing rendered the transit of the country's commerce infinitely safer, pre- served many a fine ship from destruction, lowered the rates of insurance, reduced the national expenditure in gaols and hospitals, added strength to the national resources in time of Twar, and wiped out the national disgrace of having the most dissolute set of men in the world to man its merchant ships—this would be tho most legitimate use of the public money we can conceive, and one which would ultimately insure a lyuadiedfold return.

One of the many national savings we should expect to effect by a public outlay of this kind would be in the matter of diseased seamen. For, in addition to the maintenance of hospitals for seamen in all parts of the world, towards which our Government contributes extensively, it charges itself with sending to England again all British seamen discharged to the hospital or the shore abroad. By an examination of the report of the surgeon of the Seaman's Hospital at Constan- tinople, and similar official returns from various parts of the world, it would ap- pear that there is a vast crowd of per- sons who ship as seamen on board our merchant vessels in so diseased a state as to be incapable of performing a single fair day's work, who perform no service during the voyage out, are transferred to the hospital on arrival, maintained and cured at the national expense, and, when well, sent home to England again by funds provided from the same source. It has not yet, we believe, been ascertained what proportion the number of those diseased persons who are being thus perpetually carried to and fro at the expense of the owners and the nation alternately bears to the whole number of seamen employed; but we do know that during the last eighteen years the Crown has paid half a million of money for bringing back to England these " rotten men," as they are termed; while the annual expense on this head has increased from under 9,OOOL in 1856 to 28,000?. in 1873. Is it too much to say that one moiety of this half million laid out during the same period in training-ships and schools for young seamen would ere this have produced an improvement in the physique and moral tone of the merchant sailor which would have left no room for the scandals of to-day? "We should be able to reduce greatly the number of unfit persons entered in, our ships by medical examination; but if that were actually carried out now, half our ships would go to sea without men.

The market does not produce better men in sufficient numbers to fill the places of those who would have to be rejected; and so here, as in every other desirable reform, we are met by the necessity of, in the first place, producing by some means a more abundant supply of seamen. We are told that if the owner gives higher wages he can get better men; and in the fact that he does not do so, we have abundant proof that the sailor, as he is, I is good enough for the purposes of trade.

1 We greatly doubt the men being forth- coming of the desired quality, however much the wages are increased, but we i demur altogether to the principle enun-ciated in such a remark. If seamen were all diseased or drunkards, imperilling no life or interest but their own, and if the owners were content still with the sort of return which this sort of sailor brought in on the money represented by the ship and cargo, there might be something in favour of the doctrine; but there is the life of the good man jeopardised by the presence of the bad; there is the life of the officer as well as the man; there is the life of the passenger, besides the safety of the cargo. If the lives of the railway passengers of this kingdom, were placed in additional danger by the employment of diseased or drunken engine-drivers, should we be content with the remark that " better wages would procure better men"? On what principle,then, is life at sea to be for ever deemed less sacred than.

life on shore ? There is another side to this question of the merchant sailor, and we heartily commend it to those earnest-minded awl benevolent persons who, having the wel- fare of their fellow-creatures at heart, have also the means of materially assist- ing projects believed to be for their welfare. The side we allude to is the social and moral condition of the sailor's wife.

The writer of the article entitled " Eng- lish and German Sailors " has incidentally painted the German sailor stitching from the " housewife " provided by the " gill at home," and has shown how the German sailor by desertion severs his connection with all ties and all property at home.

. Where is the property, and what are the " home ties " of that sad array of " rotten men " we are told of? The British mer- chant sailor, when he marries at all (we speak, of course, of the majority), marries among that class of persons with whom it is most desirable for his own and the public good to sever his connection. No respectable person would willingly con- sent to his daughter marrying a man who, liable to be wafted away to the ends of the world for an indefinite period, has no means of providing a permanent home for those dependent on him. Much—we had almost written everything—might be ef- fected in the way of reforming the bulk of the men by providing cleanly, whole- some, and respectable "homes," or re- fuges, under the supervision of matrons and clergy, into which a man might move his family when proceeding on foreign service. Such establishments would not only be a great safeguard against evils which now notoriously exist, and which are the source of much crime and drunk- enness amon'g the better-disposed men, but; would strike at the base of nine-tenths of the existing mischief, by enabling the ; young sailor to marry early, and among a better class of girls.

The sailor, with the memory of his living pledges in such a home, would be at least less likely to encounter the igno- miny of being classed as a deserter; and less likely to pass a life in flinging honour and morality, and every social considera- tion, to the winds.

We have a ray of hope, which is a bright one, gleaming over the future of the merchant service, in that general education of the masses which recent legis- lation has provided for. In the years to come it is fully expected that we shall have, as the result of our continued na- tional efforts in this direction, such aa important improvement in the moral tone of that class from whom the bulk of the merchant seamen is drawn as cannot fail to display itself in a notable manner throughout the merchant fleet of this conn- try. In this respect both training-ships and homes will have an infinitely better stratum on which to build their work of reformation than at any former period.

The question as a whole is one of deep interest to the NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTIUTION. On the one hand, it can scarcely add to the zest with which its crews launch forth on their errands of mercy to be told that the majority of those they risk their own lives to save are a " disgrace to the empire and mankind;" while, on the other hand, the presence of bad or drunken seamen in ships adds enormously to the difficulties of the Life-boat crew. And furthermore, the increase of good and sober seamen in the country generally, must, directly and indirectly, increase the efficiency of the Life-boat crews. Sailors, good or bad, are not always at sea, and much noble Life-boat work is performed by those who in their turn may be exposed to the storm and shipwreck, and bless GOD for the aid of the Life-boat; and again, numbers of the Life-boat men are old sailors, who, having for the greater part of their lives served the best interests of the nation on every sea, have yet left a strong arm and a stout heart at the ser- vice of those who need their help in the time of disaster and tempest. If the whole body of such men is deteriorating, it is a matter of the gravest import to the NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION; and every effort to ameliorate their condi- tion, or raise their moral and social stand ing, Trill ever find in it a sure response and hearty sympathy.

Since this article was in type, the. final Report of the Royal Commission on Unsea- worthy Ships has been published, aad we now have a complete outline of the course recommended to be adopted by Parliament in dealing with the interests of the mer- chant service, the shipowners, and the underwriters. Few more important and able reports have ever been presented to Parliament.

The subject of compulsory apprentice- ship the Commissioners did not consider to lie strictly within the scope of their inquiry; yet the manifest importance of the subject, and its close connection with " loss of life at sea," have induced them to give their serious attention to the question of " How are we to provide our merchant ships with more and better men?" It is satisfactory to us to observe how much in aecoid with, what we have written in the foregoing pages are the conclusions of the Royal Commissioners; and all those who are well acquainted with the merchant service as it is, or who have had much practical experience of the principal causes of " loss of ships and lives at sea," will feel that a long step has been taken in the right direction by the proposal being made to the Legislature that it should recognise it as one of its grave duties to combat with the evils of want of discipline, desertion, and inadequate supply of merchant seamen.

It is a somewhat startling comment on what we have written on these matters to find the following sentences in the Report of the Commissioners:—" Captains of mer- chant ships, it is said, could not man their vessels without Swedes, Norwegians, and Lascars." " The anxiety of Parliament to protect the seaman, &c., has had a bad in fluence on his character. It has tended to destroy confidence between the captain aud crew, and to promote insubordination where good discipline is essential to safety." Farther on we find: " The evidence vre have taken shows that the masters of ships have no longer the control over the crew which is necessary, and was formerly usual." In the foregoing paragraphs, and many ittore to the same effect, we have now in- controvertible proof that the warning i voices of those who spoke from practical i experience, and which have for so many j years been heard by Parliament and the ' nation with unbelief or apathy, were raised I over no fancied evils; and we trust that the framers of the new shipping laws will take into full consideration the practical difficulties of the master in carrying any enactment into effect. They should also consider that, however wise and good a law may appear in the eyes of statesmen and lawyers, it has little likelihood of achieving its purpose if it is in opposition to the matured opinion of those who know personally how laws in the past have ope- rated, and in what manner all law is brought into practical application on ship- board. There is no necessity for Parlia- ment, while " protecting the seaman," to place him in such a position-'as enables him to set both law and public opinion at defiance; and this truth the Commis- sioners recognise, and bring to the notice of Parliament in this sentence: "To se- cure fair treatment for the British seaman, without destroying discipline by weaken- ing the authority of the master, should be the object of the Legislature." We observe with pleasure that the Com- missioners incline to the admirable plan of "training-ships and compulsory ap- prenticeship," and also recommend that the system should be aided by grants of money from the public funds. A similar recommendation, however, was made by another Royal Commission sg far back as 1859; and we view -with some ap- prehension the suggestion that the scheme should be made contingent on the wil- lingness of shipowners to be taxed in sup- port of it.

A few-opulent owners and great compa- nies could no doubt be counted on to " willingly" bear their share of the bur- den; but it seems probable that the " thousand and one " owners of the poorer class will protest against a tax from' which they are to receive no immediate benefit, and to promote an object which, as the insurance laws now stand, every British subject has as much pecuniary interest in as themselves. The principle of requiring every vessel of above one hundred tons burthen to carry apprentices in pro- portion to her tonnage, or pay a small tax towards the training-ships, appears sound and practical; but we trust that, while thus insuring the participation and inte-rest of the owner in the scheme, the " State aids" -will be given with no niggardly hand. To supply a navy of three hundred thousand men with new blood is no trifling undertaking, and it will be a na- tional misfortune if a mistaken economy or an inadequate conception of the na- tional importance of the question should render futile so wise a scheme as that shadowed forth by the Royal Comis- sioners.

The Report also deals with the subject of desertion, and points out how the neg- lect of successive British Governments has put us in such a position with other countries on these matters as greatly to facilitate the operations of the deserter in foreign ports. Similar remarks would, however, apply with even greater force to our colonies. " Jack," who has a nice discrimination in such matters, finds that the law under foreign flags is by no means administered with that merciful consider- ation for his little peculiarities which he is accustomed to under the Union Jack, and he is guided accordingly. We believe statistics show that the majority of deser- tions take place in the ports subject to British law. Nevertheless, it is undeniably the case that " this matter deserves the serious attention of the Government" The ability, impartiality, and care exhi- bited by the Commissioners in their Re- port will commend it to the judgment of all thinking men; and it is in itself an augury of a happier future, and'a more vivid national interest in the merchant navy of this country.