UNSEAWORTHY SHIPS, 38 & 39 VICTORIA, CAP. 88.) THE Act -which was passed at the end of last Session for the better security of ships and sailors, although only to con- tinue in force for one year, is of consider- able importance, as showing the tendency of legislation. The battle will hare to. be fought over again, and important altera- tions and additions may be made before the principle of modern maritime legisla- tion is finally embodied in a legal shape which shall be satisfactory to the nation at large. Vested interests will make a hard fight yet for their view of the mat- ter, and with the increased light being continually brought to bear on every dark employers; and Parliament will have to cope with that, as it has had to contend with the difficulties of to-day. There will be this difference, however, that in the legislation of to-day the sailor himself takes no part; it may be anticipated that hereafter he will want to take an im- portant part. Degraded by long periods of neglect, and by being systematically thought of, dealt with, and spoken of as a mere drinking and working animal, to be tossed on board in a helpless state, when the ship was ready for sea, for the purpose of hauling on certain ropes when he got sober, and to be tossed on shore again at the so till wanted once more, the sailor now views with a wondering sort of listless- ness the efforts made to raise his moral and social condition. But this cannot always be so. Jack is what he is—a re- proach to us among the maritime nations of the earth, and dying out, besides, from disease and drink, and daily making more room for the sailors of other nations to take his place under the British flag, to the great loss of the same in prestige corner and too long hidden mystery of j end of the voyage to get drunk and remain maritime trade, we may expect increased demands for legislation and Government interference. Nor is it likely that the sailor himself, with increased knowledge of his own importance, rights, and hard- ships—now for the first time set before him in some quarters in strong colours, too often heightened by party motives and ill- considered zeal—will remain as silent as he has done in past years. To-day'the friends of the sailor are fighting for Ms right to be afforded every chance of per- forming his voyage in safety by being provided with a sound ship: to-morrow the sailor himself will be demanding terms more favourable to himself than have hitherto been dreamed of by his now and actual might in tima of war.

But if England is true to her traditions as the great maritime nation of the world, (the sailors in British ships must become once more not only exclusively of British blood, but they must be brought up as sailors, and they must take that place in the moral world which is occu- pied by the great mass of their brethren : that is to say, instead of being marked throughout the world as the most utterly debauched men in it, they must at least lie no worse than their neighbours. And so urgent is the need, that we may safely assume that by the infusion of fresh blood from the training-ships hereafter to be established in every British port, by the abolition of the advance note and crimping system yet to be made law, and stricter surveillance as to the sobriety and healthiness of the crews before ship- ment and sailing, great strides will be made in the next few years. But the sailor, once emancipated ever so little from Ms state of alternate serfdom and intoxica- tion, will speedily make his voice heard, it be feared not always wisely or to the advantage of the commonwealth. It is impossible but that a quarter of a mil- lion of British-born men, united by a thou- sand ties of common profession, common dangers, and common, hardships, will have something to say to the laws by which they are to be governed—if only, and when, they can be got to remain sober—though, it be only for ever so short a space of J time. j It is in the interest of the public j when the time comes, and the merchant; seaman, sufficiently awakened from his long sleep of intoxication and' sufficiently • reinvigorated by new young blood, is be- j ginning to feel himself really a power in j the State, that there should be no grievance of which he can, in so far as Parliament or owners are responsible, complain; and '• therefore we rejoice at all legislation which tends to make the transit of com-merce safer by sea, in so far as legislation ' can promote that result, and we also re- • joice at all legislation which gives promise .1 of decreasing loss of life or abolishing a sailor's grievance. It cannot be doubted i that ways will, or can, be ultimately de- i vised for giving every security ,against' dishonest traders and owners, and every security to the sailor against his being i needlessly exposed to risk, without un- fairly tramelling Owners; but to do so requires the careful remodelling of a gi- gantic system which, owing to long years of neglect, has become misshapen and out of course. These things cannot be mended by the passing of a few laws at the end of a session; and the truth at the bottom of the whole question is that no laws will materially affect the loss of property and life at sea until the saiLor is raised out of his slough of utter de- gradation, and made a sober, honest man.

The new Bill, which is to remain in force until the 1st October, 1876, is entitled "The Merchant Shipping Act, 1875," and is to be " construed as one with the Merchant Shipping Act, 1854." Section 1 provides for the appointment of proper officers with the power to de- tain unseaworthy ships, and states that any such officer may order a ship to be detained for the purpose of survey if, " upon inspection or otherwise," he has reason to believe that she is defective in the " condition of her hull, equipments, or machinery; or by reason of overloading or improper loading" is "unfit to pro- ceed to sea without serious danger to human life." And it further enacts that any person wilfully impeding the officer in his examination of the ship, or any other part of his duty, is subject to the penalties specified by the Merchant Ship- ping Act of 1854. Section 2 enacts that whenever a complaint is made to the BOARD of TRADE or the detaining officer above-mentioned, by one-fourth of the crew, that the ship is unable to proceed to sea " without serious danger to human life," it shall be the duty of the Board, or the officer, if the complaint is made within sufficient time for that purpose before sailing, "without requiring any security for the payment of costs and expenses, to take proper steps for ascertaining whether the ship ought to be detained for the purpose of being surveyed." Section 3 enacts that "no cargo of which more than one-third consists of any kind of grain, corn, rice, paddy, pulse, seeds, nuts, or nut kernels" shall be carried unless such, grain is contained in bags, sacks, or barrels, or secured from shifting, by boards, bulkheads, or other- wise. The penalty to which the master of the ship shall become liable who know- ingly shall fail to comply with this law shall not exceed 200Z.

Section 4 enacts that " section 11 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1871, shall be repealed, and in lieu thereof it shall be enacted:— " 1. That every person who sends a ship to sea in such unseaworthy state that the life of any person would be likely to be thereby endangered, and the managing owner of any British ship so sent to sea from any port in the United Kingdom, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour, unless ho proves that he used all reasonable means to ensure her being sent to sea in a seaworthy state, or proves that her going to sea in such unseaworthy state was, under the circumstances, reasonable and justifiable; and for the purpose of giving such proof such, person may give evidence in the same manner as any other witness." The second sub-section goes on to enact that every person who "attempts or is party " to an attempt to send a ship to sea in the aforementioned condition s.ball also be guilty of misdemeanour.

The third sub-section of the same section states that" every master of a British ship who knowingly takes the same to sea in such unseaworthy condition" shall also be guilty in a like manner.

The fourth sub-section enacts that every owner of a British, ship shall register, at the custom-house of the port the ship is registered in, the name of the managing owner, or person entrusted with the management; and if he fail to do so he shall be liable to a penalty Hot exceeding 5001. every time the ship leaves any port in the United Kingdom.

The fifth sub-section includes as liable to the penalty laid down in the first para- graph of this fourth clause, " every person so registered as managing owner." The sixth sub-section is to the effect j that "no prosecution under this section shall be instituted except by or with the consent of the Board of Trade." The seventh sub-section, that "no mis- demeanour under this section shall bo punishable upon summary conviction." The fifth, sixth and seventh, sections deal with the much vexed questions of deck lines and load lines, and the sub- stance of the new regulations may be stated thus:— Every British ship shall on or before the day of registry be " permanently and conspicuously marked with lines of not less than, twelve inches in length and one in breadth; painted longitudinally on .each side amidships"—"the upper edges of each of the lines being level with the upper side of the deck plank next the waterway at the place of marking." The lines to be white or yellow on a dark ground, or black on a light ground.

This is for the purpose of indicating the position of each deck which is above water. This regulation does not apply to fishing vessels, coasters, or yachts. Also every ship is, on being entered on a voyage outwards, to be marked on each side amidships, either in dark on a light ground, or in light on a dark ground, with a circular disc twelve inches in diameter, with a horizontal line eighteen inches in length drawn through its centre.

The centre of the disc intimating the maximum load line, in salt water, to which the owner intends to load the vessel for that voyage. And, further, the form of entry is to state the distance in feet and inches between the centre of the disc and the upper edge of each of the before-mentioned deck lines, Until these regulations are complied with the customs officers are not to enter the ship outwards; and the master of the ship is to enter a copy of the statement as to the position and distance of the marks in. the agreement with the crew before they sign it, and also in the log; and the marks are not to be altered until the vessel returns to her port of discharge in the United Kingdom. Any owner or ___. master who fails to comply "with the Act, or allows the marks to be subsequently removed or altered, except to escape capture by an enemy, incurs a penalty not exceeding, 1001.

The eighth section provides that when a claim of compensation under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1873, is made against the BOARD OF TRADE, and the claim is in dispute, proceedings may be taken by action against the principal secretary of the BOARD OF TRADE as nominal defendant.

The ninth section proceeds to deal with the question of the liability of the ship- owner to the crew, and enacts that in " every contract of service " between these parties " there shall be implied, notwith- standing any agreement to the contrary," an obligation on the part of the owner that he and his agents shall use " all reasonable efforts to ensure the seaworthi- ness of the ship " both at the commence- ment and during the voyage, but that nothing in the Act shall make the owner liable for the death and injury of master or crew if the same has been caused by the act of a seaman or other belonging to the ship in any case where he -would not otherwise be so liable.

The foregoing includes the substance of the new Bill. The prominent provisions of it being:— A. The appointment of surveyors, sta- tioned at various ports, with power to detain vessels for survey on suspicion without previous reference to the BOARD OF TRADE.

B. The power to detain ships for further inquiry on the complaint of one- fourth of the crew.

C. The rendering it illegal to carry a cargo of grain in bulk when one-third or more of the entire cargo is grain.

D. Rendering it misdemeanour on the part of owner, managing owner, and I master, for them to send or take a ship to sea knowing her to be unseaworthy.

E. Marking deck lines outside the ship to indicate the height of respective decks above water and from the intended load line.

r. The marking of the said load line before entry for an outward voyage.

G. Enacting the liability of owner to the crew for the proper seaworthy con- dition of the ship.

The substance of these measures—so far as they go—has been advocated con- stantly in the Life-boat Journal for many years, and we believe they will really ex- ercise a wider and deeper influence than might at first sight be supposed. The mere existence of such officers as those provided for in the first section of the Act cannot fail to have a certain deterrent effect upon owners and masters of a certain stamp. So much so, indeed, as to materially diminish the number of instances in which, but for the passing of this Act, they might with advantage have acted. Yet there will doubtless be no diminution in the number of applications on the part of seamen to have ships detained and surveyed. Seamen, crimped and kidnapped, and placed on board a ship drunk, or without full pos- session of their senses, who find them- selves detained on the coast by stoimy weather, or by the thousand and one acci- dents incidental to ship life, are not slow to seize on any excuse to detain vessels in port, or get clear of them altogether, being just then at the bitterest stage of their misery; painfully recovering from their debauch; half-clothed, wet, ill m body and mind, and feeling at war with all mankind: being, moreover, in many instances (it must always be remembered) not British sailors at all, but landsmen of various degrees of unfitness, and the off- scouring of ail the maritime nations of the world. No doubt increased facilities for preferring complaints will increase the number of requests for ships to be de- tained. It remains to be seen -whether, on survey, a greater number will actually be pronounced unseaworthy than has been found to be the case heretofore.

Of the whole number of 64 vessels al- leged by seamen to be unseaworthy, and detained in consequence for survey, during the years 1870-73—fifty-five were pro- nounced by competent surveyors perfectly seaworthy ; and although 9 of those pro- nounced seaworthy were afterwards lost, yet 5 were either burned- or stranded— reflecting, in absence of evidence to the contrary, not on the seaworthiness of the ship, but on the navigation and seaman- ship of the officers and crew; while the remaining 4 might or might not have perished from original unseaworthiness.

Seamen, therefore, have not been back- ward in preferring unnecessary complaints hitherto; and, as we have said, the cure is to bring up a better style of man, and send him to sea sober ; until this is done, the law will be of small avail.

The new law about carrying grain in bulk is one of those just and necessary measures of ordinary legislation which, it may be supposed, might and ought to have been brought about years ago by a governing power exercising proper super- vision of the mercantile marine.

The clauses about the deck-marks and the load-line marks are those which have excited public attention most, and been the most fiercely debated inside and out- side the House. The Royal Commission of 1873 (which may be said to have had its origin in the representations of Lord HOUGHTON, Sir JOHN PAKINGTON, and Mr.PLIMSOLL, in 1871) recommended the "ladder-line of feet'" for determining the point up to which a ship should be im- mersed ; the " zero point" being the centre of the highest deck up to which the ship was built watertight. This rule, on inves- tigation, was allowed on all hands to be inadmissible, and was withdrawn from the original Bill. Various proposals were made from different sides of the House, only to be repudiated as soon as proposed.

The new Bill makes no rule on the matter.

It throws the entire responsibility on the owner. As far as this Bill is concerned, he may load the vessel as deeply as he pleases—but he is answerable for her sea- worthiness ; and he is compelled to place conspicuously on the vessel's side, con- siderably prior to her sailing, a mark de- noting the point beyond which it is not his intention to immerse her. Thus he is obliged to make public to the world exactly what is going to be the load-line of each particular ship on each particular voyage, and so give ample time to all who may be so minded to calculate whether, considering that particular voyage, the nature of the cargo, and the time of year, the ship will have a sufficient free-board, or the contrary.

It is difficult to conceive how a ship subjected to such an ordeal can blunder out to sea at last too deeply laden. On the other hand, it is not hard to under- stand blundering busybodies making sun- dry erroneous calculations, and founding thereon many complaints of unseaworthi- ness, to the great detriment of owners, and injury of trade in general. Against these busybodies it is to be hoped that the BOARD OF TRADE, and the administrators of the law generally, will do their utmost to defend both owners and commerce.

The clause which renders it misde- meanour for owner or master to send or take a ship to sea, knowing her to be un- seaworthy, must be looked on as an inevi- table outcome of public opinion on the subject. It is, in fact, both just and necessary. While the clause which lays down the liability of the owner to the mariner for the seaworthiness of the ship is a corollary of the other. It is not only that in such a case they have com- mitted an offence against the law of their country, but they have committed a wrong against every individual in the ship, for which wrong each individual is entitled to compensation.

On. the whole, there is little in this Bill, we should suppose, to which any con- siderable section of the public can take exception. There are a vast number of subjects to which it does not allude, which must eventually be discussed and laid down by law; but, in the meantime, this Act affords ample protection to the crews of British ships for the next twelve months.

Nevertheless, we cannot but express our regret that, while this part of the original recommendation of the Royal Commis- sioners has received special attention, that 404 THE LIFE-BOAT. of that recommendation in the forefront of their deliberation, miss their mark.

The Royal Commission Report states: "There appears, practically, to be very little power of punishing the sailor for any- thing but mutinous conduct; in conse- quence he can be guilty, with impunity, of many gross derelictions of duty, some of which tend directly to the loss of pro- perty and of life." We look in vain for any new code, and we hear of no steps being taken to ensure a better discipline.

Collisions, fires, neglected leaks, many strandings, and numerous other like causes of destruction to ship and crew, are for tb.6 most part attributable to careless, or drunken, or sleepy watchers and lookouts, part which, -would in effect ultimately do away with the active operation of laws which have evoked such bitter contention, has been altogther overlooked. We allude to the recommendations for the better training and better supply of young sea- men, the abolition of the advance-note system, and the introduction of a stricter and better discipline (we might almost write introduction of discipline, for in most British merchant ships there is at present none)—and the present Marine Insurance system.

The question of Marine Insurance has received some attention in debate, and it may confidently be anticipated that it will not be forgotten hereafter; though we regret it was not considered sufficiently | which a stricter discipline alone can enable important to find a place in the Act of the masters of ships to provide against, last Session. And, lastly, the Royal Commission con- Better discipline, better men, and better } eluded from the evidence before it, that means for entering them—which are, in the system of Advance Notes was " one feet, the key-notes of all possible future great obstacle to the amelioration of the improvement—are dropped out of sight altogether. These are matters to which condition of the merchant seamen." In point of fact, every man in the kingdom the Royal Commission gave their earnest . acquainted with the subject knows well consideration, which they give consider-1 that it is so. Until this pernicious relic able space to in their report, and which ' of the old system is utterly swept away, are pressing needs. They have a direct n° considerable improvement in the con- influence on the loss of life and property, dition of the seaman can reasonably be beyond all possible reforms in the matter I expected.

It has been argued by the enemies of change, that the new laws -which, it -was of ships and cargoes.

It is in evidence before that Commission.

that, from the scarcity of competent sea- i proposed, or which have been introduced, men, owners are obliged to ship incom- j would place the British owner at such a petent persons; and that the ignorance ! disadvantage that the commerce .of the and incapacity of these men throw addi- i country would be carried on under foreign tional work on the good seaman, cause j flags. Undoubtedly many of the measures dissatisfaction in the ship, and enhance ] proposed in the House -would have tended the dangers of navigation. It is in evi- : in that direction; but no law yet passed dence that the ships could not be manned can have any such effect, but rather, by at all, but for the employment of Lascars, ; tending to ensure the greater safety of Swedes, and foreigners of all nations, who [ British ships, increase their value as form a considerable proportion of the j carriers of goods; while already the steps entire 300,000 men -who man our ships; taken—incomplete as they are—find imi- and the Commission recommend the adop- tators in other nations; and Germany ap- tion of a system of apprenticeship and pears in the vanguard with instructions training-ships to supply the places of to her representatives to take cognisance these 300,000 men hereafter with good i of unseaworthy ships of their nationality British blood and well-taught, sober sea- ! in British ports,