THE Council of the SOCIETY OF ARTS appointed a Committee in March, 1883, with the full concurrence of the Marine Department of the BOARD OP TRADE, to inquire into and consider the question of collision at sea, the scope of the in- quiry being afterwards reduced to col- lisions in fogs. The Committee sat under the chairmanship of Sir WILLIAM SIEMENS until his lamented death, when Admiral of the Fleet, Sir A. P. RYDER, K.C.B., was elected to succeed him.

The SOCIETY OF ARTS in taking up this important subject added another to the list of public services it has performed ; for the report resulting from the evidence obtained by the Committee discloses a most undesirable state of affairs, which in the interest of all who go to sea, cannot ' be made too public, or the necessity for reform pressed too strongly home on ' those who have the power, and whose ! duty it is to initiate it. The subject was afterwards considered and discussed at the United Service Institution, and both the report and the account of the discus- sion, which was carried on mostly by speakers decidedly entitled to claim the position of experts on 'the question, are deserving of serious thought and considera- tion. In dwelling shortly on it in these pages, it is not our intention to criticise the subject in detail, or to put forward ' specific propositions of our own for im- , proving the law. Even the Committee of the SOCIETY or ARTS, specially appointed to investigate the subject, do not consider themselves in a position to recommend any one of the systems described in pre- ference to the others, so that we may well restrict ourselves to general notice of the matter, and by so doing show the sympathy of the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTI- TUTION with a work that, although it lies beyond its immediate province—saving life from shipwreck on the shores of the United Kingdom—is very closely allied to it.

The law governing the action of vessels during fogs, based upon the regulations for preventing collisions at sea, prepared by the British government, and submitted to all foreign mercantile nations, by twenty-eight of whom, including all the great maritime powers, they have been adopted, may be considered not only international, but also on the whole reasonably calculated to meet the re- quirements of the situation; otherwise they would not have secured, practically speaking, the universal adherence of; governments to their provisions. If this is the case on the one hand, we might, on ' the other, look for general acquiescence, and indeed obedience to the law so laid down, on the part of those for whose pro- tection and in whose interest it has been made. But what do we find ? Systematic and ably-defended infraction; indeed contempt of the law exhibited by the large majority of those concerned, whether captains, owners, or passengers, and appa- rently by the postal authorities, indirectly if not directly. This more particularly applies to those parts of the regulations governing the action of vessels during fogs, and the speed they shall not exceed, &c.; also to merchant ships rather than to vessels of war, because the latter have not the same inducements to break the regu- lations as the former have. That this is the case- is incontestably shown by the re- port, because statements that it is so, and arguments in favour of such a course were presented to the committee by those implicated, although their names are natu- rally withheld. Without entering into the merits of the case one way or the other, we maintain that there is certainly cause for immediate and exhaustive inquiry, under the authority and responsi- bility of government, into the provisions of a law so framed that it compels many, if not most of the leading officers in the mer- cantile marine of this country systematic- ally to break it, and so render themselves liable to all sorts of penalties, not ex- cluding trial and punishment for man- slaughter.

The question is one of great difficulty, and requires the most careful investiga- tion and treatment, and we believe that any law to be satisfactory must leave much to the intelligence and the readi- ness of resource of the various officers in meeting ships. We think it impos- sible to lay down any hard and fast rule to meet every case or combination of circumstances which may be encoun- tered in such a constantly varying scene ; as a fog at sea, and two ships meeting.

The subject might be considered as ' coming within the powers conferred on the Commission on Loss of Life at Sea, i now sitting, with the Earl of Aberdeen as chairman, but could probably be better dealt with by a commission containing amongst its members more marine experts.