History of merchant shipping and ancient commerce, Volume 3 (of 4)

by W. S. Lindsay

CHAPTER II.

Necessity of proper education for merchant seamen—Practice in Denmark—In Norway and Sweden—Russia and Prussia—France—Remarkable care of seamen in Venice, Scuola di San Nicolo—Character of this institution, and general working—Variously modified since first creation—State since 1814—Qualifications of Venetian shipmasters—Present regulations of Austria—Great Britain—Need of a public institution for merchant seamen—The “Belvidere” or Royal Alfred Aged Seaman’s Institution, note—Mr. Williams, observations by, on the advantage of a general Seaman’s Fund, note—Institution in Norway—Foreign Office circular of July 1, 1843—Its value, though unfair and one-sided—Replies to circular—Mr. Consul Booker—Mr. Consul Baker—Mr. Consul Yeames—The Consul at Dantzig—The Consuls of Genoa, Ancona, and Naples—Mr. Consul Sherrard—Mr. Consul MacTavish—Mr. Consul Hesketh—Reports from the Consuls in South America—General conclusions of Mr. Murray, Nov. 22, 1847, and suggestions for remedies—Board of Trade Commission, May 17, 1847—Its results—Shipowners condemned for the character of their ships and officers—Views of Government—Necessity of a competent Marine Department.

Necessity of proper education for merchant seamen.

Although it can scarcely be said that the character of British seamen degenerated from the time America declared her independence till towards the close of the first half of the present century, there is no doubt that those of other nations were making rapid strides in advance of them. Indeed, many causes had combined to raise, alike, the position of the shipowners and seamen of foreign nations, not the least of these being the protection afforded to our shipowners by the Navigation Laws, as under that protective system they felt it less necessary to exert themselves to contend with the foreigner as keenly as, under other circumstances, they would surely have done. Most foreign nations had also directed their attention, long before we did, to the necessity of thorough education for their seafaring population—a policy they have since maintained. With that object in view, schools were established at all their principal seaports, where not merely the rudiments of navigation were taught the youths, but considerable attention was also devoted to their moral and intellectual improvement.

Practice in Denmark.

In Denmark, for instance, the system of education for the higher grades of the merchant service was particularly strict and effective. No Danish subject was allowed to act as master of a merchant vessel unless he had previously made two voyages in the capacity of mate, while the mates themselves had, and still have, to submit to a general examination, embracing (1st) a knowledge of dead-reckoning, the nature and use of logarithms, and the first rudiments of geometry; (2nd) the nature and use of the compass and log; and (3rd) the form and motions of the earth, and the geographical lines projected on its surface, so as to be able to determine the position of different places. It was also expected that he should understand the nature of Mercator’s charts, and the mode of laying down the ship’s course on them, together with such calculations as may be necessary for this purpose. Expertness in keeping a journal, in the use of the quadrant, and in making the necessary allowances for currents, lee-way, and the variations of the compass, were all required, together with some idea of the daily motion of the celestial bodies, of the sun’s proper motion, and the meaning of the words “horizon,” “refraction,” “semi-diameter,” “radius,” and “parallax.” He was also required to know how to use the instruments for calculating the elevation of the sun and stars, and the distance between objects on shore! Nor, indeed, was his examination limited to the more ordinary details of a navigator’s duty. He was expected to be expert in ascertaining what star enters the meridian at a given time at the highest and the lowest elevations, as well as in finding the latitude, both by means of the meridian height of the sun or of a star, and in determining the time for high and low water. He was further expected to understand the mode of calculating the time of sunrise and sunset, and of ascertaining the variations of the compass by means of one or more bearings in the horizon, and by the azimuth.

In Norway and Sweden.

In Norway and Sweden, mates of ships had to undergo a similar examination before being allowed to act in that capacity, and a still more rigid examination both as regards seamanship, navigation, and the general knowledge of business relating to shipping affairs, before they could command a vessel, together with a knowledge of the Customs and Navigation Laws, and of the usual averages and exchange. They had likewise to know something of the elements of shipbuilding, and of the mode of measuring a ship’s capacity.

Russia and Prussia.

In Russia and Prussia the mates and masters of merchant vessels, besides the qualifications above referred to, were required not merely to read and write their own language with accuracy, but to have some knowledge also of English and French.

So early as 1806 a school was founded in Nicolaieff to train masters and pilots for the commercial marine, which, in 1832, was enlarged and removed to Cherson, while another and similar establishment was at the same time founded in St. Petersburg. All coasting vessels are now bound to have masters who have left these schools with certificates of competency. But the most important measure for the encouragement of seamen in Russia, whether employed in river or sea navigation, was enacted in 1826; families devoted to navigation being then for the first time incorporated in certain towns along the sea coasts and great rivers under the designation of “Corporations of Free Mariners.” These corporations were exempted from the capitation and land taxes, and from the conscription and quartering of troops, on condition that they sent their young men to serve for five years as apprentices in the Imperial fleet.

France.

The system, however, of combining the services of seamen for the navy and the mercantile marine alike has been more thoroughly organised in France than in any other country. There the State and Commercial Navy are under the same code of regulations, the members of each being equally entitled to a pension after a certain length of service: in fact, all seamen in France are held to be in Government employ; their names are registered in the office of the Marine Commissioners of the port to which they belong, and, from the age of eighteen to fifty, they are liable to be ordered at any time on board a Government ship, to serve as long as necessary. Hence it is that almost every seaman or fisherman of France has served in the navy for at least three years. At the age of fifty, and on the completion of a service at sea of three hundred months in either the navy or the merchant marine, a seaman receives a pension according to a certain scale, whereby, however, he cannot get more than six hundred francs, or less than ninety-six francs per annum. But these pensions are not really paid by the State, as a deduction of three per cent. is made from the monthly pay of every seaman in either service, so as to provide a fund for their payment.

France also provides for her seafaring classes more liberal and effective means of education than are, perhaps, to be found in any other country. A professor, paid by Government, resides in each of its principal ports, who affords to all, seeking to be commanders in the merchant service, instruction, free of charge, on the different subjects connected with their profession.[16]

Remarkable care of seamen in Venice; Scuola di San Nicolo.

Seaman’s funds, somewhat similar to those in France, have been established by all other European nations, though the objects in view have differed. That in England, well known as the Merchant Seaman’s Fund, was instituted during the early part of the present century, for the benefit solely of merchant seamen, who were not under any obligation to serve in ships of war, though, during the great war, they were too frequently pressed into the service. All these associations appear to have had their origin with the Italian Republics, and that of Venice is of considerable historical importance, forming as it did the basis on which nearly all the others have been engrafted. This institution, called the Scuola di San Nicolo, was originally founded at that city in the year 1476, in commemoration of the successful defence of Scutari by the Venetians against the Turks. Greenwich Hospital, in some respects, resembles it, but the Venetian institution had attached to it a Merchant Seaman’s Fund, distinctly intended for the relief of the old and infirm sailors of that service. The building itself was destroyed in 1806, but the institution still survives.

Character of this institution;

In 1786, the laws relating to this excellent institution having been carefully revised, required that all seamen, whether Venetians or foreigners, as a condition of their employment in the Venetian merchant service, should inscribe their names at the Scuola di San Nicolo. Foreigners domiciled, who had been employed in the sea service of Venice for the space of five years, were also entitled to the benefits of the institution to the same extent as natives.

On the first inscription, each man had to pay three Venetian livres and two soldi (about 2s. 1d.) as entrance money, and, subsequently, an annual contribution of one livre and eleven soldi (1s. 1½d.). In addition to the above, every sailor or other person of the crew of a vessel was bound to pay twenty soldi (10d.) for each voyage out and home.

All who had been inscribed two years, and had punctually paid their contributions, were entitled to the benefits of the institution, that is, to medical attendance and lodging in the Hospital of Invalids, when advanced in years or infirm. Children, it would seem, were only eligible in cases where the fathers had sailed for ten years beyond the limits of the Gulf of Venice, or along the Dalmatian coast.

and general working.

Variously modified since first creation.

The “Scuola di San Nicolo,” as above described, was preserved with all its laws and rules during the first occupation of the Austrians, from 1797 to 1806, after which it was suppressed by the then Government of Italy. An invalid fund was then established, which may be called an institution for the relief of invalid sailors. One-sixtieth was deducted from all payments made on account of the navy, and assigned to it; it thus becoming, in reality, a military institution, under the protection of the Royal Navy. Subsequently additional funds were assigned to it, in the shape of a percentage on all prizes, the proportion given depending on whether the prize or its captor were a ship of war, a privateer, or a merchant vessel.

By a decree of 1811, the endowment of the institution was further augmented, and the means of giving relief were consequently increased. Three per cent., instead of one-sixtieth, was granted out of the pay of the Royal Navy; and merchant seamen were likewise obliged to contribute their respective shares of pay or prize money. Finally, in addition to the percentage on prizes, the following casual sources of emolument were set aside for this institution:—The proceeds of wrecked vessels, if not claimed within a certain time; the pay due to sailors or others, who had deserted from vessels in the service of the State; half of the pay due to deserters from the merchant service; and the amount due on account of pay, prize-money, &c., to sailors or others dying at sea, if not claimed within a certain time. The immediate direction of the establishment was vested in the Comptroller of the Marine, under the supervision of the Royal Navy Board.

State since 1814.

After the return of the Austrian government in 1814, the civil and military establishment and their administration were separated. Invalid sailors of the navy were placed on the same footing as soldiers, and the institution was then kept up and applied solely to the benefit of the commercial marine, under the title of “The Charitable Institution for Invalids of the Venetian Commercial Navy.” The administration of this establishment was vested in the office of Captain of the Port, under the control of the Government.

Merchant seamen sailing in vessels entered on the registers of the Venetian provinces contribute to its support at the rate of three per cent. on their pay, whether captains, officers, or men; this sum to be paid at the office of the Captain of the Port by the captain or owner of the vessel, according to the muster-roll of the crew. Instead of the casual sources of revenue granted by the decree of 1811, above quoted, this institution is now endowed, in lieu of the moiety of the unclaimed pay of deserters from the merchant service, with an equivalent sum together with the amount of all fines levied on seafaring persons for infringement of the naval laws and regulations. The capital thus accruing is invested in the public funds, and the interest applied to the relief of the deserving, according to the following scale:—Captain, one Austrian livre (about 8d. sterling) daily; an officer, eighty centimes daily; and a sailor, about seventy centimes daily; their widows receiving respectively one-half the above sums. In making selections from the candidates for relief, regard is had to the most aged and infirm. There is no building now appropriated for the reception of the aged and infirm, but the sick are admitted, on application, to the Civil Hospital in Venice. Orphan children are not entitled under the rules to relief: indeed these regulations, like others of a similar character, seem but provisional; but, as they embrace the general features of the Austrian and French systems, they merit attention.

Qualifications of Venetian shipmasters.

The law of the Venetian Republic of 1786, relative to the merchant service, shows the pains taken in former times by the Republic to secure efficient and well-educated men for the command of their merchant vessels. It may be inferred that no conditions were imposed on persons desirous of commanding merchant vessels previously to this law, as, by one of its provisions, it was not to affect persons then in employment as captains or masters—a principle adopted by Great Britain in her recent Mercantile Marine Acts. Those desirous of becoming captains or masters were required to prove that they were Venetian subjects; or if foreigners, that they had been naturalised and had resided in the State without intermission, or had been employed in the Venetian sea service for fifteen years. In addition to this it was requisite for the candidates to give proof of being at least twenty-four years of age; of having served at sea for eight years, either in a private ship or in one belonging to the State, before they could command a ship. Every one, too, besides being able to read and write, was required to satisfy competent examiners that he was versed in the theory and practice of navigation. A Venetian subject, having an interest or share in a vessel and being duly qualified, was, however, entitled to command in preference to any other master.

Present regulations of Austria.

The Austrians, following the example of their provinces, now require candidates for the command of merchant vessels to show that they are twenty-one years of age, and are domiciled in the Austrian dominions: that they have served not less than five years in national vessels other than coasting vessels, and that their general conduct has been good. They are required to undergo a severe examination before a commission, consisting of the officer of government charged with the affairs of navigation and trade, the Professor of mathematics in the Naval College, the Captain of the port, one member of the Chamber of Commerce, and two experienced merchant captains. Candidates are required to answer theoretical and practical nautical questions; to solve such problems as are set before them, and show that they are acquainted with naval laws and discipline, before they can take the command of merchant ships.

Great Britain.

Strange to say, Great Britain, the greatest of all maritime nations, has only, at a comparatively recent period, established a system, to which I shall hereafter refer, whereby all masters and mates in her service are now required to undergo an examination: unlike France, however, she still leaves whatever may be the expense of gaining the previous and fundamental knowledge to be borne by themselves.

Need of a public institution for merchant seamen.

It would weary my readers were I to give further details of the different modes established in other nations for securing the due qualifications of masters and seamen, or for providing institutions for their benefit in sickness and old age. With the exception of Greenwich Hospital, created for the benefit of seamen serving in the Royal Navy, England possesses no State institution appropriated exclusively for the education of our merchant seamen, or for their benefit in sickness or old age. The Merchant Seaman’s Fund was abolished[17] in 1851; and I know of no institution in this country where the aged seaman can find refuge, except one which was recently established, and is maintained by voluntary subscriptions.[18] There are, of course, numerous charitable institutions—far more than in any other country—where seamen, as well as all other classes of the community, are to some extent provided for. But it is to be regretted that, when the Merchant Seaman’s Fund was abolished, some great institution, under the authority of the State, to be supported mainly by the seamen, as well as by voluntary contributions and otherwise, was not then attempted for their special use, so as to afford them some certainty that they would receive either outdoor or indoor relief (the former is preferable) when no longer able to provide for themselves.[19]

Institution in Norway.

One of the best of these institutions was formed in Norway, in conformity with the royal rescript of the 23rd December, 1834. It is maintained, by voluntary contributions from seamen and others, by penalties arising from offences of seamen, and, in some measure, by Government aid. The claimants on this society are those seamen who, while employed, contribute regularly to its funds. Its affairs are managed by directors consisting chiefly of shipmasters. Seamen who, on foreign voyages, leave their vessels without permission of the master, lose any rights they may have acquired; while such of them as are entitled to claim, or their relicts, must prove to the satisfaction of the directors that they stand in need of aid. Shipwrecked seamen also receive aid from this society.

Institutions like these, combined with the course of examination required from all men holding responsible positions on board ship, tend materially to improve the condition of foreign seamen, and to give them advantages too long withheld from the British. These advantages, combined with the unwise protection afforded by the Navigation Laws to the shipowners and seamen of Great Britain, gave foreign nations, for a time, a decided superiority over them. Indeed, it was found that during the first half of the present century neither the ships nor their crews kept pace with those of other maritime nations, till at length it became necessary to adopt measures, not merely for the improvement of the condition of our ships, but likewise for raising our seafaring population, by means of a sound education, to such a position as would enable them to compete successfully under all circumstances with the ships and seamen of other states.

Foreign Office circular of July 1, 1843.

Its value, though unfair and one-sided.

With that important object in view, the English Foreign Office issued a circular on the 1st July, 1843, to all our consuls abroad, requesting information respecting the conduct and character of British shipmasters and seamen frequenting foreign ports; the replies to which produced a large mass of valuable information, presented to Parliament in 1848.[20] But this information would have been still more valuable had it been obtained in a less one-sided and invidious manner. “I am particularly desirous,” remarks the writer of the circular, Mr. James Murray, “of gaining information in regard to instances which have come under your observation of the incompetency of British shipmasters to manage their vessels and their crews, whether arising from deficiency of knowledge of practical navigation and seamanship, or of moral character, particularly want of sobriety.... My object is to show the necessity for more authoritative steps on the part of Her Majesty’s Government to remedy what appears to be an evil, detrimental to, and seriously affecting the character of, our commercial marine, and therefore advantageous to foreign rivals, whose merchant vessels are said to be exceedingly well manned and navigated.”

Replies to circular.

Mr. Consul Booker.

With this assumption, that British ships and seamen did exhibit the inferiority suggested by the writer of the circular, it was but natural that the answers to it should, as a rule, be in conformity with the prejudged and premature opinions expressed in it. Voluminous documents poured in from the different consulates, and, certainly, some of them contained charges of the gravest character against the owners and crews of our merchant fleet. The first is a letter (11th July, 1843) from Vice-Consul Booker, at Cronstadt, who seems to have ransacked his archives, containing, as these did, the results of an experience of fifty-nine years—to discover materials whereon he could ground a charge against the British sailors; but, while admitting that drunkenness was their principal failing, and that it was “a rare circumstance that a master is unfit to clear his ship either inwards or outwards,” he added: “It does not happen above two or three times in the year, in which case I get hold of the mate, and no stoppage ensues; and, in the intermediate time, when the ship is loading, the master, if the worse for liquor, avoids the office.” Of the seamen he remarked: “The crews behave like too many common Englishmen; take their glass freely when they can get it, and sell or pawn their clothes when they have no money; get into scrapes on a Sunday night, and are brought before me on a Monday, lectured, and discharged.”

Mr. Consul Baker.

Consul Baker, of Riga, was more pointed in his charges. He remarked: “I am sorry to state that, in my opinion, the British commercial marine is at present in a worse condition than that of any other nation. Foreign shipmasters are generally a more respectable and sober class of men than the British. I have always been convinced that, while British shipowners gain by the more economical manner in which their vessels are navigated, they are great losers from the serious delays occasioned, while on the voyage, and discharging and taking in cargoes, growing out of the incapacity of their shipmasters, and their intemperate habits. I have had occasion to remark, while consul in the United States, that American vessels, in particular, will make three voyages to two of a British vessel, in this way having an immense advantage over their competitor; and also from the superior education, and consequent business habits, obtaining better freights and employment for their vessels on foreign exchanges.” He further remarked, that, in several instances, he had been compelled, on the representations of the consignees, to take from shipmasters the command of their vessels in a foreign port, and to appoint others for the return voyage; their constant state of intoxication rendering them wholly “unfit to carry on their duties.”

Mr. Consul Yeames.

Consul-General Yeames, writing from Odessa on the 1st December, 1843, stated, that though in his experience he had known many unexceptionable and respectable persons in command of British vessels, they, as a rule, fell very far below the character of commanders of foreign vessels, more especially those of Austria. He attributed this inferiority in a great measure to the want of education and an absence of discipline. “Some of these shipmasters,” he added, “are shamefully illiterate, and are not qualified to do justice to the interest of owners in common transactions that occur in this port. There is, too, an impression here (and certainly among all the foreign merchants) that British shipmasters are indifferent to the condition of their cargoes, and careless of their preservation, which is prejudicial at least to our interests in the carrying trade.”

The Consul of Dantzig.

Somewhat similar accounts were received from Gottenburg, and numerous other ports. “Taken as a whole,” remarked the consul at Dantzig, “there is not—and I say it with regret—a more troublesome and thoughtless set of men, to use the mildest term, to be met with than British merchant-seamen. Only very lately, a master left his vessel, which was loaded with a valuable cargo and ready for sea, and was, after several days’ search, found in a house of ill-fame; his mate was very little better than himself; and his people, following this example, a set of drunkards.” He added, that occurrences nearly as bad as these were by no means rare, and that a Prussian vessel was sure to obtain a preference when freights were remunerative.

The Consuls of Genoa, Ancona, and Naples.

From the Mediterranean ports the accounts received were hardly more favourable to the character of British seamen. The consul at Genoa stated that it was quite common for captains of vessels at that port to take up their abode at a tavern; leaving the entire charge of the vessel in the hands of an ignorant mate, whose whole learning was not a whit superior to that of a man before the mast, and whose quarrels with the men or those among themselves were forced upon the consul for adjustment. At Ancona, the greater part of the masters who frequented the port were considered by the consul there to be unequal to the responsible trust imposed in them, not so much from the want of nautical skill as of sobriety. Out of the shipwrecks which had occurred during his residence at that port, he considered one to have arisen from incompetency, one from the inebriety of the master, and one from causes beyond control. At Naples, the consul spoke of the masters of British vessels being, on the average, ignorant and uneducated—“little superior in mental or literary acquirements to the seamen they are placed over;” and though, on the whole, good seamen, “few of them understand navigation beyond the mere power of keeping the ship’s reckoning. Nothing,” he added, “could be more truly disgraceful or discreditable than the manner of keeping the log-books of the vessels that resort to this port.”

Mr. Consul Sherrard.

Mr. Consul MacTavish.

From Trieste, Constantinople, and Alexandria, reports nearly the same were sent in. Nor were those from our consuls resident in the United States of a more favourable character. “It was but last week,” remarked Mr. Sherrard, writing from Portland, 27th July, 1843, “that I had occasion to take upon myself the risk of sending back to New Brunswick a vessel, whose master, after disposing of her cargo and receiving the proceeds, squandered the whole in liquor, leaving his crew without their wages and the vessel without sea stores.” He mentioned, also, the instance of another, a British barque, from England for St. John’s, Newfoundland, which was boarded by a revenue cutter, the whole crew, including master and mate, being in a helpless state of intoxication, and the vessel drifting about embayed in a dangerous place near Mount Desert. From Baltimore the consul, Mr. MacTavish, wrote that, with few exceptions, “almost all the masters of English merchantmen which have arrived here from British ports in my time appear to me incompetent, arising chiefly from inebriety; but, with regard to colonial vessels, I am happy to say that my experience has been the reverse of the foregoing; the temperance principle is becoming very general on board of them, and a manifest improvement is in progress from that cause;” he added, in reply to questions about the conduct of masters of Hanseatic ships frequenting Baltimore, that, in his thirteen years’ experience, he had heard of but one master of a vessel being a drunkard, and he was at once removed. “They are,” he said, “invariably competent navigators and good scholars, many of them belonging to respectable families in Bremen; and most abstemious, the principal beverage used in the cabin being light-bodied claret and vin de grave.” Of the British shipmasters frequenting Baltimore he wrote in very disparaging terms, asserting them to be, in point of intelligence, address, and conduct, greatly inferior to the shipmasters of either Bremen or America.

Mr. Consul Hesketh.

Mr. Hesketh, writing from Rio de Janeiro, states that, during an active service of more than thirty years as consul at that port, he had experienced unwearied trouble and much anxiety, in consequence of the intemperate habits of the masters and crews of British merchant vessels, and that cases were not uncommon in which it had been found absolutely necessary to take from on board all intoxicating liquors. With regard to their competency in other respects, he said: “I have come to the conclusion that British shipmasters are frequently entrusted with commands on voyages requiring more knowledge of the scientific department of navigation than they possess;” he added, however, that the masters of large or first-class merchant vessels were generally fully competent for their duties.

Reports from the Consuls in South America.

Similar reports came from the consuls of Bahia, Pernambuco, and Paraguay; the consul at the last-named port remarking, “shippers now give such a decided preference to the merchant vessels of Sweden, Denmark, Sardinia, Hamburg, and Austria, that they are rapidly engrossing the carrying trade of Brazil; and this alarming fact is attributed by the most intelligent British merchants and shipmasters, with whom I have conversed on the subject, to the greater care taken by foreign masters, and enforced by them on their crews, in the reception and stowage of their cargoes, which they consequently deliver in much better order than do British vessels, the masters of which are in general said to be exceedingly careless and inattentive in this respect,” an opinion confirmed by Mr. Ellis in his despatch to the Foreign Office from Rio, 10th December, 1842.

Although, for the reasons I have named, these voluminous reports are not so impartial as they otherwise might have been, had Mr. Murray, in his circular-note, merely expressed his desire to ascertain the facts without expressing any opinion of his own, there is too much reason for believing that the character of British ships and the conduct of British crews were then greatly inferior to those of other nations; hence Mr. Murray’s subsequent memorandum of the 22nd November, 1847, contains unquestionably many valuable suggestions for their improvement, while his conclusions could hardly be questioned when he stated:—

General conclusions of Mr. Murray, Nov. 22, 1847,

“1st. That the character of British shipping has declined, and that the character of foreign shipping has improved.

“2nd. That there was not sufficient control over British shipmasters and seamen, either at home or abroad, while foreign vessels were subject to considerable control.

“3rd. That there was no system of regular education for the merchant service of Great Britain, but that, in foreign countries, this matter was much attended to.

“4th. That the sort of education which a British subject receives, when training for the higher grades of the merchant sea service, does not suffice to qualify him to represent with advantage to the merchant by whom he may be employed that merchant’s interest; and that he may often neglect those interests and the merchant not be aware of the fact.”

“What was wanted,” Mr. Murray continued, “was not merely a study of navigation and seamanship, but a thorough knowledge of ship’s husbandry, and a thorough knowledge of stowage of cargo, of exchanges, and other commercial information which would qualify a master to act, if necessary, as the representative of his employer in the character of merchant; the commander of a ship being in law considered the representative of the owners of the property on board. It was further urged that a merchant had no means of accurately ascertaining the character and capability of shipmasters or of seamen, and really depended for the safety of his property upon his insurances.”

and suggestions for remedies

For these reasons, with a view to maintain the supremacy of Great Britain in commercial navigation and enterprise, Mr. Murray proposed to establish “a Board or Department of Commercial Marine,” at the same time pointing out that the want of such a department was greatly felt in the preparation of any new law, and still more so in the subsequent process of acting upon it. Nine departments, he explained, were concerned in the Merchant Sea Service Laws; and there was no central board to point out to each department how each could best act for the success of the whole; each department being left to look merely to those interests committed to its charge, and to its own convenience. The Board of Trade was indicated as the department to which the community would naturally look with regard to everything relating to commerce, whether at sea or on shore.

Board of Trade Commission, May 17, 1847.

Its results.

Previously to the issue of Mr. Murray’s ‘Memorandum,’ that Board had, on the 17th May, 1847,[21] announced the intention of Government to issue a commission without delay to examine into certain matters relating to the commercial marine. This inquiry confirmed in all material respects the information previously received by Mr. Murray. Indeed, three only out of seventy-five reports from consuls stated that the condition of British shipping had improved rather than declined; and, in these cases, it was shown that, from the nature of the trade in which the vessels were engaged—the fruit trade of Greece, and from the perishable character of their cargoes—the greatest care had to be taken in selecting the best ships.

There can be no doubt that, as early as 1843, when Mr. Murray issued his circular letter to the consuls, and more especially in 1847, when Lord Palmerston ordered further inquiry to be made by means of this commission, Government saw the time was approaching when great changes would be demanded, not merely with regard to the Navigation Act, but likewise in the laws affecting our ships and seamen; and that it would, ere long, be essential for our own interests to follow the example set us by foreigners in the education of our seamen, as well as in the application of public tests to prove the competency of the masters and officers of British merchant vessels.

Shipowners condemned for the character of their ships and officers.

Strong objections were, however, raised by the shipowners against any Government interference, on the ground that it would be partial, and consequently so far unjust, these objections being naturally strengthened by the manner in which Mr. Murray had set about the enquiry of 1843. It was, nevertheless, but too evident that, however much British shipowners might deprecate the assistance or interference of Government, a large proportion of their ships were commanded and navigated in a manner reflecting discredit on our national intelligence, and injurious to the interests of Great Britain; that the persons placed in command of them were too frequently unfit for their duties; and that, while many of them were so habitually addicted to drunkenness as to be altogether incompetent for their position, not a few of them were almost without education.[22]

Nor in too many instances were the ships much better than their masters; and hence foreign vessels were frequently chartered in preference to British, not because, as ships, they were superior in quality, but on account of the greater care foreign shipmasters bestowed on the stowage and transport of their cargoes, and from the fact that being generally educated, sober, intelligent, and capable of commanding respect and maintaining discipline, the seamen themselves were consequently more orderly.

Views of Government.

For these and numerous other reasons, Government naturally asked whether it was justifiable that the lives of thousands of persons should be constantly jeopardised, because shipowners had the power of placing incompetent persons in charge of their vessels; and whether it was proper for the State to allow its seafaring population to be left in ignorance and disorder, and exposed to the evil example of illiterate and intemperate masters. Many thoughtful men out of doors also began to enquire if it was right that these men, by sheltering themselves under the Navigation Laws, should be thus allowed to encourage the growth and employment of foreign in preference to British shipping, to the injury of the national interests.

Necessity of a competent Marine Department.

Even had it not become apparent that the time had arrived for great changes in the commercial policy of England, the condition of our seamen and the state altogether of our merchant service required the exclusive attention of some such public department as Mr. Murray had recommended. But such matters, however important, being subsidiary to the question of the Navigation Laws and their effect upon maritime commerce, were left in abeyance till these had been fully considered.