FOOTNOTES:
[149] Merchant Shipping Act, 1854, clause 303, et seq.
[150] The first separate Act for regulating passenger ships was the 43 Geo. III. chap. 56. The substance of this Act and of all subsequent Acts will be found in the [Appendix, No. 7, p. 600].
[151] See ‘Fifteenth Report of Emigration Commissioners,’ 1855, p. 1, and ‘Sixteenth Report,’ 1856, p. 329.
[152] 12 & 13 Vict. chap. lxxxi.
[153] See evidence taken in 1851, more particularly questions 4244, 3878, 3879, &c.
[154] See Captain Beechey’s report on Annie Jane, pp. 61, 62.
[155] The United States Passenger Act, passed in 1855, will be found in Appendix to ‘Fifteenth Report of Emigration Commissioners,’ pp. 106, 107, &c.
[156] Great exertions were made by this country to bring about so necessary an arrangement, and in 1870, ’71, and ’72, it was nearly effected; but a question of jurisdiction has since then delayed its further progress. The pending United States election, and a question connected with consular jurisdiction, combined with a few other matters of less importance, now delay the settlement which I trust may soon be brought about, for nothing can tend so much to the advantage of two such great nations speaking the same language as free and easy intercourse.
[157] An excellent compendium of the Act; and the Act itself will be found in Willmore and Bidell’s ‘Mercantile and Maritime Guide,’ 1856, 223, et seq. The rules and Orders in Council are at pp. 244, 245.
[158] But the great cause of improvement was the introduction of steam ships especially adapted for the purposes of emigration, to which I shall refer very fully hereafter.
[159] See their annual reports.
[160] As the law is more especially applicable for emigrant ships, the “statutory damages therein named” are 30l. for each person.
[161] This power has only once been put in operation, viz., in the case of the John. Its real importance is only in the cases where the sufferers are very numerous, and too poor to bring actions for themselves. In these cases the Board of Trade acts for them.
But, in ordinary cases, the passengers’ relations proceed for themselves. The owner pays the whole amount for which he is liable into the Court of Chancery, and that Court distributes it among all who have claims—whether in respect of life or of property.
The real defects in the Act of 1854 are well pointed out by the Committee of 1860: viz., first, that the law does not apply to foreign ships on the high seas, whether plaintiffs or defendants; and, secondly, that “value of ship and freight” is a premium on bad ships. These defects, as I have already pointed out, were remedied by the Act of 1862.
[162] As to the laws of foreign countries, see Evidence before Committee of 1860; also correspondence in [Appendix, No. 3, pp. 571-82], and correspondence between Mr. Burns and the Board of Trade, Parl. Paper, No. 236, 19th May, 1871.
[163] The shipowners suggested that every passenger should set a value on himself before he embarked!!
[164] Report, 23 June, 1858.
[165] Sir William Jones.
Steering and Sailing Rules.
Art. 11. If two sailing vessels are meeting end on, or nearly end on, so as to involve risk of collision, the helms of both shall be put to port, so that each may pass on the port side of the other.
Art. 12. When two sailing ships are crossing, so as to involve risk of collision, then, if they have the wind on different sides, the ship with the wind on the port side shall keep out of the way of the ship with the wind on the starboard side; except in the case, in which the ship with the wind on the port side is close-hauled and the other ship free, in which case, the latter ship shall keep out of the way; but, if they have the wind on the same side, or if one of them has the wind aft, the ship which is to windward shall keep out of the way of the ship which is to leeward.
Art. 13. If two ships under steam are meeting end on, so as to involve risk of collision, the helms of both shall be put to port, so that each may pass on the port side of the other.
Art. 14. If two ships under steam are crossing so as to involve risk of collision, the ship which has the other on her own starboard side shall keep out of the way of the other.
Art. 15. If two ships, one of which is a sailing ship and the other a steam-ship, are proceeding in such directions as to involve risk of collision, the steam-ship shall keep out of the way, and pass astern of the sailing ship.
Art. 16. Every steam-ship, when approaching another ship, so as to involve risk of collision, shall slacken her speed, or, if necessary, stop and reverse; and every steam-ship shall, when in a fog, go at a moderate speed.
Art. 17. Every vessel overtaking any other vessel shall keep out of the way of the said last-mentioned vessel.
Art. 18. Where, by the above rules, one of two ships is to keep out of the way, the other shall keep her course, subject to the qualifications contained in the following Article.
Art. 19. In obeying and construing these rules, due regard must be had to all dangers of navigation; and due regard must also be had to any special circumstances which may exist in any particular case rendering a departure from the above rules necessary, in order to avoid immediate danger.
Art. 20. Nothing, in these rules, shall exonerate any ship, or the owner or master or crew thereof, from the consequences of any neglect to carry lights or signals, or of any neglect to keep a proper look-out, or of the neglect of any precaution which may be required by the ordinary practice of seamen or by the special circumstances of the case.
Mr. Thomas Gray, one of the Assistant Secretaries to the Board of Trade (Marine Department), feeling how important it would be to have these rules impressed upon the minds of all navigators, and knowing what effect rhyme has in bringing at once to recollection, for instance, the number of days in each month, put with great tact and ingenuity these rules into verse, thus:—
1. Two steam-ships meeting.
“When both side-lights you see ahead,
Port your helm, and show your red.”
2. Two steam-ships passing.
“Green to green, or red to red,
Perfect safety—go ahead.”
3. Two steam-ships crossing.
Note.—This is the position of greatest danger; there is nothing for it but good look-out, caution, and judgment.
“If to your starboard red appear,
It is your duty to keep clear;
To act as judgment says is proper—
To port, or starboard, back, or stop her!
“But when upon your port is seen
A steamer’s starboard light of green,
There’s not so much for you to do,
For green to port keeps clear of you.”
4. All ships must keep a good look-out, and steam-ships must stop, and go astern, if necessary.
“Both in safety and in doubt
Always keep a good look-out;
In danger, with no room to turn,
Ease her—stop her—go astern!”
These appropriate but simple rhymes have been translated into various languages, and, I doubt not, have been the means of preventing numerous collisions and other accidents at sea. It may be amusing and instructive to add that, when the question of lights for ships and rules of the road at sea were under consideration, the French Government wrote to our Government proposing a Maritime Congress to settle them. We replied in substance, “No. A Maritime Congress of sailors of different nations and languages will be a Babel. But we will heartily co-operate with you; we will propose a draft of rules and submit them to you. If France and England can agree on this, other nations will probably join.” France adopted our proposal most cordially, and we set to work. At that time we were fortunate enough to have Mr. Milner Gibson at the Board of Trade, who united, as I have explained in the text, what scarcely any other man would have done, perfect knowledge of the subject, a clear, logical, and sensible understanding, and a remarkable power of making other people agree. Not without difficulty, a set of rules was, under his leadership, framed by the Admiralty, the Trinity House and the Board of Trade acting together. These rules were sent to the French Government. They approved them, making some valuable criticisms, but, chiefly, criticisms of detail. We then said, “Now let there be no question of national vanity; no quarrel as to who originated these rules. Do you publish them in your Moniteur on a given day, and we will, on the same day, publish them in our Gazette, merely stating that the rules had been jointly settled by the two Governments.” This, as might have been supposed, was agreed on. To the surprise, however, of every one connected with the facts, the Moniteur some time before the day fixed, published a long story to the following effect:—“That the French Minister of Marine had long been alive to the dangers to which navigation was exposed for want of such rules; that he had communicated his apprehensions to his colleague, the French Foreign Minister, who sympathised with him; that he, the French Minister of Marine, thereupon prepared a set of rules, which he sent to his colleague; that the French Foreign Minister submitted these French rules to the English Government; that that Government gave them its cordial and grateful approval; and that both Governments then agreed to adopt them. Therefore, they were to become law!”
[167] See evidence at great length on this subject before Merchant Shipping Committee of 1860; and especially before Royal Commission on unseaworthy ships of 1873-4.
[168] From having been myself trained in the forecastle of a ship, I am familiar with the character and habits of sailors at sea. Though I have found among them some worthless characters, as may be found in all other branches of trade, and a few scheming and clever but bad men, who were the leaders in all mischief, known frequently as “sea lawyers,” the sailor at sea is usually an industrious, thrifty, and, I may add, a sober man. You will find him in the “dog watches,” or during the Saturday-afternoon holidays, making, mending, or washing his clothes; his trousers, his chief garment, are cut out from a roll of canvas stretched on deck, by means of his jack knife, and usually consist of only two pieces ingeniously stitched together; being, consequently, too flat behind, but having the highly-approved and familiar straight legs. He takes a particular interest in his sea-chest and its contents, and is often to be found arranging them and seeing that they are all in good order. As he approaches home, after a long voyage, you may see him figuring with a bit of chalk on the lid of his chest the amount of wages he will have to receive, and frequently hear him relating to his shipmates how he intends to dispose of them, and his mental disposition of them is usually wise and generous. But, as soon as he goes on shore, his character seems to change, and there he too frequently throws his hard-earned wages away in drink, folly, and vice. I had, when a youth, seen something of the sailor in his usual rendezvous on shore as well as at sea, but nothing good or evil that I remember worthy of note. Therefore, when changes relating to his condition and welfare were contemplated, and when, as a member of the House of Commons, it was likely that I should be expected to aid in effecting those changes, I resolved to see more of Jack on shore than I had ever done before. With that object, I frequently dressed in the rough garb of a coasting skipper or mate. I might have saved myself the trouble of changing my usual attire, for few knew me then in person, and, at best, I never looked better than the character I assumed. Thus attired, I made frequent nightly visits to the public-houses and dancing saloons in Ratcliffe Highway, and in the vicinity of the London and St. Katherine’s Docks, the usual haunts of sailors and of their varied and very questionable “friends.” With my pipe and pint of beer, I sat often for hours among them, and thoroughly made myself master of “Jack on shore” and of his depraved companions. Poor fellow! he was, so long as his money lasted, the victim of them all. Sometimes the whole of his earnings were lost or stolen from him in the first night’s debauch. As you entered these gaudy but wretched saloons, you could at once distinguish in the throng the sailor who had just come on shore, and the sailor out-of-elbows in search of another ship. I shall not attempt to describe these places, of which there are still too many in the East end of London; it is sufficient to state that vice in its darkest forms, without one redeeming spark, held high revel there. They were, indeed, loathsome “hells.” I gained from them, however, a knowledge which I could not otherwise have obtained, and which I hope proved of some service to the Board of Trade when they were framing their excellent measures for the improvement of our mercantile marine.
[169] During the year ending 20th November, 1874, 50,182l. 15s. 6d. was received at the Seaman’s Savings-banks, and 45,964l. 9s. 10d. paid away, leaving to the credit of the seamen depositors, with interest, 81,116l. 1s. Since the money-order offices were opened in 1855, there has been received through these offices at ports in the United Kingdom and ports abroad, up to the close of 1874, 4,827,093l. 1s. 11d., and remitted to 804,208 persons the sum of 4,822,338l. 14s. 8d. See Parl. Papers, Seaman’s Savings-banks and Money-orders, 161, 21st April, 1875. I most sincerely trust that Government will do everything in its power to encourage and induce seamen to make more use than they now do of these most valuable offices. These and education, more than stringent legislative enactments, are the instruments whereby the power of the crimp is to be crushed, and our seamen elevated to the position of our mechanics.