The principal obstacles in the way of success, in addition to the inefficiency of the schools, the absence of prizes, &c., are three in number.
It is my firm belief that if the Department assist liberally the establishment of navigation schools, placing them on a proper footing, and stating that they are schools established for the sole purpose of giving special instruction in scientific subjects to boys intended for the Royal Navy and the Commercial Marine, these three obstacles will gradually vanish. They are,—
(I.) A disinclination on the part of shipowners to enter boys.
In reply to my inquiries the owners of steamers stated, “We don’t want boys, who eat as much as men, are of very little use, and give a great deal of trouble; we want men.”
Steam having superseded the use of sails to a great extent, boys, who in sailing vessels are invaluable for light work aloft, are not valued in steamers.
Many of the sailors, so-called, that we find in steamers differ very little from landsmen, except that they are not sea-sick, they can take the wheel and pull an oar. To all the valuable qualities of a true sailor, which were developed by and almost entirely due to his work aloft, viz., agility, readiness of resource, indifference to all danger that may be escaped by bodily activity, as distinct from that solid courage which all Englishmen possess, the steam sailor can lay slight claim.
In the Royal Navy we want the superior class of sailors, and if possible those alone. The partial substitution of steam for sails, while it has injured our own sailors has, in the same way and for the same reason, injured those in the commercial marine, on whose aid and support we may at any time be thrown for a supply of seamen.
It is most important, therefore, that every impulse should be given to keep up in the commercial navy both the quantity and quality of the seamen; it is much to be regretted, therefore, that the same disinclination to take boys, although fortunately in a less degree, exists among the shipowners of sailing vessels.
Lads enter on board merchant ships, some as apprentices, some as boys.
In the employment of the larger shipowners apprenticeships are highly valued.[9] The proportion of apprentices to tonnage at present is about 1 to 200 tons. Before the repeal of the navigation laws, it was by Act of Parliament 1 to every 100 tons.