[144] Apart from the aid thus rendered, there is a noble institution for the saving of life from shipwreck on the coasts of the United Kingdom, established in 1824, and maintained entirely by voluntary subscriptions. It is not merely well known in this country, but throughout the world, for no other nation of either ancient or modern times has produced such a truly philanthropic society as the “Royal National Lifeboat Institution of Great Britain.” It has now upwards of 250 life-boats stationed on different parts of our coast. Since its establishment it has expended on life-boats, and other means for saving life from shipwreck, upwards of 356,000l.; it has awarded 91 gold and 863 silver medals, and 45,200l. in coin to brave men as rewards for saving life; while those who manage its affairs and provide the necessary means, have for their reward the inestimable satisfaction of knowing, that the Institution has been the means of extricating from a watery grave and restoring to their friends, during the last half century, no less than 22,660 human beings, of every kindred and of every tongue. How insignificant are the honours conferred by monarchs compared with those which such labours of mercy as these bestow! Its boats, as I have said, are stationed on every part of the coast; and where the rocks are most rugged and the quicksands most deceptive, there these noble craft are to be found with their voluntary crews, the bravest of the brave, daring the rudest storms to save the lives of their fellow-men, and too frequently placing their own lives in the greatest peril. The boats are built expressly for the purpose of encountering heavy storms. The medium, or thirty-feet boat, to pull ten oars double-banked, is probably the best adapted for the general purposes of a life-boat; but, on the Norfolk and Suffolk coasts, and other places, some of the boats actually in use are from forty to forty-five feet in length, weighing from four to five tons, and fitted with lug-sails. These boats put to sea on their grand mission of mercy during the most tempestuous weather.
I remember, a quarter of a century ago, attending, in conjunction with its generous-hearted Chairman, the late Mr. Thomas Wilson, and its present excellent Chief Secretary, Mr. Richard Lewis, and other gentlemen, a meeting which had for its object the renovation of this noble and truly national institution. Its annual income was then only 150l.; its income is now upwards of 40,000l. per annum! But it is only due to the foresight of Lord Cardwell to state that, seeing, when President of the Board of Trade, in 1854, the value that such an institution was likely to prove, he recommended a small Government subsidy to aid it during its struggle for existence. His approval, more than the money voted, was then of great advantage, and he must now look back with no ordinary satisfaction to his thoughtful and generous recommendation. Nor must I withhold from Government the credit due to it for establishing that almost equally valuable and useful contrivance, the Rocket Apparatus, managed by the Coast Guard, under the directions of the Board of Trade, and supported from the Mercantile Marine Fund.
[145] I have frequently thought it would be desirable to institute an inquiry into all losses at sea, where reliable evidence can be obtained. I should have every loss recorded, with a brief notice of the cause of loss, and this record should either be open to the inspection of the public, or published annually by order of Parliament. It would be instructive and valuable, and would, I think, tend to materially lessen disasters at sea, by distinguishing those which arose from unavoidable accidents and those which might have been avoided. Indeed, so strong are my convictions on this subject that, if spared for a few years longer (which I can hardly hope to be, as I am physically myself a wreck), I hope to write another book, to be entitled the ‘Annals of the Sea,’ giving an account of all disastrous shipwrecks, and calling attention to those which would not have happened had ordinary prudence been exercised.
[146] This Bill was introduced by Sir J. D. Elphinstone and Mr. Laird. I opposed it on principle, as I felt that it was an unnecessary interference with the duty of shipowners; and that, if chain cables were to be tested by Government inspectors, we should be obliged to appoint inspectors to examine and report on every article of a ship’s equipment, thus as a matter of fact relieving shipowners from their responsibility to the public. Besides, by subjecting chain cables to an enormous and an unnecessary strain, the fibre of the iron was likely to be destroyed or rendered more brittle, and, hence, less to be depended on. All legislation in this direction should be narrowly watched, and the line carefully drawn, as, in too many instances, it is likely to do more harm than good. Indeed, I cannot too strongly impress upon the minds of persons who have to deal with such questions the impolicy of every measure which has for its object the performance by Government officials of duties belonging to the shipowner, as every such measure necessarily tends to relieve him from his responsibility to the public.
[147] 25 & 26 Vict., chap. 63. This Act altered the law of 1854 by making the limit a sum dependent on the tonnage for 15l. per ton in case of damage for loss of life, and 8l. per ton for loss of goods. It was found that the law of 1854, by making the value of the ship and freight in all cases the limit of damages, gave a premium to bad, cheap, and ill-found ships, since the owner of the cheap ships could recover against the owner of the valuable ship up to a large limit, while the owner of the valuable ship could only recover against the other a very small amount. It also encouraged the conveyance of passengers in ships of an inferior description.
[148] I look back with great pleasure to the part I took, however humble, in connection with this great measure. Though it was the Act of Lord Aberdeen’s Government, its credit is mainly due to Mr. (now Lord) Cardwell, then President of the Board of Trade, to Mr. (now Sir Henry) Thring, by whom it was drawn with great ability and care, and to Mr. T. H. Farrer, then Secretary of the Marine Department, whose clear head, sound judgment, thorough knowledge of maritime law, and unwearied exertions, were of the greatest value to the able minister under whom he acted. Perhaps, in the whole history of Parliament, no Bill at all approaching its dimensions and the multiplicity of subjects with which it dealt, was ever carried through the House of Commons with so much unanimity, and in so short a space of time, as the Merchant Shipping Act of 1854; and, as the manner in which this was done may be useful to the legislators of to-day and of the future, I shall endeavour to state the mode of procedure. Mr. Cardwell, having made himself thoroughly master of the subject by a careful study of the existing mercantile marine laws of our own and other countries in all their details, invited to the Board of Trade the representatives of all the leading seaports in the kingdom, and having furnished them with an outline of his views, wisely sought their aid in the construction of his great measure. He courted discussion in every form, and, in no instance, declined to receive a deputation from shipowners, sailors, and other persons who could furnish him with useful information on the subject. By such means he was able, not, however, without much labour, though it was unseen and unknown, to complete and perfect a most difficult and valuable legislative measure, the whole of the clauses of which he carried through the House of Commons in one day’s sitting between the hours of 12.30 and 5.45! No such legislative feat has ever been performed before or since. Nor was it, indeed, a less perfect measure than various others of one quarter its size, which had occupied the attention of Parliament for as many days as the hours appropriated by the House to its discussion.
CHAPTER XII.
Parliamentary inquiry, 1854-5, on Passenger ships—Heavy losses at sea previously, and especially in 1854—Emigration system—Frauds practised on emigrants—Runners and crimps—Remedies proposed—Average price, then, of passages—Emigration officer—Medical inspection—American emigration law—Dietary, then, required—Disgraceful state of emigrant ships at that time—Act of 1852—Resolution of New York Legislature, 1854—Evidence as to iron cargoes—Various attempts at improvement—Legislation in the United States, 1855—Uniformity of action impossible—English Passenger Act, 1855—Attempt to check issue of fraudulent tickets—General improvements—Merchant Shipping Act discussed—Extent of owner’s liability—Unnecessary outcry of the Shipowners—Question of limited liability—Value of life—Powers given to the Board of Trade—Mode of procedure in inquiries about loss of life—Further complaints of the Shipowners, who think too much discretion has been given to the Emigration officer—Though slightly modified since, the principle of the Passenger Act remains the same—The “Rule of the road at sea”—Examination now required for engineers as well as masters of steam vessels—Injurious action of the crimps—Savings-banks for seamen instituted, and, somewhat later, money-order offices.
Parliamentary inquiry, 1854-5, on Passenger ships.
Although by the Act of 1854,[149] as well as by previous Acts,[150] all Passenger ships were to be surveyed, the impulse given to emigration by the gold discoveries in Australia, and the increased demand for labour in America, combined with other causes, induced Parliament, in 1854, to appoint another Committee of the House of Commons, besides the one which sat in 1851, to inquire into this now important subject, and to pass an Act, in the following year which is the chief Act now in force (18 & 19 Vict. c. 119) exclusively directed to the conveyance of passengers by sea, more especially of that class of persons known as emigrants.