“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]