employed in the foreign trade of the United Kingdom; and whilst for every life lost in 1833-34-35 there were 2276 tons on the register, and 4628 tons employed in the foreign trade of the United Kingdom, for every life lost in 1870-71-72 there were 3635 tons on the register, and 13,831 tons so employed. The above results are so striking that we have tested them in another way. The number of ships actually employed in the trade of the United Kingdom being known from the year 1849,* the number employed in the earlier years has been estimated from them, and the wrecks at the different periods have been compared with these numbers with the following results. The average annual percentage of ships lost, compared with the average number of ships employed, was in 1833-34-35, 3.72; in 1841-42, 3-20; in 1860-61-62, 3·00; and in 1870-71-72, 2.95. If these figures can be trusted, and for the purpose of a general comparison we have no doubt they may, they entirely dispose of the allegation that employment in British shipping is far more dangerous now than it was forty years ago, at a time antecedent to the repeal of the Navigation Laws. And by the comparison between 1816 and 1836, qualified as it must be by an allowance for the errors we have pointed out, it is also clear that at the commencement of this century no such golden period of safety as is assumed in the extracts we have quoted above ever existed at all. Nor is there any reason to suppose that things are getting worse at the present moment. The winters of 1870-71-72 were exceptionally fatal, especially to coal-ships, grain-ships, and timber-ships; as may be seen by comparing the loss of life in those ships in those years with the loss of life in similar ships in the years 1860-61-62, as given in the summaries of the returns made to the Royal Commission. For the years 1873 and 1874 we have not detailed returns such as were made out for the Royal Commission for 1870-71-72. But there is another trustworthy source from which we can judge what the percentage of loss has been for a series of years ending with 1874. Great pains have been taken in late years to clear the register of ships which no longer exist, and amongst others of those * It is found as a matter of fact that the number of unemployed ships has for the last thirty years been diminishing from year to year, or in other words, that the number of ships employed approaches more and more nearly to the number of ships which are in existence and are on the register. As it is the employment and not the existence of a ship which exposes it to danger, this constitutes a further reason why the comparison of the different proportions which wrecks have borne to registered tonnage at different periods makes the danger of the earlier period appear to be less, and the danger of the later period greater than they really are. which have been lost by wreck; and from the returns for the last ten years thus compiled it appears that the percentage of average annual loss by shipwreck, whether compared with the number and tonnage of ships upon the register of the United Kingdom, or with the employment of that shipping, as shown by the entries and clearances in the foreign trade, is considerably less during the last five years of the decade than it was in the first five years. The proportion of ships lost to ships on the register was in the first five years 4.2, and in the last five years 3-4; and whilst for every 1000 ships entered and cleared in the first five years the number lost was 23, in the last five years it was only 16. In other words, whether we compare the wrecks with the aggregate shipping on the register or with the employment of that shipping, the proportion of wrecks is not increasing but diminishing. The above figures are calculated to dispel a good many illusions and apprehensions; and when the peculiar circumstances of shipping during the last thirty years is considered, viz., an enormously increased demand; requirement by the public, perhaps sometimes irrational, for very great speed; the everincreasing risk of collision; a growing scarcity of labour in this as in other employments; the adoption of a new material, iron, and a new motive power, steam; with all the dangers necessarily incident to such experimental novelties; there is reason, not for remaining satisfied with the present state of things, but for a confident belief that our merchant shipping is, at any rate, as good and as safe as it ever was at any period of which we have accurate records, and that it is becoming more, and not less, safe. We should have been glad to add to the above figures some comparison of the wrecks in foreign merchant navies with our own; but the returns are so imperfect and untrustworthy that I hesitate to make use of them. M. Bal, the Director of the French Veritas, a most competent witness, states that in his opinion English ships navigate as safely as those of any other nation.* This is a very important opinion, more especially when it is considered that British captains are undoubtedly more daring than those of many other nations, and for the sake of quick passages incur risks which more cautious or more timid navigators avoid. One other fact with respect to foreign merchant navies is important. It appears from recent Parliamentary returns that the countries which subject their ships to a compulsory official * Unseaworthy Ships Commission. Qu. 8061. survey and regulate the loading, are France, Italy, Greece, and Belgium; and that the following countries do not subject their ships to any such official survey or regulations; viz., Russia, Denmark, Holland, Germany, and the United States.* Now there can be no question that of these two sets of countries the latter are the set which display most genius for maritime concerns, and which are our most successful rivals. Are we at this stage to take France and Italy as our models in the matter of navigation? or are we to maintain the system of freedom under which England and the other northern nations have hitherto prospered? Before we adopt the French and Italian system it will at any rate be well to see what those who are best acquainted with it say of it. M. Bal, the manager of the French Veritas, on being asked by the late Commission what was the value of the French official survey, replied, 'Aucune valeur!' and Her Majesty's Minister at Rome, speaking of the Italian official survey, says: I have been informed by persons of considerable experience relating to maritime trade that the surveys or examinations required by the Italian Mercantile Marine Code to be made before ships go to sea are practically valueless as securities against overloading.' And, again, he quotes the opinion of a competent Italian to the effect that All the visits made by our Government officials to national vessels are mere formalities and nothing more.'† From the above inquiry it seems reasonable to conclude :1. That the British Merchant Navy has since the repeal of the Navigation Laws increased much more rapidly than it did before that event. 2. That the increase has been principally in the form of steam-ships, the most valuable form of shipping property. 3. That the employment of British shipping has increased in a still faster ratio than the shipping itself. 4. That this increase has been not only positively greater since the repeal of the Navigation Laws than it was before, but that (whilst the merchant navies of other countries, especially of those which have unreservedly adopted a Free-trade régime, have also much increased), British shipping has gained on the shipping of other nations, not only in the enormous trade of our own country, of which it carries a larger proportion than it did formerly, but in the trade of foreign countries also, so that it * See replies by Her Majesty's Ministers abroad to questions concerning the laws of foreign countries. Parl. Papers, 153 of 1873, and 133 of 1874. † See Parl. Paper, c. 853-1, 1873. Qu. 8035, and Parl. Paper, 133 of 1874, p. 15. Vol. 141.-No. 281. T now now carries a far larger and more valuable proportion of the trade of the whole world than it ever did. 5. That the trade in passengers and in the more valuable class of goods which require certainty, safe loading, and despatch, is more than ever in our hands. 6. That the estimation in which British shipping is held by foreign shippers has greatly improved during the last thirty years. 7. That the opinion of Her Majesty's Consuls abroad, concerning the condition of our shipping, is much more favourable than it was thirty years ago. 8. That the condition and character of our merchant officers has much improved. 9. That while the condition of the seamen employed in British steamers trading from the United Kingdom, who form about a third of all the seamen employed in British ships in that trade, is decidedly improved, the condition of the seamen employed in British sailing-vessels is still far from what could be desired; and that the supply of good sailors is scarcely equal to the demand. 10. That there is no ground for supposing shipwrecks and loss of life from shipwrecks to have become more frequent in late years. On the contrary, from a period antecedent to the repeal of the Navigation Laws down to the present time, the ratio of loss to the whole merchant navy has been and is still decreasing, and this, notwithstanding the experimental character of shipping enterprise during the introduction of iron as a material, and steam as a motive power. Are we then to conclude that there is no case for legislation; no evil to be cured; no ground for the public feeling which has been aroused; and that Mr. Plimsoll's enthusiastic benevolence, and the less sensational labours of the Royal Commission, have been alike in vain? By no means: the records of the Board of Trade, and the evidence given to the Commission, show that there is still a terrible loss of life and property at sea, and give reason for believing that some part of this loss is preventible. Nor will those who are desirous of making real reforms, and who know the difficulties of making them, be likely to undervalue the motive power which Mr. Plimsoll has set at work. But a grateful recognition of this service by no means implies an admission of Mr. Plimsoll's case, or agreement in his practical conclusions. His book is not the work of a man who has spent time, care, and thought on mastering a difficult subject,who by the exercise of long and careful observation of facts and cool judgment concerning consequences, has arrived at certain clear clear and positive conclusions, and who, on the strength of convictions thus formed, devotes his powers of reasoning and persuasion to convince, first of all, reasonable men, and through them the unreasoning portion of society. On the contrary, it is the work of an enthusiast who has, as he thinks or feels, become aware, as by a flash of inspiration, of a great evil-who sees, as he thinks, by intuition, the way to cure it-who appeals to the sentiment of the many rather than to the reason of the few,—and who looks on all who doubt his inspirations and intuitions as foes to justice and humanity. In fact, he not only did not assist or recognise the efforts which had been made by others, and notably by Mr. Fortescue in 1871, but he expressly poured contempt on them and all concerned in them, as will be seen at pp. 29 and 73 of his book.. Accuracy in facts and figures, exact reasoning, regard for ultimate consequences, respect for the personal reputation or feelings of individuals, recognition of the labours of others, are lost in a burst of excited feelings. Those who are not with him are against him, and those who are against him encourage the wilful destruction of seamen's lives! So far as the argument of his book can be traced, it is as follows: : There is terrible loss of seamen's lives. This loss is due to the fact that bad and careless shipowners send them to sea in bad and overladen ships. Bad and badly-laden ships can be, and ought to be stopped by Government officials. Therefore the construction and loading of all ships, bad and good, must be subjected to Government supervision. Of these propositions, all except the first (which has been exaggerated by the mistaken use of statistics) are denied and disputed by independent men who have given much thought to the subject. The policy approved by the Royal Commission, and hitherto adopted by successive Governments and Parliaments, has been to provide for the maximum of publicity, and of liability, civil and criminal; and to detect and stop the bad ship and punish the bad shipowner in purse and in person, without taking on the Government the responsibility of superintending and managing all ships good as well as bad. As regards the comparative merits of the policy, and of that urged by Mr. Plimsoll, more will be found below. As regards the amount of truth which lies at the bottom of his case, it is more difficult to speak. How far the loss of life at sea is due to the carelessness and greed of shipowners is still an open question. On the one hand, it is impossible to deny that instances do Occur |