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Leader (1850-1860), 24th July 1858, Edition 2 of 2, Page 16

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      New Caledonia Akd British Colo-

      of New Caledonia .

      712 _ • ;_

      712 _ ;_

      ¦ THE LEADER . ^ __ ¦ _ L ^ o-J ^ 5 jruLY 24 , 1858 .

      Our Mercantile Marine. There Is Nothing ...

      OUR MERCANTILE MARINE . There is nothing of which Englishmen are more proud than the national supremacy at sea—and a very complete supremacy it is , and something to be proud of . The more , too , that it is ours m the face of the world—that we maintain it m open competition with all nations , and spite of the disadvantage that , as yet , but few foreigners have had either the common sense , or the common fairness , to place our flag upon the same footing of equality in every branch of trade as we have long since placed their flags . There is no nation-upon earth has so many ships . uuui mauj j ^

      SUCH large snips , suljkj * w owmu ou »~ w A 1 . at Lloyd ' s , or tb & t has so vast a total tonnage as our own , or so many sailors—or better or braver sailors . Of late years we have increased the size of our ships , we nave improved their form , their speed , their capacity for cargo , their power to endure for years the incessant battle with wave and storm . There is no need to inquire whether this improvement have come of competition , or of downoi

      right admiration ior ** a neauiy a suip , or uum sheer recklessness and a mere empty desire to have the fastest , the biggest , the strongest , arid the finestlooking ships in the workL " We have for ourpresent purpose to do only with the fact that Eng-. land and her dependencies own some 36 , 000 ships , that their united tonnage exceeds 5 , 000 , 000 , that she has upwards of 30 , 000 captains or masters of luutc tuau douuio

      • mcrCUalllj Sllipo , auu uvujvuu . Such a merchant navy never before existed in the , world , and not many years have passed since whoever had ventured to predict our ever having such a merchant fleet , or such a class of ships at ¦ ally either under sail or steam , would Lave been counted , little better than a madman .

      We are proud , too , of our sailors—proud of the fearless spirit of enterprise and endurance that ¦ carries boys and men from home and land to dare the dangers of the sea , and face every climate upon earth . In nothing do our schoolboys so much delight as in stories of shipwreck and the perils of the deep , and . the more they read of storms and risks , and of the privations and hardships of mariners , the-more firmly does the Idesire seize them to go to sea and face them all ; the very children love to make paper boats , and sail them

      in mimic races down the street streams . We are all lovers of the sea—all at heart sailors—and / ' ice should be savages if ice were not sailors , " and yet how sorely we neglect bur sailors , and how bitterly burden our seamed and our ships with excessive legislation . Hear us speak of our ships and sailors , and would any one believe that , "islanders as we are , united "with the rest of mankind by our ships alone , rich , great , powerful by virtue of ships only ,, we yet tax our ships to light our coasts , tax them for the support of' harbours of refusre the maioritv never do enter ,

      and that numbers of them never could > entcr , that we tax a good deal of the very timber of which the ship is built , that we come between the owner and the master and the seamen , and beset their mutual engagements witli each other , their qualifications , their employmentj their pay , with taxes and restrictions P would any one believe , to hear us boasting of the seas , and singing of how " Britannia rules the mat siuior uuujtpi

      waves , me a uomu m age uuu m ; - tude is but the workhouse P that our masters and mates , seeking to establish their fitness in their profession before certain officers of the Government , must actually pay a heavy fee for the certificate of having passed tkie examination P And is it not somewhat wonderful , that being so eminently practi / ul n nonnla lia-vinrr imirmrrst . lie an mnllV VnO . n wlin

      have men to wealth and eminence by force of their downright practical qualities , we yet allow bookknowledge and glibness of answering in seamanship to obtain a better certificate than ten , twenty , thirty years—ay , a whole life—of service upon the sea , in all quarters of the globe ? And is it not « U /\ na < l > Ax iirtn / anjiiiniulilA ( l » nf ill 4 tif >< u > * timr >< a

      rce-trade and universal acknowledgment of the principle of nonrinterferenco with labour and its markets , and when , too , men may employ anywhere any number of tailors , shoemakers , shipoarpenters , or bricklayers without interference of any sort , they may not employ sailors , unless at a shipping-office , constituted under act of Parliament ,

      and that there not only the agreement between the employer and employed must be signed , but there , too , and there only , the sailor must be paid Ins wages , and that for being employed , and being paid , he must in every case put down a fee ? And does it not serve well to cap all this climax of contradictions and absurdities , that in cases of casualty or loss of life at sea in passenger ships we impose a ruinous scale of penalties upon bur own ships ; whereas the foreigners with whom we must compete in carrying emigrants and passengers are subject to no penalties ? True , our seamen have at all times been , one way or another , pretty well looked after , both "b y law and contrary to law . The Government lias never forgotten to tax the sailor . He was taxed many a lone year for the Merchant Seaman's- Fund , and whether the fund went to Davy's locker , or to whose locker it went , neither Jack nor ! anv one else ever knew , or is ever likely to know . ^

      He was registered , too , was Jack , and , in case ot war ( except the last war , for before that broke out impressment was gone by the board , and for ever abolished ) , was knocked on the head , handcuffed , and carried off by force or fraud to serve his country as might please the Admiralty , whether he pleased or not . A good deal of all this , if not indee-d all , did shipowners , masters , and sailors Virino- unmi thp . insfilves bv continually CO in 2 to

      Parliament with "their troubles , and petitioning , and having committees of both Houses , and piles of Blue-books , and laws upon laws to protect , defend , comfort , and cure them . At last , however , they have taken the bull by the horns ; they have constituted an association of their own ; shipowners , masters , and sailors lave , as they ought lone ago to have done , determined to unite ,

      to act as one interest , to befriend each other , to work together for riddance of their grievances and burdens , to labour for the elevation and advancement of the profession of the sea , to labour for the disentanglement of the whole law about sailors and shipowners , and to strive in right good hearty . ^ i ,. —i *~ 4- nv > J k *« 4-1 « - mirt . 1 i ; V » - oli-v no "fita vw r * li /> m < kTT r » f » / ¦ uuiiv ¦¦** j

      ( Jc 4 I . lJ . CS 9 l * itlllL V * 11 / 11 aui / U jivjij . u > 3 v *» v » ^ »«^ w disposed to give—and it should be and will be amp-le—to secure a charter ofV incorporation , not for any party . object , not with any political view , not to amend the law and to carry bills through Parliament , but to give , by the very name of tlie charter , a worthier and better position to the merchant service , and to secure in the constitution of the corporate council men whose position shall be a guarantee for the faithful administration of the funds of the corporation , and for its sincere efforts tr . * v > aii / 4 tl » A y »^ . nrliflrvn r \ f i \ ii * T ^ rif icll mpi * r > lisinl ' . UU ¦ 111 Vf * uiu ¦»»/ iw

      Lv # JIlv ^ I'JAl ^ LUUVAVU . »* ** v . « »»» «« - »« . — seamen of all grades , and to improve the efficiency and discipline of the service . The association has now been about a year in existence , and has made good use of the time . It has held numerous meetings in London and the outports—has established associations at about thirty outports , including Bristol , Plymouth , Falmoivth , Cork , Waterford , Dublin , Belfast . It has prepared and presented by deputation to the Board of Trade the memorial for the charter of incorporation , with the following objects : — IUW uuivt ^ i

      JIHI / . i . U CJIVVUIC llltt DUUUi ^ lljaiUUll o «* ia ^* men belonging totbe mercantile marine , by taking means for ( heir superior education , and the advancement of ability and character , and the better discipline of the merchant service . 2 nd . To reward officers and men of the mercantile marine for long h and able service , for brilliant acts of seamanship , for saving life or cargo , for discoveries , inventions , or other contributions to the service . flul . To nrnvide refutrea for acred and worn-out officers

      and men of the mercantile marine . 4 th . To establish schools , afloat and on shore , for the education and training of boys and men for the service . 5 th . To estublish institutions for the advantage of seamen ; and to publish , or assist in the publication , of any books , ninps , charts , plans , or other works , for the use of the mercantile marine . ftth TVi rnion fun / I a fnt < ilin f > nrrvinrr Ollt of tllGSO Ob-# iMU Vwum \ f V »> ¦•• --

      ^»»•¦• AW * m ** l *\ J A H («^« m J Q — , . _ _ . jects . .. It has issued upwards of twenty tliousand publications , and has enlisted the zealous co-operation of upwards of forty members of Parliament representing ports and port counties , and ai huge number of the most influential shipowners , nnd the ablest m < ttv > linvif onr > 4 iiiiiQ in 4 \\ n Unrrdnm "Noi * lltlVO tllC

      other portions of the work in hand been neglected . Notice has been given by Mr . Crawford , M . P . for tho City , to move early in the next session for a committee to inquire into the operation of the " Merchant Shipping Act , 1853 . " We have reason to believe the notice lias the hearty approval of Mr . Henley , and we are certain that in tlic hands of Mr .

      — . —^^^^^ mm ^ m Crawford , who is chair man . of the association , and who possesses an intimate knowledge of all matters in the interest of shipping and sailors , the inquiry will be full , complete , and such as must lead to sound legislation . ^ leanwhile , it is for the association to persevere in its efforts , which are certain , at no distant date , to be crowned with success .

      "Tthen Doctors Differ." The Metropolitan...

      " TTHEN DOCTORS DIFFER . " The metropolitan public are indebted in no slight degree to the assiduous Committee of the House of Commons , whose highly condensed but lucid report upon the state of the Thames , and Mr . Gurney ' s plan for its amelioration , was published on Thursday last . From that document , which will be condensed in another part of our impression , the reader will learn that the system advocated by Mr . Gurney was to bevil off the foreshore of the river between . . l .: ^ . l > anA lr »« r Tpnfpi * marlfft i , n a . slrmft f > f » Y » rmV . 1 in 111 / | ¦ fTL M \ J nW Tf i •** »* # # ¦ ¦ fc

      I J _ V ^_ «« v ^^^ * B *^«* m *** V ^^ w v ^ * - ^* ^ w ^* B ^^ ^««* Mm 12 i to scoop out a channel at the foot of such slope which might carry off the sewage , and to destroy by combustion in appropriate furnaces the noxious gases generated in the sewers themselves . This scheme is totally rejected by the committee . We are not prepared to admit that the proposed embankment would not valuably promote the scour of the stream , and improve the navi-. # . *! A ' '~_ . J _ I m - rf ^ a «* ft 4 ¦« V- 1 % «^ # ^ inn in n ww # ^ iuu uiuhiiiipc

      ^^ ^^ ^^ ^ ^^ gation ; dux we entirely agree w vuc « <«; in the rejection of the dredged lateral channels . The permanence of these would , in the first place , be problematical ; next , tliey would , if wiaintained , tend to the increase of banks in the centre of the stream . Their effect would be to close the mouths of sewers discharging into them , converting each into an hermetically-sealed cesspool , which again MA .. U «/ vAn « r >! rftTd tltcft / raa / nrhTY ^ Kllcf \ c % r \ < lllM . lt , A RTlfl

      furnaces . The very partial operation of this latter expedient was well and modestly illustrated by a witness in whom the utmost reliance may be placed , the Civil Engineer to the City Sewers Committee , Mr . Hay wood . That gentleman informed the committee that the combustion of gases would entail limited district aione

      in his comparatively acorn , eight sets of very costly apparatus , aud an annual working cost of 50 , 000 ^ . to 60 , 000 / . at the very least . It would demand ventilating arrangements equal in magnitude to those of coal mines , which the necessity of hermetically-sealing some 40 , 000 or 50 , 000 inlets would render impracticable . The report of Lord Palmerston ' s Sewage Commission , appointed in January , 1857 , of which Lord Essex , Dr , South wood Smith , Professor Way , Mr . Simon , Mr . H . Ker Seyrner , Mr . J . Bennet Lawes , iusu i

      and -other gentlemen , were mem oers , nas ^ u still-born during the recent Thames panic . The object of inquiry submitted to that commission was the best mode of distributing the sewage of towns and applying it to . beneficial and profitable uses . The somewhat stale conclusions they seem to have arrived at are , that deodorizing and precipitation of sewage are rather practicable , as is also its application to land by irrigation ; that the lormer processes may perhaps be improved upon in course of time ; and that tliey can be practised -without creating much nuisance and at tiiese

      no immoderate expense . . But gcmiemen have done more than report . They have yielded to the almost irresistible temptation which afflicts Government referees in general . After so long consorting with scliemers and their schemes , they cannot escape the infection , and , without ostentation , they append , to the report a little outline project , of their own for dealing with the sewage ot ti , » moirnnnli !) whifiU looks somethiiiff like a cross

      between those of Mr . Lionel Gisbornc- and sonic other gentlemen who gave evidence before Sir Bcnjumiu Hall ' s referees in 1856 and 1857 . They propose to construct embankments , detached from the shore , in the form of , advanced terraces , continuous on the surface , l ) ut affording , at convenient distances , entrances to tho inner basins they would

      form . , "Withm these lengths of embankment they would encase a series of deodorizing and precipitating reservoirs , into which the whole of tlic sewers now discharging into the Thames would liavc their outfall . It cannot be doubted that tire construction of tho gigantic inland intercepting sewers to which wo are now pledged will present

      engineering difficulties of magnitude , and will involve serious danger to many buildings . We arc not without anxiety for St . Paul ' s Cathedral itself , iu the immediate vicinity of which the low level intercepting sewer will encounter very treacherous ground . A river terrace , too , is in many respects desirable . But in the absence of information as to

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), July 24, 1858, page 16, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_24071858/page/16/