Improvement of the Merchant Navy. [From the "Examiner," June 16.]

Daily Southern Cross, Volume V, Issue 248, 13 November 1849, Page 4

Improvement of the Merchant Navy. [From the "Examiner," June 16.]

The admission of Lord Ellenborough is a very pregnant one, that now th,e Navigation Acts are repealed it is time to repair the defects which the protective system has left, if not produced, in the merchant navy, and to put it on a footing of thorough efficiency. In the views of Lord Ellenborough as to this subject we generally concur. We have long felt the necessity of a compulsory examination to ascertain tfre competency 'of masters and mates, and of arrangements for securing the comforts pf seamen, for protecting them against extort joa and injustice, and providing for the pld age of the deserving. We differ from Lord Ellenborough, however, as to one point, namely, his proposal to subject shipowners who inay happen to employ incompetent masters to penalties, and even to the voiding of their policies of insurance. Some remedy of this kind might and would be requisite in default of an examination to secure the qualification of mas jters and mates, but the certificate resulting from such examination should be enough to satisfy the shipowner of the competency pf the officer, and to exonerate him in the event of the person not proving worthy of his testimonials. The fault in such case •would not be with the shipowner who had employed a master or mate declared duly qualified by authorities appointed expressly for the purpose of ascertaining the competency of candidates, but of the examiners who had passed an unfit man. j A law prohibiting the employment of masters and mates who cannot produce certificates of competency, will take nearly all discretion* from employers in their appointments, and should to the same extent relieve them from all responsibility, and all legal liabilities at least. Lord Ellenborough has made some excellent remarks on the good thrift of making merchant ships as good sailors and as perfect as possible for their purposes. "There was no economy in a badlybuilt ship. A vessel well built, well commanded, and well manned, and which | could perform her voyage in six instead of ten months, was invaluable to. its ownors, and would always command trade in preference to others. He was quite confident thaj the true policy of the shipowners was not to save, but to expend money in making their ships as perfect as possible." A fast ship not only brings her cargo sooner to market, and makes a quicker return, but consumes less provisions, and costs less in wear and tear of sails, tackle, and gear, in proportion as her voyage is shorter. The provisions of the Danes, Norwegians, and Prussian?, b} the cwi., are cheaper than the British, but their advantage in that respect is counterbalanced by the greater consumption from their being longer at sea. Many of our coasters and traders to the north of Europe g,nd Nqrth America, are, jiowever, built tipon the old-fashioned model of tubs, which prevailed during the war, when our ships could plod about their voyages lazily without danger of capture, while our neighbours were obliged to build for speed, in order to run away. This last circumstance accounts for the superior build of the French merchantmen, a superiority, however, which they have not preserved since the peace. There was at one time a notion that a fast ship must be a wet ship, and therefore, unfit for carrying cargo ; but better knowledge and experience have proved that the fastest ships are also the driest, and that wetting is always preferable, more qr less, '

to a bad bow or Leavy quarter. No vessel with a good entrance, long bow, and clean run, buries herself, as the old-fashioned tubs are seen to do, in a chopping head sea.