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Thames Star, Volume IX, Issue 3057, 2 December 1878, Page 2

Anotheb vessel has been wrecked.on the New Zealand coast; probably by this time vessel and cargo have been cast to the mercy of the waves. One fortunate circumstance in connection with this latest marine disaster is that ho lives have been lost; and we may add that the same circumstance has attended the stranding of several other vesselß lately; noticeably the City of Auckland and the Felix Stowe at Otaki, the Carlotta at Wellington Heads, and the Taranaki at Earewa Islandi The minor affairs, like the Taupo "bumping" off Gisborne, and the Hauraki stranding at Waitara, need not be mentioned but in evidence of the very patent faci that disasters of this k'ihd ori the coast of this Colony have! been frightfully frequent of late. We, need not here dilate upon the causes which have led to these disasters, or the results of the enquiries made into them. The causes are various,'

and we make bold to say that in some of the instances inefficient seamanship, incorrect navigation, want of attention to the state of the weather and barometrical changes, misunderstandings between officers of different watches, all these— which would constitute charges against officers of a ship—have conduced to the loss of several valuable ships, many thousand pounds' worth of cargo, and the placing of hundreds of lives in extreme peril. The question is becoming so serious that it is to be hoped directors and shareholders of. insurance companies will keep an eye upon the Courts of Enquiry held under the Marine Act. It is natural for passengers when they have escaped a ■ great peril—when they have been saved from what Beemed imminent death by the steady nerve and cool judgment of a ship's captain, to lake the earliest opportunity of expressing their gratitude. It is the outcome of that spontaneous; generosity which prompts people to applaud a brave and successful action ; and for: ourselves we should prefer to tcavel with a skipper who had displayed courage and nerve under trying circumstances to one who had all his life sailed in smooth water. These considerations the judicial minds engaged: in after enquiry have to divest themselves of. It used to be a boast twenty years ago that vessels coming to New.Zealand enjoyed a special immunity from disaster. Is the present large average due to excessive competition, or is the average only apparently great, and not really excessive considering the increase of shipping to and from New Zealand and along the Coast ? It should be remen> bered primarily that all disasters of the I kind ought to be as closely enquired into as if there bad been a terrible loss of life. The culpability of the' officers may be as great, and the evidence should surely be more complete when all hands are saved, than in cases where people who could give the best evidence have been lost. Without reference to any recent case, we contend that a most searching enquiry should be made into each and every marine casualty ; and over and above that we think a Boyal Commission should be appointed of competent nautical authorities to examine into (1) the charts used by sailing masters, (2) the routes taken by vessels coming ! from foreign ports and those confined to the coastal service, (3) whether the latter make any difference (and what) in leaving a port when atmospheric disturbances are threatening, (4) the qualifications of coasting captains of steamers and their chief officers, and any other matters, a knowledge of which, if attended to, could be supposed to prevent the disasters which have lately occurred, and which may again occui% with, the difference that in future they may be accompanied with a great loss of life.