Page:The Blight of Insubordination.djvu/37

29 by the Board of Trade, one of whom we are personally acquainted with is the only one who ever commanded a ship at sea; another has certainly had sea service of a kind, and is to all intents and purposes a Labour agitator of most pronounced form and views. This for what should be the directorate of the mercantile marine of one of the chief seaports of the present time, or ever known in history!

There is no person in the world who 1s legislated against so much as the master of a British ship; if there is, we are not aware of who is so distinguished, but do not, by any means, envy him of the doubtful honour. For various offences against the law, as defined in the Merchant Shipping Act of 1894, he is subject in fines and penalties ranging from a matter of forty shillings to £500, to a total approximating to £10,000, besides which there are many misdemeanours, very easy to slip into, subjecting certificates to the chance of suspension, or of being cancelled altogether, with or without the option of a monetary

This is the common condition in which the shipmaster prosecutes his calling and struggles to exist, always on the defensive in regard to his crew, his owners, and the Board of Trade.

Not in these days of speedy post and telegraph despatch 18 the shipmaster the trusted servant of his employer, as in days gone by. Accredited agents at all the ports touched at are now, and have been for many years, responsible for the business side of the question, and woe to the unfortunate who renders himself objectionable in any way to those who have the confidence of the shipowners for transacting their affairs. This may be considered advantageous to the shipmaster, but 'we suggest that it has created a diversion that could not exist in the good old times when the owner had to trust the master of his ship in every possible way. This is a mere detail, brought about by the altered conditions which now prevail, and for which we have to thank the handmaids of science, steam and electricity, with all the many changes. Rank imposes certain obligations, and has at the same time many disadvantages in the way of responsibility for whatever happens. Alan Oscar, retrospecting his life as a shipmaster, says, among other things,

"He should also be given more power over his ship's company, that he may be able to keep discipline. At present, underpaid; subservient to engineer superintendents; In the anomalous position of &apos;ship-master' without a &apos;master's power; looked upon by his manager (there are no shipowners) a8 a common carrier; it is only to be wondered at