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really is at the bottom of our worthy correspondent's present troubles. In this view we hastened to procure a copy of the return from which he has informed us that he derives his information. It is 66 a return of all seamen committed to gaol in Great Britain and Ireland for refusing to go to sea, or for desertion, in the years 1875-6-7." The form of the return moved for, and the information given, could not have been devised in a more suitable way if the intention of the mover had been deliberately to mislead, and we therefore do not wonder at our sympathetic correspondent having fallen into error over it, nor that he has formed the conclusions on it with which he has favoured us. For instance, we find amongst other reasons given, the following:-"Left ship to visit a dying father, "wanted to see his wife," "dreamt the ship was going to be lost," "thought the ship's boats were too large," "did not like the ship," "thought the ship was unseaworthy," "did not like the cook," "the crewspace was leaky," &c., &c., and there is not a single word to show whether the plea was good or bad, or was investigated at all; and so it happens that the feeling hearts of persons like our correspondent are smitten; as it has seemed from this return, not that the excuse was silly, unfounded, or irrelevant, but that the men were actually sent to prison because they had left the ship on the grounds stated.

Now, we must look at the facts as we find them, and we find as follows:

The numbers of seamen, including apprentices and mates, committed to prison during the five years ending 1877 for refusing or neglecting to proceed to sea according to agreement, or for simple desertion, and the number of ships in respect of which they were committed, were as follows:

:

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Allowing for a residuum, consisting of persons who regard shipowners as lawful prey and the swindling of boarding-house keepers as a pleasant diversion, a residuum who spend a large proportion of their time in gaol, it will be seen on taking these parliamentary returns as a basis that the percentage of deserters to the whole number of seamen in the Mercantile Marine is almost infinitesimal. If it could but be found how many of the men included in the return have appeared in it more than once, then the return would be useful as showing more completely how very little the general body of seamen are affected by the present power of arrest without warrant. As the matter stands, however, it is obvious either that desertion is small, or that shipowners do not rigorously exercise their power of arrest, for we find that the proportion of seamen committed for desertion in the three kingdoms, including repeated convictions, gives only an average of about one in 563, or 177 per cent. per year. The number of entries and clearances at ports in the United Kingdom for one year show that, as regards voyages (i.e., opportunities of desertion), the above proportions should be greatly reduced. As nearly as can be computed 2,300,000 seamen, reckoning their repeated voyages, enter ports in the United Kingdom in British vessels during one year. It should also be remembered that the returns include committals of apprentices who ran away because they were tired of the sea, or wanted to get rid of their apprenticeship. Foreign vessels are apparently included in the return list, but are not reckoned in calculating this proportion. We may, with certainty, infer from the figures that the number of cases to which Clause 10 of the new Act would have applied were comparatively few. The desertions and refusals in the majority of cases were simply the acts of individuals, and very seldom the acts of one-fourth of the seamen belonging to the ship. As regards the reasons urged by the seamen in justification or extenuation of their desertion, we assume, of course, that they were carefully inquired into, and were deemed by the magistrates to be unfounded or absurd, or committal would not have taken place; but in order to place before our readers all the information that can possibly be gleaned from this very loose return, we have classified the excuses of the men as follows:

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Not stated in No. of Men... 194... 172 ... 127
Return

No. of Charges 127 119

91

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138... 91 722

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72 497

Total Number of Men Committed 632 ... 633 ... 663 ... 634 ... 553 *3115 343 374... 387... 352 ... 322 ...1778

Total Number of Charges

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As regards the pleas of unseaworthiness, we find that 156 men were committed to prison in 31 cases after the ships had been surveyed and declared seaworthy by the Board of Trade Surveyor. In the cases of 353 men who alleged unseaworthiness, the magistrates did not order, nor did the men demand, any survey.

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When we take into consideration the efforts that have been made in late years to convince the public of the general unseaworthiness of merchant ships, and when we read of an eminent philanthropist recently stating on a deputation to the Board of Trade, that seamen are still sent to prison because they refuse to proceed to sea in unseaworthy ships," we are altogether surprised to find that the returns show how little the seaman himself believes in unseaworthiness. It is the more remarkable, because the State affords the seaman the services of a staff of surveyors to do his work gratuitously or at the cost of the owner, while it refuses to the shipowner all aid whatever in the same way even if he is willing to pay for it.

We do indeed see here and there in the return the effect of fear or of folly, as in the plea of one man who deserted because he "dreamt that the ship was going to be lost," and of seven others who deserted because the "ship's boats were too large." In the latter

* In a note under Liverpool we find reference to a batch of cases which are not included in the body of the Return, and cannot therefore be classified.

case, however, the men had received advance notes, but in the case of the dreamer this point is not stated.

"Dislike of ship" is a common excuse, and though it appears to have been looked upon in a general way as an allegation of unseaworthiness, it may possibly have been the first excuse that suggested itself to the men on getting sober, or a simple freak of superstition akin to the ancient objection to sailing on a Friday. It is here worth noting as a fact, before we proceed, that in the majority of cases in which unseaworthiness is urged in any form as a reason for desertion, the men had received advances either in notes or in cash. The fact tells both ways. One side would urge that the seaman was possessed with a desire not to work after having spent his advance, which would be against the seaman ; while the other side might regard the fact of having to give an advance note in any case as evidence in favour that the seaman could only be induced to serve in the ship by receiving an advance as an inducement. Those who alleged unseaworthiness in any way, number, however, only one-sixth of the men committed to prison, only one in 3,459 of existing British seamen and only one in about every 23,000 British seamen, including their repeated voyages, who leave a port in the United Kingdom during one year.

There is one fertile cause of desertion which is not properly represented in our table, although we have devoted a separate heading to it. It is drunkenness, which in the case of seamen is generally the outcome of the advance-note system, the stronghold and backbone of that familiar demon, the crimp. Most rightthinking men saw with regret that the last Bill, which would practically have abolished the note and have ruined the crimp, was rendered practically impossible by the inevitable and lengthy discussion which must have followed the retention by the committee of the 4th Clause.

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It is well known, though there is no evidence in the return, that the majority of seamen who plead guilty," or who "gave no reason" for desertion, were the victims of this besetting sin, and we therefore caution our readers against accepting without reserve the figures under the head of drink in our little table. That table

only includes the cases in which drink is " officially" recorded as

the cause.

Under the heading of "various" excuses, we find objections to food, beds, &c., undermanning, dislike or brutality of master and mates. Indeed, in one case we find that nine men "refused to go unless mates discharged, which master declined." It is clear, however, that in most instances these allegations of brutality were unfounded, as the men had not joined work, and could scarcely be in a position to judge of the disposition of their officers. There are also other domestic reasons urged in extenuation that are not so much entitled to sympathy as the one quoted by our correspondent. One man "refused to go, or to do any more work unless he could take his wife with him :" another said, "I won't go in her; I want to see the old woman :" another "wanted to see his wife:" another "could not go because his clothes had been pawned by his wife :" another "had a grievance at home," &c., &c., &c. “A sailor's wife a sailor's star shall be" is a very pretty sentiment, but to be consistent it ought to be indulged in before a drinking bout, and before an advance note is spent. Ever since Antony followed his frail bewitcher from the sea fight, and bartered the empire of the world for a kiss, we fear that many a sailor has too often allowed the tender feeling to keep him ashore.

We do not for a moment insinuate that Jack should not marry and become a respectable member of society. On the contrary, marriage might improve him, and in many cases would be a safeguard from a thousand snares, and whilst affording him a 66 star," for which to steer with gladsome heart, might wean him from the debauchery and riot which too often follow a long voyage. But unfortunately Jack has not many opportunities of cultivating a virtuous attachment, and a seaman's wife is, consequently, sometimes a person rather to be dreaded than cultivated. Thrown on the world as a child, brought up in a training-ship without the remotest opportunity of mixing with the opposite sex, having no chance of cultivating the amenities, he comes ashore after his first voyage, and is "taken in tow," and his experience commences. This is followed by a wife at every port," and by disease and

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