The Blight of Insubordination/Appendix
APPENDIX.
The report of the Committee appointed by the Board of Trade to inquire into certain questions affecting the Mercantile Marine has been issued. The following is the full text of the document:
MINUTE OF APPOINTMENT.
At the Council Chamber, Whitehall, this thirteenth day of January, 1902.
Present:
The Right Hon. Gerald William Balfour, M.P.
The Board of Trade are pleased to appoint the following gentlemen, viz.:
The Right Hon. Sir Francis Jeune, K.C.B. (Chairman)
Mr. W. F. G. Anderson
Captain H. Acton-Blake
Mr. Thomas Burt, M.P.
Captain A. J. G. Chalmers
Colonel John M. Denny, M.P.
Mr. Walter J. Howell
Vice-Admiral R. M. Lloyd, C.B.
Mr. W. Milburn, jun.
Mr. J. Havelock Wilson
to be a Committee to inquire into and report upon the following matters:
(1) The causes that have led to the employment of a large and increasing proportion of Lascars and foreigners in the British merchant service, and the effect of such employment upon the reserve of seamen of British nationality available for naval purposes in time of peace or war;
(2) The sufficiency or otherwise of the existing law and practice for securing proper food, accommodation, medical attention, and reasonable conditions of comfort and well-being for seamen on British merchant ships;
(3) The prevalence of desertion and other offences against discipline in the mercantile marine;
And to make such recommendations with respect to these matters as they may think fit.
The Board of Trade are further pleased to appoint Mr. G. E. Baker to be secretary to the said Committee.
REPORT.
To the Right Hon. G. W. Balfour, M.P., President of the Board of Trade.
Sir,—In accordance with your minute, dated Jan. 18, 1902, we have considered the various questions into which we were appointed to inquire, and we have the honour to report as follows:
1. We have been anxious to obtain the views of persons of practical experience, especially of the leading officials of the Board of Trade and of qualified representatives of all the interests affected. We have examined at considerable length a very large number of witnesses—seventy-nine in all— during the forty-one days we have sat, and we hope we have been fortunate enough to obtain a body of highly valuable evidence.
(i.)
2. There is no doubt of the fact of the increase of foreigners employed and corresponding decrease of British seamen employed in the mercantile marine.
3. The statistics of the Registrar-General of Shipping and Seamen, obtained in the manner explained in Question 12,065, show that in 1888 there were employed on British merchant vessels 158,959 British and 24,990 foreign seamen; in 1901 the numbers were 151,876 and 87,174 respectively— a decrease of 7,588 British, and an increase of 12,184 foreign seamen in thirteen years.[1] (Appendix M, No. 1.)
4. According to a table handed in by the Registrar-General (Appendix M, No. 9), based on a census taken on March 81, 1901, there were then employed on British merchant vessels 120,412 British and 32,614 foreign seamen. These figures are shown in detail in the return published as a Parliamentary Return (Cd. 1,842) in 1902, which also shows that when a similar census was taken on March 25, 1896, there were 125,009 British and 27,446 foreign seamen; thus in the quinquennial period the decrease in the number of British seamen amounted to 4,597, and the increase in the number of foreign seamen amounted to 5,168.
5. Coincident with the diminution in the number of British seamen and the increase in the number of foreign seamen employed, there has been a very considerable increase in the number of Lascars (natives of India), and other Asiatic seamen employed on British merchant vessels. The number of Asiatics on Asiatic articles of agreement is shown as 18,427 in 1888, and as 87,481 in 1901 (Appendix M, No. 1); in the census of March 31, 1901, 88,610 Lascars (including all Asiatics on Asiatic articles of agreement) were enumerated as compared with 27,911 in the census of March 25, 1896.
6. Although Lascars and other Asiatics are employed almost exclusively on steam vessels, they now exceed the total number of foreign seamen employed in all classes of British ships, and their increase during recent years has been very much more rapid than the decrease of British or the increase of foreign seamen employed.
7. Full particulars of the comparative numbers of British and foreign seamen and Lascars and other Asiatics employed in the various ratings in all classes of vessels are shown in the tables handed in by the Registrar-General, together with illustrative diagrams (Appendix M, Nos. 1-18), and in the Parliamentary Return referred to.
8. It is to be observed that the growth of the mercantile marine has been very great, and that the proportion of British seamen to the total mass of the population is still high; if the total number of men on the active list of the Royal Navy (excluding marines) be added to the total number of British merchant seamen and fishermen; it will be found that one in every thirty-six of the males over fifteen years of age in the United Kingdom is a seaman or fisherman (Question 12,246).
9. A statement handed in by Vice-Admiral R. M. Lloyd shows that the proportion absorbed by the Royal Navy has increased very considerably in recent years (Appendix E, No. 1), and this increase possibly affects to some extent the number entering the mercantile marine.
10. Various causes have been assigned for the decrease in the number of British seamen in the mercantile marine, but we do not doubt that the main cause is the superior attractiveness of shore employment, with its greater comforts and superior facilities for the maintenance of a home.
11. As regards the increasing employment of foreign seamen, we do not think, speaking generally, that they are preferred on account of cheapness. The rates of wages at home ports are usually the same for British and for foreign seamen alike, but possibly crews largely or wholly foreign are sometimes taken at foreign ports, partly because wages are lower there, e.g. Hamburg and Antwerp. It may also be observed that British vessels which habitually trade between the ports of foreign countries frequently recruit their crews from the foreign seamen available for employment at such foreign ports. The superior contentment and docility of foreign seamen, certainly in the earlier stages of their employment in British ships, render masters and owners willing to take them. It is, however, satisfactory to find that no competent authority alleges that the foreigner is a better seaman than the British subject, especially at times of danger.
12. From evidence given by various witnesses it appears that a certain number of the foreign seamen employed on British ships have acquired homes at seaports in the United Kingdom, and have become in this way British citizens. We think if would be a valued privilege for these men, and for others who intend to serve for lengthened periods in the British mercantile marine, if all seamen who have served for a substantial time, perhaps four years, on board British merchant ships, and acquired an adequate knowledge of the English language, were entitled by an easy process, without expense, to become British subjects by naturalisation.
18. Lascars and other Asiatics who are British subjects stand on a different footing from foreigners. Through the kind assistance of Sir Mancherjee Bhownaggree, M.P., who himself attended as a witness, we have been able to obtain the evidence of a shipping agent of Bombay and of several Lascars employed in British ships. 7
14. We think that, in addition to their claim as British subjects, they have also some claim to employment, because British vessels have displaced the native trading vessels. Lascars are in most cases hereditary sailors, and have special qualifications for work as firemen in hot climates. They are temperate, and those who came before us made a most favourable impression upon us. The evidence shows that they make most amenable and contented crews. In consequence their employment as firemen has grown almost universal in the tropics, and they are also largely employed in vessels trading between ports within the tropics and the United Kingdom.
15. They are so contented and so anxious to retain their situations in British ships that it is not easy to be sure whether that service entails an hardship on them. We believe, however, that there is no reason to think that many of them do, in any appreciable degree, suffer when employed in the colder climates to the north of the Suez Canal, or even in the Atlantic trade. We do not, however, feel competent to express any decided opinion on their employment in men-of-war, but we have no doubt of their desire to be so employed, or of their competency, at least in the capacity of stokers and firemen. We may add that those whom we saw belonged for the most part to the northern and warlike races of India, and they certainly impressed us with their manly character.
16. On the whole, we feel that the objections which may be felt as to the employment of foreign seamen do not apply to the employment of Lascars and other Asiatics who are British subjects.
17. We ask ourselves the question—Is there any objection to be felt or apprehension entertained in view of the undoubted increase of foreign seamen in the mercantile marine?
18. There are two points of view (1) that of the shipowners and their trade; (2) that of the Admiralty and the exigencies of the naval service.
(1) As regards the shipping trade, it appears to us that there is no apprehension to be felt in time of peace. . The trade is efficiently carried on, and there is no reason to suppose that the supply of foreign seamen available will run short. There appears to be no more real danger of scarcity of men in the event of a naval war. It is doubtful if even the subjects of the State with which we might be at war would desert their calling, and even so, the foreign seamen employed are of so many different nationalities that the supply would still be sufficient. It is worthy of notice that Swedes are the most numerous of all the foreign seamen employed on the 81st March, 1901, and that the Swedes, Norwegians, and Danes together amounted to more than one-third of the total number of foreigners employed [Parliamentary Return of 1902, Cd. 1,842, Table 4.] It is probable also that some ships of the mercantile marine would necessarily be laid up in time of war, and their crews added to the number of men available for employment; and if freights and wages rose the effect would be to draw men from shore into sea employment.
(2) As regards the naval service, the Committee appointed in 1902 to consider the question of naval reserves reported as follows with reference to the mercantile marine as a source of supply:
"In considering the extent to which the Navy should depend upon the mercantile marine, it has to be borne in mind that it is undesirable to draw too largely upon it for a reserve.
"One of the objects of a strong navy is to enable our merchant ships to keep the sea in time of war, and this object would be defeated if too many seamen and firemen were suddenly withdrawn from the mercantile marine, and a considerable portion of it laid up in consequence for want of crews. Under present conditions the Navy cannot be dependent for & reserve in upon this source, unless the mercantile marine becomes tactically a State-subsidised and State-regulated service; and even if this were done it would be necessary to provide a reserve for the mercantile marine to enable oversea trade to be carried: on in time of war.
"The mercantile marine is, and should continue to be, a valuable source from which to draw a portion of the Naval Reserve. The Committee feel that the numbers which at present come from this source may and should be increased; they desire to encourage the entry of men from it into the Naval Reserve, and to stimulate. future enrolment; but the present reserve is already drawn largely from other sources, and this must be still more the case with the larger reserves required in the near future.” [Parliamentary Return of 1908, Cd. 1,491, paragraphs 16, 17, 18.
19. It seems to us unlikely that in the event of any great naval war it would be practicable to draw men to any considerable extent from the crews of the sea-going vessels of the mercantile marine. At present the great mass of naval reserve men come from the fisherman and yachtsman class, and from the seamen on coasting vessels, and in case of war it is upon these classes that reliance must mainly be placed. (Appendix M, Nos. 21 and 22.) We were, however, struck with the comparatively small number of seamen from foreign-going ships in the Royal Naval Reserve, and we would recommend improved inducements and more active recruiting, which would doubtless result in an increase of this number.
20. But while on these two main points, we do not think that serious apprehension need be felt at the increase of foreigners; we are well aware that the question is not exhausted by these observations.
21. It would be impossible not to feel great regret if we thought that foreigners are driving out British subjects and compelling them to join the ranks of the unemployed. We do not think that this is so to any material extent. It is very difficult to ascertain precisely the facts, although we have taken great pains to do so. Many authorities (especially the superintendents of the Board of Trade) believe that there are not enough capable British seamen to man the mercantile marine, and that for the competent British seaman no lack of employment exists. Other persons do not agree with this view. We think that the truth probably is that for good British seamen in the prime of life employment is seldom lacking; but that for those who are only imperfectly competent, or whose best days have past, the competition of the foreigner is a serious matter. We see no means by which such competition can be, even if it should be, prevented.
22. But there remains further the feeling of regret, not the less real, even if it be based on patriotic and even sentimental rather than on strictly economic grounds, that by a great increase in the number of foreign seamen in its mercantile marine the characteristics of the British as a sea-going race should gradually deteriorate. It is impossible to regard such a change with acquiescence or equanimity.
(ii.)
28. We consider, therefore, what, if anything, can be done to attract the British population to a seafaring life. First, can sea service be rendered more attractive? We are well aware that its hardships in many respects are unavoidable and irremovable, and we do not fail also to observe that to increase attractions to British subjects is to increase them in at least an equal degree to the foreigner. Still we think it is desirable to do what can be done to ameliorate the lot of the British sailor in order to induce young men to take to and remain at sea.
24. The most hopeful course relates to improved food and cooking. What is inaccurately known as the Board of Trade scale is usually, if not invariably, inserted in articles of agreement. In most cases it is not adhered to, except as a punishment or in answer to complaints. But we do not think it is sufficiently ample or varied. Various scales exist; one was framed by a committee appointed by the Shipping Federation in 1892, which it was proposed by the Merchant Seamen Provision Bill of 18938 should be made a statutory minimum scale; another has been drawn up by the Seamen's Union, and two competent witnesses—Mr. William Service and Miss Effie Bell—were good enough to submit scales which would, in their opinion, be satisfactory. (Appendix P, Nos.1-8.) We have considered these scales, and a sub-committee of our members has, after careful consideration, drawn up the scale which is printed as an appendix to this report.
25. We think that this scale should take the place of the present conventional scale which has hitherto been inserted in articles of agreement.
26. We hope that this scale will without compulsion thus become universal, and, at least until it has appeared that such a hope is ill-founded, we do not think that it should be enforced by legislation.
27. Cooking is a matter to which many competent witnesses before us have attached the utmost importance, and which we have no doubt in many cases, at present, falls far short of a standard that might be reached.
28. We recommend that after a lapse, say, of three years a certificate should be given by the Board of Trade, based on the certificate of competent schools of cookery, to persons desirous of acting as cooks, and that a qualified cook should be carried by every foreign-going vessel of 1,000 tons gross register and over, such qualification consisting of either such a certificate as is above mentioned or the possession of certificates of service for two years.
29. The inspection of ships' provisions by the Board of Trade is, we believe, excellent and efficacious as far as it goes. But we think that it might with advantage be extended by giving to the Board of Trade power in any case in which they think fit to inspect provisions, as to their quality, in the case of all vessels whose probable voyage exceeds twenty-one days' duration.
80. We have had before us a good deal of evidence with regard to the accommodation afforded to sailors and firemen on board ship—evidence of a varying and even conflicting character. It seems clear that such accommodation has improved in recent years, and is much better in the newer classes of vessels. Nor have many complaints been made of accommodation in larger vessels and the liners. We think that in matters such as the provision of proper stoves, the provision of tables for meals, or even a separate place for meals, it would be a wise step on the part of all shipowners to see that their ships are as well furnished, as in many cases they undoubtedly are. But we do not think that legislative action is called for; we do not desire to express any difference of opinion from the Royal Commission on Labour as to an increase of the space, although on this point few complaints came before us.
81. As regards medical attention, we think that it would be advantageous if masters and officers of vessels were allowed voluntarily to offer themselves for examination, and to receive certificates, in the elements of medical knowledge. Further than this we do not think it necessary or practicable to go. The evidence before us does not show that any strong feeling exists among sailors as to the want of medical attention, and with the aid of the book supplied to them and a proper supply of medical stores, masters succeed well in dealing with the ordinary cases of illness or accident.
82. From the point of view both of the safety of ships and of the comfort of the British seamen employed, we think that it would be of great advantage if an adequate knowledge of English in foreign seamen serving in British ships could be secured, and we recommend that after a certain period (say three years) the local superintendent of the Board of Trade should be empowered to forbid any foreign seaman to be shipped on a British ship unless he possess a knowledge of the English language sufficient for the understanding of orders; but we think that any such provision should not apply to Lascars or other Asiatics or Africans.
83. On the whole, we believe the system of continuous discharge certificates to be founded on a sound principle and to be productive of excellent results. But there is reason to think that, in some instances, a seaman who receives a 'decline to report" as regards character believes himself to be the object of injustice. We feel considerable difficulty in suggesting any appropriate remedy. If the refusal to report be based on some definite charge, it would be comparatively easy to meet the justice of the case by allowing a reference in the nature of an appeal to some constituted authority. But in many, probably the great majority of cases, the refusal proceeds not on any definite charge, but on the belief of the master that the seaman's conduct as a whole does not deserve commendation. In such a case, to give a reference to any authority would probably be to expose to a criticism possibly incompetent, necessarily imperfectly informed, a discretion which it is essential should be freely and fearlessly exercised, and might tend to encourage in masters what at present probably only too often exists, a good-natured or indifferent tolerance of misconduct or incompetence. On the whole, however, we are inclined to think that there might with safety be given a reference by way of appeal to the local superintendent of the Board of Trade in all cases in which the master gives a bad character or "declines to report." We believe that the superintendent would in most cases feel too much confidence in the master's decision to allow him to set it aside, but we think that in some cases, probably very few, a fair hearing would result in the seaman's receiving the character to which he thought he was entitled, or at least relieve his sense of injustice.
84. We think it most desirable that shipowners should instruct their captains not to employ seamen who cannot produce continuous discharge certificates, and we venture to express a hope that they will pursue this course.
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85. We regard both failure to join and desertion as serious evils, and as. often causing inferior seamen and foreigners to be shipped at the last moment in order to meet a pressing emergency.
86. We feel that it is impossible to revive the former law inflicting summary punishment by way of imprisonment for failure to join, but we think it most desirable that, short of imprisonment, the most effective possible remedy should be applied, and we recommend that in a proved case of wilful failure to join the Board of Trade should be empowered to withhold the seaman's continuous discharge certificate for such period as might appear just.
87. As regards desertion, we can look for a remedy mainly in. the improved condition of seamen. There is no doubt that in some foreign ports, notably in San Francisco, as to which we have had clear and valuable evidence, desertion is encouraged not only by the prospect of higher wages or profitable employment on shore, but also by the direct action of crimps. We see no way in which the nefarious proceedings of these persons can be prevented, except by stringent administration of the American law and perhaps by some amendment of that law, and we do not feel ourselves competent to recommend what, if any, steps could be taken to achieve such results.
88. As regards discipline generally, we do not think that any alteration in the existing law as to offences and thee penalties is necessary.
(iv.)
89. We think that an increase in the number of British seamen in the mercantile marine may be looked for rather in the improvement of their conditions than in the increase of facilities for training boys for the sea. At the same time, we think that the system of such ships as the Indefatigable deserves every commendation and such assistance as can properly be given. We think that the efforts of shipowners might be profitably devoted, as to a considerable extent they are at present, to the support and extension of the system of training-ships. It is a difficulty connected with such ships that the boys trained in them do not invariably take to or remain in the merchant service, and we think that a keen interest taken in them by shipowners would be the most hopeful means of ensuring such training as would be practically useful, and also of ensuring the employment of boys on leaving the training-ship.
40. We have received interesting evidence from representatives of the Navy. League on the advantage of connecting the training of boys for the sea with the county councils as a branch of technical education, but we greatly doubt if such education would do much to provide a supply of ordinary seamen,
41. We think, however, that there is a better prospect of obtaining an increase of British seamen by means of the employment of boy sailors than by means of training-ships, and we recommend shipowners to take boys of good character on their ships with a view to their becoming seamen. Steps in this direction have been taken by the Shipping Federation, and we should be glad if their efforts are continued arid extended. We believe that there is a large supply of boys willing to go to sea if effective means for their doing so can be provided.
42. The system recently introduced of allowing an abatement of light dues in consideration of the employment of non-premium apprentices or boy sailors appears to us to have worked fairly well. We find that from April 1, 1899, to Sept. 30, 1902, 1,864 boys have been enrolled in the probationer class of the Royal Naval Reserve under this scheme {Appendix M, No» 16). But we cannot think that we can look with any degree of confidence to greatly increased numbers as a result of an extension of the present abatement.
48. For convenience, we summarise our principal recommendations as follows:
(1) The employment of a properly certificated cook on every foreign-going vessel of 1,000 tons gross register and over.
(2) The extension of the present system of inspection of ships* provisions by power being given to the Board of Trade to inspect, in any case in which they think fit, the provisions of any vessel whose probable voyage exceeds twenty-one days' duration.
(3) Power to be given to superintendents to forbid the engagement of any foreign seaman who does not possess a knowledge of the English language sufficient for the understanding of orders.
(4) Power to be given to the Board of Trade to withhold the continuous discharge certificate of any seaman who wilfully fails to join a vessel after signing articles.
(5) Efforts to be made to increase the numbers of the Royal Naval Reserve, especially of stokers, on foreign-going vessels by improved inducements and more active recruiting.
(6) A reference by way of appeal to a superintendent to be allowed to seamen in cases in which the master gives a bad character on discharge, or "declines to report."
(7) Facilities to be given to foreign seamen who have served for four years on British merchant ships to become, by an easy process, without expense, British subjects by naturalisation.
(8) The establishment of a system of voluntary examinations and certification of masters and officers in the elements of medical knowledge.
(9) The universal adoption in British ships of the scale of provisions recommended in this report.
(10) The provision of as comfortable living quarters as can practically be given to seamen on board ship.
(11) Every encouragement to be given to training-ships and to the training of boys on merchant vessels with the object of increasing the number of British seamen in the mercantile marine.
We think that the first four of these recommendations will require legislation, and that effect could be given to the succeeding recommendations without any change in the law.
We desire to express our most grateful thanks to the secretary for his invaluable services to us.
| We have the honour to be. Sir, | |
| (Signed) | Your obedient Servants, |
| F. H. Jeune, Chairman. | John M. Denny. |
| W. F. G. Anderson. | Walter J. Howell |
| H. Acton Blake. | Rodney M. Lloyd. |
| Thos. Burt. | Wm. Milburn, jun. |
| Alfred J. G. Chalmers. | J. Havelock Wilson. |
| May 7, 1903. | G. E. Baker, Secretary. |
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- ↑ These figures include officers in all cases, there being very few foreign officers.