Page:The Blight of Insubordination.djvu/100

92

there really ought to be no insuperable difficulty in dealing with a scheme for the men of the merchant service. All payments of wages are made before properly appointed Government officials, and much more besides which tends to bring the service within the range of those considered public, although the actual earnings have to be privately provided. Given the opportunity to one of the many first-class insurance societies, a scheme would doubtless soon be evolved and made practically workable even if the State will not deal with it. That we are not alone in this opinion is patent from the following article on the subject which appeared in the Journal of Commerce of September 6, 1902, which we take the liberty of quoting in full, for it merits every chance of publicity,

"The question of old age pensions for seamen is one which has been brought forward on many occasions, and each time has had to pass into oblivion because of the lack of interest and support in the matter. Taken separately, pensions for mariners do not appear to have much of a chance, if we may take the attitude of the Crown Ministers to mean anything at all. There is always a difficulty in obtaining special treatment by a Government for any particular class of the community, and it must be very clearly shown that the claims for such are of a nature to warrant preferential treatment. It is doubtful if aged seamen can lay any legal claim to be classified as having a first claim upon the consideration of the nation; but they have an undoubted moral claim for material help in their declining years. For the nation as a whole, it is true that of all the problems legislators, political economists, philanthropists and recognised representatives of the working classes have to solve, none offers greater difficulties or calls forth more diverse opinions than that of old age pensions.

"But in the case of seamen the matter is simplified somewhat by the nature of their employment, and the official channels through which payment is made for their services.

"Thus, seamen ship before a Government servant, and are also discharged and paid before the same. The Government, through the Board of Trade Department, is the seaman's sponsor, to whom all questions relating to his employment and settlement may be submitted.

"Thus, seamen are continually under the supervision, so to speak, of the Government; their careers, therefore, from beginning to end, may be traced. In that way, some of the difficulties pertaining to the ordinary workman are removed, for no just system of pension would allow the vicious needy the same advantages as those whose necessity was due to no fault of their own. Discrimination to the same extent would not, therefore, be required. Then, again, as to the finding of the funds, seamen would be in a better position, because provision could be made for them at comparatively small cost.

"To pension every man and woman according to Mr. Charles Booth's scheme, which provides five shillings a week for every man and woman over the age of sixty-five years, would involve an annual