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relating to the personnel. This 1s entirely a shipowners', or rather, ship managers', question, which they can deal with by the office staff, without soliciting opinions about it from those who go to sea. The marine superintendent is practically their nautical adviser, and he, perhaps more than any other person, decides on the fate of their affairs. The shipmaster and engineer also must be pliant or flexible enough to see as they see and to approve, or to get out and make room for those who will. That England expects of her shipmasters and chief engineers that they will prefer men of native birth wherever possible is a sentiment that will stand a good deal of discussing. What are the chief objections to the men of native birth when compared with the possibilities of the Lascar crew? Apparently and broadly stated it may be described as owing generally to their callous indifference to the contract they sign and engage themselves under, and an all too frequent violation of the terms of agreement, such as leaving the ship as they please in port; briefly, neglect of duty, desertion on the slightest pretence if anything is not exactly to their ideas of how things should be, their readiness to complain and knock off work on the most frivolous pretexts, their contemptuous, insolent, irritating and exasperating manner when reproved or spoken to for anything that may require it, and the eternal try on to do as they please and boss the show, to say nothing of the use of foul language to their superiors, often experienced.[1]
The uncertainty of the men in the United Kingdom joining at the time appointed after being engaged in the usual way at the mercantile marine offices, making it necessary to have recourse to the "pier head jumper" to fill up the gaps of those who do not join as they should, may be attributed to section 224 (2) of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, which we repeat:
"If in the United Kingdom a seaman or apprentice to the sea service intends to absent himself from his ship or his duty, he may give notice of his intention, either to his owner or the master of the ship, not less than forty-eight hours before the time at which he ought to be on board his ship; and in the event of that notice being given, the court shall not exercise any of the powers conferred by this section for causing the offender to be conveyed on board his ship."
To this must be added, and given a front rank place, the constant desire for change of ship, and general or continuous restlessness, a voyage at most—sometimes only a passage
- ↑ July, 1903. The Board of Trade have recently adopted a further Regulation for maintaining discipline—No.5. "Insolent or contemptuous language or behaviour to the master or officers, or disobedience to lawful commands, if not otherwise dealt with according to law—fine, 5s."
