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crews of ships could afford to provide for themselves out of their earnings under circumstances of similar employment on shore. The provisions supplied to British ships are good, always good, and must be good, as they are shipped under surveillance of the law. Anything doubtful is promptly rejected. Some things might still be provided in a more liberal manner, so as to let the cook have more scope im preparing at least three good square meals a day, and thus justify the attempt to do away with the starvation form of pound and pint scale of provisions sanctioned by custom, which still appears on page 2 of the Articles and carries a note to explain itself.
"There is no scale fixed by the Board of Trade. The quantity and nature of the provisions are a matter for agreement between master and crew. The scale agreed upon is in addition to the lime and lemon juice and sugar, and other anti-scorbutics, in any case required by the Act."
This old time scale and the latter day "Bill of Fare" form both appear on the same page of the Articles. The first is generally adopted and the latter left as blank as though it had never been. Many British ships from the United Kingdom have much leeway to make up before their arrangements for feeding the crew can approach anything like what is possible in similar vessels of the United States and of our own Australian and other Colonial ships, where the pound and pint for any portion of the crew is as yet unknown. Modern steamships are not a great number of days between port and port. There is no excuse for not having a full and sufficient supply of vegetables of the kind that will keep fairly well always on board. Feed the men better where they are not well fed is a matter for the responsible shipmanagers to consider how far it is worth their while to do so.
House the men better. is a subject to be considered as resting entirely between shipbuilders and shipmanagers. Shipbuilders are ready enough to build anything they' get the order for. Shipowners provide accommodation for the crew, at least sufficient to comply with the law as required by M.S.A., 1894, Section 210 (1).
