6th Jan, 'THOSE who live in ports see a good deal of the merchant seaman at his worst, but few enquire why it is that "Jack ashore" is so commonly a drunken, disorderly, and even ruffianly person; fewer still ask themselves what may possibly be done to attract a more orderly class of men into service on sailing ships, and how the conditions of this service may be modified for the better. There isa general but hazy idea that " floating hells" are not a thing of the past, and that the widespread desertions that frequently occur from sailing ships after a long voyage, are not wholly due to idleness or mere desire for change on the part of the men; but clear views on the disease and its remedies can be formed by those only who have made a special study of the subject. And few are in a better position for this study than Her Majesty's officials in various foreign and Colonial ports. An important blue-book (Report from Certain Foreign and Colonial Ports respecting the Desertion of Seamen from British Ships) has recently been issued, and should be carefully studied by all those interested in the matter. -A remarkable consensus of opinion will be found in the report. furnished from various parts of the world. Perhaps the best account of the matter is that given by Mr. J. Longford, HM. Consul at Nagasaki. He remarks that in his experience in Japan desertions have almost invariably taken place from sailing ships and from among the members of the crew who are of British birth.
He points out certain disabilities under which merchant seamen labour, the removal of which would, in his opinion, tend greatly to the improvement of their condition and consequently to the popularity of their service.
The first of these disabilities is the unsatisfactory nature of the scale of provisions, which for the most part continues the same as it was thirty or forty years ago, the sameunvarying round of salt beef and salt pork, notwithstanding; the immense advances that have been made in that period in the science of preserving food, and the cheapness at which preserved meats, fruits, and vegetables in great variety, and of the Best quality can be supplied in large quantities. The nickname of " the lime juicers" given by American seamen to English ships, is an indication of the fact that vegetables and preserved fruits are not a part of the ordinary diet of the crew of these ships, and that the daily ration of lime-juice continues to be the only method employed in these ships for the prevention of scurvy. The second disability, according to Mr. Longford, is the enforced total abstinence on our sailing ships. "The consequence of this is that on arrival in port the fullest indulgence is given to a craving intensified by long deprivation, whole outfits of clothes are exchanged for the vilest spirits, either on-shore or over the ship's side, and the most degrading exhibitions given of drunkenness in its worst forms.
The system of a daily ration of spirits works well in Her Majesty's Navy; the number of total abstainers in the navy is pro vatd incomparably higher than in the merchant service, so that it cannot be considered as fatal to the cause of temperance; and it is difficult to understand why a system which is so well suited to one should be entirely inapplicable to the other service."
But in Mr. Longford's opinion the most important disability of all, that in which the merchant service con-trests so strongly with the navy, that which is the principal hardship of the foremast hand and the chief cause
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.