To the Editor of the Nontu-Cuina Darry News,"
8rn,—In view of the great and growing reluctance on the part of certificated officers of the Mercbaat Service io offering themeclves for service ip vereels or firms permanently engaged in the 80—China coast trade, beg that, it only io the interests of the firms concerned—the: financial success of whose venteres depends ro largely upon those commanding and officering their vessels—you will allow me to give publicity to the reasons to which thie serious state of affairs may be ascribed. Possibly it will be admitted that as chief exeentive officer of what is the largest organisation of its kind in the world, comprising some fifteen thousand certificate captains and officers, one in my position is able to form " fairly con estimate of the situation, based as it is on the views of those who, already, are serving on the coast and, in addition, in home waters who are obtaining their certificates in the United Kingdom and who, thank goodness, are now able to weigh ap the merits and of the different shipowning order that they may exercise come choice as to what form of service they will take ap and in whut quarter of the globe.
In the firet place, it is not necessary for me to dwell apon the dreary monotony and irksomeness of long and continual service in foreign waters and enforced absence from home and friends for very protracted periods. This, in itself, is unavoidable, bat it is not the more tolerable, by reason of the fact that climatic conditions are, in many cases,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.