"Port" and "Starboard"
(One result of the recent conference dearing.with the various aspects of safety of life at sea has been tlement of the vexed ques-confusion in regard to ind "Starboard," in which international uniformity nations that, will be affected most by the decision to make the terms have a direct meaning; and while there may be a few "old salts" who will grouse at the change which will come into effect in 1981, whereby orders will apply direct to the rudder and stem of the ship, and not to the ghost of the tiller, it has to. be borne in mind that even before the Conference' several nations had already effected the alteration. "As these nations! express themselves satisfied with its workings and show no desire to revert to the old order of things, it would have been foolishness on the part of the remaining maritime nations to insist on an adherence to traditional convention. At the ime time, the Conference wisely refrained from insisting on the abolition of the words "starboard" and "port." The nomenclature remains the same, only in the case of the ships of some nations the im. plication is different. This is one of those matters in which the wisdom of abandoning a cherished practice and tradition has at last been seem, and there can be no doubt that. the change, which will come into effect on July 1, 1931, is for the best. Incidentally, Great Britain, as the premier maritime nation and one which is most affected by the change, other, with her own system, as it was uniformity that was aimed at and nothing else; and it is interesting to note that the leading Norwegian papers to combine against the forces of disruption and, if industrial disputes arise, to exercise the greatest care in getting their facts correct. For the agitator and Communist is swift to turn everything' to his advantage, as shown in the case of the Waterworks strike, and it is the public that pays the cost of his vicious plots, ping paper, "Norges Handels Sjofartstidende," takes this view, and at the same time pays Great Britain a handsome tribute, remarking that her willingness to. abandon the indirect steering order does her much honour. That, however, is by the way; the chief thing thet' matiers is that @ long-needed reform, and one which has been the cause of no end of controversy, has finally been settled to the satisfac. tion of everybody concerned.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.