inferiorly paid as master of an English trader; "with the same actual tonnage, they bring more tons of goods in the course of the year." 4846. "The men who go into the sea-service in America, are taken from Capt. G. Briggs. the middle and better class of society, because they have greater inducement to enter into it; the pay is so much greater, that it is a motive for them to follow the sea as a profession."—(4913.) And "like master like man, the mates and men are more frequently taken from a better order of society than those in this country;"* they also are better paid. Our sailors, however, may be trained to be as sober and well disciplined as those of America. In a crew composed of English and American, there is little or no difference. to be seen. But there is a very great difference between the intemperate and the temperate. The health of the 4914. 4828. 4830. 4983. 4984. 4986. seaman the cheapest. latter is generally better, and they are more orderly. Here The best paid again, as in the case of the captain, the best paid seaman is the cheapest, he belongs to a more educated order, looks forward to advancement in his profession, is steadier, safer, more under command, and at all times more useful. Our captains may be as well taught in their profession, as those of the North of Europe, they may learn to see the cargo stowed as well, to sail as quickly, and deliver the goods in as excellent order as those of the Hans Towns, or the United States; but such improvement will be the result of competition, not of a lingering continuance of any remnant of the protective system. The Hamburgh shipowner sailing under free competition, * 4914. Do you think, coming to England, as you do from time to time, and having the opportunity of comparing the men in the respective services, that your captains, mates, and men are more frequently taken from a better order of society than those in this country?—I will answer as regards every English port except London. I think London is the exception. I think the London captains, on the average, are quite equal to any that we have in the United States. But your London captains are quite superior to those in any other port in England; we notice that in every part of the world.-Captain G. Briggs. 3326. spares no pains to obtain a captain of a high class, and of superior knowledge and efficiency; upon the skill and management of the captain he depends in a considerable degree for profit and success; he therefore pays the captain liberally, and takes care that he is well taught. Protocol on books of Navigation School at Hamburgh. FOREIGN CAPTAINS AND MATES. "The captains of foreign vessels are generally men of better education than the captains of British vessels; they are obliged to submit to a very severe examination in the schools of Navigation abroad, before they can become mates, (Rt. Swaine, 3160.) At Hamburgh, the examination is conducted by the head of the Navigation School, and two efficient experienced captains."* The examination includes the Mate's duties in general, especially as regards the loading and the discharge of the cargo, and all that pertains thereto, including the regulations to be observed in stowing and in the keeping of the log, &c. &c. The Mate has a certificate of the examination, stating the subjects of question and the proficiency with which he has acquitted himself, as follows: TRANSLATION OF MATE'S CERTIFICATE AT HAMBURGH. We the undersigned, appointed Examiners by the Honourable Navigation and Harbour Commission, under authority of the High and Venerable Senate, to ascertain the capability of those persons who desire to act as mates on board Hamburgh vessels,— Certify herewith that the possessor of this document sea born at years old, who has served at years, has been examined by us on the several points hereafter named, and that after an ample examination and a subsequent deliberation on our parts, we have unanimously agreed that he has acquitted himself: 1. In manœuvring a vessel, and in his knowledge of the general duties of a mate. (Here follows the judgment, viz., perfect or imperfect.) * The present head of the Hamburgh Navigation School, is a man of known scientific acquirements, named Bunker; he was formerly in the English service, on board a 74, as school-master. He has written his views on the subject of the education of seamen, for which see Appendix. 2. In knowledge of the Elbe and of its mouth. 3. In nautical geography. 4. In arithmetic. 5. In geometry. 6. In trigonometry. 7. In the elements of geography and astronomy. 8. In the knowledge of the implements required by a mate, as also of the uses thereof. 9. In the knowledge of sailing by plane charts. 10. In the knowledge of sailing by spherical charts. 11. In acquaintance with implements of nautical astronomy, and with the mode of regulating them. 12. In the knowledge of taking latitudes by astronomical observation. 13. In the knowledge of taking the azimuth of the sun, the true time and longitude by astronomical measurement. 14. In the knowledge of the mode of checking the ship's dead reckoning by astronomical calculation. Wherefore we have found him properly and sufficiently experienced to act as mate and navigator of the In witness whereof we have given to the said class. the present certificate, with the wish that it may prove the means of recommending and advancing him in his vocation as seaman. Done at Hamburg, the Senior of the Ship Guild. Teacher of the School of Navi- as Examiners. Inspector. This is no mere idle form; without such certificate it is impossible to become captain of a Hanseatic trader. As to Sweden, Mr. William Tottie, the Swedish Consul at London, and also a merchant, says, "The Swedish captains are paid very liberally, in order to en- Swedish capcourage respectable men to go into the trade.—(1958.) "No person can become a Swedish captain who had not passed a rigorous examination.-(1959.) "There are two classes of captains; the first class, who can navigate to any part of the world; and the second class, who may navigate to short distances in the coasting trade, and in the Baltic, and to Denmark. To pass the first examination, the captain has to be examined in foreign languages; he must speak with some degree of tains. Swedish sailors. Norwegian cap. tains. Prussian cap tains. skill two foreign languages; he must be able to calculate the rate of exchanges; be examined if he can write a good merchant's letter ; whether he understands ship-building and tackling of vessels, in addition to astronomy and navigation; all that is actually required in every case.—(1960.) "A vessel cannot clear out unless there is such a captain on board, and it is the duty of all Consuls abroad to see that that rule is enforced. (1961.) “The training of the Swedish sailors would seem also to be matters of marked care to their employers; they are most of them carpenters, sail-makers, as well as seamen, and in the American or other foreign service, are well paid.-(4875-4887.) "Swedish sailors are not generally discharged from their ship when the ship comes into port. It is very much the case with Swedish vessels that the same crew will be found voyage after voyage in the same vessel. The muster-roll of every Swedish vessel must be delivered at the Consul's office, who sees the same names every time, with very few exceptions. When a vessel is laid up in port, the captain or the owner will take care of the sailors.-(1938.) "The captains in Norway have to pass through a very severe examination. No person can get his patent as a mate of a vessel until he has served either as a sailor for seven years, or if he entered the service as a volunteer, or in a superior class, he can then not become a mate until he is twenty-two years of age, and still he must have served seven years; he has then to pass an examination and get his patent as a mate, and after that he must make two voyages abroad and back to Norway before he can command a vessel; so that no person can navigate a Norwegian vessel who has not been at sea upwards of seven years as a sailor, and he has to pass an examination in nautical science, which is very strict, before boards in different towns, comprising retired merchant captains, merchants, or burghers of the town, and naval officers.-(2129, 2130.) “The boards are appointed by the different towns, approved by the Government.-(2131.) “Without such examination, no person can navigate a Swedish or Norwegian ship."—(2132.) Mr. Edward Berger, a London merchant, native of Prussia, states that, "The captains and mates of the ships of several European countries are a remarkably steady, sober, respectable set of men; the same may be said of the Hamburgh vessels and Prussian vessels, arising in a great measure from their having to undergo a regular and systematic course of education, and they have more character at stake than many of the captains of our English north country vessels, who learn what they know of navigation by rote.-(1640.) "All Swede, Prussian, Baltic, Sardinian, and Austrian captains Sardinian capand mates must pass an examination before a board of examiners. tains. -(1641.) 66 By the laws of those countries, no captain can command a merchant ship unless he has passed through that course of examination. -(1642.) "It includes the higher branches of science; they have to undergo a most rigid examination.—(1643.) "You will find many Swedish captains know three or four languages." (1644.) Lastly, in one of our own possessions, half without the pale of the Navigation Laws, a similar system of ensuring the qualification of Captains prevails, in the paper handed in by Dr. Colquhoun, it is stated that,— "In Malta there are three classes of captains, whose examination Maltese capvaries, and entitles them to certain privileges. "The third class, for instance, is confined to small craft in the immediate neighbourhood of Malta. "The second class to within the Pillars of Hercules. "The first is free of the world. 66 I have travelled in Maltese sailing vessels, and found the captains well-educated, intelligent men, superior to any of the same class here, and possessing many of the points of a liberal education." The shipowners are charged, with whatever of inferiority is attributed by the witnesses to the officers and crew of British merchant vessels. Mr. Swaine states, "That the owners do not hold out sufficient inducement to persons of respectability to become captains, and that they have not the same order of men as they have on board the foreign ships."-(3297.) "The captains are not at all well used in English vessels; they are put down in cabins which are frequently very small, dark and filthy places, full of stenches; and it is not all likely that the captain in a foreign port, will remain on board such a vessel attending to the duty of the ship; he therefore goes on shore, and lives at a pot-house, and contracts those habits which are so very injurious to himself and his employer.-(3286.) “If the captain is addicted to drinking he will be brutal towards his sailors, and he will not get the best class of sailors; they will be driven to America, or any other port where they will get better treatment and better pay. (3289.) "You have stated that you have made a great many voyages from tains. English cap tains are badly treated by the owners. Bad captains cannot ship good sailors. H |