Parlia mentary inquiry, CHAPTER XII. Parliamentary inquiry, 1854-5, on Passenger ships-Heavy losses at sea previously, and especially in 1854-Emigration system-Frauds practised on emigrants-Runners and crimps-Remedies proposedAverage price, then, of passages-Emigration officer-Medical inspection-American emigration law-Dietary, then, required-Disgraceful state of emigrant ships at that time-Act of 1852-Resolution of New York Legislature, 1854-Evidence as to iron cargoes-Various attempts at improvement-Legislation in the United States, 1855Uniformity of action impossible-English Passenger Act, 1855Attempt to check issue of fraudulent tickets-General improvements -Merchant Shipping Act discussed-Extent of owner's liabilityUnnecessary outcry of the Shipowners-Question of limited liability -Value of life-l'owers given to the Board of Trade-Mode of procedure in inquiries about loss of life-Further complaints of the Shipowners, who think too much discretion has been given to the Emigration officer-Though slightly modified since, the principle of the Passenger Act remains the same-The " rule of the road at sea” -Examination now required for engineers as well as masters of steam vessels-Injurious action of the crimps-Savings-banks for seamen instituted, and, somewhat later, money offices. ALTHOUGH by the Act of 1854,' as well as by previous Acts, all Passenger ships were to be surveyed, 1851-5, on the impulse given to emigration by the gold discoveries in Australia, and the increased demand for Passenger ships. 1 Merchant Shipping Act, 1854, clause 303, et seq. 2 The first separate Act for regulating passenger ships was the 43 Geo. III. chap. 56. The substance of this Act and of all subsequent Acts will be found in the Appendix, No. 7, p. 600. labour in America, combined with other causes, induced Parliament, in 1854, to appoint another Committee of the House of Commons, besides the one which sat in 1851, to inquire into this now important subject, and to pass an Act, in the following year which is the chief Act now in force (18 & 19 Vict. c. 119) exclusively directed to the conveyance of passengers by sea, more especially of that class of persons known as emigrants. Between 1815 and 1854, inclusive, 4,116,958 passengers left the United Kingdom, being upon an average 102,923 persons annually. But of this vast number 2,446,802, or nearly three-fifths, emigrated during the eight years previous to 1854, and 1,358,096 of them in the previous four years. So great had the rage for emigration become, that in 1854, no less a sum than 1,730,000l. was remitted by settlers in North America to their relations and friends in the United Kingdom for the express purpose of enabling those who had been left at home to join them in their adopted country.1 Yet these acts of generosity and self-denial, altogether unparalleled in the history of the world (we have no record of any such acts in the great tides of emigration from the East, and in those which peopled Carthage from Phoenicia), had been performed during many previous years, the sums remitted for this purpose having varied from about half a million sterling to more than a million and a half annually. This rush for emigration having induced Shipowners, 1 See 'Fifteenth Report of Emigration Commissioners,' 1855, p. 1, and 'Sixteenth Report,' 1856, p. 329. Heavy sea pre eager to reap so rich a harvest, to place vessels in the trade, many of which were altogether unsuited for it, with other causes, compelled the Legislature to investigate the whole subject; the result being the comprehensive Passenger Act of 1855, which was passed not one day too soon. During the seven years ending December 1853, no fewer than sixty-one ships were lost in this trade, with the further lamentable loss of 1567 lives. In 1854, alone, losses at nine emigrant ships were wrecked. Five of these were from Liverpool, including the Tayleur, stranded on Lundy Island, when 330 persons perished, and the City of Glasgow, having on board 430 souls, who, with the ship, were never afterwards heard of. The Black Hawk and Winchester foundered at sea in the great storm of the 15th and 17th of April; the City of Philadelphia steamer was wrecked on Cape Race, Newfoundland, in August, as well as the ship Tottenham, from Cork to Quebec, on Cape Breton, but, happily, in these instances no lives were lost. viously, and especially in 1854. Such were the disastrous total losses of British ships in 1854; and, although few or any of these losses can be attributed to unseaworthiness, the loss of life was so appalling, that the Legislature was led to bestow more than usual attention to the subject. But besides these, several ships were so seriously injured that they were compelled to return for repairs. One loss, that of the Powhattan, was a singularly melancholy one. This vessel sailed from Liverpool with German emigrants on board, and, after sustaining much other damage, was, afterwards, wrecked at Barnagat, off the coast by New Jersey, during the gale of the 16th April: although stranded within eighty yards of low-water mark, and so near, indeed, that the unfortunate people on board could hear and reply to the suggestions made to them by persons on the land, not a single individual reached the shore, though the vessel did not break up for twenty-four hours after she struck. tion sys But other causes had long been at work to Emigra render necessary a revision of the laws relating tem to passenger ships. The rate of passage being generally higher from Ireland than from Liverpool, on account of the difficulty of procuring cargo, most of the Irish emigrants were shipped on the decks of the coasting steamers to that port; thence, they either secured their passage through the Irish agents of the Liverpool brokers, or they found their way to that port at their own expense, and procured tickets for themselves. Others again, for they were nearly all of the very poorest class of persons, many of them having no means whatever after their passage and their little outfit were paid, acted on orders sent home from New York, their passage-money having been prepaid by their friends or relations in America. In the first case, instances occurred where emi- Frauds practised grants had paid their passage-money, or a part of it, on emito unauthorized or insolvent parties, and, on arriving grants. at Liverpool, found no ship, nor any broker liable for the passage. In the case of orders remitted from America, the emigrant was of course liable to a similar fraud, with the additional aggravation that, the offence having been committed in a foreign country, there was no chance of obtaining redress for the sufferer or of punishment to the offender. Runners and crimps. When, however, Irish emigration became so important, and such large sums were remitted from settlers in America, the business became more systematic and fell into more respectable hands. The moment, however, the emigrant set foot on the quay at Liverpool he was beset by a crowd of runners and crimps, one of whom seized his baggage and carried it to the lodging-house in the interest of which he was acting. This runner, besides plundering the emigrant to the extent, at least, of exorbitant charges for lodgings, received 7 per cent. on the passage-money from the passenger broker ; and, indeed, at one time, obtained this without any communication with the passenger. Although a clause in a previous Act' had been inserted to check so great an extortion, the system proved stronger than the law; and, notwithstanding further steps were taken to remedy this evil, the percentage was still demanded and paid, though the service was performed without authority. The passenger broker reimbursed himself for this tax by charging the exorbitant commission of 12 per cent. against the charterer or shipowner; the charge ultimately falling upon the emigrant in the shape of an increased rate of passage. The emigrant was further persuaded by the runner that it was necessary to lay in a stock of provisions for the voyage, together with other purchases, on all which the runner got a percentage. Great frauds were also perpetrated in "dollaring," that is, in exchanging money, in which the emigrant was robbed at least 20 per cent. 1 12 & 13 Vict. chap. lxxxi. |