The Unseaworthy Ships Bill passed its second reading in the
Lords on Monday night, after a debate which reads well, but added; little to the public knowledge of the subject. The Duke of Somerset, who has a passion for saying disagreeable things, described Mr. Plimsoll's speeches as "hysterical screams," but he hit the great blot in our Mercantile Marine when he said that we wanted, besides protection for the sailor, discipline for him, and that his vices destroyed ships as well as the ship- owners'. avarice. That is perfectly true, and we trust the Duke will yet use his great knowledge of the subject and formidable power of injecting truth with strychnine in support of a Bill for the better disciplining,of the Merchant Navy. Lord Carlingford aptly described the Bill as a "much more rational and re- opeetable measure than could be expected from the circum- stances of its origin," and thought that if improved next year by clauses regulating insurance—so that a wreck should bring no profit to anybody—and by a stricter method of inquiry into wrecks, it might be found a permanent addition to the Statute Book. The Lord Chancellor also, we are glad to see, intimated that he did not see why the principle which governs fire insurance should-not be applicable also to ships, so that the insurer should not in any case gain more than he lost. If this change in the law is carried next year, Mr. Plimsoll will have done more for the sailors than any man alive, and between him and the Duke of Somerset we may hope to see our maritime legislation almost perfected.
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