A judgment delivered on Saturday by Lord Gifford in Edin-
burgh, in relation to a ship called the 'Bard of Avon,' appears to have had some influence in exciting Mr. Plimsoll's already over- strung nerves on Thursday, on the subject of the unseaworthiness of the ships in which English sailors are often forced to sea.
The 'Bard of Avon' was an old ship, sold by her owne f780, and on which 1800 were spent in repairs, bringing her total
value to 11,580, for which sum she was bought,' ., not £2 a ton, whereas a sound old ship should cost £12 a ti and a sound new one £20 Or £30 a ton,—and a contract was imd ,iately entered into calculated to refund the whole of her cost/ ar the very first voyage,—so little confidence in her seaworthiness was felt by the owners. On this case Lord Gifford made some sharp remarks :- "The unfortunate and melancholy result was that many ships were annually sent to sea totally unfit to cope with its most ordinary dangers, and not only large amounts of property were yearly lost, but large numbers of lives were sacrificed by the culpable and wrongful conduct of the owners in sending to sea unseaworthy ships. The real risk was run by the uninsured sea- men, including the officers, who were too often pressed by neces- sity to accept employment in vessels in which the owners had no interest further than that the assurance should be paid if the vessel was lost. It was lamentable, and even frightful, how many ships were lost at sea long after they should have been broken up ; but they were far more profitable as lost ships than by being broken up as old material." That is strong corroboration of Mr. Plimsoll's general, though not of course, of his very vehement personal charges, about which probably he has been less careful than about the statistics of his case.
