In the House of Commons on Wednesday, while the Merchant
Shipping Bill was under discussion, Mr. Ritchie made an interesting announcement. He proposed to add a new clause to the Bill under which an allowance would be paid to shipowners in respect of "British boy sailors available for the Royal Navy." The decline in the number of British sailors was serious. In the five years between 1891 and 189E the British seamen had decreased 15 per cent. and the foreign seamen had increased 8 per cent. The decline was, however, not due to British boys objecting to the sea, but to the refusal of the shipowners to carry boys. What the Government had decided to do was to offer a subsidy to shipowners who carried boys. They would, that is, give an allowance equal to 20 per cent. of the light dues if a ship carried a boy for every com- pleted 500 tons up to 2,000 tons, and after that one boy for every additional 1,000 tons. Each boy must be over fifteen and under nineteen, "a British subject not a Lascar," and must also be enrolled in the Royal Naval Reserve. Even if only half our ships adopted the plan, it would mean an annual addition of eight thousand men to the Reserve. Whether the proposed subsidy is too small we cannot profess to judge, but we greatly regret the tone in which some of the great shipowners in the House met the proposal. After a heated discussion, in which Mr. Goschen took part, the new clause was carried by 152 (189-37). If the new scheme succeeds, as we sincerely trust it will, the effect both on the mercantile marine and on the Navy may be very great. It will ultimately give us a really large Reserve, and it will also help to keep our merchant ships manned by Englishmen.
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