The behaviour of the Government will be best understood by
studying their action on the loading of grain. Grain shipped in bulk is a more dangerous cargo than gunpowder. Grain so loaded shifts like water, and if the ship gets a " list over" nothing can put her right. The remedy is to use perforated zinc bulk- heads, so that the grain is really packed in bins ; but the ship- owners hate them, not, we believe, because of the expense, but because of the time and room lost in stowage. They are, how- ever, indispensable to safety, and Sir S. Northcote's compromise is either a mere method of retreating without appearing to sur- render, or a consent to let some ships remain in danger. The talk about foreign competition is rubbish. Dangerous stowage may not hurt the owner if protected by insurances, but it does hurt the shipper, whose profits ultimately settle the rates of freight. He gains nothing by killing sailors.
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