The trial (before Baron Pollock) of the captain of the
' Franconia' for manslaughter, for first running down on Feb- ruary 17 last the Strathclyde' by unskilful seamanship, and then abandoning her to her fate, and making no adequate attempt to rescue the survivors, ended yesterday week in a conviction,--a special question of law having, however, been reserved for separate argument and determination. What was pleaded on behalf of the captain of the Franconia' was, that his own ship was in danger ; that if a particular bulk-head, which was very seriously injured, had given way, the ' Franconia' could not have floated long, and would have been unmanageable, and that the pilot had called out to him, " For God's sake, cap- tain, take the vessel to shore, we are all sinking !" On the other hand, it was pointed out that if the captain of the ' Franconia' had but left his boats to pick up the drowning persons, they could easily have been saved ; that they were not two miles froin Dover, and that it was the captain of the Franconia's ' duty, as commanding the faster ship, which was passing the' Strathclyde,' to steer clear of her, and of course, if he failed to do so, to do the best in his power to repair his error. And this was the view which prevailed with the jury. The formal justification of the verdict was the carelessness which caused the collision, the real justification was the indifference which left the victims to their fate. Sentence was deferred till the reserved point of law had been decided.
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