On Friday week about fifty officers of the P. and
0. Com- pany resigned their positions, chiefly as a protest against the rates of pay. Out of regard for the public convenience they arranged that their resignations should not take effect till the following Monday. The 'Sicilia' was thus enabled to leave Tilbury last Saturday at her proper time. The officers were helped by the Imperial Merchant Service Guild, and the Guild declared that the resignations had become neces- sary, as all other means of moving the company had failed. The company issued on Monday a statement in which it was denied that any representations had been received from officers except in the engineers' branch. From the evidence it appears that the memory of the company's officials had failed them in this respect. On Wednesday the board of the com- pany received a deputation of officers, and eventually met all their demands. Public sympathy was entirely with the officers, as it was felt that such pay as £10 a month for a second officer, who is charged with enormous responsibilities, and subject to the frequent and prolonged strains of fog and bad weather, is quite inadequate. We wonder whether it would be possible to increase the pay of captains by means of a capitation fee, say, of a shilling on every first-class passenger, sixpence on every second-class passenger, and one penny on every third-class passenger. We have never met a passenger who would have grudged good pay to the commander to whom the safety of everyone on board is committed. The junior officers would then have a prize to look forward to, and they would well deserve it when they attained it.
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