- Better Conditions for Seamen It will be a welcome reform
if the recovery in shipping is reflected by a rise in the prescribed standards of accommoda- tion for crews. The Merchant Shipping Advisory Committee has put before the Board of Trade a number of recom- mendations which, if adopted, will mark a great advance in seamen's conditions. The proposals are far-reaching, in- cluding as they do compulsory wash-rooms with hot water, compulsory recreation space, cabins of minimum height, separate sleeping-rooms for each watch, and will mean a heavy expense for shipowners, but they are recommended by experts who represent both the National Union of Seamen and the owners, and, in the -light of slum-clearance plans ashore, cannot be regarded as excessive. Indeed several progressive owners have recently anticipated the Committee's proposals, such as the important recommendation that the men should no longer be housed in the exposed forecastle or below the load waterline. But some companies continue to disregard even the inadequate regulations of 1923 and send their crews to sea in cramped and vermin-ridden forecastles without proper heating or ventilation. Conditions in many British ships compare unfavourably with those in Russian, German and Scandinavian vessels. It is more than time that our maritime reputation was cleared of this reproach.
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