The Globe. FRIDAY, JULY 31, 1874.

Globe, Volume I, Issue 53, 31 July 1874, Page 2

The Globe. FRIDAY, JULY 31, 1874.

Sailors as a rule are supposed to be as humane as any other portion of the community, and though their lives are very rough and arduous, and the constant knocking about the world might be thought to render them less careful of accidents than any other class, yet it is very seldom that we have to chronicle deliberate cruelty, and indifference to the sufferings of others, amongst the members of the English mercantile marine. The case of the Murillo and the ISTorthfleet will be fresh in the recollection of many of our readers, and in this instance the conduct of the captain, mate, and crew of the Murillo was met with a universal cry of horror and disgust. Punishment quickly followed their das-

tardly action, and the officers were imprisoned for the affair we refer to. We believe most people had a feeling of satisfaction in thinking that the ruffians who had deliberately deserted a sinking ship, run down by a vessel in which they were on board, were not Englishmen, but Spaniards who were supposed not to be as careful of the lives of the crews of other vessels as a crew of Englishmen would have been. We, however, have now to chronicle an event which shows that, even amongst the English mercantile marine, we have some individuals, and these in command of firstclass ships, who are as indifferent to the lives of other unfortunate human beings as the captain and officers of the Murillo were. An enquiry has been held in Melbourne into the conduct of the captain of the ship Oakworth, whose vessel ran down an unlucky fishing smack in the Irish Channel, and who, after the accident had occurred, wilfully neglected to adopt proper means to render assistance to the crew. The intelligence of the accident was first given by two seamen on board of the Oakworth, who, on her arrival in Port Philip, gave information to the public which was duly published. Of course the case was not allowed to remain uninquired into, and accordingly the Steam Navigation Board commenced on2oth July an enquiry into the circumstances of the case, which terminated in the cancelling of the certificate of the master of the Oakworth. It was useless for the lawyer employed by the captain to argue that the Board bad no jurisdiction in the matter, as the chairman of the Board pointed out that though they had no jurisdiction in the criminal part of the case, yet that if such a charge as had been preferred against the master was proved, it would entail the cancelling of his certificate, with which the Board were the only persons qualified to deal. After a patient enquiry, the Board found that the charges had been fully proved, and decided that nothing less than the absolute cancelling of Captain Edgar’s certificate would meet the case, and consequently this was done. Remembering the hard measure meted out by the authorities in Melbourne to Captain Collard of the Sussex, for what was at the most, an error of judgment, it hardly probable that the case of the master of the Oakworth will be concluded at this stage, and it is more than likely that by the next mail from Melbourne, we may hear that criminal proceedings have been commenced against the captain, and that he will have to stand his trial for the offence of which he is accused. Whilst regretting that Captain Edgar’s future career is in all probability blasted by the proof of the charges which have been brought home to him, we must be thankful that the Melbourne Steam Navigation Board have not been led away away by any sentimental feeling in their decision, and that they have virtually rendered it impossible for Captain Edgar to become again the commander of any vessel trading between England and the Australian Colonies. The masters of the fine vessels that are now employed in the carrying trade between England and Melbourne, are most of them men of well known courage and humanity, and they will be as thankful as any other part of the community that such a man as the late master of the Oakworth is no longer to be pointed out as a specimen of their class.