IDENTS AT SEA.

On this subject an interesting return to an order of the House of
Commons was lately made by the management of Lloyd's, and has caused
some discussion in the public prints. The return applies to the four
years ending December 1850; and during this period, it appears that
the number of collisions, wrecks, and other accidents at sea, was
13,510; being at the rate of 3377 per annum, 9 per diem, or 1 for
every 2-3/4 hours. Commenting on these details, the _Times_ observes,
that 'it must not be understood that every accident implies a total
wreck, with the loss of all hands. If a ship carries away any of her
important spars, or, on entering her port, strikes heavily against a
pier, whereby serious damage is occasioned, the accident is duly
registered in this pithy chronicle of Lloyd's. Nevertheless, as we
glance up and down the columns, it is no exaggeration to say, that
two-thirds of the accidents recorded are of the most serious
description. We are unable to say to what degree this register of
Lloyd's can be accepted as a fair index to the tragedies which are of
such hourly occurrence upon the surface of the ocean. If all were
known, we fear that this average of accident or wreck every 2-3/4
hours would be fearfully increased. The truth must he told. The
incapacity of too many of the masters in the British mercantile marine
has been the pregnant cause of loss to their owners and death to their
crews. Men scarcely competent to take the responsibility of an
ordinary day's work, or, if competent, of notoriously intemperate
habits, were placed in command of sea-going ships through the
parsimony or nepotism of the owners. The result of the educational
clauses in the Mercantile Marine Bill of last session, will no doubt
be to provide a much larger body of well-trained men, from among whom
our shipowners can select the most competent persons for command.'

These observations called forth a reply from the President of the
Seaman's Association, vindicating mariners from the charges so brought
against them. A few passages from the letter of this respondent are
worth noticing. 'Are British sailors,' he asks, 'really so bad as you
represent? If so, then you condemn by implication the seamen of the
United States, for they are also Anglo-Saxon. Let me direct your
attention to a few facts bearing out this assertion. The desertions
from the royal navy in 1846 (see Parliamentary Returns) were 2382;
this is about 1 out o