There is no need to press
either men or boys to enter the King's Naval Service. It has
now been made sufficiently attractive to obviate the need
for that. Nor is there any necessity for shipowners to be
called upon, with or without subsidy, to train and supply
men for the Navy. They have enough to do to look after their
own manning, and this can be done easily by the adoption of
methods that will break down any objection British parents
may have to their sons becoming indentured to steamship
owners, who will find work for them to do, and who will have
them trained by a kindly discipline, paid, fed, and lodged
properly; but still, if they are to be thorough men, there
should be no pampering. Unquestionably, then, the place for
training should be aboard the vessels they are intended to
man and become officers and masters of. No need for
subsidised training vessels; and certainly no need for a
national charge being made for the benefit of shipowners,
who have no right to expect that any part of their working
expenses should be paid by the State.
As an example of how sympathy is growing for the
apprenticeship system, Messrs.
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