This subject has come again under consideration. Ten days ago there was a
meeting called at the British embassy to discuss it, at which were
present the diplomatic representatives of the several maritime powers.
It was shown that the service had become greatly demoralized. Although
the money for its support had been regularly collected and
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covered into the Ottoman
treasury, it had been difficult, practically impossible, to obtain even
the smaller and less expensive apparatus, such as lines and rockets;
while the men had been paid nothing for the last six months except the
contributions mentioned in dispatch No. 375, of the 12th January last.
Consequently the life-saving service threatened to resign in a body, and
mid-winter though it was, the service would, for the time at least, come
to naught.
A second meeting yesterday resulted in a collective note to the Sublime
Porte, of which a copy is inclosed, another chapter in the history of
this beneficent establishment, but not, I hope, the final one.
[Inclosure in No. 381.]
Translation of the collective note, of the
foreign representatives to the Porte
Sir: The undersigned deem it their duty to
call the attention of the Sublime Porte to the present condition of
the life-saving service and of the light ship in the Black Sea, at
the entrance to the Bosphorus. The Sublime Porte is aware that in
1871 the international commission of the Bosphorus, called together
under the presidency of the prefect of the Porte, decided to
increase from 15 to 20 paras the small tax paid by every merchant
ship passing through the Bosphorus, to maintain these services. At
the same time certain reductions were made and certain arrangements
were effected by which the sum so raised should be sufficient to
meet the necessary expenses and the reimbursement of the
capital.
For some years the life-saving service has been conducted, the
undersigned are pleased to learn, with great regularity and perfect
success, under the direction of Captain Palmer, who, as the Sublime
Porte has not forgotten, lost his life two years since in a
courageous attempt to rescue the crew of a wrecked Turkish ship. The
crews of the life-saving stations on the Black Sea have succeeded in
rescuing from death a great number of lives and in giving most
valuable aid to a multitude of vessels in peril.
For the past two years the wages of the employés in this service have
been irregularly paid, or paid in caïmé (debased coinage), although
its value was greatly depreciated, and notwithstanding that the tax
was collected in midjidiés (silver).
Frequent remonstrances have been addressed on this subject to the
admiralty, and regard was given to them for a time. But the
undersigned regret that they are obliged to inform the Sublime Porte
that for some time the wages of these devoted men, whose conduct in
performing their difficult and perilous duty is above all praise,
have been irregularly paid and subjected to reductions so
considerable that they are no longer sufficient for their
maintenance, and that the most necessary food and clothing are
wanting to them. No longer able to endure the hardships to which
they are exposed, the crews of the life-saving stations have
declared in writing that they will resign in a body unless their
wages are paid at their original rate, and measures are taken to
assure them, for the future, regularity in their pay-days. If these
conditions are not complied with the important mission which they
fill will be abandoned, to the great detriment of navigation in the
Black Sea, and at the risk of seeing perish a large number of
shipwrecked men.
The undersigned have also learned that the apparatus, such as
rockets, ropes, &c., for saving imperiled crews, for some time
past has not been furnished at the Black Sea stations, in spite of
the pressing and repeated demands made to the imperial authorities.
But the tax of 20 paras, which the governments of the undersigned
authorize to be levied on their merchant marine, is expressly set
apart for the special purpose of maintaining in a proper state of
efficiency the life-saving service and the light ship in the Black
Sea.
Therefore, it is incumbent upon the undersigned, as the Porte will
readily admit, to see to it that the funds so collected are devoted
solely to this purpose, for which they would amply suffice the
undersigned are convinced, if they were honestly and regularly
administered under a well-organized management.
The undersigned have, then, the honor to request that the tax in
question of 20 paras be collected in the future by the international
council of health, which shall have the power to punctually pay the
wages of all the employés in the life-saving; service and on the
light ship, and to procure the necessary apparatus.
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The undersigned, moreover, propose that if, after the payment of
wages, the purchase of the necessary apparatus, and the
reimbursement of the capital in cases where the capital has not yet
been reimbursed, there remains a balance, it shall be employed for
rewarding those men who shall distinguish themselves in rescuing the
shipwrecked or in succoring imperiled vessels, and for forming a
fund for assisting the widows and orphans of those who perished in
the performance of their duty, or for such purpose as shall
afterwards be determined.
In view of the urgency of the subject of which it treats, the
undersigned have the honor to request that an immediate reply may be
given to their communication.
(Signed by the ambassadors of England and France, the ministers of
Greece, Italy, Sweden and Norway, the United States of America,
Spain, Austria-Hungary, Holland, Belgium, Servia, Roumania, and the
chargés d’affaires of Russia and Germany.)
