Moreover, it can be shown
that the steamship owners are fully aware of the danger to
their passengers; that the laws on the subject of life-saving
appliances are wholly inadequate; that the steamship companies
comply with the law, though they oppose any changes
therein, and that they decline to adopt improved appliances;
because there is no public demand for them, the demand
being for high schedule speed and luxurious conditions of
travel.
"In addition to installing efficient life-saving appliances,
if the great steamship lines should come to an agreement to
fix a maximum speed for their vessels of various classes and
fix their dates and hours of steaming so that they would cross
the ocean in pairs within supporting distances of each other,
on routes clear of ice, all danger of ocean travel would practically
be eliminated.
"The shortest course between New York and the English
Channel lies across Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Consequently
the shortest water route is over seas where navigation
is dangerous by reason of fog and ice. It is a notorious
fact that the transatlantic steamships are not navigated with
due regard to safety; that they steam at practically full
speed in the densest fogs.
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