THE TITANIC AND THE LITERARY COMMENTATOR

8/3/2019 THE TITANIC AND THE LITERARY COMMENTATOR

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T H E T I T A N I C A N D T H E L I TE R A R Y C O M M E N T A T O R 603than that poet in his earthly tabernacle,he is like him, primarily, in a certain defect of volition, in a certain unfitnessfor l ife, which made the prisonthatmodern substitute for monastic seclusionalmost a sanctu ary a nd a refuge fromthe world. O n the li terary side, too,DostoietTsky makes us feel that we candivine the kind of novels Verlaine wouldhave written if this poet, whose verse islike the inward whisper of Hugo's wordylyricism, had been capable of prose fiction on the scale of Les Miserables.

In both Verlaine and Dostoieffskythe re is the same strain of pity and humility that makes them modern mendicants, l i tt le broth ers of St. Fran cis. Butthere is a strain of intellectual pride andcuriosity in Dostoiefifsky that is absentin the French poet, and this , more thanonce, reminds us, both in the man and

the artist, of our own Poe. Crime andPunishment,- indeed, under one of itsmany aspects, might almost be a tale ofthe "grotesque and arabesque" on agrander scale and with a greater gamutof emotion and sensation. Th e gre ate rscale in no wise lessens the intensity andconcentration of this study of an assassinwho works under the empire of an ideefixe, nor does its grisly realism detractin any way from the delicate subtlety ofits psychological analysis, or make theexquisite pathos of the gentler characterisations and the scenes of sentimentseem misplaced. Poe plus Dick ensthat, perhaps, is the nearest formula bywhich one can arrive at a perfect understanding of this great writer who, asMr. Lloyd justly says, was at once theconfessor, the vivisector, and the GrandInquisitor of the Russian soul.

THE TI TANI C AND THE LI TER AR YC O M M E N T A T O RBY E. B. FRE NC H

IM E R I C A N novelistsand playwrights, alwaysso mute on public affairs or current events,naturally had little ornothing to say about theTitanic disaster. InEngland, on the other hand, the bestknown writers of the day have commented upon itperhaps to no greatpractical advantagebut their views areinteresting and characteristic, as the following summary wil l show:

Mr. Bernard Shaw's disgust with thenewspaper comments on the f irst reportsof the Titanic disasterwas not at all surprisingto the readers of hisplays and prefaces. I twas not to be expected that the authorof Arms and the Man would have muchpatience with journalistic raptures overheroism, even if the facts lent themselves

Bernard Shawon MockHeroics

to a heroical interpre tation . M r. Shawloathes heroics and the glamour of romance and in no conceivable circumstances would he find an excuse forthem . Bu t the facts of the Titanic disaster were, he contended, peculiarly un-suited to romantic treatment, and it wasonly by lying that the newspapers madethem out heroic. W hy, he asked, does asensational catastrophe always drive amodern nation no t into transpo rts ofgrief or sympathy, or into prayer, butinto "an explosion of outrageous romantic lying "? H e refers it to certain ro mantic demands which must be met bydisregarding the facts or by distortingthem . Th us, one demand of romance isthat everybody must face death withoutflinching; so that is the way the papersmu st present it. Bu t what is the actualevidence ?The captain and officers were so afraid of apanic that though they knew the ship was sinking, they did not dare tell the passengers so,especially the third-class passengers, and the


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6o4 T H E B O O K M A Nband played rag-time to reassure the passengers, who, therefore, did not get into the boatsand did not realise their situation until theboats were gone and the ship standing on herhead before plunging to the bottom.What happened then Lady Duflf-Gordon hasrelated, and the witnesses at the American inquiry could hard ly bear to relate. I ask, whatis the use of all this ghastly, blasphemous,inhuman, braggartly lying? He re is a calamity which might well make the proudest manhumble and the wildest joke r serious. Itmakes us vainglorious, insolent and mendacious.A n o t h e r r o m a n t i c d e m a n d i s , " W o m e nan d chi ldr en f irst ," a nd se ldo m, says M r.Sh a w , w a s t h e r e a s u Mi m e r c h o r u s o nthe s t r i c t obse rvance o f th i s ru le than inthe f i rs t accounts of the wreck in theL o n d o n p a p e r s c o n t a i n i n g t h e s t o r y o fL a d y D u f f - G o r d o n .

She described how she escaped in the captain's boat. Th ere w as one other woman init and ten mentwelve all toldone womanfor every five men.A g a i n , r o m a n c e r e q u i r e s t h a t a l l t h e m e nexce p t the fo re ig ne rs sha l l be he roe s ,tha t the fo re ign e rs sha l l be kep t f roma coward ly s tampede by Br i t i sh p i s to l s ,and tha t the cap ta in sha l l be a supe r h e r o a magnificent seaman, cool, brave, delightingin danger, and a living guarantee that thewreck was nobody's fault, but, on the contrary, a triumph of British navigation.Such a man Captain Smith was enthusiastically proclaimed on the day when it wasreported (and actually believed, apparently)that he had shot himself on the bridge. . . .Writers who had never heard of CaptainSmith to that hour wrote of him as they wouldhardly write of Nelson.The only thing positively known was thatCaptain Smith had lost his ship by deliberatelyand knowingly steaming into an ice field atthe highest speed that he had coal for. H epaid the penalty, so did most of those forwhose lives he was responsible. Ha d hebrought them and the ship safely to land, nobody would have taken the smallest notice ofhim.As to the s tead iness and b rave ry o f theoff icers the verd ic t of the press was

The ConanDoy le -ShawD e b a t e

u n a n i m o u s , a l t h o u g h t h e p r i n c i p a l f a c tk n o w n a t t h e t i m e w a sthat boats which were not full refused to goto the rescue of those who were struggling inthe water in cork jackets. Th e reason wasfrankly giventhey were afraid.T h e f e a r , s a y s M r . S h a w , w a s n a t u r a l ,a n d n o b o d y a t h o m e d a r e b l a m e t h e m ,b u t w h y a s s u r e t h e w o r l d t h a t o n l y E n g l i shmen cou ld have behaved in so he ro ica m a n n e r ? Su c h , h e s a y s , w a s t h e a t t i t u d e o f t h e p r e s s t o w a r d t h e d i s a s t e r .

Did the press really represent the public?I am afraid it did. Churchmen and statesmentook mu ch the same tone . Th e effect on mewas one of profound disgustalmost nationaldishonour. Am I mad ? Possibly. At allevents that is how I felt and how I feelabout it.S i r A . C o n a n D o y l e a f t e r a n o n e t o oc a r e f u l r e a d i n g o f Mr . Sh a w ' s l e t t e r , r e p l ied to i t w i th muchh e a t , s a y i n g t h a t h e h a dn e v e r f o u n d s o m u c ht h a t w a s f a l s e w r i t t e nw i t h i n a n e q u a l c o m p a s s . T o b e s u r et h e r e w e r e t e n m e n t o t w o w o m e n i n o n eb o a t , b u t h o w a b o u t t h e o t h e r s ? M r .Sh a w k n e w a s w e l l a s e v e r y b o d y e l s e t h a tin the ve ry nex t boa t s ix ty - f ive ou t o f thes e v e n t y o c c u p a n t s w e r e w o m e n . A s t oC a p t a i n S m i t h , S i r A r t h u r d e c l a r e d h ew o u l d g l a d l y p r e s e n t t h e Fa b i a n So c i e t yw i t h i i o o , if M r . S h a w w o u l d s h o w h i mt h e w o r k o f a n y r e s p o n s i b l e j o u r n a l i s t i nw h i c h C a p t a i n Sm i t h is d e s c r i b e d i n t h et e r m s o f N e l s o n . T o i n s i n u a t e a s M r .Sh aw d id th a t the o f fice rs ha d no t don et h e i r d u t y w a s a " p o i s o n o u s s u g g e s t i o n . "To say tha t the wreck was ha i led a s at r i u m p h o f B r i t i s h n a v i g a t i o n w a s p r o o fm e r e l y t h a t Mr . Sh a w v a l u e d a s e n s a t i o n a l p h r a s e m o r e t h a n t h e t r u t h . S i r

A r t h u r e x p r e s s e s t h e h i g h e s t a d m i r a t i o nfo r the o f f ice r who to ld Mr . I smay , them a n a g i n g - d i r e c t o r , t o " g o t o h e l l , " w h e nt h e l a t t e r s e e m e d t o b e i n t e r f e r i n g w i t ht h e l i f e - s a v i n g w o r k . B u t M r . Sh a w , h es a y s , quo tes th i s r emark a s i f i t were ac r i m e . F i n a l l yAs to the general accusation that the occasion had been used for the glorification ofBritish qualities, we should indeed be a lostpeople if we did not honour courage and dis-


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T H E T I T A N I C A N D T H E L IT E R A R Y C O M M E N T A T O R S 605whe n we see it in the h ig hes t fo rm.

show n by the fac t tha t the conduc t of th ee r i c a n m a l e p a s s e n g e r s , a n d v e ry p a r t i c u

the who le won der fu l ep ic . Bu t su re ly i t i si fu l s igh t to see a ma n o f undo ub te d gen ius

s ing h i s g if t s in o rde r to decry h i s ownrega rd le s s o f the fac t tha t h i s wor dsus t add to the g r ie f o f those who have

This letter by ignoring the essentialfact that the Shaw diatribes were directed against, the journalis tic misuse ofthe early and incomplete reports , broughtforth a thum ping re joinder . The newspapers, said Mr. Shaw, wrote columnsof gushing eulogy on the strength of information that indicated anything butheroic conduct.

My case i s tha t ou r jou rna l i s t s wro te wi th ou t the s l igh tes t regards to the fac t s ; tha t theywere ac tua l ly more en thus ias t i c in the i r p ra i seof the Titanic hero es on the day whe n theon ly ev idence to hand was ev idence o f conductfo r wh ich a so ld ie r w ou ld be sho t and a navysa i lo r hanged , than when la te r news came inof those officers and crews who did their best ,and th a t i t mu s t be ev iden t to every re asonab leman tha t i f there had no t been a redeemingfea tu re in the who le case , exac t ly the sameh o g w a s h , a s Mr . C u n n i n g h a m e G ra h a m c a l l si t in h i s r igh teous d i sgus t , wou ld have beenlav i shed on the ver ies t das ta rds as upon ac r e w o f G ra c e D a r l i n g s .

The cap ta in pos i t ive ly lo s t popu lar i ty whenthe de l ibera te and ca lum nious l i e tha t he sho th imse l f wa s d rop ped . . . .

S i r Ar thu r accuses me o f ly ing , and I mus tsay he g ives me no g rea t encouragemen t to t e l lthe t ru th ; bu t he p roceeds to t e l l aga ins t h imse l f what I t ake to be the mos t thvmder ingl ie ever sen t to a p r in te r by a human au tho r .H e fi rs t says th at I quo ted, a s i f i t we re acrime, the words used by the officer who to ldM r. I sm ay to "go to he l l . " I d id no t . I s a idt h e o u t b u r s t w a s v e ry n a t u r a l , t h o u g h n o t i nmy op in ion admirab le o r hero ic . . . .

"B u t , " S i r Ar th u r goes on to say , " I cou ldno t imag in e a f iner exa mp le ." . . . Ye s , youcou ld . S i r Ar t hu r , and m any a page of hero icrom anc e f rom y our hand a t t es t s tha t you o f tenh a v e i m a g i n e d m u c h f in e r e x a m p l e s . H e ro i s mhas no t qu i te come to tha t ye t , no r has your

imag ina t ion con t rac ted o r you r b ra in so f tenedto the pa thos o f see ing sub l imi ty in a worr iedo ff icer t e l l ing even a ma nag i ng -d i rec to r (G odl ike be ing ) to "go to he l l . "

Another eminent British writer to freehis mind on the subject with remarkablepromptness was Mr.Joseph Conrad's Josep h Co nrad, wh oseReflections "Re flection s" on the dis aster appeared in theMay number of the English Review before the Mersey Commission had begunits inquiry . A large par t of his com-

' ' . ^ ' - X C ^ ' f * ^

F r o m L o n d o n " P u n c h "TOLL OF THE SEA

mentary is necessarily unintelligible toan American, and probably could not beunderstood anywhere outside the BritishIsles. H e begins by cond emn ing verybitterly the American Senatorial inquiry."W ha t are they after? W ha t is therefor them to find ou t? " It seems to himto have been the grossest impertinencefor Americans to ask any questions atall. We Americans, he argues, kil l agreat many people on our railroads in asingle year. Th ere for e the news of theTitanic disaster should have been followed not by an inquiry into the causesof this shipwreck, but by an inquiry into


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6o6 T H E B O O K M A Nt h e c a u s e s o f r a i l w a y w r e c k s . T h e m o r eexc i te d we becam e ove r the de ta i l s o f th eTitanic c a t a s t r o p h e , t h e m o r e p r e o c c u p ied we should have been wi th l a s t yea r ' sr a i lw ay co l l i s ions . M ore ov e r , no off iceri n t h e B r i t i s h m e r c h a n t s e r v i c e w a s u n de r the s l igh te s t ob l iga t ion to answer theq u e s t i o n s o f t h e r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s o f a n yf o r e ig n p o w e r . " T h e o n l y a u t h o r i t y h ei s bo un d to answ er i s the Bo a rd ofT r a d e . "

T h u s f a r t h e p o i n t o f v i e w t h o u g hi n s u l a r i s c o m p a r a t i v e l y e a s y t o g r a s p ,b u t w h a t f o ll o w s i s a l t o g e t h e r b e y o n dt h e r e a c h o f t h e p o o r o u t l a n d e r ' s s t r a i n i n g i n t el l e ct . F o r M r . C o n r a d p r o c e e d sto show how id io t i ca l ly the Br i t i sh Boa rdo f T r a d e a l w a y s b e h a v e s a n d h o w f u t i lei ts i n q u i r y w a s c e r t a i n t o b e . T h e B o a r do f T r a d e i s h e s a y s , " a g h o s t l e s s t h a nt h a t ; a s y e t a m e r e m e m o r y . "An office with adequate and no doubt comfortable furnitur e. A lot of perfectly irresponsible gentlemen, who exist packed in itsequable atmosphere softly, as if in a lot ofcotton-wool, and with no care in the world;for there can be no care without personal responsibility.S o t h e A m e r i c a n s w e r e i n d e c e n t i na s k i n g a n y q u e s t i o n s a n d o u g h t t o h a v ew a i t e d f o r t h e o n l y a u t h o r i t y c o m p e t e n tt o a s k q u e s t i o n s , w h i c h w a s t h e B r i t i s h

B o a r d o f T r a d e ; b u t t h e B o a r d o fTrade ins tead of be ing f i t to a sk ques t ions was a ghos t o r , r a the r , a mere lo tof office fur n i tu re . Ne ve r th e le s s thec o n d u c t o f t h e A m e r i c a n s in a s k i n gque s t ion s ins tea d of wa i t ing for the "off i c e f u r n i t u r e " t o e x p l a i n r e m a i n s i nt h i s w r i t e r ' s m i n d , s o s t r a n g e l y h o s p i t a b l e t o m u t u a l l y d e s t r u c t i v e p r o p o s i t i o n s ,n o t o n l y i n d e c e n t b u t b l a c k h e a r t e d a n dvi le .And there are too many ugly developments

about this tragedy. The rush of the Senatorial inquiry before the poor wretches escapedfrom the jaws of death had time to drawbreath; the vituperative abuse of a man nomore guilty than others in this matter, andthe more than the suspicion of it being apolitical move to get home on the M. T. Company, into which, in common parlance, theUnited States Government has got its knife,I don't pretend to understand why, though

with the rest of the world I am aware ofthe fact. Maybe there may be an excellentreason for it; but I venture to suggest that totake advantage of it on the strength of so manypitiful corpses is not pretty. No, I am notafraid to say that it is not pretty. And th eexploiting of the mere sensation on the otherside is not pretty in its wealth of heartlessinventions. Neith er is the welter of Marconilies, which has not been sent vibrating without some reason, for which it would be nauseous to inquire too closely.

A s M r . C o n r a d b e g i n s a n d e n d s h i s" R e f l e c t i o n s " w i t h t h i s s e v e r e a r r a i g n m e n t o f A m e r i c a n m a n n e r s a n d m o r a l so n e m i g h t t h i n k t h a t t h e c h i e f l e s s o n o ft h e d i s a s t e r w a s , t o h i s m i n d , t h e m i s b e h a v i o u r o f A m e r i c a n S e n a t o r s a n dn e w s p a p e r m e n w h e n a l a r g e n u m b e r o ft h e i r f e l l o w - c o u n t r y m e n a r e s u d d e n l yd r o w n e d . T h i s , h o w e v e r , w a s p r o b a b l yi n t e n d e d m e r e l y t o c o m f o r t t h e B r i t i s hr e a d e r w h o s e f e el i n g s m i g h t b e w o u n d e db y M r . C o n r a d ' s a c c o u n t o f t h e d i s a s t e ri t s e l f and h i s c r i t i c i sm of the Boa rd ofT r a d e a n d t h e s t e a m s h i p c o m p a n i e sw h i c h , a f t e r a l l , m a d e u p t h e ch i e f p a r to f t h e a r t i c l e . H i s o w n e x p e r i e n c e o f t h es e a , e x t e n d i n g o v e r m a n y y e a r s , g i v e h i sc o m m e n t s o n r e c e n t t e n d e n c i e s i n o c e a nn a v i g a t i o n a c e r t a i n in t e r e s t . H e a t t r i b u t e s t h e d i s a s t e r t o t h e m a d r i v a l r ya m o n g t h e c o m p a n i e s i n t h e m a t t e r o fspee d and s ize an d to the b l ind fa i t h inm a t e r i a l a n d a p p l i a n c e s .

But she sank, causing, apart from the lossof so many lives, a sort of surprising consternation that such a thing should have happenedat all. W h y? Yo u build a 45,000-ton hotel ofthin steel plates to secure the patronage of, say,a couple of thousand rich people (for if it hadbeen for the emigrant trade alone there wouldhave been no such exaggeration of mere size),you decorate it in the style of the Pharaohs,or in the Louis Quinze styleI don't knowwhichand to please the aforesaid fatuoushandful of individuals who have m ore, moneythan they know what to do with, and to theapplause of two continents, you launch thatmass with two thousand people on board at21 kno ts acro ss the seaa perfect exhibitionof the modern blind trust in mere materialand appliances. And then this happens. General consternation . The blind trust in materialand appliances has received a terrible shock.


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T H E T I T A N I C A N D T H E L IT E R A R Y C O M M E N T A T O R 607I will say nothing of the credulity which accepts any statement which specialists, technicians, are pleased to make, whether for purposes of gain or glory. You stand thereastonished and hurt in your profoundest sensibilities. But what else under the circumstancescould you expect?

M r . G . K . C h e s t e r t o n ' s c o m m e n t s o nt h e d i s a s t e r h a v e a l r e a d y b e e n q u o t e d i np a r t i n t h i s m a g a z i n e .M r . C h e s t e r- L i k e M r . S h a w h e w a ston ' s Views ch ie fly co nc ern ed wi thi ts efTect on publ ic opini o n a s e v i d e n c e d i n t h e n e w s p a p e r s . H eh a d l i t tl e s y m p a t h y w i t h t h e h o r r o r p r o f e s s e d b y m a n y B r i t i s h w r i t e r s a t t h eu n s e e m l y h a s t e o f A m e r i c a n S e n a t o r sa n d n e w s p a p e r m e n i n p r y i n g i n t o t h eaf fai r . I t is a l l ve ry wel l , he said , tob l a m e A m e r i c a n j o u r n a l i s m a s " v u l g a ra n d v i n d i c t i v e " a n d f o r s e t t i n g " t h ep a c k i n f u ll c r y u p o n a p a r t i c u l a r m a n . "T h e B r i t i s h cr i ti c m i g h t a c c u s e A m e r i c a n s o f w i s h i n g t o h o u n d M r . I s m a y ," a s if h e w e r e t h e o n l y m a n t h a t w a ss a v e d , " j u s t a s t h e y h o u n d e d p o o r G o r k i"as i f he were the on ly man no t l i v ingw i t h h i s w i f e . " B u t m i g h t n o t t h eA m e r i c a n c r i t ic r e t o r t t h a t t h e B r i t i s hw e r e i n d a n g e r f r o m p r e c i s e l y o p p o s i t ev i c e s ? T h e B r i t i s h t e n d e n c y i s t o h u s ht h i n g s u p , t o " d a m p e v e r y t h i n g d o w n . "A m e r i c a n s m i g h t r e a s o n a b l y s u s p e c t t h a tt h e B r i t i s h M e r s e y c o m m i s s i o n w o u l ds h i r k th e f a c t s " i g n o r e p l a i n q u e s t i o n sa n d s u p p r e s s e x i s t i n g t e l e g r a m s t o s a v et h e fa c e o f s o m e r i c h m a n . " T h a t w a sw h a t h a p p e n e d w h e n u n d e r t h e s a m eL o r d M e r s e y i n q u i r y w a s m a d e i n t o th eJ a m e s o n R a i d . T h e A m e r i c a n s m i g h ts a y

W e are not so careful of millionaires. W eare hounding on the pack, and we think a packof dogs, even if it is a pack of mongrels, isnot so bad a thing in dealing with wolvesor foxes.A s t h e M e r s e y c o m m i s s i o n w e n t o n h ew a x e d b i t t e r l y s a r c a s t i c o v e r s o m e o fi t s ru l ings and pub l i shed a l i t t l e sk i th o l d i n g i t u p t o r i d i c u l e a s c a r e f u l l ye x c l u d i n g f r o m i t s i n v e s t i g a t i o n t h ee s s e n t i a l t h i n g s i t w a s a p p o i n t e d t o i n v e s t i g a t e .

T h e m o r a l w h i c h M r . H . G . W e l l sd r e w f r o m t h e d i s a s t e r c o u l d h a v e b e e ng u e s s e d b y a n y c a r e f u lMr . W el l s ' s r ea de r o f the New Ma-Moral chiavelli. H i s c o m m e n ton i t was mere ly inc i den ta l and appeared in one o f h i s a r t i cles in the Daily Mail o n " T h e L a b o u rU nr es t . " I t t yp i f i es per f ec t ly to h i sm i n d t h e m u d d l e of t h e p r e s e n t s o c i als i t u a t i o n a n d i l l u s t r a t e s t h e i n c o m p e t e n c eof the upper c l ass in modern soc ie ty .

It was one of those accidents which happenwith a precision of time and circumstance thatoutdoes art; not an incident in it all that wasnot supremely typical. It was the penetratin gcomment of chance upon our entire social system . Be neath a surface of magnificent efficiency wasslapdash. The ship was not evenequipped to save its third-class passengers:they had placed themselves on board with aninfinite confidence in the care that was to betaken of them, and most of their women andchildren went down with the cry of those whofind themselves cheated out of life.H i s r e m a r k s o n M r . I s m a y ' s l u c k le s sn o t o r i e t y a r e s i n g u l a r l y j u s t

In the unfolding record of behaviour it isthe stewardesses and bandsmen and engineerspersons of the trade-union classwho shineas brightly as any. And by the supremeartistry of Chance it fell to the lot of thattragic and unhappy gentleman, Mr. BruceIsmay, to be aboard and to be caught by theurgent vacancy in the boat and the snare of themoment. No untried man dare say that hewould have behaved better in his place. Butfor capitalism and for our existing social system his escapewith five and fifty third-classchildren waiting below to drownwas theaband onm ent of every noble pretension. It isnot the man I would criticise, but the manifeftabsence of any such sense of the supreme dignity of his position as would have sustainedhim in that crisis. H e was a rich man and aruling ma-n, but in the test he was not a proudman. In the common man's realisation thatsuch is indeed the case with most of those whodominate the world lies the true cause anddang er of our social indiscipline. An d theremedy in the first place lies not in social legislation, and so forth, but in the consciences ofthe wealthy. He roism an d a general devotionto the common good are the only effectiveanswer to distrust.

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