The daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1848-1851, 1849-01-11
IDe ORGANIZATION of Labor.

NO. VII. . THE TRIAL FOR MURDER ON THE HIGH
sEAs-vIDE THE CRESCENT, NO. a64
1t is true that the Organization of Labor has
nothing to do with that trial. and still less with the
murder committed on the high seas /; but that the
not Organization of Labor has to do a great deal
with both, / mean to show, in as few words as
possible.
The facts in that case, as elected by the wit
nesses, were that one Antonio Seblich had MUIR
dered James Chapel, and that one Juan Martinez
privy to that murder; and the result of the
trial was that all the jurors, except one, found the
first prisoner guilty and the second not guilty of the
murder. These, then, were said to be the facts,
and this the result of their investigation and trial.
After having listened more than two hours to the
testimony of witnesses, | came to the conclusion
that these not the facts and that the result of
the trial was not in accordance with the truth of
the case, but with its appearance The true state Of
the case is that Antonio afraid of being hroth
ouerbodrd that fear dashed Antonio into madness,
and that madness drove Antonio to murder-pre
cisey as if drunken sailor in Royal street steers
against honest laborer; that laborer loses his
balance, and dashes against the show window !;
that show window comes down in shivers, and an
honest man is taken up, tried and found guilty of
burglary, and condemned to costs and to repair,
BON rechtswegen." Such, or similar, are the facts
in this case: and they are different from those
elected by thehearng of witnesses, the deductions
drawn from them must be different likewise.
Liquor was the propeing power in the latter case,
fear in the first But fear produces different results
as it sezes upon dffferent subjects. Under the i'm
preston of fear, Martinez lodges into the hold !;
you despse him for his cowardice, and acquit him
of guilt. Under the impression of fear, the Mex-
can cabin boy covers himself with sails you laugh
at him, and let him go. Under the fear of being
murdered, the mate struggles for his life you APP
plaud him. And under the fear of being thrown
overheard, Antonio murders, and you hang him.
But the acts of men, done under the impulse of an
other cause, not their acts but the acts of the
impulse giventhey are the offspring of the malfor.
nation OF the situation in which they are forced to
act against their better judgement. Now, every one
who has ever been under the discipline of vessel
at sea must know that the organization of such a
movable world is altogether different from that on
terra frma. because the fault of one man may en-
danger the fortunes and the lives of all the people on
board How important is it, therefore that the
captain and crew chosen for the management and
guiding of the ship should be composed of persons
that understand each otheri yet here we find two
men who do not understand, nor understood,
taking wrong impression, and, under that impress
sion, committing a criminal act, which act, COM
mitted under the impulse of fear, there is every
appearance viii be followed up by another, not less
criminal, under the Misrepresentation of the de-
mands of justice or, in other words, the wrong
organization of ships crew has led to a murder
on the high seas, and may lead to another on land.
The Organization of Labor will prevent cases Of
this kind BY making the seamans life atttratve, in
every department thereof That this was not, under
the present circumstances, the case plainly appears
from the dread one party of the crew had of the
other party; and although that dread may not al
ways as at present. lead to murder, yet it is con-
al
Reormers with feeling of the necessity of better
organization of the labor of seaman and of render
ing their condition more comfortable
CHRISTIAN BURGHALDER.