Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1885-06-08
MaisfeIlarIfDns.


The Sea Lawyer.
lLAnoRNG NOT FOR HIRE But FOR THE
4 COOP OF HIS SHIPMATEs.
i In nearly every ships crew is at Leaf
one sailor who. is well versed in maritime
! law. 80 far as it pertains to the rights OF
himself and his shipnaies. The sa'lor
who makes pretensiOns to legal knowi-
! edge of this description ia very properly
called a sea lawyer. Unlike his legal
contemporary of the land. the sea lawyer
I scorps to work for hire. He labors only
for the good of his shipmates and what
ever personal glory may fall TO him for
having championed their cause The sea
| LAWYER never hesifates to take up the
cause of a shipmate who imagines that he
has suffered wrongs at the hands 0I MS
superiors. The threats of the officers
have no terrors for him. He is always
willing to Law down his brief and assume
a crown OF martyrdom, and as ior g as be
has breath in his body the sea lawyer will
continue to argue the cause OF he client.
Sea captains, as a rule, regard sea law
yers with intense dislike. The captain DIES
not wish to be unreasonable. He isper-
fectly willing that his men should do as
they please, provided that they are pleased
to conduct themselves in accordance with
his wishes. AS long as the men are content
edwith the treatment which they receive at
the hands of the captain and his officers
everything goes smoothly on board the
ship. But when the men obstinately re.
fuse to pretend that they are coDtenled and
ho, bar 10 mt IN no nj IQao
trouble. The captain entertains no de-
cided dislike for the clustering sailor who
tries to inagurate mutiny on the slightest
provocation. He knows that by means of
The moral influence of a cooked revolver.
followed by few days. confinement on
biscuit and water, he will be able 10 bring
to the surface all the lamb-like features Of
the agitator's character.
But the expert sea lawyer will refuse in
the most unfeeling manner to conduct him
self violently. He cannot be induced to
lose his temper. He will not give the
captain tie slightest excuse to put him in
irons. The aggravating sea lawyer in
sists that he passiOnately loves law and
order. With u calm smile he begs the
captain to so tar overstep his authority as
to place his law-abiding wrists in chains.
or If this is too much trouble. to kindly
knock him down. in order to give him a
chance of appealing to the courts when
the ship arrives in port. BY this course
he worries his captain to the verge of mad
ness. That is one of the reasons why the
captain hates the sea lawyer.
The sailor who feels that he has a turn
for the law acquires his legal education in
careful and systematic manner. He be-
| gins by sitting at the feet of some fore.
castle Gamallel who is willing to impart
to his Juniors. not only his knowledge of
the law which have been made tor the
protection Of the sailor while on board
| ship, but also the methods which have
been found most effective in inducing ty-
rannical officers to respect these laws.
The student also learns by heart The shlp's
articles. Il copy OF which is posted in the
torecaslle. At length he acquires such
trip on legal knowledge that he considers
himself a iull-tledged sea LAWYER, and he
proceeds to argue points with the pro-
fessors who have superintendent his educa-
hon. Then he is allowed to graduate,
and on the next voyage he sets up as a
regular practitioner
The newly hedged lawyer begins by
winning the confidence of his shipmates.
Having aroused his shipmates to reali-
cation Ut the fact that they have certain le-
gal rights, even on board ship. he gives
himself over to the obsel walton OF the con.
duct OF his superiors. Any little fracture
Of the law by one of his shipmates does
not worry him, as this does not count
But he makes note Of each and every
transgression on the part of the officers.
Ii none of the latter will 60 so far as to
actually maltreat any of the sailors, the
sea lawyer endeavors by pooling all the
petty grievances to make out one appsr-
ent case which will rank as respectable
wrong. If the cook insists on giving the
men good food and plenty of it, the sea
lawyer patiently waits for some mishap
in the galley which will result in a meal
considerably below the standard required
by the ships articles.
| The sea lawyer is reasonably sure of
finding something which he can induce his
shipmates to regard as a grievance that
will warrant them in making complaint
to the captain. They march aft in a quiz
ct and orderly manner. with their legal
lumlnary in the van. If the captain Oh.
'ects to being bearded, as it were, in his
very den, and orders the men to return to
the forecastle, the sea lawyer calmly calls
his attention to the TACT under the law the
sailors have right to state their grievan-
ces to him. Having convinced the captain
on this point, the lawyer proceeds to open
his case. He is extremely respectful in
his manner. but this does not prevent him
from reminding the captain that all men
were created tree and equal, and that he
has been placed over the seamen, instead
OF the seamen over him, merely because it
would be announcement to have the vessel
commanded by number OF men who did
not understand navigation.
If the captain refuses to make amends
for the grievance which has brought the
crew aft, the lawyer respectfully az
nounces his intention of appealing to the
land courts as port is reached, and if the
captain finally gives way to his temper
and uses violence. the law-abidlng mara.
time practitioner has a much stronger case
! TO present to the authorities on shore. But
if ON the other hand. the captain promises
to prevent a recurrence of the grievance
in question. the sea lawyer gracIously ac-
cepts his acknowledgment that he Is in
the wrong. and proceeds to lecture him
in the presence OF his crew on his duty
toward his neighbor of the iorecastle.
Having once given~in the captain IS fre-