The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1893-03-07
SAILOR ORATORS.
Eighth Annual Meeting
of Their Union.
TorchIight Procession on the Streets.
Plain Talk From Men Who
Live Before the Mast.

The annual celebration of the Sailors
Union of the Pacific Coast was held in Met
ropOlitan Temple last night
Previous 10 the meeting the members of
the union. dressed in their neat uniforms of
blue sailor pantalOOns, white shirts with
sailor collars of blue, and sailor caps, pa
raded the principal streets with torches.
American flags and two brass bands. Tue
line of march was along the water front to
Folsom-street wharf, thence west on Bush
TO Kearny. thence to Market. up the latter
thoroughfare to Fifth street, and then into
the hall secured for the meeting.
In addition to the dozen or more silk
| flags carried in the line of march, there was
one transparency, and 8 very suggestive
one II was to those who understand the
bitter warfare that has been waging for
months between the Sailors Union aud the
men recently identified under the name of he
! Ship-owners Shipping Union. On one end
| of the transparency there was the sgnih-
cant inscription. Down With the Crimps,"
| and on the other end The Union For
| ever" while on one side was written "Or-
| gauization is labor's salvation-equal rights
| to all, special privileges to none"
When the hour for opening the meeting
arrived there was not vacant seat in the
hall, while all the passageways IN the rear
| of the building were crowded with enthuSi-
astic Iaborers willing to stand in order to
| take part 10 the meeting.
THE BIRTH OF THE UNION.
No time was lost in getting to work
| After music James Barry, the editor of
the Coast Seamen's journal, opened the
meeting. He began by telling how. on
rainy night just eight years ago, crowd of
| seamen gathered on the Folsom street
wharf and listened to men who urged them
/ 10 organize themselves into a union. On
that night the Coast Seamen's Union, now
the Sailors Union of the Pacific, was
formed. The principle upon which the
union was organized was the brotherhood
| of man. Mr.. Barry then explained why il
was that the celebration this year was held
in Metropolitan Temple instead of on the
| FolsOm-streot wharf, where the annual
meetings have been heretofore held. He
| SAID that Tor once The union mad agreed to
neglect the celebration at the birthplace of
| the organization, paying II only visit. and
| come uptown, where they could talk 10
the people about their troubles aud tell
| them something OF the hardshlps the sailors
have been compelled to undergo of late.
During Mr.. Barry's speech there were
constant Interruptions from the audience
| and Two men were elected by the sailors,
| none too gently it can be imagined. The
| men certainly deserved their punishment, rs
Mr.. Barry said nothing that need offend any
| one.
After poem read by Mr.. Macarthur,
| Andrew FuTuseth, the brainy secretary Of
| He said he was too i'll to speak, but lie
| wanted, even sick as he was, to say few
words. His speech was very moderate in
| tone and very impressive. He said he
| wanted to impress upon the minds Of the
| people that the fight between the Seamen's
| Union and the ship-owners was because
the latter claimed that $40 a month was too
much for sailor, when the sailor only
| worked eight months IN a year and was idle
four months.
NO MORE BOARDING-HOUSE
mo matter what the result Of the fight
| may be-, said turuseth, "let the ship
owners understand that the sailors of the
Pacific will never go back 10 the old board
| ing house system, The sailors have moth
ing 10 lose in this fight, not even home {;
their homes are on the ocean, and some day
they may be needed there. The spectacle
of the Charleston manned by a crew of
Japanese and facing a British waTship in
Hawaiian waters would be one no loyal
American would want to see. What would
be the result in such case | " ould not dare
to even fOreshadow, but an admiral the
other day called the attention of this Gov
eminent to the fact that while the Govern
lnent is building a navy it is not building
| American seamen to man it.
"Why is it," said the speaker ''that
American boys don't go to sea? III tell
you. Because upon American ships there
Is too much 'belaying-pin soup; there is
| more scuTYy on American ships than those
| VI any JULIET IhllUD, anu now lDbY want TO
make the wages less than upon the ships OF
any other nation. l hope to God that the
| seamen of America will never be needed on
the seas in defense of their country. but If
they are, l hope and believe that the same
| spirit that animated the men at Hampton
Roads and VINO followed Farragut at New
Orleans would animate them there. But
will there be any of US left, or will we be
starved out and driven away? Let the
| people remember that sailors have wings
\ n hppn ia N hara
they will find room under some other flag
than that of the United States"
The cheers that greeted Furuseth's re-
marks lasted several minutes. Then there
was music by the band and Charles Sum
ner made a speech that had no particular
bearing on the subject under discussion, but
was mainly resume of amusing incidents
that happened to him when he was n sailor
years and years ago. He commended the
union and closed.
WILL SURELY WIN.
Alfred Thurman, the well-known labor
agitator, was next introduced. lie said
that the history of the movement of labor
on this coast was the history of the Sea-
mems Union of the Pacific; that the birth
day of organized labor on this coast was
March 6, 1885, the day called by the sailors
OF the Pacific independence Day." and on
that day the real " ork of the organiza tiU u
of labor was commenced. Notwithstanding
the many troubles and trials since endured
lne speaker insisted That the Sailors
Union had accomplished far more than
they ever hoped to accomplish. The
word defeat has no place in the
sailors dictionary, and no matter what
comes, how hard or how long the fight they
will yet win. The speaker paid high
tribute to the Coast Seamen's Journal, say
Ing it was the first newspaper that has ever
been published by sailors, the first journal
where every line was written by men who
worked before the mast
| hfoI, ,,,Ig.
whom the speaker said had forgotten the
meaning of the word fear, the speaker gave
place to Thomas NayloT, who sang one of
Dennis Kearney's old sandlot ballads con-
corning the employment of Chinese, mod
erniZed in the latter verses to suit the occa-
sion. To an enthusiastic encore he sang a
rollicking Irish song, and then II. Gutstadt,
man who has spoken at every annual Gel
ebrati0n OF the union, made a speech adj
dressed mainly to the citizens and reciting
| the sail0rS' side Of the war noW in DroprpS Q