Evening star., 1895-08-20
CONDITION OF SEAMEN
An Investigation Which is Being Made by
the Labor Bureau.
Facts Which Government Agents Are
Gathering In Principal Seaports of
the Country About the Sailor.

The bureau of labor has recently under
taken an independent investigation in a
field of irouiry which it has not before en-
tered. The work of American seamen in
the merchant service is the subject to
which the officials of the bureau are devot-
ing a part of their attention during the
present season. Agents have been station
ed at five principal ports of the country
New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore
and San Francisco-whoSe business 1t is to
investigate the conditions of the life and
service of the common sailors employed in
the merchant shipping carried on under the
United States flag.
The terms upon which seamen are en-
ployed, the wages paid them, the treat
ment accorded to them at sea and incl
dentally, the IationS and accommoda tioES
furnished on shipboard are being investi-
gated. Particular attention is being paid
to the contracts made with seamen and to
the custom which largely prevails among
ship captains of engaging the services of
middlemen to enlist their crews.
During the last Congress an effort was
made by the National Seamen's Union to
secure the enactment Of legislation to i'm
prove the condition of the men in he mer-
chant marine. Several bills were intro
duced in both houses providing for a high
er standard of rations, for better sleeping
and living quarters on shipboard, for the
abolition of whipping and all manner of
Imprisonment as punishment for the vio-
lation of civil contracts by sailors. These
measures were strongly opposed by delega-
ttons from the shippers organizations of
the country, and as strongly advocated by
representatives of the Seamen's Union.
Objects of the Investisation.
None Of the measures were successful
except the bill doing away with imprison-
ment for failure to fulfill contracts. Their
advocacy by the union before Congress,
however, called attention to alleged condi-
tions which seemed to furnish a proper
field for investigation by the labor bureau,
and SO the matter was taken up. The bu-
reau entered into the work without inten-
ton to sustain the theories of either the
seamen or the shippers, merely desiring to
throw whatever light it might upon the
condition of the United States merchant
marine. This is the only branch of labor
for which special laws have been enacted
regulating the terms Of contracts and SER
vice.
1t has always been assumed by the gov
eminent that the sailor was a proper SUBJ
Ject for paternal legislation, and the offices
OF shipping commissioners have been insti-
tuted for his protection. The Investigation
is expected to develop whether the system
of commissioners can be considered a sue
cess in fulfilling it's mission.
The two investigations ordered by reso-
lut1ons OF Congress are making satisfactory
progress. In making its inquiry into the
effects of machinery upon labor, the bu-
reau is going exhaustively into the history
| of nearly every branch of manufacturing
| in which machinery has taken the place Of
hand labor in recent years. One factory of
| each class is taken as an example, and the
| amount and cost of production and other
details through each process of the work
are learned, as well as the number of
| laborers and the time required for the pro-
| duction of goods under different systems.
| incidentally attention is being paid to the
nifa rV nj nd nfh
phases.
Products of Hand Labor.
Mr.. o. w. Weaver. the chief clerk Of the
bureau, says that the reports which have
| been received up to date show that the pro-
| ducts Of hand labor are still placed on the
market in competition with machine-made
| gccds in a surprisingly large range of
manufactures
The other investigation asked for by Con-
| gress deals with the conditions of female
| labor The report to be made upon this
subject will be a comparative one, dealing
with the employment of women at two
twenty years apart. Information is be-
| ing sought regarding work in factories.
| in shops, in offices and homes Com
| parisons of wages, of hours and Of the
classes of work open to women will be
| rade. The bureau Is endeavoring to reach
sumption that women receive smaller wages
| than men for work of similar class per-
| formed by both sexes, and the reasons for
existing conditions.
| All of the work of the bureau of labor is
| done by it's agents. No dependence is
| placed upon correspondence as a means for
securing statistics and other information.