Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-01-31
Effort to Relieve Seamen from
Many Long Endured Wrongs.
TALK With MR.. ANDREW FURUSETH
Legislation That is to Be Asked
From Congress.
BILLS UNDER CONSIDERATION

tee OF the International Seamen'S Union of
America, has reached Washington, for the
purpose of urging the passage by Congress
| OF several bills which have been brought
hforward by Representative Mcguire, and
which have for their object the relief of
American seamen from many wrongs to
which they have been subjected for many
years. and for the improvement generally
| of the merchant marine
Mr.. Furuseth was seen last evening at
| mis- hotel by Star reporter, to whom he
said:
"The number of native seamen in our
merchant marine at present does not eX-
| coed 10 per cent, while in 1916 it is claimed
| that it was 50 per cent. Some of the reas-
| ons for this are to be found in the fact that
hardly any amendment has been made to
| the maritime laws since 1912.
Bad Scale of Food.
1.-The food at present provided for most
! American seamen is from 20 to 80 per cent
less in quantity and perhaps more still in
| quality compared with the daily ration fur
nished to prisoners in Sing Sing, n. Y, or
the prison at San Quentin, California.
THE amount of water, three quarts per
man per day, allowed in American ships is
not one-half that supplied on German YES
sells, is three-fifths of that on Danish YES
sells, and three-fourths of what is furnished
on Italian vessels and this represents all
that is allowed for both cooking and drink
ing purposes.
THE scale of provisions was adopted be-
fore the art of canning was discovered and
as a result there is an utter lack of vege
tables, fruit and potatoes. This causes
scurvy, which, according to the last printed
report of the surgeon general of the marine
hospital service, was 30 for the year, while
there were also cases of berre berre dur
ing the same period, the latter being a dis
| toh h,,f
| rosy.
This is an alarming state of affairs
to exist in merchant marine doing
but Sig per cent of the carrying trade of the
world, while the English merchant marine,
which does 6I12 per cent of similar traffic,
had but 90 cases Of scurvy during the year
above referred to, while there were no
cases whatever of berre berre.
I'm European countries all legal ques-
tons arising in reference to seamen's wages,
ETC., are dealt with by summary procedure
the courts taking cogniZance of the fact
that Seamen cannot continue ashore, while
| procedure here to recover a seaman's
wages, amounting to so or So are subject
to the same tedious delays that accompany
suit for the recovery of 81, 0U0. 600 or more
This causes cases to be left undecided
or untried after being entered in the court,
because as before said, the seamen being
unable to continue ashore. are missing
when the suit is called for trial
But there are other abuses for which
the aid of Congress is also entreated and
which have continued for so long that some
persons have expressed the fear that no
remedy can be found for them.
Brutality to Seamen.
Considerations not only of humanity,
but of business expediency, as evidenced
by the growing scarcity of seamen, demand
public attention to the cause and cure of
brutality to seamen. Since the horrors of
the ships Sunrise, Gatherer and Governor
Sfa cd he ~
commonly preached, and as commonly ac-
cepted that brutality to seamen has ceased.
or at least decreased to an immaterial and
unavoidable incident of seafaring life and
that the good name of the American ship
has been redeemed Sc far as the public
ing from ignorapce q the facts, and IT may
be said III passing that 1t is only one in
stance Of the Evolutionary bellefs III Which
every feature of the American merchant
marine IS obscured. Public ignorance is at
once the cause and perpetuation of bru-
tally to Seamen.
The state of affairs prevailing aboard
American ships is incompatible with the
conception Of justice which prevail among
men ashore. The cause of cruelty to sea
men lies in the mistaken idea of economy
which obtains among ship owners. 1t can
not be said that any good comes CT the
system, nor is 1t conceivable that acts of
cruelty are perpetrated wantonly, so far
as the ship owner is concerned. The sys-
TEN originated and is maintained upon the
theory that brutal ships officers can by
threats and violence compel a small crew
to do the work of the larger number of men
required under a just system. OF course
the ship owners and others connected with
shipping deny that they countenance cruel
ty to seamen. But their acts prove their
insncerity.
1T is frequently said in justification of
the existing state of affairs that the low
caliber of the seamen of today-their laZi-
incanacifv-m2kaS
ment necessary. Admitting, for the sake
of argument that the seaman's incapacity
justifies illtreatment, upon the grounds of
eXpedency, it is nevertheless a fact that
incapacity is itself an effect for which there
can be no justification.
1T will be readily understood that under
the regime of brutality, self-respecting sea-
men of ability, irrespective of nationality,
will refuse to go to sea. Hence American
ships have been compelled to put up with
inferior crews, and brutality, which is real
ly the cause of that condition, has come to
be regarded in the light of a necessary
effect of it. Moreover, hold that even in
capacity of the worst kind neither justifies
nor necessitates cruelty.
IAN important point in this connection is
the relation of the merchant service to the
navy. The merchant service is the natural
and, in fact, the only capable recruiting
ground of the navy. In time of peace, under
the United States system of voluntary en-
listment, the navy depends directly upon the
merchant service for the larger part of its
personnel. In time of war the Importance
of this relation would be immeasurably in
creased The difficulty already experienced
of securing the number of men necessary to
put the new warships into commission is
VIGOROUSLY matter of grave public con-
Germ. Many remedies, or, rather, expedients
are suggested, but with little promise of sue
cess The root of the trouble is In the de-
preciated state Of the merchant marine per
sonnet, fnasmuch as it is the source of sup
plies, and the remedy must deal with that
first cause first. believe that with fair
living conditions aboard American ships
American boys and young men will go to sea
in the future, as in the past, in numbers suf-
ficient for the needs or desires of the coun-
try.
The Remedy.
Now. as to the remedy. First 1 would
say that am well aware Of the necessity of
discipline on shipboard. / believe that the
ship master should be vested with all neces-
sary authority to conserve order and COM
mand obedience. But also believe that the
law which invests the ship master with au-
thority should likewise hold him to strict
accountability for his exercise of II. Au-
thority without responsibility begets despot-
ISM and particularly so in the case of men
whose physical, rather than their moral