The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-06-12
BRUTALITY AT SEA.
1t Exists, but Is Not Altogether the
Evil Depicted.

Herbert e. Hamblen, in New York Post.
Many well-meaning persons bemoan the
sad fate of poor jack because OF the
abuse which he receives at the hands of
| brutal captains and mates
No one can defend brutality, but "one
story is good until another is told" AS these
officers have all been sailors, the brutal in
Stinct must have been in them then, as 1t
row is in the crews whom they control. The
crew outnumbers the officers four or 1--WE to
one; therefore INSTRUMENTATION would be IA
tai. From his boyhood the sailor is taught
to obey, by force-the only argument which
he understands-and he lives in the hope of
getting square some time. An act of success
full INSTRUMENTATION will give him prestige
among his fellows, to be acquired in no
other way. OF this the officers are aware.
A captain and from two to four officers
take a crew of from twelve to twenty or
more of those fellows, fresh from two
weeks carouse ashore, and start on a three
or four months passage. Halt-drunken
boasts are to be made good II possible. Of
ficers and men size each other up. Inc own
ers expect the captain to make a fast trip.
The captain relies on his officers to execute
his orders. Their future depends largely on
his approval, and the safety of the ship at a
critical moment on instant, unquestioning
obedience and the quickest and hardest
work of which human muscles are capable
Any man of long experience can tell OF
numberlesS instances when his sails and
SparS-eVen his Ship-have been saved be-
caue his crew feared the officers more than
they did the elements. Therefore the crew
must be kept in absolute subsection at all
times.
The laws enacted for the protection of sea-
men have bred class of ShySter lawyers
who have taught them the doctrine of cash
damages. To gain this and at the same time
pose as a hero, the sailor becomes defiant
and insubordnate. 1 have had them dare
me to lay hand on them, saying, III make
you pay for it when we get home"
What is to be done? Imprisonment has
no terrors; they have been jailed too often.
A fine would do no good: they absorb all
the rum they can get while on shore, regard
less of the state of their pocketbooks. To
them would
not be spared. Besides, the moral health
of the crew requires that the first symptom
of INSTRUMENTATION be so effectually stamped
out that none will care to repeat the expert
meDt
If youthful officer, for the sake of peace,
ignores the neglect of the customary sir
by an old sailor, he lays up trouble for
himself The other men-sharp critics-ob-
serve the lapse, and the distemper spreads
gets them under control again, before re-
ceiving a singing admonition from the cap
tain. writer in the Rudder truly says:
"A sailor only respects the man who can
While this antagonism-this traditional
hatred-eXiSts between the two ends of the
Ship while these two forces-one powerful
in numbers, the other in authority-stand
glaring at each other; ever wa tc
cipient outbreak-the law of love and CO.
operation cannot live.
To deny the existence of brutality on ship
board would1be futile, for, among so many
men reared under such circumstances, the
brutal instinct is fostered; but 1t is brute
versus brute. My experience has taught me,
that while the idea of man being knocked
off his feet, and perhaps kicked into in
sensihility, may be horrifying to philan-
thropists and ladies, the punishment is not
at all dreadful. The sailor is a weather
beaten, tough man, and the effects of a
blow, benumbing; not painful. 1t looks
cruel. and therein lies its chief value-as a
deterrent. The man who knows that a
saucy answer or a dilatory movement will
bring swift physical punishment, will think
twice beforeA committing either. 1t is de-
plorable, of course, that such things are,
but when 1t is remembered that with the
thousands of men afioat, so few cases of
serious injury are reported, may well
believe that the brutal officer is not as
ubiquitous as our friends think.
Ny own life, truthfuly portrayed in ION
Many Seas" has called forth numerous
datribes against the brutality therein de-
pcted. Yet I have no regrets for what
endured nor any apologies to offer for what
I did 1 have suffered more, infinitely more.
from the spankings received at home than
from the lickings l got from the tough
mates with whom / sailed
| remember my sea life as a far from
unpleasant episode; but l would dread the
prospect OF living the life of Pennsylvania
coal miner, or a New England mill opera
tive as the good people of the last genera
ton dreaded the hereafter of the ungodly.