The sun., 1900-12-09

ably tho majority. they suocS~d Then when
tho captain IL ready to sail asnin ho has M
crew Tho pirates have concealed his men
and own them ~ they mlsht own 40 many cat.
fle They have stripped the men ~ their
money and In addition IN that have chained
them down with MI sor's NJ board house
debts ftia,o these scoundrel. that tho captain
must go N he wants To got Grew. and a round
sum he must pay. generally 80 and upward
a head or course 'hs comes out ~ Jnck
IN the and. being deducted from hts wages
Very often the cnptains-and his aprtics 10
tho captains Of English vessels particularly
| are simply In lsagie with the pirates They
| ship their men from the other side under a
! contract 20 pay them on their return 10 the
| shipping point az the end Of the voyage II
the men desert meantime they forfeit all the
pay thev have earned on the passage ont and
| the captains wish nothing better than IN have
them desert II 10 cheaper for them 70 buy
crew Of the piratcal crimps than II would
be- 10 pay their own crew full wages NJ the
end Of the voyage II the entire crew Of a
vessel which has sailed. say. from Liverpool
desert Mt this port the capt"'- has had his ship
worked all the way here free OF cost He can
'hcn purchase n debt-nortsaged crew to go
back with and s'lll have liberal margin Of
plunder left TO himself after paying the
crimps their price
The Legal Aid Society struck q telling blow
at this system OF knavery when II secured
the passage Of law prohibiting altogether the
payment Of wages TO seamen in advance when
the port OF destination Ia anywhere in the West
Indies. and limiting 20 a couple Of months
or q month the amount OF advance that may
be 90 paid when the voyage Ia to more dis
, tant ports Even this law. however. Is
evaded by captains. who satisfy its technical
conditions by peculiar forms ~ contract
II not unfrequently happens that the heads
of big steamship companies are not only anx-
ious TO treat their seemen well but think they
are doing so. whereas a. a matter Of fact their
subordinates are subjectlng Jack 10 all sorts
Of petty extortlons and abuses case of this
kind occurred not long ago. A seaman en-
ployed by one Of the most important OF the
coastwse lines Of steamers had e. illegally
Deducted from what was due him by one OF
the minor enrloyees Of the comrany who
relied upon browbeating and Jack ignorance
and awe Of the officer to carry him through
with the eStortion, as doubtless had happened
many times before But in this instance Jack
knew all about the Seamens Branch Of the
Legal Aid Society and there he went with his
complaint The society wrote to the steam
ship company. which ignored the letter The
comrany, however, climbed down very nimby
from its perch in a few days later when one
fine morning II found one Of its biggest steam
ships which was all ready to sail. chained fast
to her pier by libel. which was rot released
until Jacks g. was handed over 10 him In
this case the head officers Of the company ex-
pressed their gratitude 10 the Legal Aid So
ciety for bringing their attention to an abuse
which they did not know existed until 1t was
thus exposed There have been no more
complaints OF a similar kind from the seamen
employed on that line
This particular company is by no means the
only one to learn that the Legal Aid Society has
taken vigorous hold Of the question OF the
wrongs Of seanen. and there are individuals
as well-among them sea captain who Is now
doing his Quarterback stumping in strred
clothing al Sing Sing-who have felt the heavy
hand Of the society on their shoulders in
way 20 remind them that laws are for the fore
castle a. well "a the cabin
4 year ago last October what is known as
the East Side Branch. or the University Set
Element Branch Of the Legal Aid Society. was
opencd at 81 Rivington street. This branch
was established at the request OF the Univer-
s.ty Settlement which furnishes Office room
free Of charge and paws for the services of the
attorney who is employed TO look after all the
cases that are brought to him. situated a. II
is in the heart OF q region whose residents par-
tcularly need legal protection in their rights.
the Fast Side Branch has been one Of the busiest
of all the four offices the society now has
in operation. The vast naj ority Of cases.
nearly one-h half. concern the matters Of work.
abor and services. and the neSt largest num-
Der n applicants came simply for general ad-
vice--that IL, to submit their little troubles.
domestic and otherwise TO arbitration then
~. k,,, ,h tloa 81
ing them 10 any higher tribunal,
The advice sought-and II generally involves
the application OF a little common rather than
any profound legal !earning-is always freely
given and in the end saves no small amount
Of trouble OF ono kind and another. Naturally
many Of the applications that come from the
people In the University Settlement district
are prcposterous for the reason that there are
u that region foreigners whose involved and
intricate ignorance often works out some very
astonishing conclusions as to things which
in their opinion come within the legitimate
operations Of the machinery Of the law. Fred
eTCk \. Stroh, the attorney for the East side
Branch cites. for instance one case where
q young woman who had lost SO camc with
demand thrt all the engines of the law be set
IN motion 20 find il for her. Yet 1t iS precisely
because OF this ignorance and halp.eSsuess on
the part OF many OF tne people WHO are within
its field of operations that the University
settlement Branch Of the society il so badly
needed there for its material results as VA
as for its educational influence. For n time
its work was somewhat irnpeded 10y the nat
ura suspicion and mistrustiulnesS of tho peo-
ple in the district but this has gradually been
wearing awav during the fifteen months tho
branch has been in operation with the result
Of a worry rapid development % business,
II was about the middle Of September, 1898,
that the women who are members Of the Legal
Ma SoCitty organized tue Wonan's Branch
with offices IN the United Charities Buiidmg
The attorney nj this branch is Miss Josephine
Stlrv. IL. NJ and with her is associated Miss
Anctta {. Fi.ke. who IL also an attoruey Miss
Rosalie I.oew, stan another woman lawyer
IN the employ Of the society. is associated with
Mr. Schur7 In the main ofiic" of the society
Mt 229 Broadway Miss Starv, in her report
Of the work OF the Noman's Branch of the
society. say that large percentage OF the cases
that come To- that olNicr are those of dom, site
troubles which call quit" ms often for sympathy
and good advice a. for eGai action. and in
this wav as We" n by securing lustic" 10 many
women who otherwise would bc helpless the
branch hs' don" excellent work