The Republican journal., 1900-01-04
An AtrOciOus SANDER.

Recently a writer of sea tales, who in
early life claims to have spent sufficient
time before the mast on board a sailing
ship to be able to write intelligently Of
the sea and those who follow it, got his
pen in the wrong bottle evidently, and
this is what he wrote in part:
eff the laws now on our statute book
were enforced large ma ority of Ameri-
can captains and mates would be sent to
the penitentiary, and not few to the
gallows or electric chair; if required to
pass an examination in their profession,
such as England requires of second mates,
lew could obtain a certificate, and no
master of a deep water American ship
would dare go to sea with a full crew of
American Sailors
A vile SANDER like this dies quickest
when unnoticed This was the thought
that occurred to US when we saw this
screed in the preface of a book. The New
ork Evening Post of Saturday last,
however, reproduced it with over column
OF its own matter pitched in the same key.
Here is a paragraph from the Post:
This seemed very strong statement
referring to the paragraph above) but in
4ulries made in this city lead to the con
clusion that the reputation of American
ships among sailors of all nationalities is
so bad that men cannot be found to ship
, willingly with an American captain at the
ordinary rate of wages. Why? said a
sailor of thirty years record to day.
Because there 5 30 law for ard it S all
aft 1t is established in sailors minds
that the officers have the law in their own
hands: that, indeed, there is no protection
for a man against them. Consequently,
/ it is difficult thing to man an American
! SbjD wall and if is m onc 81 i,ia iS said
to do it with able bodied Americans. If
it were not for the boarding masters, who,
so strong is their position under the law,
have, at all times, many men in their
power, American ships could not be man
ned at all if the conditions remained nor
mall
The remainder of the Posts article is
composed OF interviews with "a retired
mate;' 1.-TWO old sailors found on South
Street, and others who have doubtless
had an itching for the quarter deck, but
never got there unless it was in going to
and from the W heel, scrubbng paint, &c.
The statement Of this writer of sea tales
| is without exception the biggest lie we
have ever seen in print. Doesn't he, as
we'll as the editor of the Post, know that
the Federal Courts have at least from
their severest critics the reputation of
u6dlluS Oul JuSllCt W Lie UtSU Ol UuclT
ability, and that it is the invariable custom
of the sailor to bring the master or mate
of an American ship before these courts
upon the slightest provOcation? Doesn't
he also know that there is a class of law
yers who are continually on the lookout
for such cases, and when they can't get
voluntary one it is we'll known that they
frequently trump up ones ! his being
true, why are such fiends as this writer
would have us believe these masters and
mates to be, not convicted and sent to
the gallows? Simply because there are
no such cases. There have been cruelties
practised on sea as we'll as land, but they
are rare. While on the other hand hun
dreds of instances of characterization lead
ing up to mutiny in some cases have been
supprt ssed by the heroic treatment of
brave eff ;ers men who did not finch to
do their duty and overcome a murderous
crew without keeping them in irons and
thereby thTo wing their work upon harm
less shpmates. No one but an officer of
a deep water ship has any idea of the
harm vicious man or two Can accomplish
forward. They can, and often do, prevent
there being any comfort forward or aft
during an entire voyage. Such men I'M
der certain conditions have to De disci-
plined, but in no case that we have heard
of in recent years has brutality been exer
cised on board of an American ship, or an
officer convicted of it in the Courts. The
rot published in the Evening Post is
fair sample of what a Columbia College
space writer ould do when the city editor
sent him out to confirm libelous screed.
He evidently started at once for South
Street, fell in with that old gang of "mat-
loes' who have been furnishing these
yarns for the daily press for decade and
thought that he had struck it fat, and he
| did. We regret that we haven't space to
print this ridiculous story to show our
readers how unjusty worthy class of
men get maligned through the ignorance
of penny "a liner. Marine Journal.