The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-01-09
The scarcity of Sailors.

| AZ IN StAid lidl just W the present tiiit
good sailors are very scarce. especially in
the American srr,fca at first our navy
1 and our merchant marine were manned al
most entirely by ,Ayuericans. Then the
American youth evinred. a, distaste for this
occupation and the German, the swede.
the Dane. the Norwegian. the English and
Irish sailor were recruited for cur ships.
II is said that the demand for able sea.
men is now so great that even these cannot
supply it, and the question is, Why do
/. not American youths step'into the opening
There was a time when half the boys in
one day running away to sea Has this
hope vanished. OF beeR displaced by some
other ambition. OF what, Is the matter?
The scarcity of sailors is probably due. in
measure. to the same cause which has
produced scarcity of farmers-hsrd work
that jhe farm laborer has enough 10 eat
aud roof over his head and is not likely
TO be turned out of his place, and that the
same is true of the sailor; while the me
ehanic is likely at apy, time to lose his
job. and be seat adrift. But 1t must be
remembered that thesgfeai causes which
produce such a shifting Oh the population
from one calling 10 another work but
slowly. while the conditions of modern COM
mercc are swift In changing For example,
boy lives on a fsrm-thc farm of thirty
years ago in the Eastern States He has
mechanical ability. and an adventurous dis
position He becomes tired Of the menotony
OF farm life. and. determines to sae the
world. He goes to the city and learns the
printers trade. making good wages. In
course Of tffneShe marries, has. a family,
and perhapssa home partly paia for. Then
comes the Introduction OF the linotype ma
chine and throws him out of employment
In the mean time. his good fortune has
induced other boys to come to the city like
wise and they have overcrowded the print
er's trade. SO that wages come down. The
cities are full of mechanics who know only
one trade or part OF one. Phiianthropists
say. Why do not theEe men go to the farms
and earn an honest living by producing
something? The reason is not difficult TO
find The farms ON, which the middle aged
mechanics were born have been allowed TO
run down. They no longer afford a fair
living for their owners. Again. such
farmers once found customers in the large
cities which now receive their foodstuffs
from the great West at smaller price
than the farmer can AFFORD 10 sell them for |
The same conditions OF hard work and I
poor pay have driven men out-of the mer /
chant marine for the last thirty years. We I
have just passed a period in our national /
life when the mechanical arts offered /
better livelihood than anything else-when /
he printer, the. smith. the foreman of the
factory, the furniture maker. the engraver,
earned good wages, sspa these callings at
rscted both men with natural ability and
men without it II ship owners want in
ellgient and active American boys 10 man
heir chips, all they have to do is to pay
hem well and treat them like men. There
S just as much enterprise and adventure
n the American youth ps there was in his
and-ereh II he is afgreenhorn
Re can be trained to do his work. But he
sill not submit to the rough usage and
,oor food. which hayei been the lot of the
Iversge sailor until a COMPARATIVELY recent
ime, because he need Ret No. man does
ais best work under degrading condi-
ions; and one reason why the fishermen
II Gloucester and Marblehead are among
he best and most intelligent sailors is the
democratic spirit which is among mem.
When the skipper is only one degree bet
er. socially. than the men undar him, he
8 not apt to be a tyrant, nor are they
kelly to rebel against his wise and neces-
airy use OF authority.