The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1910-03-12
Statutes Make Temporary serfs
Of Sailors On Board U. s. Yes
sells is Charge. Of President Of.
i Seamen's Union Before House
4 Committee. / s.sa~~5 .~,<. = 2 .95.SS 4

WASHINGTON, D. c., Mar. III
Give your name, occupation and
address, said the fat, white-faced
chairman of the Committee on 4Mer-
chant Marine and Fisheries, to the
at the opposite end of the long COM,
mittee room table. Spight's bill, H.
r.. 11193,> for the better protection
of seamen, was under consideration.
II am Andrew Furuseth, president
of the International Seamens' Union
Of ,Amesica,'' commenced the speaker 8
"and am here to ask for three things
for my comrades: Regulation of
the hours Of our labor-a man may
may now be compelled to stand eigh-
teen hours on watch, and twelve of
this at the wheel; law compelling
ship owners to stop undermanning
their vessels, and abolition of the old
law which allows sailor to be inn
prisoned for what is called violation:
of contract. It is the truth that to-
day sailors get more protection on
foreign vessels than they do on Am
erican ships, and it is my purpose to
show-' r<s
Shipbuilders Well Represented. -"
lone moment, Mr.. Furuseth"-
interruption came from Chair.
man Green of the state of Massa-
chusetts, where shipowners and ship
builders have mo love for trades
| unions. IF you would do away with
the old law of imprisonment, what
would you do in cases of desertion?' ?''
''The same as is done in the coast
wise trade" came back the answer
| like pistol shot. lis it not enough
that a sailor loses his clothes and
| his pay, when masters brutalities
may force him from the ship, with
out treating him like runaway
| slave? These laws date back to
| 1890. The fugitive slave law was
modelled upon the fugitive seamen's
| law, but when you repealed the fugi-
tive slave law you forgot the seamen
and they are still under the law,
runaway slaves :. E.s..=-5
! "A representative of the steamship
companies, Edwin H. Duff, had been
twisting in his chair at Furuseth's
statements; he broke silence with a
drawl: - =; -
Does the gentleman from the
-seamen's s. unionez&mean to say that
conditions are better on foreign ves-
sells than they. are, on American
| ships p That American wages - -
| American wages!'' broke in Furu-
seth. sstsTheres is mo such thing as
American wages-only port wages:
If an American vessel sails to Hong.
kong, she pays Hongkong wages"
| Japs Pay in Mexican Money.
| Representative McKinlay of Cali:
}fornia asked a question:: What
| wages do the Japanese lines pay?"
| Etghteen dollars, Mexican money
that's 50 value in American money.
And what's more,' continued the
sailor, 'the Japanese pay more wages
| to their firemen than the Pacific
| Mail does'' = =, =
! pointed "You ask that all seanen
| on American ships be required to
understand. orders given in the Eng
lish language; now what effect would
this have on the Pacific Mail?'' =. III
1T would cause the Immediate dis
charge of all their Orientals,'' replied
Furuseth. But I ask you, in all
fairness, should the lives of passen-
gers he placed in the hands of men
! who cannot understand an order
| given in English
Around the walls of the committee
room were hung pictures of great
steamships from the "Old Dominion
Line" the RED D Line" and many
others, significant of the potent in
fluence that has again and again
twisted, postponed, and amothered
bids for the betterment of seamen's
conditions and sneered at safety for
human cargoes. But the sailor with
his plea continued, -. =. ~ l, ~
1--WE demand that there shall be
sufficient space for. each man to-
sleep in-at least six by six by two
feet; long enough for an ordinary
sized man to stand up in, long enough
for this same man to lie down In
France, Germany and Norway, Z all
provide that there shall be 120 cubic
feet of space for each seaman-we
ask the same. -.4 - z5@s
Packed Sardine-Iike i'm Man-'o- War.
!; 1T is a fact that the United States
man-of-war Monterey has only ninety
cubic feet OF air space per man, and
the ships doctors report, much sick
II Continued ON Page s. = Ell
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