The citizen., 1911-04-07

the fear OF the foreign dungeon and the certain
return to his ship in irons holds him to his con-
tract. And even with the fear of certain re-en-
savement staring him in the face, the sailor un-
der the stars and stripes is far too often de-
serter 1t is idle to argue that it is In the nature
of the sailor to wander, to desert one master for
another and that therefore laws are necessary to
prevent the disorganization of the merchant
rine. Every occupation has its devotees to whom
1t calls in insistent voice. and there are thou
sands of men who follow the sea from choice. The
answer to the question why is the sailor legally
slave, must be found in an inquiry into the condi
uons from which he seeks to away. If he
likes to follow the sea there is no reason why he
should forever try to leave 1t to leave his
master and his flag except that the conditions
under which he is forced to work are intolerable
And here lies the answer.
The earliest known facts about the condition
of the laborer at sea take us back to the ancient
laws of the Norseman and to the code that gov
erned the sailors of the ancient cities on the
shores Of the Mediterranean In the north the
laborer on land and at sea was free man. The
sailor had the status aboard his vessel that
his brother had in the Morse towns. He had the
same freedom of contract and the same voce In
the laws regulating the conduct of his companions
and himself The laborer of the south chat
tel slave on land and on sea- He was usually
prisoner of and his body and soul belonged to
his master He chained to his seat in the gal
ley and lashed to his task Manual labor of all
kinds was considered to be debasing and per-
formed only by slaves
The Island of Rhodes gave to the Mediter
ranean its maritime law, and the Roman code was
patterned after that of Rhodes When Rome con-
quered the countries of the north she gave them
her laws for the regulation of labor on the sea as
well as on land. The all-pervading idea of Roman
civilization was that labor is debasng, and the
laborer on land was a serf and the he was
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which expressed through the laws of BARGE
Iona and later through the all-powerful Hanseatic
League of cities, maintained through Roman
maritime law. 1t gradually overpowered and OBJ
liberated the law of the north, and the free sailor
ceased to exist. Since that day the sailor has
been a chattel slave
When sailing vessels replaced the galley. it be-
came necessary that the sailors status slave
be maintained by rigid laws against desertion
Freedom of action was necessary for the operation
of a sailing vessel but 1t still necessary to
keep the sailor bound to the ship because injury
might come to the vessel through his desertion
And so his status a slave was maintained by
law on the principle of common hazard" All the
laws of the Hanseatc League stipulate that II any
harm come to a vessel while any sailor is absent
from shipboard, the absent sailor shall pay the
damage The safety of the vessel and her cargo
was in the hands of every man on board while
the vessel was at sea or in foreign ports
The progress of civilization has relieved the
ship-owner and the master of the hazard of the
sea Maritime insurance has been devised to pay
for losses through acts of God. If ship sinks at