The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1911-04-29

sea, no one loses but the sailor and his widow and
children The property is paid for by the COM
munlty, by you and by me: for insurance shifts
the burden of loss from the shoulders of the In
oiVloual TO the shoulders of the community Per-
Iect policing of the sea has removed the dangers
from piracy. and losses from state or local dis
turbances are paid for by the states and localities
responsible.
And so the old principle of common hazard has
been abandoned so far as the shipowner Is con-
cerned through the operation of maritime insur-
ance and modern laws But how Is It with the
sailor and with you and me? 1t Is easy to see
how this has worked to increase the hazard borne
by the crew. Formerly the ship-owner would not
load his vessel to the danger point; he would not
risk employing unskiled men or too few sailors,
because he did not want to risk his property. Now
he does not care; insurance will take care Of the
risks, and the idea Is to make all the money pos
sible
Let us look a little more closely into the condi-
ton Of the sailors occupation that has been
evolved out of this hodgepodge Of laws, ancient
and modern. And then we can see very clearly
how this condition affects not only the sailor but
you and me and every other American citizen. A
brief comparison of the conditions shipboard
under the American flag with those under the
flags of other nations will explain why the Ameri-
can boy does not go to sea- and why 1t Is neces-
sary to keep the American sailor chattel slave
by law of congress. To begin with, the American
sailor who would ship over the high seas Is COM
PEELED to seek his employment through "crimp."
The crimp is the for the notorious sailors
boarding houses" which furnish crews for all
deep-seagoing vessels He is the absolute master
of the sailors employment. ALI deepsea captains
ship their crews through the crimp. The crimp
is paid out Of the unearned wages Of the sailor
1t is called advance money" which the law per-
mits the sailor to sign away and which the system
compels him to sign away. The sailors call it
blood money" The money is.paid by the captain
directly to the crimp. In fact all the negotiations
are carried on directly between the captain and
the crimp. The sailor is not consulted at all
More often than not he is taken on board after
having been literally treated to third rail" or
doctor" drink that robs him of all conscious
ness. The practice smacks very much OF the old
practice of "shanghaing." The act of December
81 1898. prevents the payment of this blood
money, called allotment to original creditor In
the domestic trade (coastwse shipping and the
trade to nearby foreign countries) But 1t is per-
mitted in the deep-sea trade. and no sailor ever
obtains employment deep-sea-g going vessel
without having visited the crimp. The crimp
exists because the law permits him to exist by
permitting the assignment of advance money
One state oregon actually recognized the system
by statute limiting the amount of blcodmoney
to thirty dollars The crimp ceased to exist in
the domestic trade when congress abolished the
allotment to original creditor" in 1893
When the sailor gets aboard he is compelled to
live in a space 6 feet long by feet high and 2
feet wide This is the legal forecastle space az
cubic feet) except in sailing vessels built re-
built after June go 1898. The sailors call 1t the
dog hole" to distinguish It from the fire hole
(fremen's quarters). and the glory hole" (stew