The Columbus journal., 1911-04-12
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ards quarters. Ho.C the uIcn I:I,st ave, cat.
sleep and keep their clothing. II has been de-
scribed too large for coffin and too small Tor
4 grave Ii is unsan.ary. dark, and dirty.
The American sailor is compelled 10 sign away
in the foreign tade his right to part OF the wages
due him al ports of call. Consular agents have de-
clared this TO be the most prolific cause Of deser
tions from American ships. The act of December
u, 1898. gives the sailcr right 10 half the wages
that may be due him at any port OF cali. but add
unless the contrary lie expressly stipulated in the
contract" The Shr-Owners see to II that tEls
stipulation is always made.
The sailor must compete with the unskiiled
and destitute of all nations and races because the
law TO citizenship was repealed in 1864. and the
operation of maritime insurance has reduced the
standard of skill in seamen. No standard of eff
cheney has been supplied by law. The ship-owners
may hire whom they please and as few men as the
inspectors will let them. There Is no standard to
guide the inspectors. And SO the sailor must do
the unskied mans work at sea because the work
has to be done and there Il no one else to do It,
Often he mist risk his life because the vessel Is
undermined ard unskilfuiiy manned. Because
of this competition with the foreigner. his wages
small as the wages Of the cheapest port OF
call of his vessel and he cannot get enough TO
marry and live a normal life. As vessels grow
larger his chances TO earn a decent livelihood grow
smaller.
Big business concrives ships to be for the
purpose Of making money. not for the purpose OF
carrying goods from place to place: for the pilr-
pose OF piling up dividends no matter at whose
expense the dividends are piled up. matter at
what cost to the sailor to you and me. 1t
would take away cargo space to provide decent
living quarters for sailors shpbOard. and less
cargo means less dividends To load a vessel SO
to minimize the danger from shifting cargo
means less cargo also. Better food, more men
and skilled men all cost more money. and there
Hail. tn1-<a
risks because its property is insured. refuses these
things. In fine, II is much cheaper to run vessels
with slaves: therefore Big business employs
slaves.
Not only Is American commerce being con-
Quoted by vessels flying foreign flags. but Ameri-
can oversee commerce in American ships is being
handled by foreign seamen The astounding fact is
true that not only has America fewer sailors than
any other nation on the face Of the globe but the
great majority Of the men in the American
merchant marine are men of other nations. And
the majority Of American seamen are sailing by
choice. under the flags of other nations than
their own So when trust our lives and Our
goods on the high We entrust them to foreign
seamen slaves on undermined vessels. living
under conditions that have driven Americans from
the sea- That is what concerns And II con
Germs vitality.
Statistics published by the United States coIa
missioner of navigation show that out Of every
hundred American seagoing steamers OF over ono
hundred tons for the past seven years an average
of 2.c4 have been lost each year. and that out Of
every hundred foreign seagoing steamers OF over
one hundred tons for the same period. average
of only los have been lost. Out Of every hundred
American seagoing vessels Of over fifty tons for
the past seven years an average of Alb have been
lost each year. and out of the same number OF
foreign seagoing sail vessels Of over fifty tons the
loss has been only 297 year.
On the Pacific ocean the situation is almost in
tolerable. The United States commissioner OF
navigation in his report for 1889. page 90. de-
clared The crews Of our own steamships plying
to China and Japan are almost wholly Chinese and
Japanese shipped before American consuls at
foreign ports where the vessels enter and clear"
And this condition has grown worse instead Of
better since that time.