The Forrest City times., 1911-04-07

<<<6/< ~SNZ) TX L|z(GSzSS 13O12LT ards quartersl. Here the men must nye eat. sleep and keep their clothing. It has been de- serbed as too large for coffin and too small for a grave. It is unsantary, dark and dirty.
 The American sailor Is compelled to sign away in the foreign trade his right to part of the wages due him at ports of call. Consular agents have de- clared this to be the most prolific of deser- tions from American ships. The act of December 21 1898. gives the sailor right half the wages that may be due him at any port of call. but add unless the contrary be expressly stipulated in the contract The shipowners see to 1t that this stipulation is always made.
 The sailor must compete with the unskiled and destitute of all nations and races, because the law to citizenship repealed in 1864 and the operation of maritime insurance has reduced the standard of skill in seamen No standard of eff ciency has been supplied by law The shipowners may hire whom they please and as few men as the inspectors will let them. There is standard to guide the inspectors. And the sailor must do the unskflled mans work because the work has to be done and there Is no one else to do it. Often he must risk his life because the vessel Is undermanned and unskilfully manned. Because of this competition with the foreigner his wages are as small as the wages of the cheapest port of call of his vessel. and he cannot get enough to marry and live normal life. As vessels grow larger his chances to earn a decent livelihood grow smaller.
 Big Business conceiyes ships to be for the purpose or making money, not TOT the purpose or carrying goods from place to place: for the pur pose of piling up dividends matter at whose expense the dividends are piled up. no matter at what cost to the sailor or to you and me. IL would take away cargo space to provide decent living quarters for sailors shipboard. and less cargo means less dividends To load a vessel so to minimize the danger from shifting cargo means less cargo also. Better food and skilled men all cost more money. and there fore Big Business, which is not compelled to take risks because its property is insured refuses these things. In fine. it is much cheaper to run vessels with slaves; therefore Big Business employs slaves.
 Not only is American commerce being con- ducted by vessels flying foreign flags. but Ameri can over-sea 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 seas, entrust them to foreign seamen. slaves on under-manned vessels living under conditions that have driven Americans from the sea. That is what concerns us And 1t con. cerns us vitally
 Statistics published by the United States com missioner of navigation show that out of every hundred American seagoing steamers of over one hundred tons for the past seven years an average Of PA have been lost each year, and that out of every hundred foreign seagoing steamers of over one hundred tons for the same period an average of only 19S have been lost. Out of every hundred American seagoing vessels of over fifty tons for the past seven years an average of 413 have been lost each year. and out of the same number of foreign seagong 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 FnN~fe~a tn
 clared: The crews of our own steamships plying to China and Japan are almost wholly Chinese and Japanese shipped before American consus at foreign ports where the vessels enter and clear ," And this condition has grown worse instead Of better since that time.