Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1911-04-08

the fear of the foreign dungeon and the certain
return to his ship in irons holds him his CON
tract And even with the fear of certain reen-
slavement staring him in the face, the sailor UNI
der the stars and stripes is far too often a de-
serter 1t is idle to that it is in the
OF the sailor to wander, to desert master
another, and that therefore laws necessary to
prevent the disorganization of the merchant ma
rine Every occupation has it's devotees to whom
1t calls in insistent voice, and there thou
sands of men who follow the sea from choice The
answer to the question why is the sailor legally a
slave. must be found in inquiry into the condf-
tons from which he seeks to away. III he
likes to follow the there is reason why he
should forever try to leave 1t or to leave his
master and his flag except that the conditions
under which he is forced to work are fntolerable.
And here lies the answer
The earliest known facts about the condition
OF the laborer at sea take 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 free man. The
sailor had the same status aboard his vessel that
his brother had in the Morse towns. He had the
same freedom of contract and the same voice In
the laws regulating the conduct of his companions
and himself. The laborer of the south was a chat
tel slave land and on sea He was usually q
prisoner of war and his body and soul belonged to
his master He was chained to his seat in the gal
ley and dashed 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 Medfter-
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 the
well on land The allpervading idea of Roman
civilization that labor is -debasing and the
laborer on land a serf and the sea he was
a slave. The maritime power of medieval Europe,
which was expressed through the laws of BARGE
Iona and later through the all-powerful HanseatIc
League of cities. was 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 chattei slave
When sailing vessels replaced the galley 1t be-
came necessary that the sailors status as slave
be maintained by rigid laws against desertion-
Freedom of action was necessary for the operation
of 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 slave maintained by
law on the principle of common hazard" All the
laws of the Hanseatic League stipulate that II any
harm come to vessel while any sailor absent
from shipboard, the absent sailor shall pay the
damage. The safety of the vessel and her cargo
was in the hands of every board while
the vessel was at or in foreign ports
The progress of civilization has relieved the
ship-owner and the master of the hazard CT the
sea Maritime insurance has been devised pay
for losses through acts of God. II a ship sinks at