The citizen., 1911-04-07

sea- no one loses but the sailor and his widow and
chlldren. The property is paid for by the com
munity, by you and by me; for insurance shifts
the burden of loss from the shoulders of the in
d1Yldual to the shoulders of the community Per
Iect ponclng OF the sea has removed the dangers
from piracy, and losses from state or local dis
turbances paid for by the states and localities
responsible.
And so the old principle of common hazard has
been abandoned so far the ship-owner 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
FISK employing unskilled 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 little more closely into the condi-
ton of the sailors occupation that has been
evolved out of this hodge-podge of laws ancient
and modern. And then we 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 on shpboard
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 it is neces-
sary to keep the American sailor a chatte 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 runner for the notorious sailors
boarding houses" which furnish crews for all
deep-sea-going vessels He is the absolute master
of the sailors employment All deep-sea 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 1t
"blO0d mO he ie hv tha pta in
directly to the crmp. In fact all the negotiations
carried directly between the captain and
the crimp. The sailor is not consulted at all.
More often than not, he is taken on board after
doctor drink that robs him of all conscious
ness. The practice smacks very much of the old
practice Of "shanghaing." The act of December
21, 4S9S, prevents the payment of this blood
money, called allotment to original creditor in
the domestic trade (coastwse shipping and the
trade to nearby foreign countrles) But it is per
mitted in the deep-sea trade, and no sailor ever
obtains employment a deep-sea-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 blood-money
to thirty dollars. The crimp ceased to exist In
the domestic trade when congress abolished the
allotment to original creditor in 1898.
When the sailor gets aboard he is compelled to
live in space feet long by feet high and
feet wide This is the legal forecastle space (72
cubic feet) except in sailing vessels built or re-
built after June 30 1898 The sailors cali 1t the
dog hole" to distinguish it from the fire hoe"
(iremen's quarters), and the glory hole" (srew-