The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1911-04-07

ards quarters. Here the men must live, eat,
sleep and keep their clothing. 1t has been de-
scribed too large for coffin and too small for
a grave" It Is unsanitary, 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 cause of deser-
I lions from American ships The act of December
81, 1885, gives the sailor right to 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 unskilled
and destitute Of all nations and races because the
law to citizenship was repealed in 1854 and the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 shipowners
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 unskilled mans work at sea 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
undermined 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 decent livelihood grow
smaller.
Big Business conceives ships to be for the
purpose of making money, not for the purpose OF
carrying goods from place to place: for the pur-
pose of piling up dividends no matter at whose
expense the dividends are piled up. no matter at
what cost to the sailor or to you and me, It
would take away cargo space to provide decent
living quarters for sailors shipboard, and less
cargo means less dividends To load vessel SO
as to minimize the danger from shifting cargo
means less cargo also. Better food, more men
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
Quoted by vessels flying foreign flags. but Amer
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 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 we trust our lives and our
goods on the high seas, entrust them to foreign
seamen slaves on undetermined vessels, living
under conditions that have driven Americans from
the sea- That Is what concerns US. And 1t con-
Germs us vitality.
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 224 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 L98 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 fifty TONS the
loss has been only 2.97 year.
On the Pacific ocean the situation is almost in
tolerable. The United States commissioner of
navigation in his report for 1S9S-99 page 20. 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 or
better since that time