Rocky Ford enterprise., 1911-04-07

the OF the foreign dungeon and the certain
return to his ship in irons holds him to his con-
tract And even with the fear Of certain reen-
slavenent staring him in the face. the sailor
der the stars and stripes Is far too often n de-
serter II Is idle to argue that 1t 10 in the nature
OF the sailor to wander. to desert one master for
another. and that therefore laws necessary to
prevent the disorganzation OF the merchant ma
rine Every occupation has Its devotees to whom
II calls in nsistent voice. and there are thou
sands Of men who follow the sea from choice. The
to the question. why is the sailor legally q
slave. must be found in inquiry into the condi-
tons from which he seeks to run away. II he
likes to follow the there Is no reason why he
should forever try to leave 1t or to leave his
master and his nag except that the conditions
under which he Is forced to work are intoerable.
And here lies the answer.
The earliest known facts about the condition
o, 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 sea was q 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
tho laws regulating the conduct Of his companions
and himself. The laborer Of the south was a chat
ttOslavs land and sea He was usually .
prissner Of war and his body and soul belonged to
isVlaster. He chained to his seat in the gal
ley and Iashed to his task. Manual labor Of all
kinds considered to be debasing and per-
formed only by slaves.
The Island OF Rhodes gave to the Mediter-
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 regula ton Of labor on the sea as
we'll as on land The allpervadng idea Of Roman
civilization that labor is debasing. and the
laborer on land a serf and on 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 chattel slave.
When sailing vessels replaced the galley. 1t be-
came necessary that the sailors status a slave
be maintained by rigid laws against desertion
Freedom OF action was necessary for the operation
of a sailing vessel, but 1t was still necessary to
keep the sailor bound to the ship because injury
might come to the vessel through his desertion
And so his status a slave was maintained by
law on the principle OF common hazard" All the
laws of the Hanseauc League stipulate that II any
harm come to a vessel while any sailor is absent
from shipboard, tho absent sailor shall pay the
damage The safety of the vessel and her cargo
was in the hands OF every man on board while
the vessel was at or in foreign ports.
Tho progress OF civilization has relieved the
ship owner and tho master OF the hazard OF tho
sea Maritime insurance has been devised to pay
for losses through acts of God II ship sinks ~