Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1911-04-07

s.
ards quarters). Here the ave. cat
sleep and keep their clothing. 1t has been de-
scribed too large for a coffin and too small for
a grave" 1t 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-
cared this to be the most prolific cause OF deser-
tons from American ships. The act of December
o. 1885, gives the sailor right to half the wages
that may be due him at any port of call, but ada
unless the contrary be expressly stipulated IN the
contract" The ship-owners see to it that th1s
stipulation is always made
The sailor must compete with the unsklled
and destitute of all nations and races because the
law as to citizenship repealed in 1864 and the
oneration of maritime insurance has reduced the
standard of skill in seamen. No standard OF efh-
cheney has been supplied by law. The shlpowners
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 90
the unskiled mans work at sea because the Work
has to be done and there is no else to do it.
Often he must risk his life because the vessel IS
undermined and unskilfuly manned Because
of this competition with the foreigner his wages
are as small the wages of the cheapest port OF
call of his vessel and he cannot get enough 10
marry and live normal life. AS vessels grow
larger his chances to earn 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 png up dividends no matter at whose
expense the dividends piled up, no matter at
what cost to the sailor to you and me. IL
would take away cargo space to provide decent
living quarters for sailors on shlpboard, and less
cargo means less dividends. To load a vessel SO
to minimize the danger from shifting cargo
means less cargo also. Better food, more men
and skilled men all cost more money, and there
fOr0 10 nucin VIII iG of
risks because it's 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-
Quoted by vessels flying foreign flags, but Amer1-
can oversee commerce in American ships is being
handled by foreign seamen. The astounding fact is
true that not only has America fewer sailors imam
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 Ana
the majority of American seamen are sailing, by
choice, under the flags Of other nations tnah
their own. So when we trust our lives and our
goods the high seas, entrust them to foreign
seamen slaves under-manned vessels, living
under conditions that have driven Americans from
the sea- That is what concerns And it con-
vitality
Statistics published by the United States com
missioner of navigation show that out of every
hundred American seagong 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 period, an average
of only 1.9S 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 1S98-99, page 20, de-
clared: THE crews of our steamships plying
to China and japan almost wholly Chinese and
Japanese shipped before American consuls at
foreign ports where the vessels enter and clear"
And this condition has grown instead OF
better since that time.