The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1912-08-17
APPEAL IS. sent TO ::
'ClAPP AND | NELSON
Officers Of: State Federation of
Labor Ask Them to Support
Seamen's Bill.


kilograms were last week sent to
Senators Clapp land Nelson of Min
neapolis by thes officers of the State
Federation of Labor, urging them
to render :: all possible assistance to
the immediate passage of the Sea-
mems bill now pending before the.
senate. E ,.. -
Several weeks f. ago - a. resolution,
adopted. by the Brainerd convention
was forwarded to- each of the Mime
sofa senators. This fresolution passed
the convention by Unanimous vote.
It was a clean-cut and able express
sion of the position Of the working
men Of Minnesota and Senators Clapp
and Nelson will do we'll to follow
the request of the Minnesota unions.
The resolution reads as follows:
Whereas, on the 18th of April,
on clear night, i calm sea, and
on her maiden voyage, the steam
ship Titanic sank, thereby sacriflc-
ing 1,5s5 lives;5 and
Whereas, The conditions which
led to this disaster, the sacrificing
Of speed to safety, the. insufriciency
Of lifeboats, and the lack Of trained
seamen to man the same, We're we'll
known to- the ship owners Of all ma
tons, and in our country had been
repeatedly ventilated before congress
but always without effect, and
whereas, In support of these facts
we are able to quote from the state
ment of Andrew Fprusets, president
Of the international Seamen's Union
OF America, bearing on the seamen's
petition to congress, February 2srd,
1910, in which just such disasters
were foretold:
Safety at sea IS promoted. first,
by a good vessel. staunch and we'll
found; second, by tgood boats and
enough Of them; third, by a crew suf-
f1cient in number and skill to handle
the vessel while she is afioat, to low
er, man and handle the boats when
the vessel must be abandoned.
Now let. me fentrust you with a.
very deep secret There is not SAIL
ing today on any ocean any passen-
ger vessel carrying !: the number of
boats needed to take<ca of the pas
sengers and crew, nor a sufficient
number of skilled men to- handle
those boats Which are carried. If
there. were; the seamen's condition
!, would be much better than it @is now.
: AS to the passengers, are they
satisfied with these conditions? The
passengers do not know; they are
told a. lot of rot about bulkheads,
Watertight compartments, vessels so
built that they will not sink or burn.
OF course, we seamen know this to
be the veriest nonsense
" Let me tell you one more secret,
Vessels that cannot sink and will not
burn have not yet been built. The art
of shipbuilding has not reached that
far as yet. If you wish more safety
you must insist, that there shall be-
a standard of individual efficiency
provided for the crews; that at least
IS per cent of the deck crew, ex-
elusive of licensed officers, must be
up to that standard before the vessel
shall be permitted to proceed to sea.
decent place to live, eat and sleep in,
and that it. shall be so placed that
they can all come on deck quickly
when they are needed.
"'Thus you will improve safety at
sea; you will help to save thousands
of human lives and millions of dol
lars worth Of property every year,
and you will help the seamen; you
will bring the American to sea-
Therefore, be it
"Resolved, That the Minnesota
State Federation of Labor in conven-
ton assembled, endorse H. r. 23673,
the seamen's bill, now before con-
gress; and, be it further
Resolved, That a copy Of this
resolution be sent to our senators and
representatives at an early date, urg-
ing them to vote in favor Of i'm
proving the conditions of seamen."