The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1916-06-09
Purse Seiners
Expel Member
Capt. Chas. Knudsen Fired Out
Because He Dared to
State the Facts


the Joint Legislative Committee and
published in the labor press showing
that Initiative Measure No. %, instead
of harming the small fisherman would
in fact be of great benefit to him,
Capt Charles Knudsen was on Satur-
day last expelled from the Puget
Sound Purse Seiners' Protective AS
ISOLATION after a stormy session
The association was organized six
years ago to fight the trap owners,
who had secured an injunction pre-
venting the fishermen from drifting
near the traps, but the fish trust has
been so active that control of the or
SANITATION has passed from the bona
fide fishermen into the hands of rep
resentatives of the trap owners, and
any one opposing the policy of the
fish trap trust is now thrown out
bodily.
On Monday of this week Capt Knud-
sen issued the following statement to
the labor and progressive press:
Capt. knudsen's Statement
when a fisherman has the nerve
to stand up and defend the principle
that the organization (the Puget
Sound Purse Seiners' Association
stands for, or attempts to expose the
trap corporations, he runs up against
an element that is we'll trained by it's
masters and which has a great in
fluence over many of the fishermen
for many reasons.
"The principle of the organization
when it was started in 1910 was to
protect itself against the injustice of
the trap corporations when at that
time they had the fishermen arrested
and served injunctions against them
whenever the tide drifted their boats
and seines up against their traps
which cannot be helped, for when a
fisherman has his seine in the water
he is helpless and has to go wherever
the tide takes him, and the result is
that he often drifts on the traps.
For drifting up against the traps
and tearing their seines all to pieces
the trap owners had the fishermen ar
rested, which cost them $500 to $500
to get out of the mess, and now some
of these same fishermen are so
friendly to the corporations that when
any one stands up and favors the
adjustment of the trap he is expelled
from that organization, with good
prospect of being boycotted.
Leading Members Represent Traps
at is true that the members of the
leading element in the organization
are either trap owners themselves or
in the employ of the corporations as
fish buyers, and draw a big salary
in order to keep the fishermen in line
by telling them how much money the
poor fellows lose. For instance, in
the spring of 1913 they we're very
busy telling the fishermen that they
could only pay Is cents apiece for the
Sockeye salmon, because the price on
the canned goods was down to IS a
case. But behold what happened!
When they had our fish in the cans
they boosted the price up to S640
case, and kept on raising the price by
holding them over from one year to
another. and then had the gall to tell
the fishermen they could not find
market for the fish.
Look up the report Of 1913 and
1914 and see what millions they made,
what mansions they built. what i'm
provements were made in their can
neries-on their losses. While many
a fisherman is in debt up to his neck
to them for his fishing rig, all they
got to do is to take the rigs from the
but they are smart enough
not to do that alone, for they want
the fishermen to think they still have
an interest in their boats, so they will
take better care of them, because the
cannot run the boats, and
to put strangers in charge of them
would mean the neglect of the fishing
gear, and that is very expensive"
Fishermen Must Think
Te 4,o avarooa fisherman cor1d only
figure out things half as well as the
other fellow he would be well off and
would not be so easily influenced, but
this is what Charles Knudsen got for
his trouble in trying to enlighten the
fishermen and expose the corporations.
The fishermen at their meetings, ex-