The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1916-03-18
BARNES 0UTSPOKEN
FOR SEAMEN'S
Duluth's F ,"st Citizen Tells
Chicago IN. 20 All
h'e sica/
MAN MERCHANT MARINE
WITH AMERICAN SEAMEN
Best Interests of Nation Demand
That Chief Features Be
Preserved.

While the Duluth Commercial club
was resolving against! the Seamen's
act without giving friends of the
measure an opportunity to be heard,
julius Barnes, our foremost fellow
toWnsman was telling the Chicago
grain men that the act was a great
blessing to American vessel owners
and American sailors.
Mr.. Barnes is reputed to be the
worlds greatest grain exporter. He
knows more about rail and water
transportation problems than any
man in the northwest, and perhaps
in the country. He fails to see any
dangers ahead because of the pas
sage of the much misrepresented
seamen's act, and Mr.. Barnes ought
to see them if any man could.
Man Our Own Ships.
The Duluth man also realizes the
necessity of building an American
merchant marine to be manned by
American seamen, and instantly OBJ
serves the possibilities offered
through the seamen's act to bring
this about. He also recognizes the
importance of a large navy, but he
wants the navy to consist of Amer
leans who can be depended upon in
time Of war. And this is how he
puts it:
I'VE have great deal of talk to-
day about the need of larger navy
for the United States and we are all
convinced that this is necessary.
What kind of seamen do you want to
man the American navy in time of
trouble? Do you want trained
American seamanship to handle war
vessels and vessels which may be-
come naval auxiliaries; or do you
want our commerce ships manned by
ignorant and foreign born labor of a
lower standard?
The Call of the Sea.
The old American spirit of adven-
ture which peopled the Middle West,
crossed the Great Plains and fought
its way to the Pacific is still tn exist
ence; but the plains are gone and the
mountain recesses are no longer
wilds. .
''The sea, however, is still sounding
the lure of it's early days; it still
reaches the unknown cline and the
unknown country; it still calls to the
spirit of adventure which produces
courage.
"If you are going to man the
American merchant marine with
American labor and American in
telligence you must give them fit
conditions to live under and proper
protection. You must not ask them
to live like Chinese sailors nor Ma
lays nJr even the poverty stricken
natives of southern Europe.
Approves Scamen's Law.
II have seen no public journal say
one word in commentator of the
Seamen's Act; but as I read that Act
there is much Of merit to it. Changes
may be necessary, but they. should be
fought out on their merits and not on
misstatemnts.
DO you believe one single Amer
lean owner has sold an ocean carrier
because he "could not exist after the
Seamen's Act" when the profits in
ocean transportation are as T have
outlined? I don't believe that that is
the reason, and don't believe fair
and just outcome of our efforts to
solve the problem Of our merchant
marine will be reached by anything
but teaching the American public the
truth and what remedy we need.
One thing is sure: we must no longer
let German lines nor British lines
control the freight rates which gov
ern the commerce of our commod-
tiles.
For America First.
1T is beyond human expectation to
believe, that, for instance, a German
ocean line that has the making of
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