The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1919-01-13
u. S. SALMON SHIPS FLOATING
HELLS, SAY AMERICAN WORKERS
ny ERNEST ! HOPKINS

On, =, \ STAFF Corresponding
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. la
heard thoro was "a SHORTAGE OF men
for the Alaska salmon oannorics The
entire pack would SO 60 the army ia
France
THAT is how got trapped In the
Nllcst system of labor exploitation
and human slavery In the world to-
day.
Il shall never forget what I Huf-
fcrod from Chinese bosses IA that
American owned fsh canncry al
Locknnok would never have be.
lioVcd such labor conditions existed.
William WilcoN. former union
metal worker, and now a landlord IN
berkeley. cal thus described his cN-
pcrienccs Of last summer in the im-
portant Alaska salmon packing in
dustry
WilcoN's disclosures. amply corruh-
Grated by scores nf other workers,
have flung the state labor commits.
sions OF California. Washington and
Oregon into a battle for partial state
control of the corporate interests
I
slble for tho outrages.
Chlnaman II Contractor
Tho system described by Wilcox Is
Of many years standing. IL IL deeply
rooted In the industry,
Il answered an ad, said Wilcox,
which read Men wanted for Alas
ka fish rnnncrica $500 and board
for 10 weeks work. Free transpor-
tntion found "A Chiuaman. Quong
Ham Wong. acting AZ labor contrac-
tor Tor Libby. Mcneil a Libby
THE workday. it Vas stated. would
be nine or ten hours. with pay for
overtime. sundays ana holidays The
grub would be white mans grub u
was government work. and sounded
/ like a pleasant trip. I signed up,'
The first JOLT cam. aboard
the steamer for Seattle. \ fore.
man handed ~ account books.
on which each man was marked
down AZ debtor ca the company
for $50 advance money.
4 had drawn no money la nd
vance. Hut " was only after
/ violent protest that the foreman
changed the entry. Many of the
/ men had drawn the $50 and
| spent IL. u made them subinis-
siye--ihey had To work or be
I liable Ia arrest.
Armed with Guns
The gang Included Mcxicans,
negroes and men 81 various other
I races Many 81 them could not read
and did not understand about the
debt. That was the first ~ sew
crg,i such incidents.
AT seattle the forrrnrn.
armed with revolver. and
knives, hertied III into tugboat.
We were not permitted to land.
we were rushed aboard the vi
est. dirti.st tub OF "a sailing weasel
I ever laid eyes on. and promptly
driven below into pitcheiark hold
while the ship set sail
Pleas and ycrmin came pourius
out 81 every Granny. Before had
been aboard ten minutes I was cuv
cred with vermln.
we were aboard that hoRtinR
hell a. days before reaching Lpcka
nok. Long before the 40 days were
up. thought many times tina, Tny
end had come
sleep Pour in Bunk
"Onc man indeed did die. from
acute nausea brought on By
filthy food. The Cinnamon
pitched the poor fellows body
overheard without ceremony
Il found myself wondering. What
will happen 20 me-
our gang numbered over i00
We were damned into that hold
which had about % hunks. we slept
three and four in a bunk "a feet
wide. We were allowed on deck
but the weather was freezing
"QuonE the Chinamsn. was kinE
Of al on board. lie seemed inspired
hy DEVILS.
From the outset he limited
our water supply To one pint a
day. THIS covered all purposes.
drink as well as washing.
didn't wash for 10 days. Even
when we found big pocket OF
fresh water ON an icc-hoc and
filled the tanks. Quong elspped
on his paddock and doled II out
one pint q day ~ before.
'~rha American grub turned out