The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1923-08-31
BRITISH SEAMEN
ARE OUT Of
JOBS
Many Able Officers Unable to
Find Work Despite Good
Records.
By F. A. WRAY.
International News Service.


and British mercantile marine Off
GERS are out of employment because
of Britain's trade depression.
These figures include more thar
$500 captains, many of whom have
commanded big ships. The remain
der are first, second and third mates
chief and junior engineers.
Out of posts through no fault OF
their own, some of them for so long
as two years, many in desperation
are taking jobs before the mast
Many a tramp steamer today has
In the fo'c'stle a man who not only
holds his masters ticket" but who
has been known as captain of dis.
tinction.
A tour through the districts around
the London dOcks--Limehouse Pop
lar, Stepney-quickly produces har-
rowing tales of distress among these
men who, in years gone by, partic-
ularly in the war, have rendered sig
nal service to their country.
Many Need Help.
I'VE assisted over 5000 cases of
distress among sailors last year"
said H. E. Barker, secretary of the
British and Foreign Sailors Society,
land included among them were
great numbers of officers.
Some of these officers are in such
straits that they are glad Of the
price of meal.
1--WE cannot, on account Of low
funds, allow them much more than
I'll q f0 "a
good of this to g. man with q home
and family? If we could we should
like to give them five hundred dol
lars apiece to tide them over their
bad time. The majority of them did
wonderful service for their country
during the war.
Unfortunately the outlook for the
! future is blacker than ever. The
terrible slump in shipping, due to
bad trade and loss of markets former
ly British, seems likely to increase
rather than diminish. The only
palliative suggested so far is that,
for period of, say, five years, no
fresh apprentices should be allowed
to enter the merchant service, so
that the numbers available shall not
be swelled until trade improves"
One finds these men desperately
anxious for work, but with no pros
poets, not only around the docks,
but waiting patiently at the doors
Of shipowners' offices. Weather
beaten and shabby, all still remain
gpotlessly clean and neat. They do
their best to look cheerful, but
many Of them are hungry.
Ship as "a. b. s."
Talking with these little groups
OF mariners, hoping against hope
that a turn of fortune viii bring
them ship of their own, instead
OF having to sink to the status OF a
deckhand, one hears pitiful stories.
Il am forty-five and have COM
manded ship Of my own since
was thirty" said one captain.
There is nothing against my
record, and I twice received the
thanks of the British government
for war services. But I have been
out Of a berth for nearly two years,
and I see nothing in prospect ex-
cept to take the job of an ordinary
"A. B. S. And I scarcely know
where the next meal Is coming
from.
81 have had to sen out my home,
piece by piece, to keep the family
IN 1000. The piano and gramophone
went first, and the rest Of the fur
niture soon followed. I have had
TO take my children away from
their schools.
II am too old to take up other
work. I know how to run a big
ship, but 1 have no other ex-
perience. don't know what is
going to become OF u.s.
This rlafn bald cfafeT1a 11f.
tered with the utmost simplicity
and no attempt at exaggeration, is
typical Of the stories one hears on
all sides from these men who, pre-
viously. have been regarded as the
backbone Of Britain.
And all the time the clouds
around them seem to be gathering
more thickly, and unless there is a
speedy settlement in Europe that
viii revive Britain's export trade
they see no hope in the future.