The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1925-09-16

They also spy upon those with radi-
cal tendencies and report upon them
upon arrival in port.
Men reported In this way are rarely
only discharged; in most cases they
are blacklisted or even framed-up. To
raise your voice for your rights is
equal to rebellion; for such a thing
one is always. apt to be accused of
belonging to the l. W. w. even tho
you may never have gone near that
organization, To frame-up an 1. w.
w. is very frequent scheme and it
is done ever so often. In the past
only the blacklist, but today a beat
ing or even a murder by hired gang
sters of the shipowners is a very COM
mon thing on the water front.
What Is the Blacklist?
In the olden days the blacklist
meant list of names of undesirable
sea workers. 1t was kept under cover
and rarely displayed. At present it
is very common that before signing
articles, a seaman's name is carefully
looked up in certain book by GER
tain man whose appearance and du-
ties are Of very doubtful character.
This individual shouts o. K. to the
commissioner if the seaman's name
is not on the blacklist and then the
seaman is permitted to sign up for a
voyage. If the o. K. is not given the
seaman is contemporary rejected
and thrown out
Fingerprintlng Introduced.
The fngerprinting of seamen was
practiced only during the war, but
now it has again been introduced by
the government on the west coast
Every seaman must leave his finger
prints before signing on the ships ar
ticles. This disgraceful way of treat
ing a seaman as if he were a Grim
inal will in all probability reach the
east coast before long.
The Deportation Of Seamen.
1t is greatly to the advantage of
shipowners that seamen are mostly
foreigners for with our new laws in
operation a seaman can easily be de-
ported as one who has illegally en-
tered this country. The legality of a
seaman's entry can easily be disput-
ed. For years foreign seamen have
manned our ships; even today more
than 60 per cent of the seamen on
American vessels are foreigners. Dur
ing the war the American authorities
were only too anxious to have these
| foreigners since so per cent of those
who carried ammunition and trans
ported soldiers for the American gov
eminent were foreigners. Today
scores Of them are deported because
they are too radical" for the Ameri-
can shipowners.
One who spends most of his life at
sea, who has no friends or relations
ashore, tho is not able to marry on ac-
count of low wages, can easily be de-
ported, framed-up or even murdered
without any one ever learning of this
outrage. And since the existing or
CARNATIONS in the marine industry are
too weak to protect the interest of
the seamen, the seaworkers in Ameri-
ca are the most helpless and forgot
| ten men on earth. The administration
of Coolidge has done away with the
LaFollette law; it has diminished the
power of the shipping commissioner
converting him into tool of the
shipowner; it has given the law en-
tirely over into the hands of the ship
owners. And that is why the Ameri-
can ships are the most intolerable to
work on since they carry men with a
suppressed spirit, enslaved and OPP
pressed like no other seamen under
any other flag.
international Unity.
The Marine Transport Workers In
dustrial Union No. $40 of the |. w. w.
have called a strike and written their
demands to correct in some measure
the abuses and conditions described
above. The international Marine
Workers Amalgamation Committee
endorses the demands of the l. w. w.
seamen and calls upon all marine
workers, organized and unorganized,
to cooperate with the |. w. W. in
their struggle against the shipowners.
But, In addition, the I. w. w. as a
whole should realize the Importance
Of afiliation with the Red Information
al OF Labor Unions, since to combat
the tremendous power Of the shipown-
ers-who enjoy the full cooperation
Of the capitalist government--and to
organize the tens Of thousands OF ma
rine workers still unorganized, the