The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1928-11-16

OA0Oy az 20 OOutH Ots
Ship Owners Greed.
"The sinking of the Vestris,"
said Mink, sis tragic proof that
those who trust their lives to the
seamen, must understand that the
greed for dollars which imperils
them, also causes the bitterest hard
ships for the seamen."
Members of the Marine Work
ers' Progressive League who have
sailed on the. Vestris previous to
this trip, tell how the ship was
overloaded with passengers, 300 be-
ing taken in excess of the capacity
of $50. This is done, of course, to
make money, more money than the
regular profits which are always
high. The crew, knowing the dam
ger better than the passengers,
dare not protest or refuse to sail,
as this would be 'mutiny, and all
sorts of charges would be levelled
against these workers, besides their
losing their jobs.
Floating Junk-Pile.
"The seamen tell us that the Yes
iris was floating junk-pile, that
rust-corroded plates are covered
over with nice new paint, but under
the paint lies danger to the vessel
and all aboard. Dare the seamen
who know these dangers protest so
they can be heard? No, for they
would at once be labelled as 'Bolshe-
viks' and fired by the company and
blacklisted by the shipping trust
which for profits and more profits
endangers the lives of those who
travel as we'll as the crew.
What lives do the crew lead that
the passengers know nothing Of?
Members of the Vestris crew tell us
of beisg crammed into, dirty Sleep
ing quarters, eight in a place too
small for three, no change Of linen,
no opportunity to keep clean, and
therefore in no condition nor in any
mood to be clean with the food
and beds of passengers except in a
driven, superficial way. Often they
are compelled to work as much as
Is hours with no extra pay, given
food not fit for human beings, and
forced to eat standing up in the
pantry, fighting each other for food,
instead of eating at leisure in the
dining saloon after passenger mess.
Low Wages. Tyranny.
Joined with this, the low wages
and tyranny and graft practiced
upon them by officers and purser,
what can be expected other than
that such ships, and there are many
besides the Vestris, cannot get
steady crews and fill out the crew
with inexperienced men and with
men who make the whole trip, TAX
ing months, without knowing their
fire and boat drill stations. Natur-
ally this endangers the lives of all
on board.
"But this is not the fault of the
men, neither is it the fault of the
West Indian Negroes who, because
they wish to escape from the ter
rible conditions prevailing under
British imperialist rule in the
islands, seek escape by working on
the boats, but who find exploitation
little, if any less, severe than on
the sugar plantations Of Barbados.
Under British Whip.
"Once the haunt of pirates of the
Spanish Main, the ports Of Barba-
does and Port-of-Spain in Trinidad
are no less terrorized today by more
genteel pirates Of British business.
Workers dare not open their mouths
and the Negro natives live under the
brutal whip, Of British masters. Ne
gro seamen, as well as the white
seamen, are not permitted to organ
ize by the shipping trust, and all
alike are victimized if they protest
in the only way they have, by strike.
"The shipping trust uses all means
to prevent organization, which, as
is plainly seen, would expose dam
gers to travellers and correct condi-
tions imperiling both the lives and
the health of all on board. Instead,
the ship owners and the so-called
sailors homes and 'seamen's insti-
tutes' to obstruct organization and
furnish strikebreakers if the men
revolt spontaneously against unbear-
able conditions.
Survivors Locked Up.
"In this connection, the Marine
Workers Progressive League asks
the public what it means that the
New York Seamen's Institute, sus-
tanned by subsidies from the ship
ping companies, at this moment has
the rescued crew of the Vestris
locked mp, as if they were criminals.
on the second floor Of this so-called
instituted What other purposes
does that institute have than to
prevent the vestris crew from telling
the truth?
ITO protest this terrible state Of
affairs, our organization has called
meeting at the Seamen's Club, %
South St., on Sunday at s p. m, to
allow the seamen to tell their own
story of the Vestris."
PRODUCE NITRATES ELEC-
TRICALLY.
TORONTO, (By MaiD -Electri-
col anarov NAV ho mead IN y,rod,,ca