The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-03-01
BY JONES.

CHEER slavery is the only term
" to describe the conditions under
which the Panama Mail Steamship
Co., (the Grace Line> hires Chinese
crews such as the one recently de-
ported from this country at the de-
mand of Andrew c.. FTuseth Of
the International Seamen's Union.
The deportation was started after
the Chinese seamen had already ar
rived i'll New York and had incur
red large expense in preparing for
the job.
The Chinese Seamen have prac-
tically to sell themselves to com
pradore" to get the job in the first
place. A compradore is a boarding
house master and labor contractor.
All jobs are in his hands. The
Chinese seaman has to live in his
boarding house and run up few
bills before he can get a job. Then
the compradore sells him where
there is the most profit to himself.
A bond of variable amount, lin
this case $500 has to be paid in
to the company, to be held till the
seaman is released from the con-
tract. This money is, of course,
advanced by the compradore, at
usurious interest rates.
The contract is signed, before a
United States Consul. 1t is strictly
illegal, under American maritime
law, to import seamen tostake jobs
in an American port, but that is Of
small concern to the shipowners
or the consul.
The crew signs on TO be good
and faithful dogs for the two years
of the articles, but the company
takes no responsibility whatever for
carrying out any part of the con-
tract. There is no clause in the
contract which binds the company,
save one guaranteeing that the
crews wages will not be cut during
layoff of less than two weeks.
PAY ALL DAMAGE.
All breakage Of crockery, all loss
of linen, silverware and other ar
ticles the craw is entrusted with"
are to be paid by the crew, indi-
Vidually and collectively.
"The employees agree that the
company is not bound to employ
them for the full two years, says
the agreement, "the company re-
serving the right to discharge them
at any time during the two year
period" This clause is the one that
the millionaire shipowner, Grace,
calculated on to save him any ex-
pense in case his crew was stop
ped by immigration officials, or in
case ship was lost and the crew
saved, or ships laid up.
Because of this clause the COM
pany does not have to pay the de-
ported Seamen any wages save for
the short time they were en- route
from and to China. That expense
is covered by the fact that the crew
worked on the trip. Undoubtedly,
too the company win take advan-
tage of another clause in the COIL
tract to save half of that miserable
sum.
ONE clause in the contract provides
U"that fifty percent of their wages
are to remain in the hands of the
company as a guarantee "a for the
due and proper performance of
their work, (b) against smuggling
and (c) against desertion from the
ship on which they are employed,
such guarantee to continue for the
entire period of two years"
ALLOWS BOSS TO
GRAB HALF WAGES
Thus MIR. Grace, armed with a
contract made sacred" by the seal
of the us. Consulate, can tell these
Chinese seamen that they failed to
do some small task and keep half
their wages. Seamen are sufficiently
familiar with the habits OF ship
owners to know that these Chinese
will never get their full pay, with
such a contract signed. 1t does
not even require the approval OF the
consular officer or shipping master.
The sole word of the shipowner, or
his agent the captain, is enough to
take half the crews wages away
from them.