SEAMEN MUST BE MADE FREEMAN

...They may organize a revolution, and they may go into the field to gain freedom by the force of arms...

...Other workers, being equally free, may be urged to refuse to labor for this particular employer until he shall be willing to redress the griev-ances complained of...

...he stood to lose by the men quitting at times when such leaving off work was a great loss to him...

...Hence the men, by working for their own and the passengers' lives, may succeed in bringing the vessel safely into port...

...Insist that those men shall have a decent place to live, eat, and sleep in, and that it shall be so placed that they can all come on deck quickly when they are needed...

...The seaman is held in the boarding house by the law, which gives his clothing as a pledge...

...If seamen are lost, why, there are plenty more idle men to be had on shore...

...What a lot of rot has been written and spoken on this subject...

...Very simply...

...The employer's business usually demands that the work be not too long suspended, and he at last listens...

...There would be men enough on board to do the work without overwork...

...Having been done once, it can be done again, and the men have established their numbers and their skill as the number and skill needed...

...Cheaply as the other fellow...

...The official thinks they are just trying to get out of their contract...

...The vessel is not responsible for any "act of God...

...Laws are enacted dealing with food, working hours, and other matters, The master of the vessel disregards the law...

...He meets representatives from the men, and industrial democracy has begun...

...Set the Peon Free...

...that is, "advance wages," or allotment to "original creditor," imprisonment for desertion, arrest, detention, and bringing back to the vessel must pass away...

...When the hour is there let us cast them to the winds and accept the prison or whatever else may be our portion...

...All being equal before the Father, this then must be the kingdom...

...We must, to obtain this boon, be willing and ready to prove to the people that we are in deadly earnest IN SEEKING AND WISHING FREEDOM, the highest of God's gifts to men...

...probably not...

...If vessels are lost, the insurance—that is, the public —pays the loss...

...He OWNS HIS MEN when once they have signed the agreements or shipping articles...

...the dining room, the social hall, are veritable dreams of luxury and comfort, and surely when so much is expended on comfort and convenience the owner must be presumed to have taken equally good care of that rather important matter—SAFETY...

...If passengers are lost, that's very bad...

...No such trouble exists for the shipowner...

...they complain, but they are not believed...

...he must carry passengers as ANDREW FURESETH is president of The International Seamen's Union of America...

...You may be sure that you will not be shown into that place...

...For nearly twenty years he has been trying to get Congress to pass a bill abolishing involuntary servitude of sailors and providing decent conditions of work...

...Vessels are not wrecked every trip...

...was impelled by our status to insult us by his questions...

...Well, what of that...

...With it has come hope, and with that self-respect...

...To obtain this we must, however, be prepared to do and to be patient...

...of the deck crew, exclusive of licensed officers, must be up to that standard before the vessel shall be permitted to proceed to sea...

...The self-interest of the employer was enlisted...

...The Shipping Trust is powerful, and Congress closed its eyes to slavery in port and on the high seas—a dark blot upon our nation...

...there would always be a proper lookout, and when the vessel got near land or into water not properly charted there could be and there would be some man keeping the lead going...

...Now, let me intrust you with a very deep secret There is not sailing today on any ocean any passenger vessel carrying the number of boats needed to take care of the passengers and crew, nor a sufficient number of skilled men to handle those boats which are carried...

...Safety at sea is promoted, first, by a good vessel, staunch and well found...

...Is the man a seaman...

...Being told "No," he prescribed for me...

...But the passenger reads this in the papers, or reads something that looks like it, and being a fatalistic optimist and wishing that this may be so, he promptly believes it...

...So it will be seen that the beginning of all reform in the seaman's life is, SET THE PEON FREE...

...The vessel carries passengers...

...There could be no question that either of us was really sick, yet this doctor (may his shadow never grow less...

...Other minor remedies are possible WHEN THE MAIN REMEDY IS ATTAINED...

...There being universal fatherhood, a universal brotherhood follows of itself as a logical necessity...

...Abolish the shipowner's present right to have the seamen brought back to labor AGAINST HIS WILL...

...but there is God to be blamed...

...They have never believed others until they proved their earnestness by their willingness to suffer or to die...

...You will be told that the forecastle is the men's place and that "nobody is permitted to see that...

...Go and look into the forecastle, or, rather, DO NOT...

...secondly, by good boats and enough of them...

...it is a fact, potentially if not practically...

...His testimony will be weighed by the same tests as are ap-plied to other men...

...The patient died next morning...

...indeed, sufficiently so as to organize detective bureaus and send spies in among the men to report to him...

...If they become so dissatisfied as to run away, he only reports to THE STATE OFFICIALS, and the deserter is recaptured and delivered back to him...

...A seaman comes to the consul to complain of certain grievances...

...It was killed by President Taft, who refused either to sign or veto it before Congress ended...

...You must insist that there shall be a standard of individual efficiency provided for the crews...

...Mind you, hot simply freedom—freedom to slay freedom, but FREEDOM TO PERFECT FREEDOM THROUGH ORGANIZATION...

...Wipe Out the Fugitive Slave Law...

...And then the cabins and the staterooms are well fitted...

...The vessel gets to sea...

...work must be done...

...Is This a Crime...

...If so, let us be willing and ready to give the proofs by opposing this LAW OF MAN which MAKES US LESS THAN MAN...

...As It now is, there is no knowing how many actual seamen will be found among a crew, say, of 16 men...

...But year after year, session after session, Congress refused to act...

...he or she has other things to think about when on shore, and when the time comes to go on a voyage he or she, if they think at all, knows very well that they must take such vessels as there are or none at all...

...Abolish the "advance" or allotment to "original creditor" and you improve the condition of the seamen and increase the chances of safety at sea...

...If the men may leave him at an inopportune moment, either individually or collectively, he stands to lose...

...The people may not believe us simply upon our own say-so...

...As a certain man says in his ad., "there is a reason...

...This would increase your safety and also improve the seamen's condition...

...Having obtained this power, the men can then organize effectively on trade-union lines...

...They can not organize a trade-union, because they are not in possession of the trade-union weapon, namely, the power to throw the employers' business out of order by refusing to continue to labor...

...They may ask this test of us, the seamen...

...This will give all the security or guaranty that is or can be needed to prevent men from needlessly delaying work or vessels...

...If men are scarce, the boarding master picks up all the hard-ups who come along, keeps them for a few days, and then sells them to the vessel for the "advance...

...A Very Deep Secret" 1 "SAFETY AT SEA...

...The same questions were asked that same afternoon of a patient from a Norwegian vessel...

...Freedom First, Then Betterment ONLY THE FREE can organize into a trade-union...

...Thus you will improve safety at sea, you will help to save thousands of human lives and millions of dollars worth of property every year, and you will help the seamen...

...just ask to be shown into the forecastle...

...Thus we shall prove that we wish freedom, that we ought to receive it...

...Then the people will listen and will give it to us...

...The consul, having in mind the seaman's status, disregards his testimony, re-fuses to look seriously into the grievance, which thus remains unredressed...

...But let it be understood that they may quit whenever they think fit and the situation becomes at once different...

...That is, abolish all penal punishment now enforced upon the seamen for any refusal to continue to labor while the vessel is in safety...

...If we apply ordinary analysis to this answer, we shall find that its meaning is simple...

...proper watches would be kept...

...they are told a lot of rot about bulkheads, water-tight compartments, vessels so built that they will not sink or burn...

...If you wish more safety, you must insist upon a proper crew, sufficient in numbers and skill, and they must have a forecastle from which they can get out quickly enough to be of use...

...On this page is printed a few extracts from the writings of Mr...

...Being answered affirmatively, he further asked, "Is she (the vessel) soon ready for sea...

...Fureseth describing something of the life of the seaman under our antiquated laws and the danger to passengers and freight on the high seas because of the enslavement of the men who man the ships.—Editor's Note...

...there will be some seamen on the vessel and they will have to do the work for the hard up...

...Last session a good bill passed in the House, and later in the Senate it passed in weakened form but still affording relief to the oppressed seamen...

...SET THE PEON FREE...

...Appearances Are Deceptive NOW, let me say to the passenger that a well-fitted-up stateroom, although very nice, does not prove that the vessel is properly fitted up elsewhere...

...It provides: Watch-and-watch at sea, dividing the crew on deck into two watches and the engine-room crew into three...

...There may be any number from 2 to 16, or there may be none at all...

...Now, Mr...

...he must compete with the railroad or he must go out of the business...

...but, above all, there must be sufficient number of men, and they must be of sufficient skill to be able to lower the boats in a seaway and to handle them when in the water...

...The imprisonment for desertion made the "advance" secure, the seaman's body was mortgaged, the security was in the vessel's keeping...

...that at least 75 per cent...

...I came to New York in a German ship...

...I was sick and had to be sent to Long Island College Hospital for treatment...

...As to the passengers, are they satisfied with these conditions...

...they cost nothing, not even in the training...

...You will see from this that IMPROVED CONDITIONS FOR THE SEAMEN MEAN INCREASED SAFETY FOR PASSENGERS AND FREIGHT, increased safety for all at sea...

...The shipowner must be placed in a position similar to other employers...

...Other things will follow...

...When you get thinking it over, God is made responsible for a great many things, and being exempt from being called into court to give explanations He is the safest one to blame...

...because they need no training, NO SKILL BEING REQUIRED BY LAW...

...On the next day I was delirious...

...Passenger, let me tell you one more secret...

...IF THERE WERE, THE SEAMEN'S CONDITION WOULD BE MUCH BETTER THAN IT NOW IS...

...thirdly, by a crew sufficient in number and skill to handle the vessel while she is afloat, to lower, man, and handle the boats when the vessel must be abandoned...

...If the seaman returns, or if his refusal to return be only temporary, let the expenses of the substitute be taken from the seaman's wages already earned or to be earned...

...Of course, WE SEAMEN KNOW THIS TO BE THE VERIEST NONSENSE...

...The doctor in charge asked me, "Is the ballast out...

...Let us be willing and ready to refuse to abide by these contracts over which we have no say, which we did not participate in making and which we must accept or starve...

...The average shipowner knows this, but he must keep up with the procession...

...The man has some papers, letters from relatives, or other things which he is not willing to lose...

...or Mrs...

...The boats must be properly equipped...

...Bondmen may organize, but only with a view of gaining freedom...

...He will govern himself accordingly...

...Vessels that can not sink and will not burn have not yet been built...

...The passengers do not know...

...No masters, no peons, no bondmen—all freemen...

...Struggles to come are many and severe before industry can adjust itself to new conditions, but the beginning is made...

...The art of shipbuilding has not reached that far as yet...

...but that does not matter...

...The presumption that the seaman is lying in order to get out of the vessel ceases at once...

...that is, they may organize AGAINST THE STATE...

...Seamen Mast Be Made Freemen Safety of Passengers and Freight in Ships, Protection Against Unnecessary "Disasters," and Justice to American Labor---All Demand That We Abolish the Legal Enslavement of Sailors By ANDREW FURESETH WHEN any class of workers have become sufficiently free to quit their work individually their condition has taken on an upward tendency, and when they could and did quit work collectively this tendency became stronger...

...Thus the seaman will be placed upon his own feet, made responsible to himself, and if he can not carry the responsibility he must suffer the penalty —just like men on shore...

...The boarding master keeps the clothing until the man is delivered to the vessel, then the vessel keeps him WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF THE STATE...

...WHEN the seaman has been given THE OWNERSHIP OF HIS OWN BODY, then the chance to pawn his body for food and shelter must pass away...

...While he has the ownership of the men, enforced by the State, he is safe from this loss and anxiety, and being an ordinary man he troubles no further...

...THUS MEN ARE DRIVEN UNTIL HALF INSANE WITH WORK...

...You will thus see that the "advance" must go, both for the sake of the seaman and the passenger...

...Here, then, I believe, we have the remedy...

...it is hoped that she is not going to get into trouble on this particular trip, and, besides the boarding master is not on the vessel...

...When "advance" is paid, THE STATE ACTS AS A GUARANTOR by arresting, keeping in detention, and delivering back to the mortgagee the pledge given...

...the men go to the consul or to the court or to the superintendent of shipping...

...How can this be done...

...They can, BEING FREEMEN, go to the employer and ask for a redress of grievances, and if refused they may cease to labor...

...they may go to the people to plead for it...

...Seek ye first freedom, and all else will be added—that is, all else must follow...

...When the disciples of the Nazarene were worried about food, clothing, and shelter and came to Him for advice, He told them to cease to worry about those things and to "seek first the Kingdom of Heaven" and all other things would follow...

...Besides, the passenger is busy...

...He became interested in the condition of his workers, in their feelings and mental attitude...

...THE SEAMEN'S BILL which has long been championed in the House by Representative Wilson (now Secretary of Labor) and in the Senate by Senator La Follette—but which was weakened and made ineffective in many ways by the shipping lobby and its friends before the bill passed the Senate on March 2 (only to be killed by the "pocket" veto of President Taft)—will do more to promote the safety of life and property at sea than has ever been done in all the history of this country...

...Let me tell of a personal experience which illustrates the present condition...

...Nothing is done, and the law remains a dead letter...

...This would at one stroke alter the seaman's life for the better...

...and you all know that oldest of old legal fictions—the "acts of God...

...Men would not be kept four or six hours at the wheel...

...the vessel would be kept better on her course, and steering close inshore to be out of the heavy sea would not be as dangerous as it now is...

...those who can do it must do it...