Shipowners And Seamen

AN outspoken note from “Old Seadog”: “Your article on the shipping position in the Pacific is timely, and inspired by patriotism. It is a damnable thing that British shipping interests should be stabbed in the back by British seamen.

“But do not assume that the fault is all on one side. The great majority of British men who work on ships are patriots to the backbone: but a great and increasing num ber of them have been hopelessly embit tered through their treatment by ship owners. In the old days, when there was a direct personal relationship between ship owner and seaman, the latter could gener ally get a fair deal, and life at sea had its attractions. Nowadays, the employers mostly are merely the boards of companies, and the companies themselves are in the grip of ruthless and soulless combines, who regard maritime workers merely as a class of labour to be exploited for the extraction of the uttermost penny of profit. That, at any rate, is the feeling among seamen to day—and it much.

“Find out what has happened to the ‘volunteers’ and ‘loyalists’ who have, from time to time, helped the shipowners out of strike troubles. How much protection and help did they get, once their services were no longer required? That is the answer to your article.”