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The Columbia University Libraries reserve the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgement, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of the copyright law. Author: Axtell, Silas Blake Title: The economic effect of the Seamen's act Place: [New York] Date: [1 920] Q5-&'Z'2S?^-U MASTER NEGATIVE * COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES PRESERVATION DIVISION BIBLIOGRAPHIC MICROFORM TARGET ORIGINAL MATERIAL AS FILMED - EXISTING BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD r Business 565.2 Ax7 I % Axtell, Gilaa Blake The oconomic effect of the Sesunen's act... ^Mew York? 19?-0] 7 p. fold, plate 21 cm. Caption title. RESTRICTIONS ON USE: TECHNICAL MICROFORM DATA FILM SIZE: . 'ifor^*^ REDUCTION RATIO: DATE FILMED: ^1 lo \^'^ TRACKING # : Ay:w oVy9V \lK IMAGE PLACEMENT: lA (ha) IB IIB INITIALS: FILMED BY PRESERVATION RESOURCES, BETHLEHEM. 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Maritime Legislation i Opposition to Act by Foreigners 2 Enforcement by Courts 2 Wages Equalized 3 Increase in Native Americans at Sea 3 Naturalization 3 Foreign Interests in Our Merchants Association 3 ^egal Phases of Act Pro and Con 4 Protective Measure Like Tariff 4 Economic Law 4 Alternatives in Alien Labor or Subsidy 5 U. S. Reports Show Seamen's Act Equalized Wages 5 Subsidy 5 Absentee Voting by Seamen g Please Fill Out Referendum g Explanatory 1^ \ History of U. S. Maritime [legislation. Wages on American and foreign vessels since the enforcement of the Seamen's Act, 1916, have been ap- proximately equal. Should it be repealed? In 1890 Congress passed a statute giving our seamen the right \\ to one-third of the wages due them at all loading and discharg- ♦ ing ports. Many foreign seamen were attracted to our ships. Our shipping flourished. Prior to 1812 Great Britain sought to repress some of them back into service. From 1890 to 1920 American ships carried 90 i)er cent. Amer- ican trade. In 1919 Congress amended this statute as a part of the Act of March 4, 1915. It was known as the La Follette Act or Seamen's Act. The amendment provided that seamen on American and foreign vessels should have the right to half wages earned on demand in American loading and discharging ports, and, in event of refusal, that the seaman should be entitled to all his earned wages. As a part of the Act, the President was directed to and did abrogate all reciprocal treaty provisions re- lating to arrest of deserting seamen from foreign vessels in ports of the United States and from American vessels in foreign ports, and the Courts of the United States were thrown open to seamen for enforcement. As the seamen say. Uncle Sam agreed to quit "slave catching" for himself and for everybody else. After the Civil War, due to various causes, our merchant tonnage in foreign trade fell away so that in 1914 we carried less than 10 per cent, of our trade and had about 1,000,000 tons under the American flag, or one-fortieth of the world's tonnage. Eng- land had about 23,000,000 and carried most of our goods. Wages in foreign countries had always been lower than in America. Likewise, wages were lower on foreign vessels when crews were hired abroad. In 1884, by a provision of the Dingley Act, Congress sought to encourage American shipping by permit- ting American vessels to use labor engaged in European ports at the lower wages prevailing there, but the measure did not have the result hoped for, and our merchant marine did not grow. With a high protective policy in force from 1884 to 1914, our export foreign trade was of no great importance and Eng- lish vessels for the most part carried our goods. Many of these ships were owned by American companies, but as the wages ashore in America were double the wages of Europe and wages of seamen in American ports correspondingly high, this differ- ential was considered an insuperable difficulty to American oper- ation. At any rate, we had no shipping or shipbuilding industry. The war changed that. The cry of "ships, more ships" re- sulted in a prodigious effort. We now have 10,000,000 tons under the American flag — for the most part oil burners and sub- stantial vessels. In January, 1916, the Seamen's Act went into effect on for- eign vessels; with it Section 4, as the amended Act of 1890 re- lating to half wages was called. The abolition of arrest for desertion gave the seaman political freedom, but Section 4 gave him economic freedom. Seamen on American vessels seldom used the half wage demand, but the seamen on the comparatively low-paid foreign vessels readily took advantage of it and de- manded half wages, and unless the operator raised his pay, he quit the ship, thus creating a vacancy that must be filled by a substitute. Foreign vessels found it impossible to get substitutes in American ports at less than the prevailing American rate, so A/-I in a short time most foreign vessels were paying the American rate of wages and improving living conditions on their ships so as to retain their seamen while in American ports. Seamen in foreign ports held oif for this preferred trade to such an extent that soon wages between Europe, Africa and Australia had reached and stayed at one level — the American level. Before the Act was passed, it was opposed by foreign ship- ping interests. When the Act went into effect, the President was asked by their representatives to suspend the Act for the dura- tion of the war, but he declined. Foreign shipowners and the British Government itself then sought to defeat the Act through our Federal Courts. While ^ome detrimental limitations were placed on it, either because of actual confusion or other cause when this opposition appeared before the Courts, still the statute as to application and effect was upheld by each U. S. District Court that passed on it, and by two of our U. S. Circuit Courts of Appeal — Fifth and Second, New Orleans and New York. As a result, wages of foreign vessels to-day equal American wages. Opposition to Act by foreigners. Enforcement by Courts. DAMAGED PAGE(S) ,♦ Wages equalized. Increase in native jAmericans lat sea. Faturalization. foreign Interests In our Terchants -»ciation. On December 9, 1919, these cases were argued before the Supreme Court of the United States. The British Embassy ap- peared as amicus curiae. The Attorney General of the United States appeared to present the interests of the American people. The seamen also appeared, through counsel, of whom I had the honor to be one. The Seamen's Act, aside from equalizing wages on foreign competitors, has largely equalized other operating costs to the ^, foreigner. They have had to afford better living conditions on \ foreign vessels to prevent desertion. Another remarkable change that can be attributed to the Seamen's Act, and the "consequently improved conditions pre- vailing at sea on our ships, is the tremendous increase in the number of American citizens in our merchant crews. In 1914, on our miserable 1,000,000 tons of ships, 5 per cent, only of the crews were Americans. To-day, with ten times as great a ton- nage, eleven times as many of the crew are citizens; in other words, 55 per cent, of the total, exclusive of officers (all of whom must be citizens to hold their licenses). A pronounced drift of desirable alien seamen to American citizenship is indicated by the very great number who have taken -^^ out their intention papers lately. The controversy now to be decided by our Supreme Court has found expression and still finds expression in propaganda. On January 24, 1916, somebody caused a referendum on the Seamen's Act and particularly those features affecting foreign ships to be sent out by the United States Chamber of Commerce at Washington, D. C. It was sent to all similar local trade bodies in the United States. It resulted in an overwhelming demand for the repeal of those features that were to prove so beneficial to American shippers and correspondingly detrimental to foreign ships. Editors and writers generally assumed without mental digestion that the Act was vicious and inimical to our merchantv marine. The grossest misstatements and exaggerations went unchallenged by disinterested parties except so far as I and a few others could do it. I personally took the matter up with the Merchants Associa- tion of New York, from whom I inferred the United States Chamber of Commerce at Washington gained its inspiration. I found at the head of the Merchant Marine Committee of that body a man who, though he may be now a citizen of the United States, has been identified with shipping under a foreign flag for years, particularly the British flag. Amongst the notable op- ponents of the measure was Robert Dollar (originally a Scotch- man), of the Pacific coast, five of whose six small vessels were under a foreign flag and manned by coolie crews when such crews were obtainable. The layman may be interested in the legal questions involved. They are briefly: (1) Did Congress intend to affect foreign ves- sels in such a way as to equalize wages? The answer, if any consideration is given to the proceedings in Congress, and com- mon sense is to play any part in our deliberation, must be, "Yes, Congress did intend to equalize wages." (2) Did Congress exceed its powers? The foreigner says, "I had a contract made in my country which was valid there; by failing to enforce it you deprive me of my property without due process of law, and that violates your own Constitution." The people of the United States say, "But we make these regulations for Amej-ican ships and seamen, and as a condition of entry to our ports in order " that our vessels shall not be put at a disadvantage in trade. IVe make it apply to you also. We have prescribed that if you send your vessels here they shall comply with the terms of this law also; by coming in you have agreed to obey the law." In the vernacular of everyday life, we say, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." Frankly, the measure is similar in method and effect to the Protective Tariff Law, enforced on imported goods ; is similar to the Immigration laws for the protection of the health and morals of our people ; is similar to the Contract Labor Law, intended to protect American labor from cheap contract foreign labor, and the laws prohibiting foreigners from engaging in coastwise trade «f the United States. The Act was intended to equalize wage operating costs on all vessels in foreign trade. It has had that effect, so far as it has been enforced. Practically it means that we have loosed the pent-up force of economic law. We have removed the artificial bonds, and wages have adjusted themselves according to the supply of labor and the demand for it. If we are to have an American merchant marine with American labor, we must pay wages and afford living conditions which the Act does afford. Legal phases of Act pro and con. *i Protective measure like tariff. Economic law. ^--.— — - Alternatives in alien labor or subsidy. U. S. reports show Seamen's Act equalized I wages. ISubsidy. The alternative, of course, is to have American ships manned by Oriental crews or the cheapest alien labor obtainable. But such a merchant marine is not desirable. In case of war, it is of no value. We might as well have an army of hired mercenaries in- stead of citizen soldiery. To get and maintain a merchant marine of Americans, we must create on the sea such conditions of em- ployment as to wages, living quarters, food, and last but not least, libertv of movement, as will attract Americans from shore employ- ^ ments. This is fundamental. The Seamen's Act does this, and ^ stands as a national policy to enforce such conditions against for- eign vessels competing with us, so that they too will be placed un- der similar expense of operation. Of course, back of this law may be the far-seeing wisdom of the humanitarian, who wishes to raise by these methods the living conditions of all seamen to the American standard. Practically, as Americans, we believe we are still in the age of nationalism and must look at the proposition only from our national point of view. The records of the United States Shipping Board (see report, December 31, 1918, and De- cember, 1919), which can be obtained by addressing the United States Shipping Board at Washington (also reports filed in Oc- ^ tober, 1919, with the Department of Labor), as to the practical o> effect of the Seamen's Act, first in increasing wages on foreign vessels, and second in increasing the number of Americans em- ployed on American vessels, show that foreign wages are to-day practically equal to American wages, and these reports indicate the Seamen's Act to be responsible for the change. If the Supreme Court of the United States does happen to decide this case in favor of foreign interests— and it is hardly conceivable that thev will— either the Act will have to be amended or some other drastic legislation be enacted which will have the same effect, or else the American people will have to tax them- selves to maintain ships manned by American seamen in com- petition with foreign ships. V It is of course unthinkable that we should let our merchant marine disappear by transfer to foreign flag or that we should adopt that other method, to wit, employment of cheap alien labor with American officers and flag alone to indicate the nationality of the ship. The shipowners have urged a subsidy. They say, "We want American seamen, but let the American people pay the difference in wages." This is not sound economy. Wages of the ocean should be equal everywhere. The law of the sea OFFICES OF SILAS BLAKE AXTELL PROCTOR IN ADMIRALTY ONE BROADWAY TKL. BOWLING GREEN 8266-8267 ARTHUR LAVENBURG LUCIAN V. AXTELL. jR. New York January 31, 1920. NIM MILLER. ESQ. , Fiimald Hall, Hew York City Sin I am sending enclosed circular on Seamen's Act to you on my own initiative and personal expense. You may assume that my motives are selfish but if you will consider the matter, I believe you will conclude that they are also patriotic. When self-interest and common good project one in the same line, we may hope with the best results. ^ Do not, therefore, please throw this in the waste basket as part of the mass of advertisements and propaganda which is forced upon one these days. For reasons, which will be. dis- closed on reading the pamphlet, there is no one who will give much money and time to this propaganda. That it is necessary and vital to our country, cannot, I think be denied. I beg therefore, that you read this over and take action as indicated and that the referendum when voted upon be forward- ed to me promptly where it will be reserved for future use. Yours very truly. SBA/CK r/t G should be the same in every port, and on every ocean. The economic law should likewise be the same and be given the same freedom. Go a step further, and you will agree with me that the men of the sea should be given the same freedom on every sea; the same freedom that is given to the men in shore em- ployments. My brief personal experience at sea as an ordinary seaman in 1911) confirms this view. Of course, if the wage level in Euroi:)e rises and is main- tained at the American level, the practical reason for the enforce- ment of this Section 4 of the Seamen's Act will not be necessary, from the economic viewpoint of the shipowner. Present indica- tions are that wages in Europe are receding faster than they will in the United States. We hear much about democracy and industry to-day. Much can be infused into our merchant marine. Desirable aliens should be induced to become citizens, and the opportunity to vote for Federal officers at least should be promptly given to seamen. The Seamen's Unions have at some expense and effort taken steps to induce alien seamen employed on American vessels to take out their first papers. ^ Due to the nature of their calling, seamen scarcely ever vote because they can't be ashore to register and cast the ballot. Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Holland have extended absentee voting privileges to seamen for many years. England adopted and passed such a law in 1918. An amendment of the Constitution of the United States should be made permitting absentee voting by seamen in Federal elec- tions. The effort of the people of the United States to-day, I suggest, should be not to restrict the ballot, but to carry it to those of our people who by the nature of their calling do not use it. Democracy is not functioning for those who work and pav taxes and have no representative voice in the Government #hich makes the laws under which they live. This applies to harvest hands and others of our floating population, shipbuilders, etc. Members of the I. W. W. and Bolsheviks and those im- pregnated with Bolshevik notions are found in these classes of labor. The purpose of this communication is to inspire thought and expression of it in our seats of learning. Boards of Trade and other similar civic and political bodies. Will those to whom this communication is sent, whether it be a class of economics in a Absentee voting by seamen. Please fill out referendum. i Explanatory. college, a Board of Trade or other civic body, please make the topic a subject of discussion? Will the Professor of Economics or Secretary of the Board of Trade-whichever the case may be-please submit the following questions to persons who have pven the matter thought? Indicate the vote on the ballot fill m the blank form annexed hereto and return the same to me in the stamped and addressed envelope. I am simply an American. Circumstances have so shaped themselves that I have come into a knowledge of these matters f which is definite. I happen to be actuated by public motives < My own interest and that of my country is identical. This pam- '^ phlet IS printed and mailed at my own expense and on my own responsibility. Although I have appeared for the Seamen's Unions in their fights before the Supreme Court of the United States to enforce the Seamen's Act in many cases, as well as in other courts, I am not controlled by them or by anybody else I have no more benefit to derive from the result of the enforce- ment of this Seamen's Act, or any action that you may take on this referendum, than that which any man gets who does what the best impulses of his heart prompt him to do. Your frank and decisive answer is therefore asked. Very sincerely yours, SILAS B. AXTELL, Member of the N. Y. State Bar, No. 9 State Street, New York City. ^J\\ 6^4'!*^ ^e^.2. fVx7 Axtell Economic effect of Seaman 's act MOV 1 71994 DUPLICATE 0041441435 « »V' END OF TITLE