THE AMERICAN SEAMAN UNDER THE LAW. THE personal treatment accorded the seaman by American ship's officers is the most oppressive, because the most acute, feature of his life. Extreme brutality is the rule, almost without exception. It is a stand ing charge against our maritime law that it requires no qualification other than that of citizenship on the part of sailing-ship officers. In this respect the United States stands alone among maritime nations of any consequence. The result is that the men in authority on board American ships are chosen for their ability to" drive," i. c, to beat, the men under them, rather than for their ability as seamen and navigators. The reputation thus attained finds its sequence in an esprit de eorps leading to the commission of the most wanton brutalities conceivable by minds trained to ingenious methods of inflicting tor ture upon their subordinates, and undeterred by the fear of consequences, social or legal. The frequent recurrence of seaman's charges against ship's officers and the mo notonous regularity with which these charges are dismissed by the courts, has created a feeling of indifference, and even scepticism, on the part of the public. The charges made by the seaman appear incredible when judged by the standard of conduct prevailing on land. But it must be remembered that the standard prevailing at sea is one of practical slavery, in which a Legree is an actual per sonification.
An investigation shows that during the past eleven years more than one hundred ships' crews have brought charges against their officers in ports of the United States alone. This list includes only those cases that have come most prominently before the public. Characteristic features of this record are : Fifteen deaths resulted from the treatment received : many cases re sulted in the loss of limbs, eyes or teeth, and in other injuries of a permanent character, including insanity : several suicides are at tributed to persecution : Only seven convic tions were obtained, and, with one exception, the penalties inflicted were merely nominal. The names of certain ships and their officers recur frequently in the list. This condition of affairs is due primarily to the construction of the law on the point. The statute provides that any officer who, without justifiable cause, beats or wounds or imprisons any seaman, shall be punishable by a fine not exceeding $1.000, or by im prisonment not exceeding five years, or by both. Read conversely, the term " without justifiable cause " authorizes corporal punish ment at the sole discretion of the ship's officer. Under this law, courts and juries have con sistently approved the declaration of accused persons that assaults upon seamen were justifiable, or, at any rate, that they were deemed such. — WALTER McARTHUR in The Forum.
