Seamen's Union Appeal to Shipowners: Promise to Supply Geod Men The Shanghai branch of the Chinese Seamen's Union on Monday sent a circular letter to all shipowners and agents in this port, offering to supply good crews at the union rate of pay. The purpose is to check the operations of crimps, or shipmasters'" as they appear to be called on the China coast. The letter follows:
"Dear Sirs,—We beg to inform you hereby that this Union is a Union of all Chinese Seamen. The object of this Union is the mutual help of seamen as well as a combined labour force. The Union does not help seamen in their selfish demands and takes a leading part in labour movement only under strong pressure of combined opinion of its members. This organization can be of great utility to all concerned—Labour as well as Capital—if only there could be established an understanding between the two. Our motto, "Mutual Help," can be understood not only in the sense that we want to help each other. Mutual help should exist and can exist between Capital.and Labour also. All we want is to help Capital and in exchange that Capital does not give pain and press too much the Labour. If an equilibrium is attained both parties shall profit by it.
"The purpose of this letter is just the wish to avoid one of the greatest evils of the China coast and this is in no way against, the interests of ship-owners, but, on the contrary, it may help them to get men properly qualified for the jobs. We are speaking of the present mode to hire ship-crews through the agency of _boardinghouse keepers ("Shipmashers," as seamen call them). In Europe they were before called 'Bloodsuckers'? and a right name for them too. Here in China, as you know it yourself, the system of "squeeze" is prevalent. Boardinghouse keepers "are "'squeezing"' seamen to such an extent that poor hard-working people are absolutely destitute and can never get a chance to put aside some money for their old age, working for a bare living and being squeezed from what they should have put aside. This state of affairs is causing much more shipping trouble than one can suppose.
"By the present we beg respectfully to request that all the crews be hired directly from our Union. or its branches in the outports. On our side we undertake to furnish you much better qualified men than 'Blood-suckers' do. Having placed them we shall see that they work well and give you entire satisfaction. Please find enclosed herewith a seamen's wages list? for different lines,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.