CRIMPING.

Evening Post, Volume LXXI, Issue 68, 21 March 1906, Page 7

CRIMPING.

THE SAILOR VICTIMISED. "SHANGHAI" AND "BLOODMONEY." The plight of ihe eailor-man, which the Australian, authorities hope to better, seems to be quite as bad/ <ashore as it is alleged l to be afloat. Jack's fortune is often cast between, the devil and tho deep sea. If there was only one devil in the reckoning the mariner might hopa for a little peace in this world, but when be dodges one he stands a chanc* of running into nine others of an even more malignant type. In one craft he may be afflicted with the devil of a sea. cook — "any old pot-boiler," to quote Mir. John Hutcheson, "who can't boil salt water without burning it is good onougli for a ship." Yet if the man whose home is on the. high, seas escapes from a chef who makes tho coffee with tai*, he may, by the agency of a "crimper," be "shanghaied" on. to a vessel where the staple refreshments will be rope's-end! and be-laying-pins. This phase of the sailor's life had some limelight switched on to ifc by the Navigation Commission at Sydney. "The evidence regarding 'crimping' va» of an extraordinary character," the report states," nnd come of ifc was so seasational that had it not been, amply corroborated its accuracy might have been doubted. The law to prevent crimping was quite inadequate. For \years past it had been openly defied in Newcastle, where a regular traffic "existed in inciting seamen to desert. Several witnes-^es asserted that some masters of vessels con- 1 nived at tho practice partly for the purpose- of sharing in the blood-money obtained from sailors antl partly for th» purpose, of defrauding seamen of their wages- 1 ' Curious to hear details of the crimping system, a reporter called this morning on Mr. W. T. Young, Secretary of the local branch of the Australasian. F&durated Seamen's Union. "I can. endonsft everything in the Commission's report in regard to crimping at Newcastle," Mr. Young said. "I suppose that the praotice is more prevalent there than, at any other port in Australasia, for the simple reason lhat it is a very large shipping port, with deep-water vessels." Explaining tho methods of th& kidnappers, ho indicated that the term "crimper" was applied to tho master of a boardinghouse -who trafficked in. sailors. Thi« individual would usually have the "dirty, work" done by am assistant called a "runner." Thi3 henchman would inoka it iiis businee-s to go on board a ship, mingle with the crew, and l perhaps hay« a chat with the skipper. He would ascertain whether the "old man" wanted Vi recruit or two, nord would also discover whether any malcontents would bo anxious to desert. He would make compacts, perhaps guaranteeing to supply the master with a sailor and at the same time mob him of one. Under an aarangement with "Jack," » boat would creep under tho ship's bows in" the stilly night, he and liis belongings would be lowered into it and taken, to the boarding-house Tihere the sailor would be secreted till his* ship had departed, and once the vessel was out of sight, the boarding-houss master would take steps to unload his guest on to another ship. When he tfound a craft in neodi of a man, "Jack" would) get an engagement, and tho crimper would arrange for an advance instalment of tho prospective wages, covering a month, six or eight weeks, and when this transaction had been completed "Jack" would be cheaply made drunk and deposited on his new ship. He would wake up in the morning t» find that ho ihad been shanghaied. "Ai I boarding-house master might give a sailor a few shillings," Mr. Young said, "but I have known a crimper au Newcastle to get as much, as £6 advance for a man). He made the sailor drunk and sent "him on board of his ship with a bottle of" cold tea tinder his arm, which, the poor fellow thought was rum." The crimper's share of the advance cash was called "blood-money," and he was not particular about the way that he earned it. His "runners" might come across a stray sailor, intoxicate him and spirib him on to a ship., in consideration of a satisfactory bonus from the master, but the customary process was the boardinghouse trap. Sometimes one of the blood-suckers would play a trick by which one of tho biters would be bitten. Mr. Young, mentioning an instance which came under his notice in Newcastle, remarked that there was a slump in men in the port, and a crimper "shanghaid" one of his own runners ou to a. boat that was bound for San Francisco, thus giving America an undesirable immigrant. CRIMPING IN WELLINGTON. "So far as Wellington is concerned," Mr. Young continued, "there is a certain amount of if going on. We know that it is carried on by one particular man. I have spoken to this person myself, openly charged him with, the offence, and told him that, if opportunity offers, he will be switched up as far as the law will permit. This man used to hang around the corners here and invariably visited the deep-water sailing vessels, offering inducement to the men to dessert. Some came ashore, were taken to his boardinghouse, were harboured there for some time, and immediately their ships left port, steps were taken by the boarding master to get them employment on other vessels, often ati a reduced rate of pay, and recoup himself out of an 'advance. 1 Recently I have not seen so much of this crimper, bu£ I occasionally drop across him around the wharves. I have been thinking of trying to trap him with one of our own men, but he is a bit cunning, and won't deal with intercolonial or coastal men. He nas too much sense for that." The speaker also contended that the activity of the union had rather checked the crimper's operations, and went on to declare that the system of crimping dnflicted much hardship on seamen. It was an evil against which they should be protected by stringent measures, and lie believed that one ot the steps to that inimuiuty was the proposed abolition of advance and allotment notes, because If these weie stopped the crimper would have no encouragement to induce men to desert. Mr. Young admitted that there should be special provision by which an advance could be given to a man's wife or other dependent relative. If a sailor needed an advance to stock his "kit," this could be effected by an order on a store, under an arrangement for payment by the captain or ship's agent, aslioie. Consulting the Shipping Act of 1903, in answer to a query concerning the penalties for "crimping," Mr. Young sud that ttere was a provision for a fine not exceeding £5 for peisons who ■went on board a vessel within twentyfour hours after its arrival in port, aiid induced, or attempted to induce, my seaman to take lodging in a boardinghcuso, or any of his effects e.icept under his euppvvisiou. The offence of inducing a seamaii to desert a ship was punishable with a fine of £10, and an individual who wilfully harboured a deserter was liable to a penalty of £20. It was difficult to eecure a conviction of "inducij" to desert," because the sailor and the crimper were generally in collusion ; ( but it whs nob such an arduous task to sheet home a charge of "harbouring," for tho police' had a right, under a wan-ant, to bearcii a suspected ho«ise. i Ajskftd wketlter lie had heard of case?

P ■— — — = of crimping at Auckland, Dunedin, or Lyttelton, Mr. Young stated that none Lad come within his knowledge, but it ■was only feasible to say that as the system operated in Wellington ifc would Itlso exist at the three other chief ports.