WHY SEAMEN DESERT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIX, Issue 6572, 9 December 1882, Page 6

WHY SEAMEN DESERT.

TO TilK EI'ITOH.

Sir, —In reference to the lengthy paragraph that appears in this morning's issue, I do not see why merchant seamen should not make the best of their labour, and obtain the highest rate of wages when an opportunity offers. Tho paragraph says they told Captain Roberts of the Hermione they could do better ashore ; aud why should they not make an attempt to escape from the worse than dog's life they mostly live? Why, Sir, your province is alive with sailors, either shilling a month men or runaways, and in nine cases out of ten they are better colonists than the emigrants brought out at the expense of the colony,as they are inured to a life of hardship, and do not expect to realise fortunes with little labour or exertion. No doubt Captain Roberts found it hard to obtain a crew, as for all classes of labour there is plenty of employment, so he is no exception, as your advertising columns prove. Speaking of the trifling matter, to him, of leaky berths, let him try one of them, and I will wager he would run away also. His statement about plum dough is absurd, and if he really wants to know why sailors desert, let him visit the forecastle of the deep water ships of a morning when the breakfast is on, and he will soon know the reason. Coffee and biscuits, the meat, if any, coarae pieces with the quality boiled out to make soup for the cabin table, and little of either. —I am, Sec, AB«O3.